Chapter three

The bay turned out to be »you get what you see«: some 100 feet wide and 30 feet deep, it was surrounded by rocks smoothed by wind and waves. A steep path seemed to lead up to the plateau some 40 feet above.

Ben put down the sail to slow down the boat and made it stop a few yards away from the beach, afraid the rocks could damage the hull. Then, he jumped into the shallow water and moored the boat whilst his colleagues took a few things and followed him. Only when they had lit a small camp fire, they came for their captives. Omar just cradled Linda in his arms and carried her whilst Ben quite unceremoniously dumped Emily over his shoulder. Though hogtied, she squirmed and tried to fight him, causing the man to lose his grip on her.

This, however, turned out to be no victory, as Emily landed in the sea that still was some two or three feet deep. Ben waited for several seconds, letting her sink below the surface, before he grabbed her and carried her to the shore where Emily panted and coughed through her gag, dripping wet and looking quite disheveled.

»Right, girls, since we don`t want you spitting in our soup, we will prepare dinner. Until we call you, you may explore the bay and – follow nature! Blondie, come here!«

Linda obeyed and Omar took the blanket from her shoulders. Then, he tied her hands in front of her body, followed by an ankle tie that allowed her to make small steps. Then, he gently clapped her butt, allowing her to go.

Slowly, Linda walked away from the improvised camp. As she had already seen, the beach was nothing but a sandy place that had the size of a small garden. There was nothing where someone could hide and so, she just stumbled as far away from the men as she could. With some difficulties, she lowered her knickers and crouched. Linda closed her eyes, but of course, she could hear the whistling and the lewd comments as she relieved herself.

»Blondie, come here!«

With a sigh, Linda managed to pull her knickers back in place and reluctantly, she followed the order. There, she could see Emily standing in the grip of Ben and Arthur. Linda could see that they had ripped away her blouse. Emily now only sported her lacy sleeveless chemise – since she had left school, she had refused to wear a corset. The flimsy material was still damp from her involuntary bath and Linda could see her aureoles through the thin silk, also her garter belt and knickers. They had removed her bootees and also tied her ankles in a way that would allow her to walk, though the rope between her feet was shorter than that of Linda. Besides, she still had her wrists and elbows tied behind her back.

»Our little Missy here sure has some fighting spirit left in her and so, we can`t risk giving her more freedom! You know what that means, Blondie, don`t you?«

With a furious groan, Emily shook her head and squirmed in the vice grip, but they just pushed her towards Linda. Emily staggered and her boobs pushed hard against the blonde`s belly, but she managed to stay upright.

»Please, assist her – otherwise, we have to do so! And don`t even think of working on your bonds or your gags! Remember we still can see you, even if you go to the most remote corner of that cozy place.

Linda tried to touch Emily`s arm, but the redhead shook her away, giving her an angry glance, as if Linda was responsible for her predicament. Arthur shrugged, opened a canteen and drank.

»That salty air gets you thirsty, doesn`t it?«

He held the canteen to Linda who slightly nodded. Omar stepped behind her and loosened her cleave gag – only to pull it tighter whilst Arthur let a few drops of water drip on her lips, just enough to remind the girl of her thirst.

»Water, my dear, is a precious good in this country. So, it will be given only to those who are useful! Assist your little friend peeing, or you won`t get a single drop!«

He then went for the camp fire where Ben had started to prepare a simple stew. Meanwhile, Linda and Emily stared at each other. Linda tried to communicate to the other that there was no reason to suffer more than necessary. She felt thirsty after a day under the hot sun and she knew that Emily was in an even worse condition. She had sweated more and then, had been forced to swallow some sea water when she had gotten her head under water. And according to the way she squeezed her thighs, she also was also striving to relieve herself. However, there was still a defiant expression in her eyes.

»If she wets her knickers, you will get 50 on your bare bottom – each! Oh, and no water or food for the next day, too!«

»Mhmmph!«

Again, Linda reached for Emily and after some moments, the redhead made a small step towards her, then, another. She kept her head low, but followed Linda to a corner where she stepped in front of Emily, in a meager attempt to protect Emily from the men`s views.

