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971 Posts |
 Posted - July 09 2008 : 08:53:37 AM
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Khalid and his men came to the dukka as the Indians drank tea and plotted. They tethered their camels and horses outside, and left one man to watch them and to keep a lookout for intruders.
The unsuspecting Indians welcomed them, sharing tea. Veronica was unloaded from the camel, her feet unbound, and made to walk into the room where the other girls were being held. She was blindfolded, that she not see where she was. After she was in the room, her blindfold was removed.
The women looked at one another in surprise. "Oh, wonderful, another blonde!", exclaimed Holly. But she was trying to be funny, and the other girls managed to smile. They needed that lift of spirits. Even Gupta and Khalid were amused.
Veronica's wrists, tied in front to her waist, were unbound and she was allowed to stretch her arms and take a cup of water before a waist chain and handcuffs like those worn by Susan were applied to her. Then, hobbled like the other blonde, she had her ankles chained to the floor, also.
Holly was untied, and when her tired arms had recovered from being suspended above her, she also got the waist chain and handcuffs treatment, before being chained between Veronica and Susan.
"We were just about to introduce pretty Susan to the five-bladed whip," announced Gupta. "Perhaps you would like to be the one who whips her? She needs to feel the lash, to begin to grasp her new position in life."
Khalid considered. "This is just a basic introductory whipping, not for reasons of discipline? If she has not misbehaved, let us have our tea, then whip her at our leisure. You can then whip Veronica. I want each of these slaves to see the others whipped before they leave here. It will keep any of them from feeling superior to the others, and establish what they now are: slaves on the way to market."
Gupta shrugged. "Very well. It is true that the tea will cool if we do not drink it first. And the delay will let Veronica and Susan think how their time under the whip will feel." And so, the men withdrew, locking the door behind them.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
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971 Posts |
Posted - July 09 2008 : 09:46:26 AM
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Susan and Holly were eager to meet Veronica and to hear her story. When they learned that she was a safari client, kidnapped from her camp, Holly wanted to know who her white hunter was.
"We have two," the Brazilian girl explained. "Geoff Blacklaws and Stuart Hamilton. They're both really handsome, and really nice.It wasn't their fault that I was taken, with the two other girls who escaped. Or were stolen by someone. We still don't know what happened. But my friend Marguerite told me to dance and do whatever else it took to keep Khalid and his henchmen busy, while she tried something. I just don't know what!"
"She wanted you to dance with them?" Susan was puzzled. "I'm surprised that these men can dance. And what did you do for music? They don't look like the sort of fellows who'd have a gramophone and waltz records with them!"
Veronica smiled wryly. "Susan, I didn't dance WITH them. I danced FOR them. I'm a slave girl. We dance a little differently than when waltzing with our own men. By the way, I was taught by my friend Marguerite, who escaped. She was a slave of this Sultan's father, years ago. My friend Finn, who wasn't in camp when the slavers came, taught me something weird called rock and roll dance, too. I do both, and men seem to like each. You can tell by the way they look at you. It does give a girl a feeling of power in a way, to be able to enchant them like that. Finn sort of gets off on it more than I do, but even I like the way they look at me. And the slavers use drums and cymbals for music. Maybe they'll have flutes, too, when we get to Amarrah. I felt really primal and female, being made to move to just those drums!"
Holly was horrified, if a little thrilled. "That sounds so exciting! But you mean, to dance like their Arab girls? I wouldn't know where to begin. Nor will Susan, I'm sure. We're decent white women!"
Veronica smiled wanly. "I was pretty decent, too, I thought. But after they whipped me, I was eager to perform for them. Maybe I'm naughty, anyway, though. I and my friends dance for our husbands sometimes, when the boys get lucky and catch us in the right mood. Then, I guess that we're sort of INdecent." She laughed. "Actually, I think that my first pregnancy came right on the heels of one of those dance sessions in the jungle where I live."
After that, she had to tell how she was associated with the famous Challenger Expedition that had gone to South America to find dinosaurs, and had gotten stranded atop a huge plateau.
"I know both of your hunters," said Holly. "Geoff is really nice, although he has something of a playboy reputation. If I wasn't expecting my present beau to propose soon, I'd date him if he asked me. The girl who gets him to settle down with her will have a nice catch. And he's so dashing! I'm sure that he and Stuart and your friends will have help on the way for us. But how will they ever find us? These awful men said that we'll all be shipped off to Arabia tomorrow night. We may really have to be slave girls. Oh: does that longer whip you mentioned really hurt? What they used on me here wasn't any fun, I promise you!"
"It hurts, really bad," confirmed Veronica. "Maybe it's best if Susan feels the lash first here, with that multi-bladed one. She's a whip virgin, and that's probably an easier introduction to that form of punishment."
"Whip virgin!", snorted Holly. "You are funny, Veronica. But speaking of virginity, I bet we lose it soon. Susan and me. You're married, with children. What is the first time like? Not that doing it with a man who you love is quite the same as it will be for Susan and me, raped by wild-eyed Arab cretins." She trembled, and Susan was ashen-faced as she realized that this would soon be her fate.
The girls talked more, getting to know one another and discussing their probable future. Each was glad to know the others, and to have someone to share their chains and their misery.
As it turned out, neither Veronica nor Susan was to feel the whip that night, for circumstance intervened.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
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971 Posts |
Posted - July 09 2008 : 7:21:34 PM
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"Hush!," said Susan. "Someone is turning the key in the lock!"
They waited, afraid, assuming that it was Susan's time to go under the whip.
But the man who entered, one of the shopkeeper's sons, merely leered at them and placed three sets of padded brown leather gags and blindfolds on a small table.
"Later tonight, you will each wear these as you leave. If your owners remove them when you are out in the wilderness, that is up to them. We are transferring ownership of you to them. But you will not leave here able to implicate me, my father and brothers. You will never see this place from the outside."
"Look, Gupta or Ramal, or whatever your name is, we haven't eaten. I'm starving, and I imagine that Veronica and Susan are, too. You can't sell us if we starve. When is dinner served?" Holly hadn't been fully cowed by one whipping, and it showed.
The man sneered at her. "British female, you have been taught the name by which you must address me, and all men who deal with you. Speak it, or feel the whip again before you leave."
"Master," she stammered. "I mean no disrespect, but we are hungry. Please feed us." She managed to whimper a little, not all of the sound feigned. She was afraid, and she was hungry.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
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971 Posts |
Posted - July 09 2008 : 9:12:34 PM
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The man took a length of leather lace from a pocket and approached Holly. "Rise up high on your knees, girl." He handled the lace menacingly.
"No," screamed Veronica. "Master, please! I will serve you however you choose, but forgive her. She will be worth enough alive to atone for her insult. Would you not rather think of her submissively serving the Sultan than to strangle her? She will be much humbled, even within a few days!"
Holly looked stricken as she heard Veronica and realized why the man must have taken out that bootlace. Her neck felt constricted already. "Yes, please, Master! I apologize. I am hungry, and I spoke hastily!"
He chuckled. "Raise up, Holly. I am not going to strangle you. I will whip you later, I think. But as your new friend says, you will soon learn to be humble. I am only going to use the lace to measure your neck, and Susan's. Look at Veronica. See the slim metal collar with the ring on her throat? She looks lovely, wearing only that and her chains, does she not? We have collars like that in several sizes, all that we need to fit girls who we find attractive enough to take." He gestured, and a frightened Holly rose up on her knees as instructed.
She felt the thong around her throat, and shivered. Then he removed it and measured it and jotted down his finding on a notepad. Then, it was Susan's turn.
"You made me an offer, Veronica," he observed. "But it was not your tongue that was offensive. Holly: rise up again and beg to serve my pleasure." His voice was firm, and she was jolted.
