Dead Tree Valley lay some twelve miles outside White Skull and it was known as the proverbial middle of nowhere. There was absolutely no reason to go there, neither Indian or White, and so, nobody did. Yet, that night, five riders approached there in fast trot.
Once they had halted their horses, Garth and his men quite unceremoneously unloaded two large sacks from their horses and dumped them to the ground. Garth had decided to deposit the plucky reporter and Miss DeRainier`s treacherous secretary here, but before, he wanted to have some fun.
„Right, unpack them and line them up just here“, he ordered, pointing to a place under a thick branch.
Dan and Leyland undid the securing ropes, opened the sacks and pulled them from their victims. Zenobia squirmed and tried to have a look at Andrea who looked dishevelled, but unharmed. Their hogties and leg bonds were removed and they were forced to stand in front of Garth on weak legs.
Drawing by hugues66
„Well, it seems you did not take the first warning seriously“, he said to Andrea, who looked at him with a defiant glance in her eyes.
„So, I am afraid your career will end here and now!“
„Mhmmph!“
„Nnnngggg!“, Zenobia moaned and Garth turned his attention towards her.
„Oh, don`t be afraid, I might be a bit rude sometimes, but one of my principles is to never separate good friends.“
Garth waited for both women`s anxious moaning to die down before he continued in his little speech.
„However, Miss DeRainier was a bit indistinct in her order to get rid of you one and for all. So, I won`t kill you right now. Otherwise, it would have been a waste of time to get you two here, wouldn`t it? No, I will leave you here, securely trussed up and gagged, and ask Mis DeRainier about her further plans with you. If she has need for you, I will come back tomorrow or so, if not – well, be sure nobody will disturb your cosy togetherness.“
Andrea`s and Zenobis eyes widened with horror at the implications of what they just had heard. They looked at the other men standing around, but no one showed a bit of compassion. One of them even licked his lips and asked:
„Can`t we have some fun with them right now, boss?“
Garth seemed to think about it for what seemed an endless time, causing both women to tremble with fear. Then, he slowly shook his head.
„Hm, no. I am not sure what Miss DeRainier has got in store for them. But be sure, her reward will be enough for at least one week in Tucson! But now, let`s make sure that these two are going nowhere!“
He took a long rope with a noose in it, threw it over the horizontal branch some four yards above and ordered two of his men to test the strenght of both the branch and the rope.
„He`s going to hang us, no!“, Tenobia thought with panic and she flailed and screamed through the knickers in her mouth when they dragged her to the noose. She shook her head from side to side, but one of the men grabbed her scalp and held her still and Garth tightened the noose around her neck.
„Mmmhhhrrrrrr!“
With a furious groan, Andrea jumped forward and kicked Garth with her unbound leg in a desperate attempt to help her friend. He staggered, but then, he laughed and the two remaining men grabbed the frantic reporter`s arms and held her.
„Just wait for your turn, it won`t be long!“
Garth put the other end of the rope between Zenobia`s back and her bound arms, then, he threaded it between her wrist- and her elbow-tie. He then pulled some slack out before he tied the end off to her elbows, leaving an end of some two yards dangle. Zenobia soon found out that she could stand without problems. If she spread her bound arms from her body, she could even crouch a bit before the noose became inconvenient. She understood the perfidy of the arangement: she would not be hanged right now, but once she became too weak to keep on her legs any longer...
„Mhhmmmph! Uuuhhmmmmmph!“
A revolting Andrea was tied in a similar way, soon standing there with a second noose around her neck. She and Zenobia were only some yard away from each other.
„If they will leave now, we might have a chance of getting loose! I might reach Andrea`s ties if we turn back to back!“; Zenobia thought with upcoming hope.
However, Garth seemed to have read her thoughts. First, he checked every single knot of her bonds. Then, he loosened her cleave gag. Before Zenobia had a chance of getting the wad of cloth from her mouth, he stuffed the knickers in even deeper before he reapplied the cleave gag excruciatingly tight.
Meanwhile, Alan had done the same to Andrea. Garth stepped some feet away, scratched his chin and looked carefully at his victims. Suddenly, his expression cheered and he want for his saddle bag. After a minute, he brought a coiled leather string and his canteen. In front of the eyes of the panting and squirming women, he thoroughly soaked the string with water before he cut it into four pieces of equal length, each some two yards long. He acted slowly, like a magician on a show. Then, he handed two of the wet strings to Alan who looked questioningly.
