On board of the „Deguello“, a sobered up Captain was in a serious fury and ranted against everyone but himself. After he had seen that Zenobia had gone, he first had thought that just the slave girl had escaped. But then, his men reported the life boat missing and in the prison chamber, he only found a bound and gagged Winona, who was by now standing on the deck, still wearing the hood and the straight jacket.
„Who was on duty, you bastards? Whose watch was it, eh?“
Santiago shook his head. He knew, as well as all others did, that the Captain had simply forgotten to give orders for the night – as he did usually after a successful raid. Most of his men enjoyed the lack of discipline aboard the „Deguello“ and only the sheer audacity of the Captain, combined with some luck, had so far prevented them from getting caught – or from being marooned by his men.
„Santiago!“
He rouse from his thoughts and faced the Captain.
„Your orders, Captain?“
„Ben, signal to the cutter to come over! Santiago, you will take command of the cutter and hunt for the runaways! We will meet in Savannah in one week! We need coal, so I can`t join in this special hunt!“
Several ideas came up in Santiago`s mind, but he forced himself to remain calm. Then, he pointed at Winona.
„As you order, Captain! What about her?“
Though he had sworn by the pirate`s articles, too, Santiago did not like some of the consequences. If the Captain would declare the redhead a part of the loot, every man would be allowed to claim his „share“. If he declared her a hostage, she would be left alone – more or less.
The Captain grunted: „According to my last information, the Yankees have taken Savannah some ten days ago. That means, they won`t pay much for one of their agents. They might even think it is my duty to hand her over just for a handshake. Besides, she could spill the beans about our profession. So, take her with you if you like! Just as a compensation, since we will enjoy the pleasures of Savannah! At least, women will hunt for us, whilst you will have to hunt for them!“
He laughed, obviously still slightly drunk. His men cheered, since the promise of brothels and bars sounded much better than just having one woman for all of them.
So, when the „Sea Hawk“ started for her mission, Santiago not only had five men under his command, but also the still bound and gagged Winona in his cabin. He was in high spirits. The cutter was rather a boat than a ship, it had no cannons and all of the money was aboard the „Deguello“, but somehow, he now was „Captain Santiago“.
***
„Shouldn`t we give her some, too?“
Alinda had just prepared some breakfast from the food supplies they had, consisting of water, hardtack and some cheese. A while after their getaway, they had hoisted the boat`s sail. Neither Xenia nor Alinda was a sailor, but there was little wind and so they just thought to give it a try. In the end, it turned out to be not that difficult. Their course was far from being steady and quite often the sail flapped, but when the sun rose, they could manage to sail more or less in a westward direction.
„Well, for my sake, but if she talks, the gag goes back!“
Zenobia was sitting on the front bench of the boat. They had taken the stifling noose from her, but she was still tied hand and foot, with her hands bent over her head and connected to her crotch rope behind her back. Sitting like that was far from being convenient, but it was better than having a rope around her neck.
Drawing by hugues66
In addition, Zenobia suffered from a hangover. The rum on empty stomach wouldn`t have done her any good under the best conditions and getting kidnapped in the midst of the night hadn`t improved on that. Luckily, only her head ached and she didn`t feel sick. It would have been a terrible thing to choke from sickness whilst still being thoroughly gagged.
During the hours of enforced silence, Zenobia`s fear had more and more changed into determination to get through all this and then to gain freedom. Somehow, her situation had even improved. She was still naked, bound and gagge, but now, she was in the hands of just two women instead of some 30 men.
„Promise not to scream?“
Zenobia wondered why they even cared, since there was no other boat around, but she nodded. Alinda undid the cloths tied over her mouth and nose and helped her to spit out the gag. Then, she gave some water and food to her.
„Thank you, Mistress“, Zenobia said with a little bit of mockery in her voice.
„Hey, I am your Mistress, never forget about that!“, Xenia shouted from astern.
Before this could turn into a quarrel, Alinda yelled: „Land ahead!“
Quickly, she regagged Zenobia and put her in a hogtie, this time tying her feet to her wrists only. She forced the girl to lie down and draped the tarpauline over her. Then, she and Xenia surveyed the land ahead of them.
It turned out to be a little island, but on the horizon, they could see the main land.
„Let`s stop here, maybe, we can deposit our guest here before we risk to see if this land still is our land“, Alinda said.