»Mph!«

Now, Emily seemed really embarrassed and in the dwindling light, Linda could see that her cheeks were matching the color of her hair. Understanding her co-captive`s problem, Linda crouched and pushed her bound hands under Emily`s chemise. The other girl gasped and stiffened, but finally, she slightly nodded and Linda went up and grabbed the waistband of her knickers, pulling them to Emily`s knees. Then, she grabbed her chemise and gathered it up whilst Emily crouched. Linda turned her head away and waited until the splashing sound had abated. Then, she adjusted Emily`s clothes the best she could.

Drawing by Hugues66

»Mph! Uuhmmm!«

Emily turned around, holding her bound wrists towards Linda`s hands. The blonde shook her head, then, she pointed to the men that were just some ten yards away. With a frustrated groan, Emily followed her back to the camp fire.

First, they ungagged Linda and gave her some water. Then, she was handed a bowl of soup that tasted surprisingly good, though it was a bit difficult to eat with bound hands. After the meals, Linda was gagged again and it was Emily`s turn.

Her defiance had suffered so much that she greedily drank from the canteen held to her lips without any remark, but when she realized she would have to lap her soup from the bowl like a dog, since her hands were still bound behind her back, she shook her head and cursed her captors. Shrugging, they gagged her again. Then, Omar said:

»Tomorrow, I will go to Muscat and try to find out if you told us the truth, Blondie. It`s some 50 miles from here and so, I will need two days to get there, one or two days to get an audience and another two to come back. If I will not be back here within one week, we will follow our original plan. After all«, he looked directly at Linda, »it will subdue your triumph of having fooled me if you will end up in the hands of some African Chief!«

To their captives` relief, he ordered that the girls would have to sleep by the fire whilst they would get back to the boat. They made the girls stand up and positioned them face to face. Then, Linda had to put her still bound arms over Emily, keeping her in a tight embrace. Both shifted with uneasiness, since this forced their bodies close together. The difference in height meant that Emily`s boobs pressed against Linda`s ribs whilst Emily`s head was resting on her breasts. Ben tied a long rope to Linda`s wrists, then, he threaded it between both her and Emily`s legs. He then brought it up Linda`s back, over her shoulder and tied it off around Emily`s neck. The noose was wide enough not to block her breathing, but it prevented Linda from raising her arms and would force them to remain in their enforced embrace. Taking the sheet, he and Omar wrapped it tightly around the two. Then, Arthur put a hand to Linda`s shoulder.

»Sleep well, Ladies!«

He pushed her and they landed on the ground. Laughing, the three men kicked out the fire and went back for their boat. For a while, the two damsels could hear their talking and laughter. However, none of them concentrated on that.

It was not the first time Linda had been tied close to another woman – in fact, there had been situations that had been more humiliating and sexual. But never before had anyone been so restless. From the very beginning, Emily had wriggled and squirmed, causing their bodies to rub against each other in their tight cocoon. Linda had tried to calm her down, had shaken her head and tried to soothe her by tightening her grip around Emily`s arms, but the girl had continued to fight, all the time grunting and panting as if there was no tomorrow.

»At least, this rope is just running between my buttocks and not through my private parts, too!«, Linda thought with a shudder. Then, she felt that Emily was rocking her body to her left. She was a small woman, but also buxom and so, she finally managed to turn their position in a way she was now lying on top of Linda. Then, she began to squirm again, grinding her pubic mound against Linda`s who now was trapped under her companion and simply hoped that that madwoman would soon become out of breath.

Indeed, Emily`s moves became less vigorous, but still, she seemed to be working on her bonds. Then, Linda could feel it were actually her wrists she was working on.

Linda now silently begged for Emily`s pardon. The redhead had not panicked, she had just realized that getting her own wrists free would not help her much, not when her elbows were tied, too. But if Linda`s arms were free, they stood a fair chance.

From time to time, Emily had to stop from sheer exhaustion and Linda felt small blows of hot air on her chest when the other woman was resting her head against her boobs, panting heavily until she found some new strength. Linda could only admire the small redhead when finally, after more than an hour of picking on the knots, she felt her wrists come free.