"Master, let me please you. Do not whip me again. Twice in one night is too much." She looked down, obviously scared. "I really, really do not want to be whipped again. What must I do?"
He told her, amused at the horrified expression on her face. "I can't do that! Decent women do not so such things! If news of that gets out, no honorable man will ever marry me!"
"Thanks a lot," said Veronica drily. "My husband loves that, and he loves me. Some men say one thing, and like another, in the bedroom. At least, Ned and the other men in our little group are honest with us girls about their feelings."
Holly looked desperately at her. "Veronica! You've done that?! Anyway, you're American, and you live in a primitive jungle. You're really Brazilian, now that I think of it. You said so. But I..."
"Holly, I am getting a little put out with you!" Veronica snapped. "I just offered to do that myself, to save you a whipping, and now you act like you're too good for it. Look, lady, where we're going, that is something that you'd better learn to do well, and soon. We'll be expected to do worse than that, and long before that ship reaches Amarrah!"
Holly sniffled, then nodded. "Master? I have never done that. What do I need to do? Is there a technique?"
He laughed. "Let Veronica tell you, in detail. I will return before long, and you will then do that, before others, as soon as I snap on your collars. Pay attention to what Veronica tells Holly, Susan. You also must do that before you are ready to leave. We men discussed it, and decided that all three of you will compete. The winner gets a fruit. The others will get a pat on the head for the runner-up. The losing girl gets five added strokes with the whip."
"That isn't fair, Master," interjected Veronica. "Let me show them what to do, then let just the two compete. I have enough experience that it isn't right to pit them against me. Please. They are new girls, unwed and inexperienced in love and such matters."
He looked at her. "I see why the men who brought you here admire you, Veronica. You are a brave and generous girl. You will make a splendid slave for the Sultan. I envy him. Very well: you shall service me, then each of the others. But yours will be a demonstration for them. And you and the winning girl will each have a fruit. Do you like oranges? We have those and other good things, for girls deserving of them."
"Oh," he added as an afterthought. "You will be fed before all this happens. I will bring the collars, lock them on the new slaves, then you can be fed. Later, we will see what you can manage to do to earn that fruit." He chuckled and left.
"Can he actually be serious?" Susan shuddered.
"He is totally serious," Veronica told her. "I'll tell you what I can, and you'd better pay attention. Once you get past the idea, it isn't all that bad. Soon, you'll honestly be proud of how well you can do it. You may even look at girls who haven't done it as naive, sheltered, and prudish. As for men who won't marry you if they know that you've done it, I don't think that's a prime worry for us. We're slaves, and we MUST be good at that, and at other things. Even if you're rescued, which is becoming less likely with each passing hour, a man who'd reject you because you were forced to do that probably isn't going to be the fellow that you want to spend the rest of your life with. At best, he won't be as much fun as one who wants you to do that to him, and appreciates that you will."
"Anyway," she continued, "Here's what you need to do, and I'll tell you some nice tongue tricks that will make a guy sit up and take notice. You'll be earning more fruit and candy than whippings within a week if you do this right."
"Wait a minute," said Susan. "Just for the record, people will assume that we've done this and a whole lot more, just because we've been prisoners here, right? So, whether we do that or not probably doesn't matter. Either way, our reputation is pretty much in the sewer already."
"Very likely," agreed Veronica. "I'm already married, and my main worry is whether my man will forgive me for doing what I had to. Your problem is getting a nice man, to begin with. Someone who will still want to have his children with you, knowing that you knelt before these guys and called them 'master', and did what they wanted.
But if we aren't rescued soon, it's all a moot point,anyway. We'd better start getting used to being the hottest sluts that we can. Marguerite told me about this Room of Correction that they have for girls who don't get with their program, so to speak. I'll share with you later what she told me about it. But the main news is, you DO NOT want to be sent there. Now, listen up, while I tell you how to do what they want tonight. We may not have much time, and there are some useful tips that I can give you. Other than that, just watch carefully while I use my mouth on that Indian creep. Excuse me, I mean on our exalted master."
In spite of her terror and revulsion, Holly thought that was funny, and managed a laugh. She decided that she was going to earn a piece of fruit. Let Susan feel the added lashes of the losing girl. Susan was probably too shy to do this sort of thing very well, anyway.
Holly listened carefully to what Veronica had to say, asking several questions when she wanted added clarity. Her interest was evident.
It dawned on poor Susan what Holly had in mind, and she rebelled. If either of us new girls gets any fruit tonight, it's going to be me, she decided, not that arrogant aristocrat of a banker's daughter. I'm scared and disgusted, but I'm blonde, and they'll like that, I bet. And I don't have so far to fall socially as the lovely debutante Miss Deleterre does. She deserves another whipping for trying to set me up for it. The hell of it is, if I hadn't caught on to what she's planning, I might have deliberately done less well, to spare her another lashing!
Susan tried not to show it, but she began listening intently to Veronica's advice and to Holly's questions. And she ran her tongue around her lips, practicing some of the motions that Veronica described...
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
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971 Posts |
Posted - July 09 2008 : 9:48:42 PM
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She had barely begun when the Indian returned with their collars. He was in a bad mood.
"Here, Holly," he demanded, "Raise up and let me get this on you. We may not have time for much else tonight. Our friends want to leave early. Do not fear; they have said to feed you. But your whippings and the rest may have to be postponed until later. I will not get to feel you doing your best to avoid a whipping, after all, it seems."
He lifted Holly's lovely brown hair and locked the collar on her throat, then rotated it so that the small integral lock was behind her neck, and the steel ring in front. Then, he did the same to Susan, and checked Veronica's collar, the same model.
Another son of the owner came in with a tray containing three bowls of rice with vegetables and some fish. Each girl fed from a man's hand, then drank. Holly made a point of rising gracefully and looking shy and grateful as she took her bites. Veronica and Susan noticed and blushed, then made sure that they did as well.
In the end, they pleased their masters, and were rewarded with smiles and pats on the head. Susan seethed internally, but smiled and kissed the hand of the man who patted her head as if she was a dog.
The men left, and Holly told Susan that she had seen her kiss the man's hand. "Trying to curry favor, Susie?" she asked.
Susan nodded. "And you'd better apprecicate it, Holly. I may have to ask for mercy to be shown to you later. If they like me, your chances are better."
"I hadn't thought of that," admitted Holly. She saw the way that Veronica was looking at her and said, "All right, ladies. I'll start doing things like that, too. Maybe I can get out of some punishment and help you, also. I guess that we had really better be friends. And try to make these men happy with us! "
Veronica snorted. "Holly, you're the brunette here. We blondes have figured that out already."
Holly laughed. "Yes, I suppose that it would be the blondes who'd figure that out first. Don't look at me that way, girls! I'm teasing!"
"You'd bettter be," warned Susan, and she and Veronica laughed.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
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971 Posts |
Posted - July 09 2008 : 10:11:40 PM
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They returned to discussing what would be expected of them when the time came, and just getting better acquainted, when there was a commotion and raised voices beyond the locked door to their quarters. Then, shots rang out!
The three women looked at one another, terrified.
There were two more shots. Then, a man from Khalid's caravan opened the door. "Slaves," he told them. "The Indians whom you met have ceased to be our partners. They will bother you no longer. We need to gather some food and other urgent items here, and look for money and other valuables that they no longer need. Then, we will load you into the cars and be off for the coast. Just think: you will have a free ocean cruise soon. Talk while you can. And you will probably not be gagged for most our journey, if you do not scream or otherwise cause trouble. It does not matter much if you see this place from outside now. It will soon be in flames, and you will notice little else in the dark, anyway."
He shut the door, and they heard sounds of men searching the store, moving frantically, for they knew that they must now leave soon.