***
Winona still was a bit overwhelmed by the fast change of conditions during the last 36 hours. One and a half day ago, she had been a successful agent, then, she had been arrested and abducted. Having regained her freedom and even been able to take a prisoner, she had been taken by pirates – in the middle of the 19th century! Then, after she had been close to freedom again, Xenia and her rival Alinda had bound and gagged her again. Finally, after it had seemed that she would end up as a part of the pirate`s prey, Santiago had taken her with him.
He had freed her from the straight jacket and the hood, but she was tied hand and foot to the four corners of her bunk. The cloth was still stuffed in her mouth, secured by a tight cleave gag. Still, Winona only wore her camisole and knickers. From time to time, one of the men came in and checked her bonds and gag, but, except from some fondling of her breasts, they left her alone.
***
It was Yvette who discovered the approaching boat. Her first thought hat been to alert it by yelling and waving her hands, but then, she hesitated. What if it were the pirates? So, she just woke up the other women and they hid behind a tree, watching the boat getting closer.
„It`s the woman from the „Sea Hawk“! That rich lady they brought aboard the steamer! The other, I don`t know, maybe it`s the girl under the hood, the prisoner“, Rita hissed.
„That`s Xenia LaFayette! I know her from the few parties we had since – the whole mess started“, Queena said. The blonde still suffered from the fact that she had lost everything that meant to her – living on a vast plantation, getting served by slaves, and now, even wearing expensive clothes.
„Obviously, they ran away from the pirates! Hey! Here we are!“
Rita ran at the beach, waving her hands.
Both Xenia and Alinda were quite surprised to see the three women in only their underthings, but since they were only wearing their camisoles and knickers beneath their jackets, their dresses were little better.
After a while, they had moored the boat and Xenia and Alinda ran ashore.
„Huh! What is that?“, Queena shouted, holding a makeshift club. The tarpauline had moved and now, it bulged and a faint moaning could be heard.
„Just my lady`s maid. I had to tell her how to behave.“
„Mhmmph!“
Zenobia had worked the tarpauline from her head. Being hogtied and lying on the planks, she could barely look over the railing, but the others could clearly see her gagged face.
„Zenobia! Down with you!“, Xenia shouted, raising her hand.
„Mhhmmph!“
The look in Zenobia`s eyes was defiant. Her mistress could sure beat her, but she would force her to do this in front of the others! Maybe, someone would tell her to stop.
Indeed, Yvette grabbed Xenia`s hand.
„I don`t think it`s the time for that“, she said in a calm, but determined voice.
„It`s my business how I treat my slaves!“
„Normally yes, but now we are an an abandoned island, chased by pirates and only clad in our underwear! Maybe, we can forget about the Southern society`s rules for a while? We will have to cooperate if we want to get out of this!“
Xenia hesitated for a moment, then, she nodded.
„Free her, but on your own risk. And, once we are back in civilisation, I will prove that I never forget an insurgency!“
She turned away whilst Yvette went over to Zenobia. Shuddering, she saw that the girl still was stark naked and was suffering from a crotch rope.
„Poor thing. Maybe, she will forget about whatever you have done if you help us getting from this dreadful rock“, Yvette said, caressing Zenobia`s hair whilst undoing her gag.
Zenobia suddenly felt tears in her eyes. For the first time in days, someone was kind to her. And for the first time in what seemed ages, someone showed some respect, too.
„Thank you“, she breathed when the gag came off, this time without mockery.
When Zenobia was freed, she staggered on the shore. Queena, who actually was on Xenia`s side, felt irritated by the girl`s nakedness. She went to a rock where she had draped the knickers that had gagged her before.
„Put these on“, she said, turning her eyes from Zenobia when handing her the garment.
„Th-thank you – Mistress."
Now, she really was perplexed. She had heard about Queena from other slaves and she was hardly known for being gentle or generous. Actually, she was not used to wear knickers, but it felt marvellous not to be the only one naked in a more or less dressed company for the first time in two days.
Having put on the panties, she took two of the cloths that had gagged her and knotted them in the middle. Then, she draped them over her breasts, placing the knot between them and knotting the ends behind her back. Zenobia knew she looked ridiculous, but now, the essentials were covered.
„Well, what shall we do now?“, Alinda asked Yvette.
The dancer, a bit surprised that obviously the little blonde saw the leader of their little group in her, answered:
„With that boat, we should be able to make it to the shore. But then, we still don`t know where we are exactly and if this area is in our hands or in that of the Union. Besides, we still do not look very – representative.“
After some discussion, they decided to wait for the evening to sail to the shore to reach it just before sundown. Then, they wanted to survey the area and decide what to do next.