For a moment, they kept still and listened, but from the boat, they could only hear a faint snore. So, they wriggled themselves out of the sheet. Then, Linda unbuckled the belt between Emily`s jaws and undid the scarf. Whilst Emily worked her gag out of her mouth with her tongue, Linda loosened her own gag. After some panting, Linda began to work on Emily`s bonds.

»Like this, we won`t get very far!«, Linda hissed once both were free. She only had her knickers and Emily, who at least had the decency of her chemise and her gartered stockings, was little better off. Not only were they scantily clad, none of them had shoes and the ground would be rocky.

»Anyway, we have to reach the next village before these thugs recognize that we have gone! This is a British protectorate, so, there must be at least some law and order!«

Reluctantly, Linda slung the blanket over her shoulders, then, she followed Emily towards the place where they thought the path would be.

When at that very moment, the moon reappeared from behind a cloud and showed them their way, Linda`s first thought was that God was on their side. But then, she cursed that God`s sense of black humor, for now, they were on display and from the boat, a voice yelled!

»Ey, quick, they are running away!«

***

It took Kazeem all of his inner strength to keep his revolting stomach under control. In his opinion, men were not made to travel by boat. On the big ship, seasickness had been no problem, but now, he felt every wave like a punch in the belly.

At Muscat, he had come to the conclusion that Linda`s abductors could not have dared to get on the open sea, since according to the sailor`s words, they had disappeared with a small fisher boat. So, they would follow the coastline and sooner or later stop somewhere – probably at their lair.

He knew that there were at least three men against him, but Kazeem had faced bigger problems in his life. So, he had just bought some weapons and a boat. It was rather small, but it had an engine and after the man he had bought it from had given him a short introduction, he could handle it, at least if the sea wasn`t rough.

So, he followed the coast of the Oman, always having an eye on the shore if he could see a lonely boat that fit the description.

***

On the rocky ground, the two fugitives could not run very fast with their bare feet, but at least, they had a head start. Once they had reached the plateau, they could see that the path led to a bigger dirt road. They had no idea whether to run to the left or to the right, so Linda just followed Emily.

»There!«

It seemed that Arthur had reached the top of the rock, too, followed by his companions. Both women shrieked and accelerated. Linda fell the blanket blow away from her shoulders, but she didn`t even stop. Instead, she and Emily headed for a gap where the road ran between two large rocks. Perhaps, there would be rescue of any kind on the other side!

Wearing boots, the three men were quicker than their prey, but it seemed that they would make it when suddenly, Emily slipped. Linda, who had been just one step behind her, could neither break nor evade her and so, she ran into Emily and both landed on the ground. Linda could see the three men were now just a few yards away.

BANG!

A shot was fired and the dirt splashed up, just in front of Omar`s feet. Then, a second shot was fired and Ben screamed and held his arm.

»Stop! In the name of the law!«

As if on command, the three men ran away, running zigzag when a few more shots were fired after them. Linda and Emily, still kneeling on the ground, embraced each other and stared into the dark where suddenly two men appeared, each holding a revolver in his hand.

»Get after them, Ali!«, one of them shouted. Now, the girls could see that he was wearing a khaki uniform and had a black beard. When approaching, he lowered his gun.

»I am Sergeant Adil, Royal Police! What happened?«

Meanwhile, Emily and Linda had risen from the ground. Emily poked Linda`s side and, blushing, she crossed her arms in front of her bare breasts. The Sergeant cleared his throat, then, he took off his uniform jacket and handed it to Linda.

A few moments later, the other man returned and reported:

»They ran down the hill and entered their boat! I could not get them with the revolver on the distance!«

»Well, at least, we could free these two Ladies – or have there been more women in the clutches of this thugs?«

Linda and Emily shook their heads and now, with the danger banned, both suddenly felt weak. Linda sobbed and Emily had to sit down, too. The Sergeant again cleared his throat, then, he said:

»Ladies, unfortunately, we two did our patrol on foot and therefore can`t offer you a ride to our police station, but it is just a mile down the road!«

It turned out that both women felt too weak for walking, though Emily hated to admit it. And so, each of the men took one of them in his arms and they carried the freed damsels towards an adobe flat that, despite carrying a flag, didn`t look very impressive. Before they entered, Emily insisted on walking the last steps, but Linda allowed Ali to carry her inside and to sit her on one of the two chairs in the small office. A third policeman stared at them with big eyes, but the Sergeant sent him away to fetch two blankets and to prepare some coffee.

