„Torreon 66 miles“
The wooden sign told Arina and her companions that they were on the right way, but the little village had obviously ben left by it`s inhabitants some months ago. At least, there was the building that had been the saloon and it looked convenient enough to spend the night there. So, they brought in their captives and tied them to one of the beds upstairs. There was only the bare matress left, but the bedposts looked stable and so, Viola and Inez were tied to them with their wrists and ankles, forcing them to lie side by side on their backs. Before, they had given them some water and food and allowed them to follow nature, but then, they had regagged the two girls.
Luckily, the stable was quite intact, too, and so, they had been able to take care of the horses. Then, Aurora prepared some supper. Viola and Inez had only been given some bread and cheese, but for her colleagues, Aurora prepared something delicious. So, the four girls were sitting together and enjoyed their meal. Only Arina was a bit concerned about what took Lien so long.
***
Lien had started to work on her bonds immediately after the girls had left. She had to admit that the Black was no amateur in tying up people. Her legs cramped from being stretched wide and she had not been able to reach the knots tying her arms. But Lien had seen something that could help her: a little cactus some three yards away. With some difficulties, she managed to crawl over and to entangle the stocking hooding her in it`s thorns. With a careful, but steady pull, Lien managed to get the stocking from her head. Then, she went on to step two: crawling over to a bush some five yards ago. Having rached it, Lien could hook her cleave gag under a branch and get the narrow band down her chin. She spat out the gag and continued her work. Lien was extremely flexible and so, she could bent down and chew through the ropes holding her knees to the stick. Her ankles, however, were out of reach for her mouth. But now, she could move her legs a bit. Lien concentrated for a while, collecting all her strength for one act of power. Then, she pulled her legs together with all her might. Bending over, she could see that indeed the stick now had a small crack in it`s middle. It was a minor success, but as soon as she had regained her power, she tried again. Her legs hurt and even the strong and persevering Lien soon was covered with sweat, but finally, the stick broke in two. Sighing, Lien relaxed her legs and panted. Then, she stood up, ignoring the painful tingling in her lower limbs.
Drawing by hugues66
She still was tied with her arms folded behind her back and she still had the rope running through her legs, connecting her arms to her neck. But now, she could walk over to a rock and saw through her bonds. Soon, Lien was free and was just thinking what to do next when she heard the sound of approaching horses.
It were three riders that stopped at the well and allowed their horses to drink and grass. This was hardly surprising, since this well was the only one around, but the riders did look a little peculiar. Lien could see that they were women, although they were wearing men`s clothes. Usually, women did not travel alone, but now, it was the third group that crossed Lien`s way during the last 24 hours. A tall woman, obviously the leader of the group, had long blonde hair whilst her two smaller companions were Mexicans. They were wearing gunbelts with revolvers in it and Lien could also see rifles fixed to the saddles of their horses. She doubted that these girls could handle their firearms properly, but she did not want to start a fight. Instead, she left her cover and went over to the three women.
„Hey, who are you, what do you want?“, one of the Mexicans asked, raising her gun. Lien showed her empty hands and smiled:
„I am just a traveller, but unfortunately, my mule was stolen by some thieves.“
„Has one of them been a black woman? And was she accompanied by two other women, a White and a Mexican?“, the tall blonde asked.
Lien quickly processed these new informations. She had seen a Black accompanied by three Mexican women, but there had been no White. On the other hand, they had asked her about Andrea, obviously the friend of Zenobia that had been with her when they had been together in San Francisco. Lien had had to do more with Andrea than with Zenobia, but now, she was gone and it seemed that these three women had nothing to do with Andrea`s dissappearance.