„Do exactly what I do.“
He stepped behind Zenobia and she felt him wrapping the string around her thumbs. She tried to pull her hands away, but this had consequences on her neck and so, after some seconds, he had tied her thumbs tightly together. She tried to kick him, but he just stepped back, pulling on her arms. He then wrapped her other fingers, pulling the string tight and securing it with a double knot after every turn. When he was finished, her fingers were pressed against each other and she could hardly move them. Now, she would have now chance of freeing Andrea and herself. She whimpered with fear and frustration and looked at her friend, who, according to her strained look and reddened cheeks, had just gotten the same treatment.
However, Garth was not finished. Wrapping the other string over Zenobia`s gag, he secured that too.
„Usually, there are only some coyotes and vulture around here, but one never nows.“
„Mmmmmmhhrrrrrrrrrrrrr!“
A groan of sheer horror now came from Zenobia whilst Andrea fought to remain calm, but trembled slightly, too.
Garth, who still stood behind Zenobia, drew his knife and cut the shouder straps of Zenobia`s nightgown. The flimsy material slid down her body, leaving her stanting there in the nude. She let out a squeal and the men whistled and hooted.
Alan now cut the straps of Andrea`s nightgown. Perhaps it was because her breasts were larger than Zenobia`s, perhaps it was because the gown was made of linen and not of silk, the garment remained in place. With a curse, Alan pulled it down, causing Andrea to blush.
Zenobia could not help feeling a bit fascinated. She had already seen Andrea in the nude, had already touched her in the bath, but the sight was-
„Mhhmmmph!“
Garth had taken the rope dangling from her elbows, drawn it through between her legs and brought it upwards. He now held it in his right at her neck`s level, making the rope chaff her soft flesh between her legs and forcing her to stand on tiptoes.
„Mphh! Nnnggg! Hhrrmmphh!“
Despite she tried to fight him off, Alan did the same to Andrea. Unlike Zenobia, the reporter had never had the experience of having a rope tied between her legs and she definitely did not seem to like it.
Garth used the crotch rope like a leash and pulled Zenobia closer to Andrea, until their breasts`s tops touched. Both women tried to turn away from each other, but Garth tied Zenobia`s crotch rope to the noose around Andrea`s neck. Seconds later, she felt that Andrea`s crotch robe had been attached to her noose.
Drawing by hugues66
Since the crotch ropes pulled downwards, they even diminuished the pressure on their throats a bit, but both women were far from feeling relieved. Whenever one of them tried to move up her bound arms to release the pressure on her neck, this pulled on the other`s neck and also made the rough hemp massage their most intimate parts. Another perfidy, though neither painful nor lethal, was that to avoid standing on their toes, both had to stand even closer together, making their breasts squeeze against each other. Zenobia even felt Andrea`s pubic hair tickle her own. They still tried to find a position that was a bit more tolerable, when they heard Garth say:
„Have all the fun you want, no one`s gonna disturb you for a long time! Maybe, you will be happy together for the rest of your lifes!“
Laughing, he and his men mounted their horses and left the two helpless and naked women alone.
***
„So, today`s really a day full of coincidences. First, the distracting fire and now meeting an old friend.“
Malcolm raised his glass and he and Hawk let their glasses clink before drinking. Immediately after they had recognized each other in the street, the two men had hugged each other. Until Hawk`s injury they had fought in the same batallion and had become quite close friends, though they hadn`t seen each other since some 18 months. Hawk hadn`t asked about the two bundles over Malcolm`s shoulder, of whom one was squirming and mmphing constantly. He instead had taken Cassandra from him and led Malcolm and Winona towards the little remote hat he had rented.
Hawk had decided to play „Reverend Chicken“ for a few days more to find more about the robberies. So, he was very pleased when he heard who the two still sacked women were and what Malcolm had found out.
Winona, however, felt a bit neglected by the two old friends. „At least I`ve got my 1.500 bucks“, she thought by herself. They had not mentioned the money towards Hawk yet and she feared he would want his share, too.
„So, what shall we do with them?“, the Norvegian asked, pointing at the two wriggling bundles lying on the floor to their feet.
Malcolm took some Whiskey: „If we hand them to the Marshal, they will perhaps hang the robber. And I`ve always considered that to bee too severe for just stealing some money. And Cassandra will perhaps get away with no punishment, rich and respected as she is, or will be released by her men. So, that`s not a good solution.“
„How about setting them free?“, Winona suggested, „you have stopped their criminal activities and we even have the money.“
Malcolm shook his head: „If I do so, my employers will fire me. But I am thinking of something else.“
„What? Selling them to a brothel house down in Mexico?“, Winona blurted, causing an anxious whimper from both Viola and Cassandra.