***
The island`s highest point was some nine feet above sea level, whilst the crow`s nest of the „Sea Hawk“ had a height of some 40 feet. So, the man there had discovered the island and even seen the scantily clad women at the shore in his spyglass before these even had recognized that the cutter was approaching.
Their first reaction had been to wave for help, but then, Xenia recognized the ship.
„Oh, damned, it`s the pirates!“
Now, the girls more or less panicked. In a first reaction, Queena, Rita and Yvette headed for the trees to hide there whilst Xenia and Alinda ran for the boat. Zenobia was a bit uncertain at first what to do, then, she decided to assist her mistress and the blonde agent with the boat. It was their only chance, and whatever Xenia had in store for her, a bunch of angry cutthroats sure would be worse.
So, the three boarded hastily and paddled the boat into the open water to be able to sail it to the shore.
Santiago had watched the scene in his spyglass. He had recognized the three women heading for the trees`s shelter as those whom they had abandoned on the raft and he was happy that their lifes did not add to his list of bad deeds. Since they were trapped on the island, he decided to hunt for the boat first. The waters were shallow, so, he ordered one man to fathom out the depth.
„Oh, Lord, they are behind us“, Zenobia cried. She was helping Alinda to trim the sail whilst Xenia operated on the tiller. None of the three really knew how to sail a boat ans so, though they were heading towards their desired direction, they were quite small and the cutter more and more catched up.
Then, a short series of incidents happened. The man on the cutter`s bowsprit that sang out the deepth informed Santiago about a small reef starboard ahead. Zenobia, who knew nothing about the sailor`s idiom and who was quite exited anyway, thought that the pirates wanted to negotiate with them. So, she headed astern, yelling „What?“.
Xenia, fearing for the boat`s balance and angry about Zenobia leaving her post, poked her in the side. It wasn`t a hard punch, but Zenobia did not stand stable and so, she fell into the water.
Spluttering, she reached the surface, only to see the boat some 20 yards ahead. Zenobia could swim, but she knew that she would never reach the boat and the others sure would not stop for her. Desperately, she tried to make it to the shore, but the cutter came closer and closer.
„Two fathom! Man over board on boat ahead.“
Santiago had seen the girl falling over board by himself, but he concentrated on something else. Some 500 yards away, about halfway between the women`s boat and the shore, another boat was approaching. It had set sails and was coming closer. On board, he could see at least six men.
On the open sea, even five of such boats would have been no match for the „Sea Hawk“; she just would have rammed them. But he already was dangerously close to the shore and he did not know these waters well enough. He considered a fight, but although both sides had the same number of men, he needed one man on the steering wheel, one for checking the deepth and two for the sails, meaning that only two of his crew could open the fire. In addition, they only had revolvers with them and no guns, whilst on the other boat, he had spotted at least two rifles. This fight would at least bring losses and he did not have men to spare.
„Pick up the girl and then, ready for turn!“
When the cutter approached, the exhausted Zenobia thought for a moment about commiting suicide by drowning. But she just couldn`t do it. Her will to survive was still too strong. So, she grabed for the rope the men on the ship threw to her and allowed them to get her aboard.
***
„Good, they are leaving! Seems they are pleased with your slave“, Alinda, who had watched the scene, said.
Xenia wondered why the pirates dispensed with her and the possible ransom, but then, she spotted the other boat, too.
„The coast guard! We are save! Even if they are Yankees, we are save for the moment!“
She held for the other boat. When they were side by side, she suddenly recognized that she had seen all these men before.
***
Reginald, formerly called „Castor“, would have never believed that freedom would be like that. Immediately after they had left Wilmington, they had abandoned the coach, thrown away the hated penguin suits and had ran away just in their boots, trousers and shirts. John had started to sing, but he had made him stop, since they now were fugitive slaves. In the disorder of the way the war went for the south, there were many of them and the authorities had better things to do than to hunt for them, but still, many white people would shoot at a black man walking over his ground at night.
John had voted to go to the west, but Reginald had decided to go south instead, since he thought that this would be the shortest way to the Yankee`s lines.
To their great surprise, on their second day walking along the shore, always taking care of possible persecutors, they had met familiar faces.
Witty and his crew had first just sailed to the shore and hidden till they could be sure that the pirates did not hunt for them. Then, since they were somwhere „in the fucking middle of nowhere“, they had decided to sail down the coast until they would find a harbour that was under steady control of the Union – Savannah or Charleston, for instance. There, Witty hoped he could get a new ship and continue his career as a merchandman instead of a blockade runner, with less profit than he had hoped but still considerably wealthy.