The slave girls looked at one another with fear. "I think we're going to be okay, ladies," said Veronica. "These men stll want to sell us. And I don't miss the others. It looks like our performance has been delayed, too. Be grateful for what you can, I guess."
They nodded, but Susan had mixed emotions. As long as she was being forced to do what they wanted, she was curious and half anticipating servicing their captors. It was a step outside her sheltered existence, and under the circumstances, she wanted to get it over with, for the first time. It certainly wasn't anything that she had done with a man whom she'd dated, even when they'd managed to avoid a chaperone. She wondered if Holly felt the same way, under her patrician attitude.
She looked her over carefully, and decided that there was a pretty good chance of that. She was flushed and looking feminine and desirable about something...
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
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971 Posts |
Posted - July 09 2008 : 10:32:13 PM
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"Listen! Did you hear that?! Shots?" Roxton looked at Musgrave, who nodded. They pulled up the four cars, which had been approaching the dukka with their headlights out. They were also using thornbush and trees as much as possible to conceal their advance. They had left the road nearly a mile back, as darkness fell.
"Get out with your binoculars and see what you can, lads," ordered Musgrave. "Amanda, you are in charge of the ladies. Stay here."
"Yes, Master. We hear and obey," mutttered Marguerite under her breath. Finn heard, and snickered. She drew her Smith & Wesson .38 and checked the cylinder. It was loaded, as she had known it would be. But she never took chances that she didn't have to.
The rescued Diana smiled, but wondered what to do. She had the Luger captured by Margerite, but doubted if she had the courage to use it, unless directly in danger. She had not been raised to murder, and shivered a little as she sensed the urge for revenge on the part of the other ladies. She hoped that Amanda Musgrave would have more influence over them than she thought might be the case.
Finn pulled on her bush jacket. "The khaki covers my arms and makes me less obvious in the dark," she explained. She also removed her sun helmet and replaced it with a dark stocking ski cap. "Hides the blonde hair for which I am justly famous," she giggled.
"And it won't make noise if brush scrapes against it in the dark," added Marguerite.
Diana was now seriously concerned that these women had plans beyond those which Musgrave had ordained for them.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
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971 Posts |
Posted - July 09 2008 : 11:09:51 PM
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"Finn!" Roxton had returned to the car. "Get your glass and come over here and get up a tree and tell us what you can see over the next rise of ground. We men are too heavy."
Finn nodded, picking up her Zeiss 8X30 binocular and her 'scope-sighted .275 Rigby rifle. This was a job that she had done several times before, in Brazil, working smoothly with Roxton, her virtual big brother and soulmate, in some respects.
"Aren't you afraid, Finny?," asked Diana.
"Sure," answered her slender blonde companion. "But somebody has to do this, and Johnny and I are our hunter-killer team. We've done this before, and Vee's life is at stake. I'll manage." She had a cold determination about her that frightened Diana and Amanda.
"What did she mean by being your hunter-killer team?" demanded Amanda Musgrave. "What sort of people are you, anyway?" She gave Marguerite an intense look.
Marguerite returned her look with a level, steely gaze. "Live ones, Amanda. In spite of some peoples' best efforts to render us otherwise. We have had similar experiences before, and we don't give up our own easily. If Veronica is in there and alive, we're going to get her back. And those damned Arabs are going to be seeing their promised 72 virgins in Paradise soon, if they get in the way!"
"Seventy-two virgins?" mouthed an embarrassed Amanda. "Is that what their men expect after they die?"
"I think the number is correct. I've asked, and Muslims don't agree on the exact figure. But it's more than enough to keep a man busy. Although why they insist on virgins is beyond me. I think virgins are boring. Highly overrated. Thankfully, my husband agrees."
In spite of herself, Diana giggled. "Oh, Marguerite, you are nasty!"
"True," grinned her companion. "But I'm fun to know."
"Yes, I can imagine," muttered Lady Musgrave. "I know: just ask your husband. Right?"
"Roxton knows all things," agreed his wife. "Hopefully, doesn't tell many of them." She joined the other ladies in laughter, some of which was due to the stress of rising action. Soon, something would happen here. She hoped fervently that all would end well. She missed Veronica, far more than she had once thought that she ever would. Now, that girl is almost a part of my heart, she reflected.
She saw Malone pass in the dark, and pulled him over. "Ned," she said, "it won't be long now." She squeezed his shoulder and kissed his cheek.
He nodded and went forward to see what role he might be able to play in saving his wife. The only person who wanted her back with him more than he did was Veronica, herself...
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
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971 Posts |
Posted - July 11 2008 : 03:15:25 AM
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"There are three camels and two horses outside, but I don't see any people," reported Finn, her expensive German binocular to her eyes.
"I hope that those shots weren't these devils shooting the girls," muttered Roxton. "Although I don't see why they would. Why go to all the trouble of kidnapping them, just to kill them?"
"Hey!," said Finn. "Some Arab guy just came out. But his turban was yellow or white. The guy who Marguerite was worried about has a green turban, and the camp boys said that the head slaver had a green one. He's maybe that same man. Okay, this wing-ding is going over to the cars. There are three of those. He's starting one."
She waited as the man also started the other cars and seemed to be listening to them run, before he turned off the engines.
"I guess he was checking the cars," shrugged Finn.
Before he went back inside, the man walked over to the animals and another man came out. They removed the bridles and what loads the beasts still wore, and yelled and waved their arms to scare the animals off. One man pulled out a pistol and fired a shot into the air. The animals bolted and the two men went back into the store.
"What the devil was THAT about?" wondered Musgrave.
"I'd guess that these fellows are about to leave in the cars, and wanted to be rid of the animals that they rode here on," guessed Hardy. Blacklaws and Hamilton agreed.
"Those almost have to be the very animals that we tracked here," pointed out Hamilton.
Ned Malone had found his Winchester M-12 shotgun among the firearms in one of the safari cars. One of the gunbearers had put it there by mistake when the hunters had left the fateful morning when the girls had been kidnapped. So, it had not been stolen by the Arabs and their African accomplices.
He found several boxes of shells for it, including two of buckshot loads. He loaded the gun with these now, stuffing six of them into the tubular magazine under the barrel. He closed the action with that solid snick-CLACK! that sounds so ominous in movies and on TV shows when a slide-action shotgun is operated. It is a pleasant sound to the sportsman out for a day of pheasant shooting. In the stillness of the African night, it had a lethal note, and gave Ned confidence in what he was about to do.
He stuffed extra shells into his trousers and hunting vest pockets, and cocked his Colt .45 automatic, thrusting the pistol into his waistband. He had no spare holster to replace the one that was stolen. With luck, he would soon recover his guns, along with his wife.
He put on his hat, and went forward, to join the other men. The way this was shaping up, he expected action in the next few minutes. They could not allow these men to leave. Either they had the missing girls, or they had just killed them inside the store. Ned hoped very much that his woman was a live slave instead of a dead body. He wiped a tear from his right eye, made sure that the safety catch in front of the trigger guard on his 12 gauge Winchester was "on" and joined the other men and Finn.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
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971 Posts |
Posted - July 11 2008 : 04:00:04 AM
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"Gentlemen, I think we had better get ready to move," suggested Roxton. "There are six of us, and probably about that many of them. Maybe one or two more. The transport they used wouldn't let many more arrive, but we can't know how many were waiting here."
"Right," said Musgrave. "I want some of you lads at each end of the dukka, ready to go in those doors when I say to. I'll lead the pair at the north end, the way they came. Geoff, you and Stuart know one another well, and hunt together. Do you want to block the southern door, leading to those cars? Angus, you go with them. Roxton, Malone, and I will hit the north end."
"Where do you want me?", asked Finn, coming down the tree. Roxton lifted her clear as she almost reached the ground.