„There has been a black girl, together with three others. Actually, it was them who stole my mule.“
„So, you would perhaps like to help us to get them. This girl has something that belongs to me!“
Xenia did not mention the fact that it was actually Zenobia herself that, according to her, belonged to her. However, that was not the reason why Lien hesitated. She had no real reason to help these three. Of course, there was her mule, but she could get a new one without problems. Since they had not searched her clothes whilst tying her up, she still had all her money, some 250 Dollars. Then, it came to her mind that Zenobia had indeed stolen something of value from her: her revolver.
This revolver had been a present of Cheng and it was designed especially for her small hands. It was not of real value, but it mattered to her, since it was the only thing she had left reminding her of Cheng.
„They have left some three hours ago. If we follow their tracks, we can reach them by dusk. Your horses need a rest anyway, so, you will have to walk, too.“
It was clearly visible that Xenia did not appreciate the fact that somehow Lien had taken command, but she oppressed her feelings, since now, she was on Zenobia`s tracks.
***
At noon, the thunderstorm had started and since he could not see more than a few yards, Heinrich left his post and went to sleep. Pedro was still sleeping, too, but Kilian was awake and he decided to prepare some coffee. Together with some bread and oranges picked from the tree, that would be an even better breakfast than in the barracks. For a moment, he thought if he should let Elisabeth do that work, but instead, he decided to treat her friendly a bit longer.
Waking up Pedro, he said:
„Let`s get downstairs and see if our guest`s hungry.“
The Mexican understood the subtext of what Kilian meant: if there was never one of them alone with Elisabeth, there would be less danger that one of them forgot about his manners. Smiling, they went downstairs.
As they had expected, Elisabeth was awake. Despite the cool air in the cellar, her body was covered by a film of perspiration and she looked strained. Kilian could see that she must have moved, since the cloth that had covered her breasts had fallen from her. The girl blushed and she squeezed her legs together, shifting on her seat with uneasiness.
„No need to be afraid, we are just serving breakfast, albeit a bit late.“
„Mmmhhmmmph!“
When Kilian poured some coffee in their mugs, Elisabeth closed her eyes and cringed a bit. Kilian understood. Elisabeth needed to „powder her nose“, as she would have called it.
„So, it will be funny without me having to do anything“, he thought.
„Would you like some milk, or some sugar?“, he asked her gently when he had taken the gag from her mouth. Panting, Elisabeth shook her head.
„We can also offer you some Whiskey, although we only have one bottle with us. The only thing we have in abundance is water. Just now, thousands of liters are pouring down, it`s like a waterfall out there.“
„No, thank you“, Elisabeth said in an uptight voice. She tried to remain calm, but he could see that she was pressing her thighs together even tighter now. Kilian checked the coffee`s temperature and brought the mug to her lips. The girl wanted to refuse, but she also was thirsty from being gagged so long and so, she took a sip. With a mixture of gentleness and force, Kilian made her empty the mug. Still, Elisabeth fought down her needs, even when he fed her some oranges. Only when he was about to gag her again, she spoke:
„Please, could you-“
„Oh yes, of course“, Kilian said, pretending to understand. He picked the cloth from the floor and again draped it around her neck that it covered her breasts. Blushing even deeper, Elisabeth shook her head.
„No, please, but my hands hurt. This room has only got one door and it`s made of solid iron. couldn`t you just keep me locked inside. There is no chance I can run away or alert someone.“
Kilian scratched his chin, pretending that he was thinking about her idea. When he saw that the girl was again shifting in her seat and emitted a small sigh, he smiled.
„Well – why not?“
To Elisabeth`s surprise, he loosened her handcuffs. She immediately crossd her arms in front of her breasts. Then, she hid behind the armchair, trying to hide from the men`s view. Kilian and Pedro sat down on the stairs, the Mexican took out a packet of cards.
„Oh, Heinrich`s sleeping and Pedro can become quite vocally when he loses. So, we will stay here for the next hours. Just don`t mind us. Behave as if we are not here.“
Indeed, the two men started playing Poker. They were quite concentrated to their game, but from time to time, they looked over to Elisabeth who was still hiding behind the armchair. Kilian had to admit that she really showed some self control.
