Chapter two

The mayor nodded, pleased that his niece had obviously chosen to listen to him. Castor and Pollux took the coach and quickly left the harbour. It had taken him some time to make it clear to Queena that she could not take her favourite horse with her and that he only had been able to get a save passage just for her. But now, she was aboard and had even sent the coach back to the mansion. The mayor knew that his niece would be better off without a slave when she reached the Caribean. Most governments had abolished slavery and he had heard of several people who had fled from the Confederacy that the local authorities had freed their slaves without even paying them a compensation.

He wondered if Queena would make her way alone. But then, he remembered that Whitty was an able blockade runner and, once in Jamaica or Cuba, Queena could live well from the money he had given to her.

***

Since the mayor had gone to bed shortly after he had seen his niece`s boarding, he missed the arrival of the next passengers. A tallish blonde woman left her coach. Obviously, she was a rich lady, too, but she wore a dress more suitable than Lady Queena had done. She entered the deck and spoke to Whitty, lowering her voice.

„Captain, as I told you, I will travel with my lady`s maid. Unfortunately, she is terribly afraid of the open sea, but, since I cannot travel without her, we had to – make sure that she won`t hesitate. We also ensured that she won`t alert the Yankees in her frenzy. You would not believe, she even tore her dress to avoid coming with me. I will have to lend her from my drawers, once she has recovered.“

Whitty frowned, but he sent two of his men to help Miss LaFayette with her luggage.

„Mph!“

When the two sailors opened the coach`s shack, they almost bounced back. Zenobia was lying on the bench, still stark naked, still thoroughly gagged and still tightly bound and hogtied. Her dark complexion almost hid her blushing, but her pleading eyes told the men that the girl definitely didn`t like her predicament.

„I am as embarrassed as you certainly are to offer you such a sight. But, I hope a silver dollar for each of you will help you to forget about it and may persuade you to get her to my cabin.“

Grinning, the two men grabbed the helpless girl and carried her aboard. Xenia deliberately failed to notice that the two sailors took the opportunity to squeeze and knead Zenobia`s breasts on their way. The girl grunted and squirmed, but they reached the cabin without problems.

„Just put her on the floor, I will take care of her. Please, get my suitcase now“, she ordered, giving each man a silver coin. The two sailors quickly obeyed, keen on getting another look at the naked slave girl.

„Thank you, my dears. Now, please let us alone.“

When the door had closed, she leaned down to Zenobia, almost gently grabbing her black hair.

„As you`ve seen, nobody on board of this ship is keen to help you. Just behave and maybe, after we have passed the blockade, you will be allowed to follow nature before you are crotch roped again.“

Zenobia just whimpered through the cotton wool stuffing her mouth to the bursting.

***

Queena whimpered into her gag, too. She had tried desperately to loosen her bonds, but to no avail. The knots binding her wrists were too tightly applied and being stretched onto her bulk, she could not reach for any other rope. The scarf around her neck prevented all but the slightest squirming and so, she could not even bang against the bulk`s frame with her boots. Queena had tried to bang her head against the upper frame, but it had hurt and only produced a faint knocking.

„Mhhhrrrrrr!“

She screamed through the panties that stuffed her mouth, but soon stopped yelling since the shawl over her nose made breathing quite difficult and she quickly ran out of breath. In addition, the sounds of the ship further stifled her muffled moans.

With dismay, Queena looked down on her body and saw her naked breasts, thrusting out from her tight elbow tie. Even getting free would be a massive attack on modesty.

***

When the two sailors approached at Stanton`s house, Winona opened the door for them. She had stripped Alinda to her camisole and knickers and changed into her rival`s dress. Alinda was one inch taller than Winona, but she had the same size in shoes and their figures were about the same, though Winona maybe had slightly bigger boobs.

When Winona had undone her knickers to attach the garters to her stockings in a way that would allow her to get the knickers undone without the rest of her undergarment, she thought if she would have to swap these with Alinda, too, since the Suthern spy was wearing white knickers instead of her black ones. Then, she laughed.

„My plan bases on the fact that these sailors don`t know me. If they don`t know my face, they won`t know what`s underneath Alinda`s skirts either.“

So, she got dressed completeley before putting the straight jacket on Alinda. Having been disguised as a nurse in a lunatic`s asylum for some months, she knew how to tie the straps right to make the jacket inescapeable. Gleefully, she pulled the crotch strap extra tight.
Winona took a handkerchief from the desk and stuffed it into Alinda`s mouth before she pulled the hood over her head and buckled it tight. The leather plug in the mouth oppressed quite some noise, as she knew from experience, but now, the girl couldn`t even utter more than faint mews.