"Mrs. Challenger, why don't you and your husband join the other ladies and protect the cars?" Musgrave thought that would give her and the older man something useful to do. Challenger seemed very fit, but he must be well over 50, and might not be able to run quickly or outstruggle one of the Arabs in a hand-to-hand fight.
Finn regarded him cooly, and turned to Roxton. "Johnny, where do you want me? Sniper, watching for anyone who breaks past Mr. Hardy and our hunters, and tries to get away in a car? George can spot for me with his binocular."
"Young lady, I believe that I was specific, and I am in charge here. I am the District Commisioner, if you might care to recall that small fact." Musgrave was piqued at this girl's insolence and her assumption that she should have some combatant role. He was not so short of men that he would ask a woman to help. Just not the gentlemanly way to do things...
Roxton held up a finger to ask Musgrave's forbearance, and took Finn and Challenger aside. "Look, we can't upset Musgrave. But once you've gone back to the cars, why don't you decide that the best way to fulfill his order to protect them and the women is to find a good place to kill whoever gets past us? Just don't shoot without cause, or you may be arrested for murder. This isn't the Plateau, and we have to play by artificial rules now."
"Capital idea, John," Challenger chuckled. "Very well, Darling, let us go and save the women and the cars." He winked at her, and she grinned back.
"Those creeps aren't getting out of here with Vee and whoever else they may be planning to ship to that jerk of a Sultan," Finn promised. "If nothing else, I'll shoot out the tires on their cars."
"Good girl, " smiled Roxton, and went to join the other men.
"At least, they ran off their own livestock," observed Blacklaws. I was sure that those camels would give the alarm at any moment.
Thankfully, the wind was blowing from them toward us."
"Well, this is it," said Musgrave. He drew his revolver and led the way toward the store. "If anyone of you has a free hand, cross your fingers for luck. We probably could do with some just now."
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
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971 Posts |
Posted - July 11 2008 : 10:06:53 PM
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As they neared the store, Roxton bent low to go under a window. Musgrave followed, and the other men. They were just about to enter the north door when one of the Arabs turned a corner in the store and saw them. He raised an alarm, and the men rushed in, calling on those inside to surrender.
The Arab went for his gun, and Ned Malone blasted him from ten feet away with the 12 gauge shotgun. The effect was impressive to see, and the man staggered back against a wall and dropped dead. There was a sound of great commotion within the store and shots rang out.
The men going in the rear door heard women screaming, and shot another Arab trying to get into the room where they obviously were. Angus Hardy made sure that the Arab was dead, then joined others in forcing open the door.
Within, another man was trying to unlock the ankle chains on Holly, to use her as a hostage as he fled. Blacklaws killed him as he saw a clear shot when Holly deliberately fell, giving the rescuers an opening. He walked over to Holly and told her that she was saved. "Is this other lovely blonde lady not Susan? I recall seeing her in the bank."
"Yes," said Susan, standing with his aid. "Oh, Mr. Blacklaws, thank you, ever so much! You can't imagine what horrors these men planned. We girls were to be sold as slaves!"
"Yes, my daughter told us," said Hardy. He looked at the other blonde. "Mrs. Malone, I am so sorry to find you thus. Let me help you up. Your husband will be here in a moment. He is with the other men. They went in the north door. How many of these vermin are there?"
Veronica said that there were five or six of the Arabs. "I think these creeps killed the Indians here," said Veronica. "not that I don't think they had it coming. They were part of the plot. Is Ned all right? These bastards hit him on the head when they took us."
There was another loud shot, from the Mauser 7.63mm pistol of the man who had run off the animals. It was answered by two quick shots from Roxton's .45 and a blast from Malone's shotgun. A short scream was followed by a thud as the man fell.
In seconds, Ned was at the door of the room, pumping another shell into his Winchester. He saw his wife, and quickly looked around.
"It's all right, Malone. Come in. There's a lady here who will be very glad to see you, I fancy," said Hamilton.
Malone applied the safety to his shotgun, set it in a corner of the room and seized Veronica in his arms. "Oh, Baby! Please forgive me. I got hit before I could save you. Will you forgive me? Did they hurt you?" He grasped her like she was about to be pressed into him and she held herself as tightly against him as she could, with her hands chained behind her.
"Neddy! Oh, damn it, I'm going to cry! Just hold me now. I'll tell you all about it later, but I'm okay. I have never been so glad to see another human being in my life!" She kissed him with all her might, and he replied with the same fervor.
"Looks like they care a little about each other, what?" Holly, embarrased by her nakedness and her chains, nonetheless found her droll sense of humor.
"Could be," admitted Blacklaws, staring at one of the most attractive women whom he had ever laid eyes on. Holly was someone who had caught his attention before, and now, with her clothes off, she was a visual feast.
"Come, Blacklaws, stop staring at that girl, and find the keys to her chains," demanded Musgrave. By now, the other men had crowded into the room.
"Where is this man Khalid? Was he the ringleader?" Roxton was eager to find the man who had stolen his wife.
"John, he is here, or was," stammered Veronica, breaking off her kiss with Ned. "The monster was going to whip us girls before we left tonight. He probably has the keys to our handcuffs and leg irons. Unless this dead guy on the floor has. He was trying to unfasten Holly's ankles."
"Never fear, Mrs. Malone," said Musgrave. "If we don't find him, Mrs. Challenger mysteriously has a key that fits those cuffs."
Veronica laughed out loud, in spite of her fear and her shame at being seen naked. "That figures! If anyone would have a handcuff key, it would be Finny. Ned, where is she? Is she all right?"
There was a flurry of activity in the hall outside, and someone ran past. Hardy and Hamilton ran to see who it was, and Hamilton was wounded slightly in the shoulder as a gun fired. His return shot and one from Hardy missed, and the men looked around the corner to see if the route was clear to pursue.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
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Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - July 11 2008 : 11:41:01 PM
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They heard Challenger yell for the fleeing man to halt. There was a pistol shot, followed at once by the sound of a hunting rifle being fired in the distance. There was the slap of a bullet hitting flesh, and the Arab cried out and fell dead.
"I think we just heard from Finn," said Roxton drily. "She and George were staking out the rear exit, to cover those cars."
"What?", exclaimed Musgrave. "I specifically told that couple to go back and watch the women!"
"You said to protect them," retorted Lord Roxton., "I think they decided that the best way to do that was to watch over the route to them."
"Someone see what that dead guy on the floor was using on Holly's chains," said Veronica. "Maybe it will unlock us. I'm kind of shy about standing here in my birthday suit, being seen by all of you men. Except for Neddy. He can see me naked whenever he likes, after saving me tonight!" She leaned over and kissed her husband again.
Roxton turned the dead man over and found the key. He unlocked the short chains on the girls' foot irons, but found that the key would not fit the other locks. This key was just for the common padlocks that were used to secure the chains in the floor.
"Send for Finn", he told Musgrave. "I think her key will work. Turn around, Miss." He addressed Susan.
When she turned, he confirmed that her handcuffs were the same as Diana had worn. Finn's key should fit. Veronica and Holly wore the same model of cuffs, normal except for having just the one link between the bracelets.
"Look here," said Musgrave. "I think that Mr. Malone should stay in the room, as he is married to one of the ladies. The rest of us should step outside, in view of their nudity. My wife and the other women will be along soon, and I believe they have some clothes that may fit you girls."
"No!" exclaimed Holly. "I mean, I'm still scared." She blushed crimson. "Mr. Blacklaws, will you please wait with me? Is that all right, Susan?" She looked at that girl.
Susan, surprised, nodded. "I don't suppose that he will see anything that they all haven't. I feel like I'm on display in a zoo, being gawked at." She saw a chair and walked over and sat down. It felt much better than sitting or kneeling on that cold floor had.