After three hours, the door opened and Heinrich came down the stairs. Friendly, the others invited him to eat and to join in their game.
„As long as it rains, there is no reason to get out. And this is the only room where we are save from all that water pouring down-“
„Uuuhhhhhmmmmm!“
Elisabeth could not help moaning. Now, her face showed an expression of pain and she bit her teeth together. Finally, she could not stand it any longer. The heavy armchair covered most of her, but the three men could see that she was lowering her knickers. The sound of the thunderstorm was all that could be heard, but a small puddle that emerged from under the chair told them what Elisabeth had been doing.
„Oh, how forgetful of us. You should have told us! After all, this torture chamber even offers a toilet!“
He opened a little door in the wall and revealed a small chamber of some squareyard in size. Actually, it was a solitary confinement cell, but indeed, it had a hole in the floor. Now, Elisabeth started to cry.
„My, my, Lizzie. From now on, you will be given some minutes every morning and evening in this room. We will even give you some water and soap. I will fetch you some water and a rag now: once you have cleaned up, we will never again talk about your little mishap.“
the girl could not stop crying, but when Kilian handed her a bucket filled with water and a cloth, she did as she was ordered.
***
Andrea actually wasn`t very emotional, and that maybe had kept her from panicking in her tiny prison. She was folded in three and the upholstery of the box she was stowed into pressed on her from all six sides. All Andrea could do was wriggle her fingers and toes or shaking her head a bit. Her mouth was stuffed to the bursting and tight straps and layers of cloth encased her head and prevented her to wriggle of her gag or to utter more than the faintest of sounds. She had screamed her lungs out, but not even she had heard her screams over the sound of the cab`s wheels on the sand.
Andrea had no idea who her captor was. If it was Xenia, then where was Zenobia? Perhaps, she was stashed into a similar box, or she was suffering from even worse treatment. She once more tried to push against the lid of her tiny prison, but again, it was to no avail.
„Uuuuhhhhmmmmm! Mmmhhmmmmmmmm! Uuuhhmmph!“
Andrea was not sure why she still was moaning and grunting. Perhaps, it was the only possibility for her to express that she still wasn`t broken. However, it was also quite strenuous and so, she tried to calm down. After a while, the heat in her box and exhaustion made her doze off.
So, it took her a while to notice the cab had stopped. Then, the lid was opened. With a deep groan, Andrea stretched her legs, but was too weak to raise her upper body. She could vaguely see the forms of the person helping her up through the scarf hooding her. Why on earth did she repeatedly end up stowed in a tiny box, bound and gagged? This time, she at least still was wearing her underwear.
Andrea could not resist when her captor, obviously a man, carried her inside a building and up some stairs. Then, she was thrown on a bed. a few moments later, her feet cuffs were loosened, but only to tie her feet to one of the lower bedposts. Then, she felt that her abductor sat on the bed and began untying her gags.
Since he had used no less than seven scarves and two leather belts to silence her, the procedure took some time. When she could once again see properly, Andrea gasped with surprise. This man was Cheng! He looked more like an European now, but this was the man who had first needed their help against a rivaling Chinese group, but who in the end had sold her, Zenobia and three other women into slavery and had shipped them to China. It was more than strange to meet this man in Mexico now.
„W-what do y-you want from me? A-a-and where`s Zenobia?“, she breathed when he had pulled the second scarf from her mouth. Cheng gave her some water she greedily drank before he answered her question.
„I don`t know where she is now. If my plan worked, they are on their way to Mazatlan, trying to get you back.“
Andrea frowned. What was Cheng talking about? If she was here – wherever „here“ was - , why was Zenobia trying to find her in Mazatlan? Was this some kind of joke? Cheng seemed to have read her thoughts.