When he and his five men had stopped for refreshing the water supplies, they had literally ran into the two blacks.
„Castor! Pollux! What are you doing here?“
„Actually, our names are Reginald and John. The others are just – nicknames!“
„Well, Reggie and Johnnie, then! What are you doing here?“
Reggie told him half the truth, seeing that the British would understand. He only told him that he and John had ran away. Obviously, and strange enough, Witty did not know about what they had done to Queena and he did not want him to know. Reggie was sure the Captain would understand that, too, but Reggie did not trust these men and he did not want them to know that he and John had some 1200 dollars in gold and jewelry with them.
After a while of telling each other of the youngest events, Witty looked at them:
„Well, it seems we have the same way. The boat is big enough for eight men, and we might need your knowledge of the area. But don`t expect me to pay any hire to you, at least not before we have reached Savannah.“
So, the two fugitives had joined the group of sailors and had sailed down the coast, until Joseph had spotted a ship – his ship! - about a mile away.
Despite their efforts, they had approached too slow to do more than to watch Zenobia`s capture. But, at least, they could get hold of the other boat whilst the cutter was heading for a nearby island.
„Miss LaFayette, I presume. But your companion, I don`t know.“
Alinda hardly recognized the man`s voice, since she had been blindfolded and too busy screaming into her gag when she had been brought aboard the „Sea Hawk“, but Xenia knew who Witty was – and that he had left them to the pirates to save his shabby life! So, she greeted him with contempt.
„It seems that your lack of courage hasn`t brought you very far, Captain Witty.“
Given the fact that she was only clad in her knickers and a camisole – they had left the jackets on the island when they had left it - , it was quite daring to speak to eight grown men (well, seven grtown men and a sixteen year old boy) in that way, but Xenia knew that ordinary people often bowed toward a courageous attitude.
„Neither did you get very far – Miss LaFayette!“
Reggie of course knew the blonde lady from several occasions when she and Mr. Drake had been invited to Lady Queena`s plantation. Actually, he did no really know her, but he was sure about one thing.
„Captain Witty, do you know that her fiance is said to be a millionaire? Mr. Isaak Drake from Wilmington?“
Witty frowned whilst Xenia froze to her tracks.
„Drake. I know him, he ordered me to take her and her slave to Cuba. But, as a millionaire, he sure could pay me some more. At least, his passage cost me my ship.“
This was a wilful interpretation of events, but Xenia remained silent. If her predicament could be settled by Mr. Drake paying some ransom, he sure would do. At least, he was her fiance.
„Sir, what about her?“, Joseph asked, pointing at Alinda who still sat on the boat`s bench, her arms defensively crossed in front of her breasts.
„I know who she is“, John suddenly spoke. Everyone, including Xenia and Alinda, raised their heads towards him.
John smiled at Alinda:
„We all look the same, don`t we? She`s an agent of the Confederacy. Some four months ago, I was ordered to help her finding a way through the bushes to spot the enemy`s lines. She spoke quite frankly to her contact person, as if I hadn`t been there.“
Now, Alinda seemed quite frightened whilst Witty took his spyglass and looked over to the „Sea Hawk“. To his surprise, it had dropped anchor at a small island some mile away.
„Well, that`s an interesting turn of events. Let`s ensure these two beauties will not do or say anything whilst we consider how we can get the ship back in our hands!“
***
„So, one always meets twice in life!“
After they had captured Zenobia, they had stopped by the island and after a few minutes, they had caught the other three girls, too. With the help of a makeshift raft, since none of the girls could swim, they had brought the girls aboard. Now, they stood on the cutter`s foredeck, already dried from the warm sun and waited for the things to come. One man brought up Winona, who had been released from her ropes and gag. Now, Santiago spoke:
„Men, as you have seen, there has been that boat with the armed men on it. They have made it to the shore, but, perhaps, they will alarm the coast guard or the Navy. That means, we have to get away soon. On the other hand, the water supplies of the ship are nearly empty and so, we have to refill them here. This ship`s fast and we will sure be able to shake off any persecutor, but we can`t take the risk of being in open waters without something to drink. So, we will man the crow`s nest and refill the barrels as long as no other ship approaches. If we have always one man on the look-out and two are filling the barrels, that means the other three may relax – if we stow the girls properly.“
„Does that mean they will be put to the bunks and we will have to sleep on the planks?“
„Well, no. I`ve got better ideas!"