"That seems highly irregular," ventured the DC. "Do you know Blacklaws well?"
"Yes," Holly said. "Mr. Blacklaws and I are old friends, aren't we, Geoff?" She winked and he smiled.
He pulled over some other chairs, and assisted Holly to sit. With her ankles chained so closely, she could barely walk. He took the next chair, and the Malones, the others.
"Well, " muttered the DC. "I suppose that it will be all right. Come on, Roxton, lets search this store and see who that was who ran out. Maybe it was this Klalid fellow."
"What color is his turban?", asked Veronica. "Check that. Khalid is that man with the green one, the one who made Marguerite so uneasy back at the hotel."
But the dead man outside was wearimg a red turban. "Ahmed," said Veronica, when told. "He's the creep who whipped me so hard the first night I was a prisoner." She shivered at the memory.
"They had no business doing that!" stormed Malone. "Marguerite and Diana told us about that, and I hate it. Veronica, I feel so useless. I should have gotten to that rifle in time, and you'd never have been taken!" He looked miserable, and full of guilt.
She leaned over and kissed him again. "Oh, I don't blame you, Neddy. They did everything so fast that we barely had time to see what was happening. I'm just glad that you're alive. They wouldn't tell me whether you'd live. I don't think they cared."
"Were you girls raped?" The question shot out of Ned's mouth before he could think, and realize that this might not be the best time to ask.
They all blushed, and Holly said that this hadn't happened to her and Susan...yet. "I think they were saving that for later. They were short of time. That's why we weren't whipped again or made to do some other things, after they killed the store owner and his sons."
"I wasn't raped, but I had to do some other things. They forced me." Veronica began to cry. "Oh, Ned! I am so sorry! But they said that I'd be whipped again, and I couldn't take that. And they were going to do bad things to the other women if I refused. Can you forgive me? I want to still be your wife. I love you more than ever. Please tell me that you still find me acceptable."
Ned looked at her with amazement. "Veronica, I have found you 'acceptable' since the day that I first laid eyes on you. You're more beautiful than ever. Childbirth didn't hurt your looks at all, and neither did this. You're still the woman who I want to think of on a pedestal. If it hadn't seemed so dramatic and silly, I would have built you a wooden pedestal like the one that George puts Finn on when she does something that he especially likes. And your beauty goes right through you. It isn't just on the outside. Honey, I love you even more, for having nearly lost you. And when we get some privacy, I am going to prove that to you."
A thought struck him. "Look, this business didn't make you so angry with men that you don't to be touched, did it?"
She sniffled and tried to smile. "Maybe. Depends on which man wants to touch me. If it's you, fine. I was just terrified that you wouldnt WANT to touch me." She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Oh, Mr. Malone, you are the best husband ever! Touch me all you like, wherever you want, inside or out, as soon as we can!" She snuggled next to him. "Hold me, Neddy. Don't turn loose of me until we have to go."
Holly saw and looked shyly at Blacklaws. "Geoff, do you think that my reputation will be ruined by this? You're a man. Could you ever want to hold me in your arms after what happened to me?"
"Yes," he answered, and hugged her. "Actually, I have been wanting to ask you out, but I understood that you were all but spoken for."
She nodded. "I need to speak to the fellow you have in mind. But I find you very dashing and adventurous. Could we go out a few times? I want to be sure that he is really the man whom I want. Every time I see you, I wonder about that. It is shameful of me to say this, but I find you very attractive, and I want to date you before I make a bad decision." She blushed, shocked at what she was telling him.
"Holly, will you have dinner with me as soon as we can get back to civlization? I'd be very happy to get to know you better. And not just because I have seen you in the altogether. You have spirit, and I've admired that whenever I've seen you. And I like the pluck you've shown here, tonight. That was funny, what you said earlier about the Malones. If you can make jokes at a time like this, you're quite a girl."
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
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Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - July 12 2008 : 01:02:40 AM
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Roxton knocked on the door. "We can't find that varlet Khalid. Veronica, have you any idea where he could have gone?"
No," she called. "I was blindfolded when they brought me in here."
There was a shot from outside, then another, and a man screamed out in pain.
The men ran out, save for Blacklaws and Malone. Malone got his shotgun and they stood ready for whatever might happen.
Outside, they found Lady Roxton standing over Khalid, who was lying on the ground, bleeding from a wound in his leg. She had a Colt .45 automatic in her left hand, the gun that he had dropped when she shot him as he had emerged from a tunnel beneath the store.
Her right hand held the Webley MK V that she had taken from the dead slaver as she escaped. Marguerite cocked the hammer and said, "If you want to pray, you bastard, you'd better do it fast. My patience with you is about over!"
"Lady Roxton!" called Musgrave. "This is not that plateau in Brazil where you came to a certain fame. We have laws here. If you shoot that man now, it will be murder. Roxton! Talk to your wife!"
"He's right, Marguerite. Even my influence won't save you if you shoot this bastard in cold blood. Let the hangman have him. I'll see that you witness the execution, but holster your gun. Now." Roxton was genuinely worried, for he knew how Marguerite had suffered under the Sultan and lately, under this man. He wanted to kill Khalid, himself, but Musgrave was right.
She looked coldly at Khalid and said, "Saved by the arrival of witnesses, Khalid. What have you done with Veronica? If she is hurt, I swear that your life won't be worth a plugged shilling. If the courts don't have you, I will someday, without anyone to see!"
Marguerite pointed the gun away and lowered the hammer carefully. Putting it in her holster, she turned to her husband and said, "John, take me out of here. Just seeing this snake is making me sick to my stomach. Have you found Vee?"
He told her that their friend and other women were safe inside and she went in and saw them.
"Here, Ned," she said, passing him the Colt. "See if this may be your gun. Vee, how are you?"
Veronica stood and Marguerite embraced her. They wept together, and Marguerite told everyone how she had escaped with Diana.
Finn came in, Challenger waiting outside the door with the other men. She was carrying the handcuff key in her trousers pocket, aware that it might be needed again. It unlocked the cuffs, but the girls remained chained at their ankles. This was solved as Musgrave passed in a set of keys that he had taken from Khalid. He also passed in a gunbelt and holster that proved to belong to Malone. The gun was his, also, recognized by the serial number on it. He happily buckled on the belt and checked the gun.
Khalid was laid down on a table in the next room and his wound was treated with a first aid kit from a safari truck. Hamilton's shoulder wound was also disinfected and bandaged.
Musgrave demanded to know everything about the kidnappings and to whom Khalid had planned to sell the stolen women.
"I will tell you nothing, Englishman," Khalid said. "I want a lawyer. And keep Lady Roxton away from me. She is half insane!"
"Let me make you an offer that you'd better consider carefully, you varlet," said Musgrave. "Either you sing about your cronies, or you'll hang, for certain. If you give up the Sultan or whoever sent you, I'll have the Crown prosecutor agree to a life sentence. The evidence is irrefutable, and you will be convicted of multiple murders, as well as kidnapping, slavery, ivory smuggling, and whatever else we can think of."
"I will think on this," Khalid said. But he blanched at the mention of the hangman. He looked at Roxton and at Malone, who had come in to see the man who had taken his wife.
"You men must enjoy your marriages," he said. "Your wives are natural sluts. I enjoyed having them please me. I only regret not having taken them more fully before delivering them to their destination. I think they would have enjoyed that."
"Musgrave, why don't you step outside for a moment," said Roxton. "I have a feeling that Khalid is about to grab a gun and try to escape." He looked at the Arab with such evident desire to kill that the slaver wondered if he should have insulted the noble Englishman.