„I really was more than surprised to see you here, since I expected you to be in China. However, I have some business to do here and that`s why I need a head start before you come back to San Francisco. Now, my business is completely legal, but I will need to prepare a few things before you may make the police ask some questions.“
„So, what do you have in mind?“, Andrea asked, trying to sound calm. She knew that if Cheng killed her and Zenobia, he would be save from any investigation. However, it did not seem that Cheng had something like that in mind.
„Maybe, the police will search my shop and my warehouses, but they will find nothing – if I take care of that before. Without evidence, the police will not believe you. Of course, I am a Chinese and You are an American citizen, but on th other hand, I am a man and you are not. So, this equals up. All I need is a few days in advance. And so, you will stay here since I have finished my – business. Once I can go back, you may go, reunite with your black friend and do whatever you want.“
Andrea sighed. So, she would have to stay tied to this bed for the next few days. And besides, she would not get the chance of getting Cheng and his henchmen behind bars. But at least, Zenobia had not been hurt. Then, something else came to her mind: if Zenobia was on her way to Mazatlan, she would run directly in Xenia LaFayette`s arms!
„Cheng, please, I know that I am in your hands, but couldn`t we get to a different agreement? Maybe, we could work together and in the end, neither Zenobia nor me will think of getting you into trouble with the police.“
Andrea tried to look sweet and seductive, but flirting with men wasn`t one of her best skills and the fact that she now knew that she liked women didn`t help the matter. Smiling, Cheng shook his head. Then, he methodically started gagging her again.
***
„Mph!“
Drawing by hugues66
Viola had continually picked on the knots of her wrist ties and now, the rope finally loosened. Quickly, she removed her gag and freed her feet. Then, she released Inez from her bonds and gag, too.
„Right, shall we leave through the window?“, Inez whispered. Viola looked down on herself and shook her head. Both girls were still only clad in their knickers and there were no other clothes in the room. Both girls were far from being prudish, but they did not like the idea of running around with bare boobs.
„They must get us some food, sooner or later. If they only send one of them, we can overpower her. Then, we will have a hostage. If they come alltogether, we can come back to running away through the window.“
However, before they could do anything else, they could hear noises from outside. When Viola carefully looked, she could see four approaching riders. One of them, a Mexican, she had never seen before. The other one was a Black that vaguely reminded her of someone, but to her, all black women more or less looked the same. The other two women were Carmencita and Emilia.
„I don`t know who the other two are, but we have to warn our friends!“
The same moment, Inez could hear steps from outside. Obviously, their captors wanted to prevent them from doing so.
When Aurora stepped in, Inez slung an arm around her neck. Before the girl had even understood what had happened, Viola had taken the gun from her hand and closed the door. Aurora squirmed in Inez`s grip, but she just increased the pressure and she could only utter faint, croaking sounds.
„Shut up, or she will break your neck!“, Viola hissed, pointing at Aurora`s temple with her gun. Then, she took the wad that had previously gagged her and stuffed itz between the frightened girl`s lips. Then, she secured the gag with another strip of cloth and tied her wrists behind her back. Taking the girl between them, they went to the window and waved to the approaching riders.
„Stop and get from your horses! Don`t try anything stupid! There are three rifles pointing at you!“, a voice from one floor below yelled.
The riders stopped, but now, Carmencita and Emilia had seen her companions and recognized the situation. She answered:
„The first one to die is your friend upstairs! My friends have her!“
For a few moments, it was so quiet that only the faint moans of Aurora could be heard. Then, those outside the saloon could see that Viola was leaving her position by the window, taking the unwilling Aurora with her.
Zenobia could see that Carmencita had secretly drawn her gun. She thought about doing the same, but she decided against it and just waited. Suddenly, the swing door of the saloon opened. Four women stepped out. Three had their hands in the air, the forth, Aurora, still was bound and gagged. To Zenobia`s astonishment one of these women was Arina, a girl she had been together with when an Apache warrior had bound and gagged them, immediately after Arina had saved her and Andrea`s life.
