Chapter two

Emily Starling tried to concentrate on the article she was hammering into her typewriter. It had to be ready by tomorrow morning, allowing her to get it to the telegraph office at Muscat. Then, it would be printed and published in London some two weeks before she came back from her trip to India where she had spent a year`s research upon the situation of women in the Crown Colony.

She had been addicted to the women’s rights movement since she had been at school and soon after starting to work for a progressive newspaper, she had started writing articles about the Suffragettes – women who demanded equal rights for women, especially the right to vote. Now, at just 22, she already was quite famous, though many would have called her rather infamous. Emily had even spent a night in prison for participating in a demonstration.

However, she had more and more turned away from the Suffragettes that were under the leadership of Mrs. Pankhurst. In her eyes, these only took care of the rights of women of their own class, ignoring workers. She had decided to get further, to be the spokeswomen of all of her sex.

Being just 5`1``, many would have considered her cute, but Emily was a fighter. She had quite a temper and besides, did not shy away from attacking even authorities. Whenever she felt treated in a way she didn`t appreciate, Emily raised her voice – a fact that even the crew of the »Princess of East India« were well aware of. But that was not the reason why Omar`s eyes had fallen upon the busty redhead.

It had started as a crazy idea when he and Arthur had been drinking at a bar in Suez (Omar ignored the rules of Islam ever so often). There, they had heard about an English Lady that had been kidnapped by slave traders. First, the two young men had just fantasized about what some Sheik or Chief might have done to the young woman, but then, they had heard about the money that had been involved. According to the sailor that had told them about the incident, the girl had been worth some 10.000 Pounds to those who had bought her from her abductors.

»10 Grand! With so much money, we could retire from work and start living like kings!«

Omar, who was better in arithmetic, told him that it would be sufficient to live like kings for some two or three years only if they had to divide it by two, but still, it was an idea to think about. And during the last two years, the idea had grown into an elaborate plan.

On their ship, there were usually some 600 passengers, but only a few of these fit the necessary standards. Most of these people were men, and among the women and girls, only a few were really pretty. In addition, they would need one that had a single cabin, for none of them wanted to go as far as to kill for getting rich. So, when they had finally decided to put their plan into practice, there had been just one woman that fit: said Emily Starling.

»Do we still need her anyway? After all, Fortuna gave us-«

Arthur pointed at the linen sack on their trolley in which the naked, bound and gagged Linda was hidden, still unconscious from the narcotic. Omar thought for a moment, then, he nodded.

»Two girls mean twice the money! After all, we can`t get back to our old job once we have done it!«

And so, they had maneuvered the trolley one deck below, to the cabins of the Second Class. They were more than nervous, but still, nobody had been suspicious about them. The other crew members were either in Muscat or had to work somewhere else and the few passengers did not take notice of them.

»There we are, number 9!«

Through the door, they could hear the sound of Emily`s typewriter. Omar looked around once more and Arthur prepared another rag soaked with the narcotic. Once he had hidden it behind his back, Omar knocked.

»Room service!«

The clacking stopped and a few seconds later, a female voice answered:

»I haven`t ordered anything!«

Omar knocked again, louder this time. He could hear approaching steps and a second later, the door was opened a few inches. A pair of angry green eyes looked up to him and Emily said:

»Haven`t you heard me?«

Trained in feigning contrition due to his job, Omar looked apologetically and said:

»But Miss, we have a note that you asked for fresh bed sheets!«

Emily shook her head and wanted to close the door. Now, Omar played his trump card:

»Women!«, he muttered, just loud enough that Emily must have heard it.

As he had hoped, she put her hands on her hips and stepped closer.

»How dare you to saauuhhmmmph!«

As soon as she had stepped to the corridor, Arthur grabbed her and pressed the rag over her face. Emily squealed with surprise, then, she began to fight. Omar oppressed a curse when she painfully kicked his shin and Arthur, though a grown man, needed all his strength to keep her in his grip.