The bound and gagged agent regained her consciousness some minutes before the sailors arrived.

„Mmmph! Uhhmmph! Gllg!“

Alinda squirmed more and more and tried to get somewhere, but, blindfolded as she was, she didn`t know where to go and Winona just pulled her leg, making her land on her backside.

„Uuummmph!“

„Yes, dear, the tide has turned once more! I am sure the Union is quite interested in what you have to tell them, once we have reached their lines. But now, I have just heard the door bell.“

Winona put on the black hooded cloak and let the two sailors in. The men hesitated by the sight of the struggling and squirming girl that wore only knickers below her waist and that was encased by a straight jacket and a leather hood.

„Have you got a sack or something like that?“, Winona asked, „I don`t want to alert anyone.“

„No, but it`s only some 100 yards from here and  it`s the midst of night. But let`s hurry, the tide isn`t waiting.“

They grabbed Alinda and carried her to the ship fast-paced, followed by Winona who had pulled the hood deep over her face. Once in her cabin, they dropped Alinda on the floor and disappeared.

„Mhhmmph! Uuhhmmph!“

„Just relax and enjoy the trip. If I manage to alert the blockade ships, it will be over all too soon.“

Alinda grunted and tried to kick at Winona, but the redhead just grabbed her ankles. Taking the cord from her cloak, she tied her rival`s feet to the door knob. Then, she just waited for the journey to begin.

***

„Oh my god, I thought this ship would never get started“, Rita sighed. She and Yvette had boarded quite early, though the Captain had told them that he could not leave befor five o`clock in the morning, according to the tide. Both girls had tried to find some sleep, but there had always been some running up and down the stairs and on deck, accompanied by talking and shouting. In addition, the lady next to them seemed to have exytremely bad dreams for she was moaning and grunting continously. Yvette had even knocked at their neighbour`s door, trying to offer  her some laudanum, but she hadn`t answered the door. Obviopusly, the woman was already under the influence of some sleeping drug and slept deeply, but had nightmares.

Rita had quite a temper whilst Yvette usually was a friendly and calm person. But, despite their differences, both worked well together and were close friends for quite some years now.

Luckily, they hadn`t heard the first mate`s speculations about them being prostitutes. If one took the word literally and thought of women selling their bodies in the streets or in a brothel, they weren`t – and had never been. But if one defined a prostitute as a woman taking money or advantages from men and paid with sex, they both were. Both Yvette and Rita were able dancers and their daring Can-can had been the attraction of the saloons and theatres in which they had worked – but they had always understood to be kind to the right men. So, their shows had never been banned by any kepers of good moral, their taxes had never been that high and they never had to cope with some „protectors“ who wanted to extort money from them.

The war, however, had changed things. First, it had been quite a boost to their business, since many officers liked to relax after having been on the field for some months. But more and more, these officers had been too traumatized to celebrate or to enjoy a dancing show. If they did, they usually got drunk and more than once the security had to keep one of these from storming the stage and laying hands on Yvette or Rita. So, they had decided to leave for another city.

Since they still had quite a sum in gold coins with them, they could make a start nearly everywhere. Even if the ship got stopped by the Yankees, this would not be a problem.
Yvette had heard great things about New York. Of course, a big city meant big concurrence. Rita preferred to go to the west. The developing cities at the frontier hungered for women and, since they both had passed their 25th birthday (Yvette was 28, Rita two years younger), they would perhaps even find a decent husband and could settle down. So, despite Rita`s nagging, both dancers looked forward with considerable joy.

***

When they had reached the mouthing of Cape Fear river at about 8:00 in the morning, Winona had to find out that her military knowledge didn`t include any facts about naval blockades. She had expected a row of military ships blocking the sea, with not more than some five yards between them.