Malcolm smiled: „Nice idea, but I am thinking of bringing them to your former boss, Major Parker. As you sure remember, he knows quite well how to stow criminals save and sound.“
Winona shuddered from the mentioning of her predicament. She had no relation towards these two women, but the thought of them naked, bound and gagged in prison cells deep below the earth for an indefinite future was nothing she would wish her worst enemy. Well, except for her old rival Alinda, of course.
Hawk nodded: „My employers sure can live with that. But the problem is to get them there. It`s not the closest place to go.“
They pondered for a while, then, Hawk suddenly emptied his glass and rose:
„I`ve got an idea, but I will need your help! And it will cost us, let`s say, some 100 dollars.“
„Oh, I have some money on me“, Malcolm said and went for the bags containing the gold. He counted the sum in his pocket, then, he told Winona:
„Take good care of these two, we will be back in a few hours.“
Then, after some considering, he decided to take the money bags with him. Winona cursed silently for he had exactly read her thoughts.
Hawk had put on a black jacket, his black round hat and had put on a pair of bands thal let him again look like a priest. Malcolm frowned, but he didn`t say something, as he knew that Hawk normally knew what he was doing.
***
„This just can`t be true!“
Billy and the rest of Viola`s gang had ridden into the city when they had seen the gleam of the fire. They had soon found out that the house in which the „White Skull Gazette“ was located was burning ablaze and that the townfolk was trying to prevent the fire from spreading to the adjacent buildings. Next, they had seen that the bank house was unguarded and they had looked closer.
To their surprise, the side door not only was unlocked, but it also stood open. They had went inside, always being aware of that being a trap.
Once in the cellar, they had not trusted their eyes: lit by an oil lamp, there was a big open safe beheind an equally open grid. Inside, some gold bars were gleaming and they could see several bags with the dollar sign on it.
„But if she has managed to get the key, where is she?“, another of Viola`s men asked, carefully looking around with his raised gun. Suddenly, Billy smiled:
„I know what must have happened! She has gotten the keys and was here, but then, some of the bank manager`s men approached and she had to run away, only able to take some of the money. Look, this safe has been rummaged through! That`s it! She must have laid the fire to distract her persecutors!“
This sounded plausible enough and so, the men quickly grabbed the remaining gold, rushed for their horses and left the city. After some miles, Billy halted the group and said:
„Men, it`s time to make a decision! Viola has been a good leader, but except for today, she has not been very successfull. There are two possibilities. They have either got her, or she has made her getaway, together with a large sum of money. In both occasions, she won`t be needing us, for we can`t free her without exposing us to getting shot and if she`s save, she can stay on her own feet. So, I say, let`s get to Tucson, or even to Mexico and have a great time! Now, we are rich and nobody`s behind us so far!“
The men shortly weighted up their loyalty against what Billy had said. Then, yelling „Ye-haw“, they all rode on, away from Skull City and towards a promising future without their former gang leader, but with pockets full of gold.
***
Zenobia had suffered quite a lot in helpless situations, but she had never felt as helpless as just now. Even on the pirate ship, there had been at least a spark of hope and her fate would have been slavery, maybe rape, but not death. But here she was, standing with a noose around her head and it would be only a matter of hours until her legs would finally not be able to carry her any longer.
Drawing by hugues66
Andrea looked at her with her calm, beautiful blue eyes. There was a plead for excuse in her view, but Zenobia didn`t blame her friend for anything.
They had tried everything to get loose, but their ties had proved all they had suffered from before simple child`s play. With their fingers tied, they had no chance on working on a single knot. The leather had not dried completely, for their hands were quite sweaty, but the strings held their fingers tightly trapped. Their arms were tied so tightly that their circulation was nearly cut off and their arms were already feeling numb. Their shoulder ached from the elbow tie and any attempt of easing the pressure a bit both set their crotch ropes to move between their legs and it pulled on the other`s noose around the neck. The elbow tie also made their breasts thrust out, meaning that they were touching permanently, no matter how they tried to change that. Zenobia felt Andrea`s nipples pierce into her breasts and wondered if her`s had hardened, too.
„It must be a reaction to fear. It can be hardly from the cold!“
despite the cold air around them, both were heated by the great proximity of the other`s nude – and increasingly sweaty – body. The constant rubbing during their desperate attemts to get free had done it`s part, too, that at least Zenobia felt as if she was leaning against an oven. A soft, lovely and extremely sexy oven, that-
„Mhhhhhmmmmmmm!“
She screamed into her gag for the umpteenth time. Her mouth was stuffed with what seemed to be a pair of knickers. Zenobia did not know if it were her`s or Andrea`s, but such little things did not count in their current plight.