Behind the group, Viola was standing. She was only wearing knickers, but she showed no sign of embarrassment and pointed on the others with her revolver. Suddenly, Zenobia remembered where she had seen her before.
„She looks like a woman that was a member of a group that assaulted my coach last y-“
She stopped talking when she saw that Carmencita`s revolver now was pointing at her. Emilia had taken her gun and threatened Paloma who was looking from one to another with fearful eyes.
„I have to admit we have lied about some details, for example about the fact who is the gangster in here. Now, get from your horse and join the others. And don`t try anything stupid if you don`t want a hole in your head.“
Still a bit confused about what was currently going on, Zenobia obeyed. Paloma, who had dismounted her horse, too, ran to her and grabbed her arm, but Zenobia had no idea how she could console the poor maid.
***
When the thunderstorm had begun in earnest, Mitzi and Heidi had walked over to the monastery`s wall and sneaked inside without being seen by anyone. With the guns in their hands, they had searched the buildings one by one, only to find out that the men all were in the cellar of the stone building. The only problem was that Elisabeth obviously was down there, too. The iron door was closed, but they had searched the remnants of the stables, the church and the row of small cells in the other stone building`s first floor and not seen a trace of their Mistress.
„If she would be somewhere here, it would have been more than easy. We could have locked them in the cellar and go away with Lady Elisabeth. But now, she is down there, too, and we don`t know if they will leave her alone at all. After all, she`s quite a sight.“
Mitzi shuddered, for Heidi`s words implied that the men would not just look at Elisabeth. But now, they could do nothing that would not endanger Elisabeth.
„W-where will we go now“, she timidly asked Heidi who was watching the corridor. They were currently hiding in one of the monk`s cells.
„Well, why not staying here? Once the rain is over, they will sure send one of them back to the tower to watch the area. From here, we can see if the others are leaving the cellar. I know it`s hard, but all we can do now is wait.“
Indeed, it seemed that Heidi was right. Some 30 minutes later, the thunderstorm stopped as abrupt as it had started and little after, she could see one of the Legionnaires – not the one she had slept with – leave the cellar. Moments later, they could see him get into the church when they watched him through the cell`s window.
„Maybe, if there`s only one left, we can give it a try“, Heidi hissed. Mitzi did not like that idea at all, but then, they could hear a laugh and heard some men`s voices. The other two men left the cellar. Through the window, they could see Heinrich prepare a campfire whilst Pedro was preparing some food.
„They are all outside! That`s our chance! Wait here, I will fetch Mylady!“
With the revolver in her trembling hands, Mitzi watched as the German and the Mexican were preparing a meal. It seemed that either Heinrich was trying to learn some Spanish or Pedro some German, for the two men exchanged phrases in both languages, accompanied by laughing.
Heidi had chosen their cover well. Through the window, Mitzi could also see that the third man still was on the tower. So, they were save for the moment, but her heart was bumping so hard she was afraid it could alert the three abductors.
Meanwhile, Heidi had sneaked to the iron cellar`s door and found it unlocked. Slowly, for the rusty door hinges squeaked, she opened it until the gap was big enough to allow her to sneak inside. Stone stairs were leading down to a cellar room. Although it was only lit by a few candles, she could see that it was a torture chamber. As she stepped down, she could hear a faint moaning and saw that Elisabeth was tied to the torture rack.
„Oh no, these bastards!“, Heidi thought and rushed to her Mistress. She was naked except for a pair of black knickers she recognized as her own, but a cloth was loosely draped over her breasts. She was tied to the rack`s hand- and footcuffs, but as she looked closer, Heidi could see that she was tied just tight enough to prevent her from reaching her gag, but not stretched really painful.
„Mmhhmmmmm! Uuhhhmmmmph!“, Elisabeth moaned when she recognized her and looked at her with widened eyes.