"That will be enough, Roxton. I want you and Malone out of here. Send in someone else to help me watch this man. Hamilton, how is your shoulder?" Musgrave wondered what was keeping the police. Maybe they hadn't found his note.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
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Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - July 12 2008 : 06:47:17 AM
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An angry Marguerite wandered through the store, gun ready in case any more slavers remained in hiding. She heard a faint noise from within an area that seemed to do duty as a kitchen.
On stepping around the corner, she saw two dead Indian men, one lying atop the other, as they had fallen. But just beyond, there was a movement in the shadows, and someone sat up, a gun in his hand. She was looking straight into the face of the treacherous Juma!
Marguerite immediately brought up the Webley and fired twice. The shots were horribly loud in the store, and she wondered how long her ears would ring from the noise.
"Marguerite!" shouted a desperate Roxton. In seconds, he was by her side, his gun out. Others also rushed in and saw the now dead Juma stretched out on the dirt floor.
"Was this self defense, Lady Roxton?" asked the DC. He was giving her a very cold look.
"Yes, Musgrave, it bloody well was! This boy is the one who betrayed us, and he had my gun in his hand. I want that back, by the way." She looked at Roxton as she reloaded, and he stepped over and took the Smith & Wesson from the hand of their betrayer. He unbuckled the belt and removed it and took it and the holster to her.
"Darling, this isn't your belt. I expect that he needed a longer one. You know, I had forgotten just how much he sulked and had a sullen expression. Were you hurt?"
She shook her head. "I saw him just as he started to rise and aim at me. He recognized me, I'm sure. I think he wanted to kill me before he went. He was already wounded. Someone should have checked his body better."
"We've been a bit busy," said Hardy. "Sir John, will you accompany me and check any others we find?"
"Capital idea," said the DC. "Lady Roxton, I accept your word as a noblewoman that you were in danger. There will be no investigation of this. But do try to stay with your husband, and both of you avoid any more trouble tonight, if at all possible."
"Yes, Sir John. I'm sorry if I was disrespectful. I have just been scared out of my wits. He nearly killed me, after all that I have been through in the past few days."
Musgrave nodded, and went with Hardy to check the premises.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
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Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - July 13 2008 : 04:03:39 AM
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As soon as they were sure that no living slavers still lurked, Amanda Musgrave and Diana Hardy brought in clothing for the newly freed captives. It was somewhat sparse, for it had been selected for Veronica, Marguerite, and Diana, the group not knowing that two other girls were also prisoners.
There remained one blouse for Veronica, the other women having already donned their clothing. She had a choice of shorts or a knee-length skirt. Whichever she chose, one of the other former slaves could wear the other...if it fit! There were also two bras and several pair of panties.
Veronica looked at the panties and snorted. "Who chose this underwear? Finn? One of the men? Like there'd be much difference!" She laughed.
"Hey!", said Finn. "I was trying to pick sexy little numbers that would make you girls feel good about yourselves when we rescued you. Fun stuff. You'd look great in one of the leopard pattern panties, Vee. Wild jungle princess, huh?" She snickered, handing a pair of the bikini panties to her best pal.
"Those knickers do look, ah, rather abbreviated," noted Lady Musgrave. She smiled, wearing a small pair of pink ones, herself. They made her feel almost a decade younger than her 34 years.
Susan lifted a pair of dark green bikini panties, a very deep jade color. "They are awfully small, but they're so pretty, and so feminine. Where did they come from?" She studied the delicate lace trim, wondering what these might cost. They were clearly of the best materials and workmanship. "What about sizes?"
"Marguerite and I are one size, and Milady Malone here needs one size larger in some styles," said Finn. "I first designed them, after some I knew where I came from. It was sort of a futuristic city, I guess you could say. We three girls design them and have them made by specialty shops in England. But Vee made the early ones on her sewing machine back in Amazonia when we first did this. She sews really well."
Holly lifted an almost sheer beige pair, trying to decide which was the front portion. "This looks like some stripper's gee-string, I guess. I've never really seen one."
"That's a thong, or tanga," said Veronica, showing her how it would be worn. "It leaves most of your butt bare, which is nice mainly if you have a guy to admire the view. I sometimes wear those at home, under my loincloth. They don't show if I somersault or bend over too far."
"Loincloth?" asked Amanda. "My word, Veronica, you do seem to lead an interesting life. Now that I think of it, I believe that I did see your husband's book, with a photo of you in that jungle outfit. I understand that the book sold rather well to men who liked that picture." She looked both peeved and amused.
"Oh, is that you in that book?!", exclaimed Holly. "I have seen that! My brother bought a copy. He has to hide it from Mum and Dad. Mum would not be thrilled if she caught him with that, and it has sketches of you in trees in it, too, wearing that outfit. Your husband is a really good artist! And Finn, weren't you in a black outfit, with scandalously brief shorts? Yes, it was you! Good heavens, Susan, these people are celebrities! They were on that strange Challenger expedition."
"Listen," said Finn. "Professor Challenger is my husband. Nothing that he does is strange. Sometimes, it's over the heads of a lot of people, but George is one of the greatest geniuses that the world has ever known!"
"Did he find dinosaurs?", asked Amanda, trying to keep a straight face.
"Yes," said Finn. "Well, we found evidence that they lived on that remote plateau a lot more recently than elsewhere. Why, some days, I almost felt them breathing down my neck, they seemed so real." She winked at Marguerite and Veronica, who hid smiles.
"Well, at least you got to dress like you were in that American chap Edgar Rice Burroughs's Tarzan or Martian books. Veronica, your loincloth was like something that High Priestess La of Opar might wear." Holly giggled, partly from amusement, partly from delayed stress.
"Just choose something and lets' see what else you girls need to get dressed," said Marguerite, wanting to end speculation about the Plateau.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
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Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - July 13 2008 : 04:49:21 AM
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Susan selected the dark green ones, and Holly fondled a black string bikni pair.
"Put those on, Holly," said Veronica. "They'll make you feel like dancing, not neccesarily the sort of dance that I was going to have to teach you to please those Arabs." She smiled.
Holly blushed and tried them on. "Oh, I feel so wicked! Perhaps, I will wear these, if I may. What else is there? Veronica, you wear the skirt. I can make do with the shorts if they'll fit."
Susan adjusted a white pushup demi bra and found it to fit well, if not quite perfectly. It was one of Marguerite's, and that lady was slightly less endowed than was Susan. Veronica took her other bra, a lacy black one that went well with the small leopard print panties that she wore. She was fuller busted than the others, making this bra her obvious choice, it having being made for her in the first place!
But Holly had no garment save for panties, for the shorts fit Susan better than her. Neither girl had any boots, for they had been stripped in Nairobi, and not a stitch of their clothing had come with them. Only their earrings had been allowed.
"I have a great idea!," exclaimed Finn. "Marguerite, get those two blankets that you took from the slavers. I'm going to find a pair of scissors. A store like this must have some around. We can cut holes in the middle of the blankets, and Holly can wear one like a serape or poncho, or whatever those things are called. It'll probably cover her, at least to her knees."
"Finnykins, you never cease to amaze me with your zany ideas," Marguerite retorted, "but that one should work". She went out and Finn went for the scissors.
Marguerite also brought in her shorter boots, which fit Holly, if a little on the tight side. With the improvised garment on, Holly was at least decently covered, if a little racily. She found herself wondering what Geoff Blacklaws might think of her legs, which she knew very well were superb. If she "accidentally" lifted the blanket a little higher than neccesary when getting in the car, Blacklaws would see them almost up to her shapely hips. She decided to ask him to help her get in the car, to be sure that he saw. Why leave something that important to chance? She smiled at her cleverness.
Challenger stuck his head into the dukka and called to Musgrave that he saw vehicles coming, through his binocular. "I rather fancy that it's your police lads, late to the party."