»Mmhrrrrrmmm! Uuhhmmmmm!«

Emily screamed into the cloth and squirmed like an eel. She tried to bite Arthur and flailed about with her legs until Omar managed to grab her ankles and together, they could get her back into her cabin. Still, Emily fought like a tigress, scratching Arthur`s arms and all the time screaming at the top of her lungs. When her movements finally got weaker as the narcotic worked, both men were clad with sweat from holding her down. Both had suffered several scratches and bruises and Omar was sure that they had alarmed the whole ship.

However, when finally Emily was knocked out, he looked at the corridor and found out that nobody had noticed anything. He nodded towards Arthur and they began to truss up the redhead.

They had brought precut ropes with them, but after the fight Emily had put on, they decided that they would need more than just to tie her wrists and ankles. So, they wrapped the unconscious girl into her own bed sheet and then tightly wrapped the curtain string around it.

Arthur had ripped a pillowcase and now stuffed the torn cloth into Emily`s mouth. Then, he wound a long scarf between her lips and tied it off at her nape. Above, they tied another cloth and finally, Omar blindfolded the girl, too.

Once they had dumped her inside the sack, they had to force themselves to remain cool and not to run for the ship`s larboard side. As it was common use, the »Princess of East India« presented her starboard side to the city. On the remote side, just a small sailing boat was bobbing on the waves. Omar waved three times and could see the man on the tiller wave back. Seconds later, the boat came closer to the ship.

Now, another problem came to Omar`s mind. They had planned to just throw the sack to their accomplice Ben, a muscular Black that measured some 6`6``, but now, they had two girls. Arthur, who had had the same thoughts, pointed on a lifebuoy fixed to a long rope. They quickly tied the sack to this rope and working together, they heaved it over the railing.

»Dammit, is there an Elephant in it?«, Ben asked when the sack reached his boat. Omar just cut the rope and a moment later, he and Arthur jumped.

»Hey, what are you doing there?«

It was Patrick, one of the Sailors. Arthur put on a smile and answered:

»We wanted to get to the city, but the Captain had different ideas! Please, don`t tell him, we will be back at midnight!«

Patrick grinned:

»That will cost you a bottle of rum – and I am talking about the good stuff!«

»Granted!«, Arthur yelled, adding this little lie to their list of crimes. Meanwhile, ben had set the boat`s only sail and soon, they were leaving the »Empress of East India« behind them.

***

»It seems that our guests are awake now«, Ben said about an hour later, pointing at the sack that had begun to move. In addition, some high pitched grunts and moans could be heard. Still feeling a bit paranoid, Arthur looked over his shoulder, but now, the »Empress of East India« was just a small spot on the horizon, barely visible against the shoreline.

Their plan was quite simple: following the coastline to the West for some day, then stop somewhere close to a city or a bigger village where they could get a boat sufficient to cross the sea to Africa where Ben had promised he would know the right people to sell their »merchandise«. So far, everything had worked well; not only had they been able to kidnap two women, in Linda`s cabin, they had also found some 200 Pounds, more than enough for a seaworthy boat.

The sack now moved more and then, some red curls protruded from the opening. Moments later, Emily`s head came free. She still was gagged, but she had managed to remove her blindfold and stared at her captors with fury.

»Miss«, Omar said in a mocking tone and slightly raised from his place in the boat`s stern. Arthur got up and grabbed the girl`s shoulders, pulling her out of the sack. Emily shook her head with an angry grunt and tried to shake him off, but the man managed to sit her up, leaning her back towards the railing. Then, he bent forward to look for Linda.

»Ey, lookout!«

With her bound legs, Emily had managed to kick Arthur’s calf, causing him to stagger. In addition, Omar could see that the girl had been partially successful in wriggling off one of the cloths covering her mouth.

»Behave, Missy, or you`ll regret!«

Emily`s muffled remark would perhaps even made him blush, hadn’t the girl been gagged.

»Phew, whoever buys that one should better be experienced in breaking horses!«, Ben remarked with a grin. Emily threw her upper body in his direction, in a furious yet futile attempt to attack him for such saying.