Of course, the U. S. Navy could not run a blockade like this, since they had a long shoreline to control. Outside every harbour of the Confederacy that had not been blocked by sinking ships or heavy stones in the navigation channel, some ships of the Navy always were on patrol, trying to stop every ship they saw. This system was quite effective and they stopped about 60% of the blockade runners, but Witty had always been one of the other 40%. one of his advantages was the lack of size the „Sea Hawk“ had. Even if it was a blockade runner, a Navy ship wouldn`t get much of a prize money by stopping it. In addition, the small size of the ship meant that he usually saw approaching ships on the horizon before they saw him. So, Witty was quite relaxed when they reached the open sea.
Winona cursed. She had thought that, once they passed the blockade, she would just yell for help and attract the attention of the Navy. They would board the ship and she would be free and save – and able to present a captured Southern agent. But now, she had to think of another plan. With no other possibility ahead, she just dozed off for a few hours, ignoring the muffled cries of the still bound and gagged Alinda.

Then, she heard a loud yelling from the guy in the crow`s nest.

***

„Steamer, larboard ahead!“

Witty didn`t lose his calmness. Of course, the Navy had steamers, enabling them to hunt down any blockade runner who were usally driven by sails. Today, with a steady, but not very strong wind, such a hunt would be a matter of minutes rather than hours.

The steamer approached quickly. Now, Witty could see it`s silhouette and the clouds of smoke coming from it`s smokestack.

„Which flag?“, he shouted towrds the man in the crow`s nest. There was no answer.

„Which flag, you son of a bitch?“, he repeated his question, now seriously angry.

„A-a Jolly Roger, Sir!“

Now, Witty was baffled. A Jolly Roger? Had they travelled through time? The last act of piracy in these waters where a pirate had shown the black flag with the skull and bones on it had been more than 30 years ago. Of course, the Confederacy had some vessels that tried to capture or destroy Union`s ships, but these usually showed the Confederacy`s flag and they were privateers. Besides, these ships did not operate a few miles from the U. S. Navy.

Witty considered quickly who the steamer could be. It could be just a joke, but nobody would be so foolish to play pirate in an area of warfare. It could also be a Union`s ship trying to frighten off any Confederate ship, but usually, the Yankees tried to capture the enemy´s vessels. The third thought Witty had was still quite absurd, but the most plausible one.

Since the war went bad for the South, at least some Southerners preferred to die in heroic missions rather than to surrender. Perhaps, some fireheads had managed to slip the blockade and now tried to inflict as much confusion and terror as they could manage.

„Hoist the Southern Cross!“, he ordered, and shortly after a big Confederacy`s flag went up the mast.

The steamer, now only some mile away, opened fire. The cannonball landed somewhere ahead, causing a fountain of water.

„What the-Joseph!“

This was against everything he knew about these waters. The steamer obviously wanted him to stop and to hand over his ship.

„What shall we do, Sir?“, Joseph asked. He wasn`t a coward, but a fight against a ship equipped with cannons and able to steer indipendent from the wind seemed to be a more than hazardous game.

Witty hesitated for a moment, then, he yelled: „Plan Zero!“

Joseph gulped, but he and his shipmates obeyed at once. „Plan Zero“ was to stop the ship and to lower the flag – and to leave the ship with the lifeboat, using the cutter as a shield against discovery.

Since his freight would prove his guilt in supporting the Confederacy, Witty would lose his ship anyway, maybe, under martial law, they also would hang him. But, by fleeing the ship, he could at least save his life and that of his men – and the box containing his gold.

When Joseph told him that the lifeboat was ready, Witty could see that the steamer had stopped some 500 yards away and was lowering a boat – obviously, he would send a prize commando to take over the ship.

„Well, let`s go“, he ordered.

„What about our passengers?“, Joseph asked him.

„There`s not enough room in the boat. I am sure these people will treat them with respect.“
Without any further word, the men entered the boat and started to pull it towards the coast. Witty knew that before the prize commando had entered the „Sea Hawk“ and alerted the steamer, he and his crew would be some mile away, since the prize commando`s men were pulling less fast. Even if they could see the small boat from thast distance, they wouldn`t dare to hunt for him, since they had the ship anyway and sure would not risk to follow him to the deceptive coast with it`s many shallow parts.

Witty felt sorry for the „Sea Hawk“, like any good Captain would have done,  but he knew that even so he had made quite a profit from that war and that it would have ended soon anyway.

***

The shot, followed by some running and yelling and then by a deadly silence irritated the two dancers. Was this a part of the blockade? Rita finally lost her patience.

„I don`t care what the Captain has told us, I am going on deck! He can`t do more than sending me back, can he?“

Determined, she left her cabin and entered the deck. To her surprise, she saw nobody.