Although Santiago was scrupulous about killing or raping women, this did not mean that he actually was a gentleman or even a „rogue with a golden heart“. Smiling, he approached the five women who watched him with fear.
„You sure have overheard our little conversation. As my men have decided to insist on sleeping in the bunks, you will have to spend the night in the hammocks.“
He smiled and the captives watched him with concern. Sleepin in a hammock was a bit inconvenient, but nothing to be afraid of. So, why did this men grin like a Cheshire cat?
„Well, unfortunately, we only have two hammocks with us. That means, two of you will have to share one.“
Now, Queena shuddered with uneasiness. Yvette and Rita had sometimes shared a hotel bed before they had become more wealthy, so, the thought sharing a hammock could not be much worse. Zenobia and Winona could think of worse things, too, but for the blonde aristocrat it was a terrifying prospect to have to spend the night that close to another woman. Then, they recognized that one hammock for two girls would make four – and they were five alltogether!
„Oh, don`t be afraid, I know how to count. I even know to read. Has any of you ever heard of Charles Johnson?“
Perplexed, the girls shook their heads whilst the other pirates became interested. Santiago not only could read, he was a real bookworm and more than once, his ideas from books had turned out to be useful or at least funny.
„This gentleman wrote a book about the pirates of the Golden Age. Blackbeard, Roberts, Every, you name it. Some even say that Johnson`s an alias of the famous Daniel Defoe, but who knows. However, in his book, he always portrayed us pirates as big boys – boys, who like games and nonsense when they are not busy with fighting or drinking.
So, here we are. We don`t have to fight and even if a sail is showing on the horizon, we still have time to disappear. If they attack from the shore, we even have more time, since they can only operate with boats from that side. Besides, I think the Yankees will need every fighting vessel for their planned attack on Fort Fisher, so, they will perhaps only send a small unit to shoo us away.
We won`t start working to fill the barrels unless it is a bit cooler either and, since we can`t allow ourselves to neglect our alertness (once again, he added in his thoughts), we can`t drink, too. that`s why we play. At least, we have some hours to spend.“
Now, everyone, men and women, stared at Santiago.
„To be exactly, you will play and we will watch. Those who get the first two places, will have to sleep in one hammock – tied face to face, of course. And boobs to boobs, womb to womb...“
A frightened gasp from Queena told him that the blonde could imagine the situation, too. The others frowned. Which humiliations did he have in store for the others?
„Number three and four will share the other hammock. But in this case, we will turn one of you around, so you will have to sleep nose to pussy!“
A lewd giggling from one of the men drowned the gasps of the women.
„Y-you c-c-can`t treat us l-like that“, Queena stammered.
„Can`t I? Are you sure? Well, maybe you will think that having your head tied to that girl`s“, he pointed at Zenobia, „hot loins and breathing in her fragrance will sound like paradise in comparison to what the loser get`s!“
Now, the sheer fascination of horror made all five girls fall silent.
„As you may have noticed, the „Sea Hawk“ is quite a pretty ship, but we can improve on that. This ship has got a very nice bowsprit, but it sure lacks a figurehead.“
It took the girls a few moments to realize what that meant, but then, they shuddered.
„Yes, the unlucky number five will be tied under that very bowsprit, just to protect us from evil ghosts. You may think that this is quite a position of honour, but, believe me, there is a reason why usually these figureheads are made from wood. After a few hours, you will cry for mercy – or rather, you would, because we will of course have you thoroughly gagged. But be sure, that will be the only bit of cloth on the lovely body of our new figurehead.“
Now, Queena uttered a sigh and fainted. Yvette managed to grab her before her head touched the planks, but she was staggering, too. Rita trembled and looked desperately at the empty sea for anyone to come and end this gruesome game.
Zenobia and Winona had stayed quite calm, however. The redhead was quite a tough woman and she had learned to fight when she was raised in the slums of New York. Zenobia, on the other hand, had endured quite an amount of humiliations during the last two days. It had become harder to still shock her.
She and Winona had only understood one thing: „All possibilities are hard, but the worst is for the loser, so, we better should win.“
„Ah, the two of you cannot expect my sign to start. But, don`t be too confident, the sheer fear may wake unexpected skills and strength in your competition partners. But now, there is only one thing for me to say.“
Santiago raised to his full heigth, posed like the roman emperor of whom he had once seen a picture in yet another book, and yelled:
„May the games begin!“
***