„I wonder if she has got a pair in her mouth, too. And how she`s coping with that. At least, I´ve had that dreadful experience before.“
She was sure Andrea knew only too well what she was chewing on, but her friend had remained remarkably cool during the whole ordeal. She had not lost control and thrashed in panic or pulled on the ropes in vain. Of course, she had struggled, too, and screamed through her gag whenever she had thought that she had heard a sound, but Andrea still showed some self control. However, this added to Zenobia`s discomfort, too.
On the pirate ship, she had been tied to face to another woman, naked and gagged and connected by a rope running between their legs. But there were differences in their predicaments. First, lying in an enforced embrace with Queena had been a rough joke by the pirates. A gruesome and humiliating joke, but not meant to kill anyone. In addition, Queena, who had been literally mad in that situation, had been in some kind of panic-caused sexual frenzy and had more or less forced Zenobia to reluctantly join in what had turned out to be the best orgasms of her life so far. But here, she was tied to a woman she really loved, but to whom she did not want to prove a wantoin whore, not even in their maybe las hour.
„I wish they had blindfolded me!“, she thought desperately.
Together with Queena, the heavy hood had blocked all vision and had made the whole ordeal seem a bit unrealistic to her. But now, she had Andrea`s eyes, only some six inches away, permanently looking at her, reminding her that her friend was totally aware of everything thast happened. And so, though she loved these eyes more than anything else, she just did not dare to let herself go in that way.
***
Winona was feeling a bit bored whilst she waited for the two men. Their captives had been tame so far and the redhead knew that, even if one of them would manage to free her hands, she still would have to get out of the sack, which would give her enough time to react.
Suddenly, some terrible retching sounds came from one of the women. Winona looked up and saw that Viola was spasming and wriggling, making some throaty groans. Then, with a last rattle, she fell silent and did not move any more.
„Oh my god, she`s choking!“, Winona thought and quickly opened the sack. She pulled it from the woman who stared at her with terribly twisted eyes and whose bared breasts were not heaving. Hastily, she bent over her and pulled the gag from her mouth. Suddenly, Viola slung her legs around her and with one energetic move brought her under her body. One hand grabbed Winona`s throat whilst the other held a little knife to her left eye.
„You had better checked my bootleg, ginger!“
Viola picked up the sodden cloth she had been gagged with and shoved it into Winona`s mouth. Then, she got away from her and forced her to stand up, too. Taking a coiled rope from a hook, she told Winona to lean to the post and tied her wrists behind it. Winona spat out her gag.
„You will never get away with it. You better work together with me, weuuummmphhh!“
Viola once again stuffed her mouth and this time, she secured the gga with the bandana that still was hanging loosely around her neck. She loosened it, shoved it between the redhead`s lips and knotted it in her neck. Then, Viola took some time for herself. She pulled her trousers back in place, buttoned her shirt close and tucked it`s seam into the trousers. Then, she took off the smock she still wore from her disguise as a woman of the laundry service.
„Uuuhmmm! Mhhmmph!“
Viola cut another piece of rope and tied Winona`s elbows as tightly together as they would meet behind the post, tying the rope above the joint and causing a painful whimper. Then, she took a big sip of the Whiskey, put Winona`s little Deringer into her pocket and went over to Cassandra, who was squirming and moaning, only aware that something had happened, but not what.
When she had freed Cassandra from the gag, she took her belt that tied her ankles and released her legs, too. Cassandra mmphed longingly, but Viola said:
„No, I am just giving you a chance for to cause some more trouble. But I don`t want to give you any chance on me. You may free yourself, I`m outta here.“
Having said so, she sneaked out of the door. Winona watched Cassandra bringing her hands in front of her and pulling the cravat from between her lips. She worked the gag out of her mouth, looking with a mixture of disbelieve and hate at Winona when she saw her gag had been a pair of used knickers. Then, she quickly opened the belt with her teeth and rose.
„So, you little bitch, I am leaving that hospitable house, too. But before...“
„Mhhmmmph! Nnnggggg!“
Winona mewed with alarm when Cassandra reached under her skirts and took off her knickers. She tried to keep the bank manager at distance by kicking at her, but Cassandra just stepped towards her from the side. She loosened the bandana from the redhead`s mout and she spat out the soaked rag. But, before she could utter a scream, she pressed her balled up knickers on her mouth, squeezing her nose shut with her other hand. Winona tried to move her head, she held her mouth close as long as possible, but in the end, she had to gasp for air and got the used underwear stuffed into her cheeks and throat instead. Cassandra tied the bandana tightly between the fuming and moaning redhead`s lips, then she let Winona`s own panties dangle in front of her nose.