„Captain Witty? Anybody?“

„There! There`s a woman!“, she heard a voice coming from the water. Rita headed for the railing and saw an approaching dinghi. In it, there were some ten men, all wearing shabby clothes. Evry man had a gun or a revolver.

„Well, the Yankees look even worse than the Southerners“, Yvette, who had stepped beside her, said.

„I hope they know better how to behave. Perhaps, we should go to our cabin.“

Before they could take a step, the boat had reached the „Sea Hawk“ and the men entered the deck. „Stay where you are! Where are the men?“, one of them shouted.

„We-we d-don`t know“, Yvette stammered when the man rudely grabbed her arm and pulled her aside before he and five others went below deck with raised weapons.

***

„Mmmmmph!“

Queena, who had finally dozed off after her frantic, yet futile attempts to get free or to alert someone, had been awaken by the sound of the shot.

„The Yankees!“, she thought. How embarrassing if men from the North would see her, a Southern lady, in a predicament like that, with bared breasts and her knickers showing! She had fought against her bonds once more, but to no avail.

Suddenly, someone was jolting her door.

„Mhhmmmph! Uuhhmmmm!“

After a few seconds, the door was kicked open and two armed men stumbled in.

„My, what have we got here?“, one of them cried out.

„Mhhmmmmmmmmm!“

Queena blushed like a beetroot and let out a sigh of sheer embarrassment.

***

Whilst Zenobia had frolicked inwardly when she had heard the shot, Xenia of course was not amused. Little after she had heard the steps and voices of the prize commando, she had gone on deck.

Zenobia prepared for the inevitable. She would be freed now, but anyone would see her stark naked. With some effort, she turned herself on her belly to at least hide her breasts and pussy. Maybe, the guy who rescued her would be gentle enough to put a blanket over her before he would cut her ties and free her from the gag.

„Wow, look here, Ben! This ship`s full of naked flesh!“

„Mph!“

Obviously, Zenobia`s start into freedom would not be as gentle as it could be.

***

Winona had expected the prize commando with joy and relief. When the men entered her cabin, she pointed at Alinda and said:

„Gentlemen, I am proud to present you-“

„Shut up! Follow me on deck!“

Surprised by the man`s rudeness, Winona did what he had said. Meanwhile, his colleague cut Alinda`s ankles from the door knob and forced the still bound and gagged girl to come with him.

On deck, Winona could see a quite unique and disturbing sight. At the right side, three women were sitting with their backs against the railing, one blonde and two raven-haired women that seemed somehow hispanic. They seemed calm and unharmed, but more than a bit abashed.

Beside them, another blonde was sitting. Winona couldn`t see much of her face, apart from her widened green eyes, since some cloths were tightly tied over her mouth and nose. She was tied hand and foot and her dress was ripped open, revealing her naked breasts. The girl`s hoop skirt was blowing in the wind, revealing her legs and knickers. The girl sightly squirmed and screasmed through her gag, her face red from the effort – and maybe from embarrassment.

In front of these four women, a fifth was lying on the planks. She was black, or at least of a dark complexion – and she was stark naked. This girl was thoroughly gagged, too, and Winona was horrified by the cruelness of her bonds. The girl was not only tied at arms and legs, the ropes encircled her whole body. A tight rope between the woman`s legs reminded Winona of the more than inconvenient crotch strap of the straight jacket – but this was much tighter, and Winona had worn knickers on that occasion. A cruel hogtie forced the girl to remain lying on her side, presenting her assets to every viewer.

One men forced Winona to sit beside one of the latinas whilst another one dumped Alinda beside the tied and gagged, half-naked blonde.

„The Captain is coming over! He will decide what to do with you!“

„Sir, I am a citizen of the United States of America! I am loyal to the Union and-“

„Well, we are not! And before you ask, we are no Confederates either!“

It was now that Winona could see the black flag of the steamer. On it, there was a big white skull over two crossed bones.

***

„All right, Santiago, it seems that the ship`s crew has gone with the lifeboat. Damn, we can`t reach them, we are too close by the shore. Besides, we will have to leave if someone has heard the shot. What about the passengers?“

The captain, apart from his once blue uniform jacket dressed as shabby as his men, had asked the leader of the prize commando for his rapport.

„Captain, this seems a bit weird, but at least, these two“, he pointed at Yvette and Rita, „pretend to be dancers. According to their wardrobe, this might be true. Obviously, they have tried to leave Wilmington before the Yankees capture the city.“

„Hm. Do they have money?“

„Some 50 dollars in gold, plus some jewelry.“

„Better than nothing. And her?“ He pointed at Xenia.