And it was.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
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Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - July 13 2008 : 8:18:32 PM
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The police came in three trucks, three white officers and 25 askaris. They bustled around, making sketches of the premises, for they had no cameras, and the courts would want to see the placement of the dead bodies and other items. They took Khalid into custody, and chained him in one of their vehicles.
Finn and Challenger drew the Roxtons and the Malones and their hunters aside and told them quietly that they had been through the slavers' cars and recovered most of the stolen guns. They had been unable to search for jewelry, watches, etc. "But we wanted to get our guns before that stiff-backed DC decided to seize them for evidence, or something." Finn caressed the beautifully-figured walnut stock of her .450/400 double rifle as she spoke.
It turned out better than expected. Musgrave ordered the police to return their stolen goods as they were identified, with the police just recording each item as it was discovered, and where it was found. Fortunately, there was little or no damage to anything. The guns were still in their rigid wooden and leather cases, and the jewelry had been carefully handled and packed.
Roxton was agitated to discover a dent in the stock of his .318 rifle, but commented that the repair department at Westley Richards could steam out the slight depression in the wood and refinish it.
"Still, this irritates me considerably," he declared. "Darling, why don't you walk over and shoot Khalid in his other leg, while Musgrave's back is turned? The blighter has it coming!"
Marguerite laughed and said that she'd like to, if it were really possible. They all joined the laughter, helping to dispel the tension of the past few days.
The women assembled at the cars, where Lady Musgrave saw that all had food and water, and the chance to commiserate with their fellow ladies. She said that her husband would soon dismiss everyone, to go to Angus and Diana Hardy's farm. There, clothes could be sewn for those needing them, and they could recover from the horrors of the past few days. "John tells me that the police have reported the breaks in the telephone lines, and we can notify your families that you are safe, on Angus's radio," she addded.
"I haven't any family left in Kenya," said Susan sadly. "But I expect that we'd better notify the bank what became of me. Maybe I can keep my job there until I save up a bit more. Then, I want to go to London and rent a room while I try to find work there. I'm not really cut out for this country, I'm afraid."
"Can you type, at least a little?," asked Finn. "I need a personal secretary. George and I will pay you more than the bank did, and you can have a free room at our London house or our estate in Kent, depending on where we are at the time. I'm an author, but I hate to type!"
"Oh, Mrs. Challenger! Do you mean that? That would be heavenly!" Susan was hopeful and grateful. "Are you sure that this would be fine with your husband?"
"Yes," joked Finn. "I'll tell him that it is. Seriously, he seldom denies me anything that I reasonably want, and we've been talking about getting me a secretary. So, you have the job, if you want it. I can introduce you to some nice men you might want to date, too."
Susan's spirits were lifted, and it was contagious. They all were happier as they loaded into the trucks to go to the Hardy estate.
But Holly amused the other women as she told Blacklaws that she was a little shaky from her ordeal, and asked him to help her into the car. She showed him rather a lot of shapely leg as he did this, thought Lady Musgrave. Then, she smiled. Holly was husband hunting, and from the look of things, Blacklaws was close to being hooked.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
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Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - July 14 2008 : 8:11:48 PM
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They talked quietly on the way, and some tried to doze in the car seats. Veronica sat by Ned, and their hands frequently met. They were seen kissing several times, but no one teased them. After what they had been through, everyone was just glad that they were reunited. Finally, they stopped and made breakfast.
After they ate, Susan took Finn aside. "Mrs. Challenger, I may not be able to accept your job offer. I've been thinking about my slim finances. I have only some 300 quid in the bank. How much is a Second or Third Class ship ticket? Do you know?" She assumed correctly that her new employer and her husband travelled First Class.
"That's the problem? Just that you can't affford passage to Britain?" Finn motioned for Challenger to come over.
She told him about hiring Susan, and asked if they could pay for her passage. "I really need a secretary, Genius, and Susan and we have a certain bond after all that we've been through together. I like her personality, too. Can we buy her ticket?" She looked at her husband with those eyes and that expression that nearly always melted his heart and got her whatever she wanted, if at all reasonable. Finn tried to be reasonable.
"Second or Third Class passage?" He mulled over the issue. "Young lady," he addressed Susan. "I am afraid that Finn and I cannot do that for you. But I will happily pay for your trip if you will go First Class and be available, in case Finn needs you for dictation or typing. The issue, you see, is that Challengers go First Class. I did that in a wife, and I will do that for her secretary." He smiled at his love.
Finn yelped and did a joyous little dance, to everyone's amusement. She seized her man and said, "Thank you, Genius! I knew that I could rely on you to do the right thing here, and you did! Oh, George, I love you more every day! If that's possible!" She pulled him down and kissed him, as several people applauded. They hadn't heard the exchange of words between the two, but everyone likes to see a married couple who are actually in love!
Susan had heard them, and she curtsied to Challenger and said, "Professor, I will try ever so hard to be what your wife expects in a secretary. You are very generous and kind. One doesn't see that too often."
"Well, nothing is too good for Finn," he said, squeezing his wife. "And if you are the typist whom she prefers, you deserve what help we can give you. I, myself, am eager to see her next book in print. I'm sure that having you to assist will expedite that. She is a terrific woman, but she and typing do not mix well." He chuckled. "So, you see, not even Finn is perfect."
Finn smiled, and dug her husband playfully in the ribs with an elbow. "You don't exactly type well, either, wise guy."
"Well, perhaps you will lend me your secretary at times. My articles for scientific journals are much shorter than your volumes of adventure and romance, and even your planned wildlife works. Or, if that is too great a burden, Susan, I can hire temporary help when you need assistance."
"I'll do my best to handle everything I can," Susan promised. "Oh, thank you Mr. and Mrs. Challenger. For me, this is like a dream come true!"
"It gets better," Finn teased. "Wait until you taste what our cook makes. Then you'll really think you're in Paradise!" She remembered too well the days when her meals had been haphazard. Sometimes, she would walk over to George and hug him, seemingly for nothing. When he asked the cause, she'd often say, "Because of you, Genius, I know where my next meal is coming from." It was a sobering issue, and his heart always went out to her when he recalled the circumstances in which he had discovered her surviving.
When that happened and he was in a thoughtful mood, he would sometimes pick her up and put her on the wooden pedestal that he kept for her in their bedroom. When she giggled and asked why he'd done it this time, he'd look somberly at her and say, "That's for staying alive until I could find you, and for marrying me."
But he had done that only twice, for she had both times broken out in tears as she hugged him like he was a life preserver and she was a drowning woman. All that he wanted to think of drowning were her nightmares from the past.
Hiring a secretary for her was a privilege, he thought. If Finn wanted to see it as a favor, well, so be it. For all of Finn's feeling that he had saved her life, Challenger still thought that saving her was the best thing that he had ever done for himself.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
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Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - July 15 2008 : 09:18:44 AM
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They debated whether to shoot a small buck for lunch, but settled for bully beef and other canned goods, the better to reach the Hardy estate soon. Everyone was quite tired, and drivers decided to sleep and drive in relays.
At the farm at last, the women went to their tents for more clothes and shared them with Susan and Holly. The latter went through Finn's things to pick out a few that might fit her, and found one of the black shorts and cropped top sets that Finn had worn in Amazonia. She had brought it on safari thinking that it might prove to be acceptable lounge wear in camp.
Holly called Diana over, and told her that she and Angus ought to convince Finn and Veronica to wear their Amazonian garb and host a book ordering party. Guests could place orders for Finn's and Malone's books after meeting the authors and seeing them in the garb that they had worn while living the adventures that they described in their volumes.
"Are you serious?", asked an amused Finn. "How many guests would come, 'way out here?"
Diana thought, and called in Hamilton. They estimated that perhaps as many as 50 might come. "Especially, if Finn and Veronica wear those outfits." Diana seemed to find that very funny. Hamilton admitted that it might draw book buyers, and perhaps the police.