„Calm down, you are almost save now“, Heidi hissed, „but it`s absolutely necessary that you stay quiet. Do you understand?“
Heidi waited until Elisabeth had nodded emphatically before she loosened the silk belt tied between Elisabeth`s lips and helped her to spit out a sodden wad of cloth.
„Oh Heidi, thank you, it was so terrible, I-“
„Shhh, Mistress. I will just free your arms and legs and then, we can go.“
But as she had done so, Elisabeth crossed her arms over her breasts and refused to stand up.
„Heidi, I am practically naked. I can`t go like that!“
She blushed, either from thinking of her predicament or from the fact that she was delaying their escape. But she just could not stand being undressed any longer.
Sighing, Heidi gave her her shoulder cloth. Elisabeth wrapped it around her body as tight as she could. She still felt far from being modest, but she accepted that she now had to follow Heidi. With raised gun, her maid went upstairs and listened. Then, she waved to Elisabeth to follow her.
Mitzi oppressed a scream when the other women entered her cell. The two men were still preparing the meal and they could see Kilian`s rifle still leaning inside the tower.
„If he comes down to join their meal, we will have to threaten them with our guns. Once they are locked inside the cellar, we have all the time we need to decide what to do. I am afraid that your grand cousin is behind your abduction, but we can leave for the capital and these thugs will starve to death.“
Suddenly, Elisabeth started to tremble and began sobbing. Mitzi consoled her and tried to keeb her from crying too vocally. Heidi had been distracted from the window for a moment, but when she looked, she could no longer see the Mexican.
„Damned, where is he?“, she thought with upcoming panic, but it seemed that today was their lucky day. Pedro had just entered the church and told Kilian that supper was ready. After a minute, the three men were gathering around the cooking pot.
It was now or never! Handing one of her guns to Elisabeth, she ordered the others to follow her. Then, they stepped onto the court and pointed their weapons at the three men.
„Hands up, you bastards! Don`t even think of getting your guns!“
The men did not react as frightened as she had expected, but they obeyed and slowly stood up. Heidi could see that the hands of both Elisabeth and Mitzi were trembling, but at least, she was calm and ordered the men:
„Since you seem to like torture chambers, you will be glad to-“
BANG!
Mitzi, who had been holding her gun with both her trembling hands, had involuntarily fired a shot. The bullet didn`t hurt anyone, but the recoil made her drop the weapon and stumble against Heidi. That moment was enough for Heinrich who jumped forward and grabbed her arms before she could fire at him. Elisabeth screamed and ran for the door, throwing her gun away.
Meanwhile, Pedro had grabbed Mitzi and Heinrich had wrestled Heidi to the ground. She still squirmed and flailed, but now, he was sitting on her and kept her arms pinned to the ground. Kilian had grabbed his rifle and aimed at Elisabeth who was just running through the door, but then, he lowered his weapon.
„Get this two Ladies downstairs and take care of them! I will be with you soon. Lizzie is barefoot and nearly naked, she can`t get far before I will get her.“
Without haste, he filled his canteen and took a long roll of rope. Then, he took a pink piece of cloth from a hook. It were Elisabeth`s knickers that had hooded her on her way to the monastery. To the surprise of Heidi and Mitzi, he even whistled a tune when he walked through the door, the rifle over his shoulder.
Heinrich had meanwhile grabbed the still squirming Heidi in a nelson style and was directing her towards the cellar`s door. Pedro, who had Mitzi`s arm in a vice grip, just pulled her with him. They pushed them down the stairs and then, Heinrich and Pedro drew their guns.
„Well, as you have concluded right, we like spending time in torture chambers. That is, if we are not those who get tortured. But now, that you have decided to visit us, you may take that part.“
„In a few hours, hundred men will be here and blow you to hell!“, Heidi blurted. It was a bluff, but it was at least worth a try. However, Pedro just laughed.
„I doubt that this will happen. But if you are telling the truth, we can at least offer them a sight they will not forget for the rest of their lifes!“
***