„She has some 1000 dollars with her. In addition, she says her fiance would pay a lot more as a ransom for her.“

The Captain laughed: „Maybe, he will, she looks quite pretty to me. What about her slightly underdressed neighbour?“

He went over to Queena, stepping over the naked Zenobia as if she were nothing but a sack of rice, and grabbed the blonde`s chin.

„Are you worth a sum, too?“

„Mmmph!“, Queena answered, blushing even deeper under the man`s gaze on her breasts.

„Shall I ungag her, Captain?“, one of the men asked.

„Have I given you the order to do so? Santiago, how about her money?“

„Well, Captain, her clothes are those of a rich woman, but there was nothing, no jewelry, no gold-“

The Captain rose again and laughed: „Just another impoverished Southern belle who spent her last money on a passage from a blocked harbour. Maybe, she has some relatives who can pay for her, but maybe they are as poor as her.“

„Mhhhmmmmph! Uuhhmmmph!“, Queena protested and stamped her bound feet on the deck.

The Captain leaned over her and put a hand on each of her nude breasts, kneading them not so gently, and said:

„I don`t care wether you disagree or not. I say, you are of no value for us. So, don`t dare to contradict once more!“

„Mhhhhrrrrrr!“, Queena cried through her multiple gags, but the Captain had turned his head towards Alinda and Winona.

„What about you?“

Winona tried to look as calm and sovereign as she could: „As I told your mate, I am an agent of the Union`s Army – Captain. The woman over there is my prisoner. Her name is Alinda Knowles, she`s a Southern spy. My government will-“

The Captain interrupted her: „Uuh, politics. Well, maybe you are of some value, but I am in no position to start negotiations with any state. But, maybe, I know someone who will pay for you. So, we will take-“

When he stepped back, he nearly fell over Zenobia who still was lzing between the Captain`s legs and who let out a muffled grunt.

„Ah, before I forget, what about that black beauty here?“

Santiago answered quickly: „This one“, he pointed at Xenia, „says she is her slave.“

The Captain once again laughed: „Well, it seems that she`s not the best mistress, according to the way she has to persuade her slaves to stay with her!“

He bent down to Zenobia and grabbed her chin whilst his other hand examined her breasts and squeezed one of her nipples.

„Mph!“, the girl uttered and tried to turn her head away. It had been embarrassing enough to be watched by all the men whilst being stark naked. Some of them had already touched and groped her. The woman had hoped that the Captain would punish his men and free her. But instead, he didn`t seem to show some respect towards her either.

„Well, so you don`t own more than what you are wearing right now“, he deduced, laughing at his own joke. Zenobia fought back her tears. At least, she wanted to remain calm.

„Maybe, I can sell you at Cuba! So, your skin colour saves your life, black beauty! Because, for white girls, there`s only a market in the north of Africa!“

Again, he laughed heartily whilst Zenobia frowned and weakly squirmed in her bonds.

„Ben, Colin! Get her to my cabin, but leave her like she is! Toussaint, Rodrigo, Marcus! Get these“, he pointed at Xenia, Alinda and Winona, „to the hold and lock them somewhere!“

Quickly, the men obeyed. Since the steamer now was moored to the „Sea Hawk“, it was no problem to haul the slightly squirming Zenobia up to the pirate ship`s deck. Seconds later, Alinda was carried the same way. Whilst the straight-jacketed woman was more or less protected by her bonds, Zenobia could not prevent getting touched everywhere on her nude body.

„Mph!“

She grunted, half from fear, half from relief, when the two men dumped her on the bed in the Captain`s cabin and, after kneading her breasts for a last time, left her alone for the moment and closed the door.

Xenia and Winona had to climb over the railing and were escorted below the deck. Together with Alinda, they were locked in a room of some three square metres that contained several coils of rope and that had no window.

On board of the „Sea Hawk“, the Captain ordered: „Get this ship ready to sail! We are leaving!“

Santiago asked: „What about these?“ He pointed at Queena, Yvette and Rita.

The Captain hesitated: „If we had time, I would know what to do with them. But now, with the U. S. Navy only a few miles away... Well, let`s say I will put their fate in god`s hand!“

The three women shuddered with fear from the undertone of his last sentence.

***