Wrapped in these blankets and sipping from their mugs, the two women found enough strength to make their report. To their surprise, they seemed to know at least one of their abductors: Ben.

»Ladies«, the Sergeant said after his trademark throat-clearing, »I am sure that you both want to keep this – terrible incident a secret. So, tomorrow by dawn, we will get you some clothes and organize a cart to get you to Muscat! I am sure that the British Consulate will take care of getting you home, save and – discreet!«

Emily frowned.

»Sergeant, I can assure you that I am quite well! And there is no need to be discreet, since neither Miss Dellert nor I have done anything wrong! But we want to be sure that these criminals get caught! Otherwise, they might strike again and then, you might not be around!«

»Of course, Miss, we will do our best to-«

At that moment, a loud metallic bang could be heard and everyone in the room flinched. The Sergeant said something in Arabic and the second policeman went for a lid in the floor. Sergeant Adil smiled apologetically:

»We have a criminal locked down there who sometimes gets rebellious!« He lowered his voice and added:

»A serious drinker!«

However, Emily wasn`t pleased. Something in this man`s attitude made her more and more suspicious.

»Down there?«, she asked, pointing at the prison cell in the other corner of the room. It was equipped with two plank beds – and it was empty. The Sergeant once more cleared his throat, but before he could say something, Emily continued:

»Look, Sergeant, I am quite sure that you are trying to hide something. If you are earning some extra money by smuggling alcohol or such things, I don`t care! But you told us that you know at least one of our abductors and if you are somehow related to them, you should better think of a good excuse!«

»Miss, please, I-«

»I will take care that this White slavery ring gets caught – every member of it!«

She had risen from her chair and before anyone could react, she had pulled the revolver from Ali`s holster. Shielding the perplexed Linda with her body, she aimed at the two men. Sergeant Adil made a placatory gesture.

»Miss, please, we-«

He had approached her, but Emily cocked the revolver.

»Stay where you are!«

He raised his hands and stepped back. Ali hissed something in Arabic and suddenly, the Sergeant seemed to have regained his self-confidence. He lowered his hands and once more approached Emily.

»Get back, or you`ll regret it!«

Adil made another step and Emily pulled the trigger. The soft »Click!« let everyone petrify for a second. Then, Ali jumped forward and grabbed the empty pistol from her hand. Emily wanted to break free, but now, the Sergeant had drawn his own revolver.

»I can assure you that I only fired two times when we saved you! That means I have three bullets left for the two of you!«

Still, Emily tried to break free from Ali`s vice grip, but now, he grabbed her scalp and forced her to hold still. Linda had just raised her hands, still trying to cope with this rapid turn of events.

The third man came back from the cellar and Sergeant Adil said:

»Leave the door open, Harun! Our guest will get some company!«

At gunpoint, Emily and Linda were directed towards the lid. A ladder went to the cellar and now, the third man drew his weapon, too. They had to climb down the stairs, followed by Ali and the Sergeant. Then, they were led down a short corridor into a room that looked like the dungeon of a medieval fortress. When Ali lit an oil lamp, Emily and Linda could see a figure on the opposite wall. It was a tall black woman that sat on a narrow bench and had an iron collar around her neck that was fixed to the wall by a chain so short the woman could not stand up or lie down. In addition, her hands were cuffed behind her back and a chain went from her handcuffs to the chains around her ankles. In her mouth, a large leather ball was held by several straps that were buckled at her nape. Two straps just cut into the corners of her mouth, whilst two more met at her forehead and went over her head. The third had been buckled under her chin. The woman was dressed in rags and she seemed exhausted, but still defiant. In another corner, Emily could see a lying tin bucket; obviously, the woman had kicked it in an attempt to alert someone of her presence.