"If it's a private party, they can't be accused of being indecent in public," Holly pointed out.
Finn laughed and pushed them out of her tent, pleading exhaustion. But she thought about it. She was becoming a clever businesswoman, always eager to find new ways to sell her books.
Challenger came, telling her that they had been allocated a bedroom in the main house. They transferred some essential items there, and she told him about the book sales plan.
He chuckled, but told her that they should think about it, if the Hardys would host the event. As she snuggled against him just before they slept, Finn was calculating the odds of selling books against the odds of scandalizing local dress codes in 1928. The idea of having men gawk at her in that brief outfit was a little appealing, if it didn't hurt her husband's reputation. And Finn very much wanted to become a famous author...and a successful one.
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
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Explorer
971 Posts |
Posted - July 16 2008 : 09:49:36 AM
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A servant girl named Wanjiru woke them at seven, with tea. She told them that the DC had arrived during the night, and wished to see everyone at breakfast at eight.
As they dressed, the Challengers wondered whether they would face any difficulty over Finn's having shot the fleeing Ahmed.
But Musgrave, although tired, seemed in good spirits, and told all there that he saw no problems with the previous day's actions. The police had taken Khalid to Ft. Hall where he had agreed to make a statement implicating the Sultan of Amarrah as his client in the kidnappings. Desperate to save himself from a hangman's noose, he added that another caravan had preceeded the one that he had headed. "It seems likely that two other white girls and 15 African ones, with some 100 tusks are probably already at sea, headed for Amarrah." Musgrave was grim.
"I notified the Governor and the Provincial Commisioner, and they have alerted the Admiralty. If this ship can be stopped, it will aid immeasurably in indicting the Sultan on whatever charges can be brought against him internationally. I don't pretend to know how that works, but at the least, he will get a black eye over this. The world will know him for what he is: a nasty despot who deals in human misery." He reached for his tea with a grimace.
"Who are the white girls?", asked Holly. "Would we know them?" She shuddered, thinking how close she, Veronica, Marguerite, Diana, and Susan had come to the fate that awaited these young women if the dhow carrying them couldn't be found.
Musgrave consulted his notes. He read off the names, but no one knew them.
"Just as well," he smiled, "for one is a prostitute and the other is a French tourist who was suspected of similar activity. Her visa has expired, but she disappeared after her gentleman companion was arrested for scheming to defraud a Kenya resident in an investment swindle. I'm afraid they're rather rum girls, but not so bad as to deserve their present fate. If we recover them, the French lady will probably be deported, and the other warned to change her career. But if they reach Amarrah, they will sell for a tidy sum, and those elephant tusks will be worth a small fortune, also."
Lady Musgrave buttered a slice of toast and passed it to her husband, winking at Finn. Someone had evidently told her about Finn's doing that for Challenger. Finn blushed and grinned back.
Musgrave accepted it and said, "Why, thank you very much, Amanda. Very decent of you." He looked mildly puzzled, but pleased.
"What became of that pilot?" asked Roxton. "Did he ever locate the caravan and coordinate with the soldiers?"
"Ah, I was coming to that," the DC said. "Yes, we got word on Angus's radio this morning that Parker found the Arabs and guided Thorn's troop right to them. He got a couple of bullet holes in his fuselage from it, but wasn't injured. Thorn had some casualties, but killed about half of those blighters and captured the rest. He freed all of the African girls and recovered a large number of tusks. That ivory can be sold to raise funds to help the Game Department, which is a worthy cause. Such poaching has become a serious problem, and needs to be checked. Most of the people behind it are Indian merchants. The actual poachers are poor bush Wogs, who earn little from their risks. When caught, they usually have no idea who the top men are, and can give little information."
"I keep hearing this word, 'Wog'," said Mrs. Malone. "What does it mean?"
Marguerite muffled a snicker and looked to her husband to explain. He looked embarrassed, but said, "Veronica, during the late war, the King got complaints from foreign dignitaries that black and Indian troops were being called derisive names by white forces. The usual things: ******s, coons, kaffirs, whatnot. He ordered that they be referred to as Worthy Oriental Gentlemen. The British soldier being what he is, this was quickly shortened to the initials, hence WOG, and wogs, it has remained. Not very enlightened, I'm afraid, but probably the best that can reasonably be hoped for. The word is now used throughout the Empire."
"Before you get to feeling too much outrage," added Hardy, "keep in mind that these people, the average Africans, aren't really down out of the trees yet. They smother newborn babies if the shadow of a vulture passes over the hut where one arrives, because that means that there is a curse on the child. A 'thahu'. That sort of thing. Many of them put their old people out in the bush for lions and hyenas to eat, too."
"Daddy, tell them about Jomo," laughed Diana.
Her father chuckled. "I'm afraid that we had to transfer a boy from the kitchen to outside work after I came in the kitchen one day and found him rubbing grease from a roast onto himself. It made him look fashionable, by his standards, you see. That was bad enough, but when he saw me looking at him, he tried rubbing the grease off his body and back onto the meat. Needless to say, we had something else for dinner that night!" (Note: this is a true story, related by American hunter-journalist Robert Ruark, who was told it by a Kenya host.)
This generated laughter, even from the normally racially tolerant Veronica. It led to a discussion of African politics, mission schools, and the like that took up the remainder of breakfast.
But one key point remained. Hamilton broached the subject. "How do you folks feel about the safari? Geoff and I have discussed it, and we will refund your money if you decide to return to Britain, in view of what has happened. If you stay, we will give you a substantial discount, and we will still strive to get you exceptional trophies. Our reputations are at some risk, inasmuch as your ladies were taken from one of our camps. Both of us are deeply embarrassed about that. I cannot tell you how sorry we are."
Ned Malone replied that he and Veronica had talked this over, and decided to stay. "It may be our only chance to hunt in Africa, and aside from having my wife taken for a slave girl, things have gone well. She says that she'll get over it and will have to deal with it wherever she is, so we're for staying. John, George?"
"We're on, too," Roxton replied after receiving a nod from Challenger. "Marguerite wants to stay here for a couple of days to help the ladies sew some dresses and such, if that is permissible?" He looked at Hardy.
That gentleman said, "Glad to have her, and as many of you as want to remain for a bit. I've heard this idea of Finn and Ned selling books at a party here, and I'll invite some friends if you want to do that. Just see that I get a free book, eh?" He laughed. "And while this is being readied, you can shoot some leopard and bushbuck and lesser kudu here. Some baboons, too, if you will. They're into my mealie fields again. Damned pests. And they've been chasing the African girls as well as stealing food. They can be quite dangerous. We have to thin them out several times a year. Diana will show you where. If Susan hasn't done any shooting while she's lived here, perhaps she might enjoy that." He looked sympathetically at the pretty young blonde. He knew her story, having been briefed by Lady Musgrave.
"I'm on for it, too, " said Finn. "I want to get movies of them doing that and us shooting them." She planned to show her wildlife films in Britain to augment her income from writing, and to promote her books. What she did not know was that she would have to shoot more than baboons, and would come near death...
"I want to shoot a really big leopard," Marguerite mentioned. "And if I can do that here, and stay in a civilized home at night, that would seem to be the best of both worlds. Sport and luxury. You keep a fabulous house, Diana."
"Why do you think I want to marry her?, " laughed Stuart Hamilton. "Well, that's one reason, I swear to it!"
Following the laughter that this produced, they discussed who would do what, when, for the day. Marguerite asked for more coffee. "I think better after coffee," she pronounced.
"True, " acknowledged her husband. "And without two cups in the morning, she's dangerous!"
"There is nothing quite so exhilarating as to be shot at without effect." Sir Winston Churchill |
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