„So, that`s what you liked me to taste, bitch?“
„Mhhhmmmmph! Uuuhmmmmm!“
„Well, I thank you for the experience, but here, you may have them back!“
Despite Winona`s attempted resistance, she pulled the knickers over the redhead`s face. She even took her time to ensure that the crotch part was over her nose. Winona let out a disgusted grunt from under the smelly hood.
„Enjoy your fragrance, sweety“, Cassandra purred before she left the hut, too.
***
Arina woke when something cold touched her belly. She woke with a shriek, but it had only been a curious young coyote that ran away quickly when she moved. The girl fearfully looked around, but the coyote had been her only companion. She rose and considered her current situation. She was still free, but she did not know who was around, wether a potential rescuer or that Apache.
Besides, she still was naked, except for her white knickers that clung to her body and the boots she had not dared to put off. She decided to go back to where the shooting had taken place. The Indians would be either dead or away, but perhaps, the members of the posse were still there.
She reached the rock after some hour of walking. First, she thought that Cuchillo was lying dead, but when she approached, she saw it was only his clothes draped over some branches. Obviously, the men attacking him had been quite angry that he had fooled them with such an old trick, for when she came near, she saw that they had trampled on the clothes and a specific smell told her they had urinated on them as well. Arina had hoped that she could put on the clothes, but her disgust was stronger than her sense of modesty. Then, she discovered a leather vest lying aside. It had obviously been looked over by the men`s rage. It did little to protect her from the cold, but when she closed the buttons over her breasts, she felt covered and decent for the first time in days.
She could not believe that it had been less than three days since her abduction. Too much had happened since then. Things an innocent young girl should never encounter, though on the other hand she felt proud that she had persisted so far and even managed to escape on her own accord.
When she inspected the place where the posse had kept their covering, she only found an expired campfire, several cartridge cases and a nearly empty bottle of Whiskey. Her uncle, though a drinker himself, had never allowed her to drink alcohol, but now, it was quite an exceptional situation. So, she took the sip that was still in the bottle. It burned in her throat and she coughed, but it also warmed her stomach and with renewed strength, she decided to follow the men`s tracks back to town.
***
Garth wasn`t a man of temper, but when he had found both the bank house and the safe empty, he had become quite angry. There were only two possible explanations and none of them was very convenient: First, the robbers had freed their boss and taken the money plus Cassandra as a hostage. But what did they need her for, since they already had all her money? Even if that robber bride had wanted some revenge, she could have tied Cassandra up, naked and exposed for him and his men to find.
The other possibility was that Cassandra had taken the money and decided that spending it alone was much more interesting than running a bank in a small nest like White Skulll. But where was the robber, then? If it was not about humiliating women, Garth lacked phantasy, and so, he could find no other solution for the mystery of the empty house.
„Does that mean, we don`t get paid?“, Leyland asked.
„No, you son of a syphilitic bitch, it means we have to find Miss DeRainier, or this robber, or both and get out of them where the money is! Let`s go!“
He had no idea where to search first, but sitting around made him nervous and so, he and his men left the bank to search the area for Cassandra and Viola.
„My, this bank house is a real dovecote at night“, Hawk grunted. He and Malcolm sat on the box seat of an open wagon drawn by a mule. On the load area, there was a coffin.
Neither the wheelwright nor the coffin maker had been too happy to be disturbed in the middle of the night, nor had the grocer, but Malcolm`s gold and the appearance of „Reverend Chicken“, who convincingly pretended that his friend`s uncle had died and that he had to bring him back to his family as soon as possible had persuaded them to sell them a wagon, together with the mule, and the coffin maker had sold them his best model. It was a rather simple construction, made of spruce wood, but it had a black iron cross on it`s lid and – mor important for their purpose – it could be locked and it had an upholstery made of red satin.
„It`s the best way of stowing the girls“, Hawk had said, „neither robbers nor Indians are interested in attacking a hearse. Even if they are not superstitious, there`s nothing to earn but a dead body – at least that`s what it looks like from the outside.“
Malcolm had appreciated the idea, too. It would take them a week by this wagon to get to Santa Fe, but once they were there, they could find a better and quicker way to transport their captives the way to New York, since Santa Fe had a railway connection to the eastern coast. It would mean another week in the train, but then they could rent a first class compartment. Besides, the journey would not be half as straining for them as it would be for the damsels and for them, no pot of gold was waiting at the end of the trip.
***