Meanwhile, Arthur had pulled Linda from the sack and loosened her hogtie, but left her hands and feet bound. She offered no resistance as he helped her to sit opposite to Emily who stared at her co-captive with widened eyes. Of course, she already knew that she had not been the only bound and gagged woman inside the stuffy sack, but this one was stark naked.

»Believe it or not, she was waiting for us just like that, naked, gagged and ready to be shipped!«, Omar said. Quickly, he told Ben about what had happened. Thoughtfully, the tall man scratched his chin.

»Let`s just hope that you haven`t stepped on a lion`s tail!«

»Well, there is a way to be sure about that!«, Omar said and went to Linda who hadn`t moved much so far. Again, Emily screamed through her gag.

»Oh, shut up, we all know that you are definitely not some rich man`s daughter! However – you might become some rich man`s pet!«

This made even the willful Emily fall silent and Omar unbuckled the scarf over Linda`s mouth. Before he began to work on the scarf beneath, he said:

»As you can see, the only people to hear you screaming are we. So, please, don`t get on our nerves, Blondie!«

The girl nodded and Omar undid the knots. When the scarf fell, he saw that a silky bandage had been wrapped around her lower face.

»Whoever did this to you knows how to gag a woman!«

Linda grunted and Omar unwrapped the bandage, not surprised that underneath, another scarf was tied tightly between the blonde`s lips, keeping a mass of silky white cloth inside her mouth.

When he finally pulled the sodden wad from her mouth, Emily shuddered: the blonde woman had been gagged with a pair of knickers. Carefully, Emily continued to pick on her wrist bonds.

Linda panted and Omar gave her some water. Then, he asked:

»So, who was it that packed you so nicely for us?«

Linda had had some minutes to think what she should say now. The truth seemed to be no good option, for then, her abductors would know that Kazeem had no influence in this country and could hardly do them any harm. And of course, he could not inform the authorities either. So, she had decided to lie.

»I – I am Linda Dellert, a German secretary. Last year, I have been kidnapped by an Afghan nobleman.«

So far, this was true. Omar waited for her to continue and now, Linda told him that she was meant as a present for the local Sultan. She didn`t know much about the Oman, but Kazeem had told her that there was a Sultan that officially was independent, but that he more or less had to do what the British said. Omar shook his head.

»Why on earth should some Afghan Chief send presents to a ruler some 2000 miles away?«

Omar did believe that she was German, since Linda had a hard accent that corresponded nicely with her soft and docile attitude. He even would have believed that she had been kidnapped by some native, since the man who had kept her hadn`t been a white man. But could this blonde woman really be what she pretended to be?

»Wouldn`t such a – present usually be an innocent virgin? Forgive me, but I doubt that you are innocent – you are at least 25!«

Linda blushed, but at the same time, she felt a bit flattered. Next month, she would become 31.

»I – I d-don`t know why I g-got chosen«, she stammered and lowered her head.

»At least, they bought you some nice accessories«, Omar said. He brushed over her belly and tapped on the Sapphire that embellished her navel.

»An she is used to be naked in front of men!», Arthur concluded, »She has not asked for some clothes yet!«

Now, Linda`s cheeks became deep red. During the last weeks, she had spent too much time naked, bound and gagged in the company of men. A bit too late, she crouched in an attempt to hide her charms a bit. Ben said:

»Speaking of Blondie`s nudity, we should better put a blanket over her!«

»Oh, I forgot that you only like black girls!«

Ben, whose skin was as dark as it could be, grinned:

»They are indeed the prettiest! However, if we will keep her in the sun like that, she will look like a lobster by dusk! Just saying!«

Reluctantly, Arthur looked for a blanket and decided that the sheet wrapped around Emily would do quite right. The redhead was fully dressed and looked as if she was sweating already. Quickly, he cut the rope encircling her body and unwrapped her from the sheet.

With a high pitched muffled scream, Emily, who had meanwhile managed to free her wrists, slammed her fists into his face. Arthur staggered back and landed on his butt. Emily groped for his knife and managed to grab it the moment Omar and Ben were standing in front of her.

»Mmhrrmm!«

Still gagged, she managed to express her will to fight till the bitter end. Neither Omar nor Ben wanted to be the first to attack and Arthur was busy with his bloody nose.

But Emily had bad cards. Her ankles were still bound and so, she could not rise from the planks to get into a better fighting position. And Linda was not in the position to help her either. Omar now spoke in a friendly tone:

»Look, Missy, if you give up right now, we will just tie you up again and not punish you further. But-«

He had slowly moved forward, but Emily had seen this and stabbed for his leg, cutting his trouser and scratching his shin. However, Ben, who had been a boxer for some years, was not only tall and muscular, but also surprisingly quick. He took the moment of Emily`s distraction to kick the knife from her hand. Then, he threw himself upon her and literally buried her under his body.

»Quickly, get some rope, this little bitch is – oouuhhh!«

The fuming and squirming Emily had managed to pinch his balls. But now, Omar could grab one of her arms and together, they managed to tie her wrists behind her back again and fix her to the mast. Emily`s cleave gag had loosened during the fight and now, she spat out her gag and spat into Omar`s face. Then, she tried to scream, but Ben clamped her mouth shut and though she tried to bite him, he ignored it, since his hand was quite callused from the hard work as a fisherman. Emily grunted and stamped her bound feet, but now, she had lost the fight.

Omar examined the scratch on his shin. It was harmless, but the fact that this little woman had been able to attack him astonished him. They had to take care that such things would not happen again.

»You will pay for this, little bitch!«, Arthur growled. He sounded a bit funny since he was pressing a handkerchief to his nose.

»Don`t forget what she did to my boys!«, Ben added.

Omar looked around and spotted a rope dangling from the mast`s top. He had no idea what this was good for, but when he pulled on it, it seemed solid.

Only Ben understood him when he said something in Arabic. He grinned and with two fingers of his free hand, he pinched Emily`s nose shut. The girl gurgled into the hand still clamped over her mouth, desperately trying to get free before she would run out of air. Omar picked the cloth that had gagged her from the planks and approached the two. Then, when Ben withdrew his hand and Emily gasped for air, he shoved the rag into her mouth. Though he acted quickly, Emily managed to bite his finger before Ben could tie the other cloth between her teeth again. Arthur handed him the leather strap that had been a part of Linda`s gag and buckled that tightly over the gag, too. Fuming, Emily stared daggers at them, but Ben just loosened her wrist ties from the mast, only to raise them high in the air, forcing Emily to stand in an uncomfortable position, with her upper body bent forward and her arms painfully stretched upwards.

They tied her wrists to the dangling rope, forcing the girl to keep that position. Then, Omar said:

»Missy, your behavior must be punished! I am sure you will understand that! If not – well, you sure will after we are done with you!«

Linda, who had watched the fight between Emily and the three men with paralyzed fascination, gasped. She remembered only too well what a variety of punishments Kazeem had had in store for unruly behavior. These men seemed to be more or less amateurs, but sure, they would not be nice to the little redhead.

When Omar stepped behind Emily and reached for her skirt, she squirmed, but she could not twitch too much, for she had to keep balance; otherwise, she would have hung from her arms or dislodged her shoulders.

With one yank, Omar ripped the skirt from her, exposing her white lacy slip that ended at the girl`s knees. He threw the ripped skirt overboard. Then, he raised his hand and said:

»You used a knife against me and scratched my shin. My S-H-I-N!«

Each letter of the word »shin« was accompanied by a hard slap on Emily`s butt. She did not utter a sound, but Linda could tell from the expression in her face that Omar was not just caressing her.

»Since this is your first day, I will forget that you ripped my trousers, too! But now, Arthur has got some reward for what you did to his nose!«

Again, Emily was spanked four times and again, she bit down hard on her gag and did not whimper. Then, Ben flexed the fingers of his right hand and said:

»Unfortunately, you pinched my left ball, Missy! Unfortunately for you, that is! My right one is called ›Bo‹, but do you know what the left one`s name is?«

When he reached the fourth letter of »Nebuchadnezzar«, Emily let out a groan and before he was done spanking her, she whimpered and Linda could see tears in her eyes. She knew from experience how painful simple spanking could be and the thin silk of the girl`s chemise and knickers offered little protection.

Omar now knelt beside her, caressing her hair.

»You, my dear, behaved well. You neither screamed nor did you try anything silly! I hope that our little Missy will see a glooming example in you, Blondie!«

He looked at her shoulders and now, he took the sheet and draped it over her back. Then, he took the bandage that had gagged her and rolled it into a small package. With that, he approached her mouth and Linda parted her lips. When Omar had shoved the wad into her mouth, he tied the scarf back between her lips, tight, but not brutal. Then, he picked up the still damp crumpled knickers and shook them out.

»Wow, you really can take everything in your mouth, Blondie! Let`s hope that doesn`t give Ben stupid thoughts!«

His lewd grin made Linda shudder, since it reminded her that these men were different from Kazeem, but definitely were no Gentlemen. Omar brushed over her cheek with his fingertip.

»So, you feel helpless and vulnerable, Blondie?«

Linda trained to answer questions by men who were in charge, nodded, accompanied by a small sound. Omar put his hands on her knees and let his hands wander up her thighs. She gasped, but did not dare to shy away, let alone trying to kick him.

»So helpless and vulnerable«, he repeated, looking down on her shaved pubic mound. Linda felt her cheeks redden, but still, she didn`t dare to resist. Omar held still for a few seconds, then, his fingers wandered back to her knees and down her legs. He removed her ankle ties and then grabbed her knickers.

»Let me offer you a little protection, my obedient slave girl!«

He put the garment on her and even fastened the waistband. The knickers were still wet from her saliva, but now, with the blanket over her shoulders and no longer fully naked, Linda felt indeed a little better.

Her eyes fell on Emily and she shuddered from the expression in her green eyes. They were still tearful, but Linda could also see contempt. Contempt for her. In Emily´s eyes, Linda had given in and sold her dignity for a little better treatment.

***

Kazeem could not believe his eyes when he came back to Linda`s cabin and saw that she had gone. Of course, his first thought was that she had somehow managed to free herself or that someone of the crew had discovered her. However, if any of that had happened, why were there no policemen waiting for him?

He quickly searched the room and recognized a few more details: the bonds had been cut, so, somebody had freed Linda. But although the money had gone, all of her clothes were still there. Sure, they would not have brought her to a doctor or anywhere in the nude. But even Linda`s bathrobe was still hanging on a hook.

He sneaked out of the room and went for the deck where he smoked a cigar, trying to calm down and think. Where was Linda? She had vanished without any of her clothes and obviously, nobody was hunting for him.

Kazeem`s problem was that he could not even ask for Linda, for officially, he did not even have permission to be on the deck she lived. He reached for his cigar box when something else touched his finger. Something small, a little wooden box. He smiled and looked around before he opened it.

When at Muscat, he had not only reserved a room in one of the better hotels, but also bought some diamond earrings for his beloved Linda. He took one of these and put the box back into the inner pocket of his suit. Then, he looked around for one of the Deck Officers.

»Excuse me, Sir!«

The man looked at Kazeem with an expression he knew all too well: on the one hand, he was wearing an expensive suit and represented wealth and social status. On the other hand, the man was white and Kazeem was not. He smiled and continued:

»Forgive me, Sir, but I happen to know that you are responsible for the upper deck and I just found this.«

He showed the earring to the man, but did not allow him to take it in his hand. Instead, he pretended to have seen a young blonde woman wearing such jewelry. Kazeem then described Linda as best as he could. The Officer scratched his head.

»Hm, the only woman that fits your description is the German Lady that hasn`t set a foot out of her cabin since we have left Karachi. Well, I will send one of the cabin boys!«

When he had called on of the boys serving the passengers, Kazeem gave him the earring, but insisted to wait together with the Officer for the boy to come back.

»Perhaps, the Lady wants to thank me! But since I am a wealthy man, I would like to give the reward to you and the boy, to say ›Thank You‹ for your help!«

Now, the Deck Officer smiled. He wasn`t paid too well and so, a few Pounds would be quite convenient. However, the boy returned with a puzzled expression on his face.

»She- She`s not in her room! The d-door was only ajar and so, I looked inside, b-but she wasn`t there!«

He continued by describing what he also had seen: the cut ropes on the bed posts, her dresses lying around. When the Deck Officer went for the Captain, Kazeem followed them and since he was somehow a witness, nobody complained when the Captain ordered an investigation.

He ordered all available crew members to assemble in the breakfast room, the only room big enough for so many people. As usual, there were some passengers around and the Captain did not dare to shoo them away. Among these curios listeners of course was Kazeem.

One hour later, he left the ship for Muscat by a small boat. The Captain had asked if anybody had seen anything unusual and after a while, one of the sailors had told an interesting story:

»Artie and Omar, two of the Stewards, have entered a boat some five hours ago! They told me that they wanted to have some fun in Muscat and first, I believed them. But now as you say it, I remember that they had abseiled a big sack to the boat before they jumped into it!«

The Purser had added that both Arthur Baker and Omar ibn Sallah had their day off and therefore, there had no reason for them to sneak away; they could have left legally.

Kazeem padded his small suitcase. He still had some 3000 Pounds and though this was more than vague, he now had at least a track to follow.

***

Until dusk, the small boat followed the shoreline, always keeping some distance to other vessels. Ben pointed to a little bay some half a mile to the right and told them that this would be a good place for the night.

After some time, they had shown a little pity for Emily and freed her from her strappado, but they had tied her knees and elbows and bound her ankles to her wrists, hogtying the girl. Like this, she helplessly rolled around on the planks, following the boat`s movement, and had no chance to keep her chemise from slipping up her thighs, exposing her garters and the lace rim of her knickers. In addition, it was quite inconvenient when a big wave came and she was thrown on her belly, for the elbow tie made her ample breasts thrust out and they had to upholster her moves. However, she still looked rather defiant than defeated.

Drawing by Hugues66

Linda, on the other hand, had been allowed to sit next to Omar with only her hands tied and the gag still in place. Sometimes, the blanket over her shoulders had billowed, exposing her bare boobs, causing the only real infringement so far.

»Hey, it seems that Blondie starts to enjoy our company!«, Arthur had yelled, pointing at her nipples that had indeed grown hard. It had just been a reaction to the cold breeze, but of course, the men looked and when Ben licked his lips, she could not help blushing.

»There is no need to be ashamed, Blondie! After all, I am not indifferent to you either!«, Arthur had remarked, grabbing his crotch and grinning at her with an expression that had made Linda shudder.

Omar had scolded him:

»First, we have to find out if she really is meant as a present for the Sultan! If so, we should better keep our hands from her!«

Linda felt a mixture of fear and relief. It seemed that Arthur would follow that order, but sooner or later, these thugs would find out that the story about her and the Sultan was nothing but a white lie. All she could hope was that someone would free her before they could do terrible things to her.

»I doubt that she`s a virgin!«, Arthur grunted. »Usually, it`s the busy streets where no grass is growing!«

The men laughed whilst Linda needed a while to get the pun: Arthur was referring to her shaved pussy. Though she was now wearing her knickers, Linda had never felt so naked since her abduction had started.

»Virgin or not«, Omar said, »I doubt the Sultan would be too happy if nine months later, his first child will resemble not him, but one of us. However», he made a dramatic pause, letting his eyes wander over the two helplessly bound and gagged girls, »however, that doesn`t mean we can`t have some fun with them at all!«

***