»Harun, our guests have decided to stay a little longer! Get them restrained, please! Start with the blonde!«

He forced Linda to sit on the bench and soon, a similar neck collar was closed around her neck. Before Harun could tie her hands and feet, Adil grinned and said:

»You have something that belongs to me, Blondie!«

»So, I will keep my nickname«, Linda thought as she reluctantly, yet obediently took off the uniform jacket and handed it to the Sergeant. Harun gasped at the sight of Linda`s nude breasts, but he tied her wrists and ankles with another set of cuffs that were connected by a short chain. Linda could guess that if she would stand, the chain would force her to keep her arms stretched down and she felt pity for the black woman that was close to six feet and would have to walk with her back bent. Her thoughts were distracted when Harun pushed a big leather ball into her mouth and buckled the straps tight, making it impossible to get it out of her mouth with her tongue and forcing her to bite down hard on it. It tasted a bit strange and the Sergeant explained:

»We use these gags quite often and we see no reason to wash them in between. So, just get used to it, Blondie!«

Linda retched and tried to move the ball with her tongue, but to no avail. Now, a squirming and fuming Emily was forced to sit next to Linda and now, she could see that the narrow bench went around the whole room and that there were at least five more such neck collars.

»Originally, this dungeon was designed for male prisoners!«, Sergeant Adil apologized when it turned out that, when Ali had cuffed Emily`s neck, she could not sit down without choking herself. Harun shortly hesitated, but his superior ordered her to cuff Emily`s hands and feet, too. When the redhead was gagged like her co-captives, he stepped in front of Emily and said:

»Maybe, with an upholstery, you will sit more comfortable!«

With a quick yank, he grabbed her chemise and ripped it from her body. Emily gasped when she found herself topless, then, she tried to kick him, but he just laughed and began to fold the flimsy cloth.

»Too bad, this will not be enough for keeping you from choking!«

He added something in Arabic. Now, the black woman shook her head and tried to get away from Ali and Harun, but they began ripping her torn dress from her, leaving her in just a white loincloth. Now, the black girl shivered and seemed quite embarrassed. With mocking friendliness, Adil formed a cushion from the rags and made Emily sit on it. Then, letting his eyes wander over the three pairs of naked breasts, he said:

»I am completely forgetting manners, Ladies! Blondie, Ginger, let me introduce to you – Queen Boobs!«

Her skin color prevented the black woman from blushing, but Linda and Emily could see the expression of sheer humiliation on her face. However, worse was to come: the Sergeant took one step forward, stepping on the chain between »Queen Boobs« ankle cuffs. Then, he bent forward and put his hands on her breasts, obviously enjoying her whimpers and her futile squirming.

Having fondled her for a minute or so, he went over to Linda who bit down on her gag and closed her eyes when he did the same to her. Emily, on the contrary, screamed through her gag and wriggled all she could, but she could not prevent the man from kneading her breasts as well. Then, he stepped back and bowed towards the black woman.

»Well, I must say that you are all quite busty, but despite the hard concurrence, our Queen Boobs has defended her title!«

Now, the black girl tried to jump up, but her neck collar stopped her and with a gurgle, she slumped back on her seat. Linda could now see that, despite her tallness, she was barely older than 19. Adil laughed before turning towards Emily:

»As you have mentioned, we already knew Ben! However, he and his comrades are not our accomplices – they are our concurrence!«

Having said so, he and his men left, taking the oil lamp with them. When the door had closed, the three nearly naked, bound and gagged girls were in total black darkness.

***

»I must say, the local police is really quick on the draw!«, Arthur said. They had entered the boat as quick as they could and set sails, then, they had sailed into the night. Only when they had brought a few hundred yards between them and the shore and were sure that their attackers did not follow them, they found time to take care of Ben`s wound that turned out to be a minor flesh wound. However, it seemed that Ben had faced death.

»Ey, come on, Big Ben!«, Arthur said, clapping Ben`s shoulder, »we are still free and alive and we have at least the 200 Pounds Blondie had in her cabin! It could be worse!«

Ben gulped, then, he took the bottle of rum from Arthur. Unlike Omar, he hardly ever drank, but now, he took a big sip. Ben coughed and spat out half of the rum, then, he licked his lips and began to speak:

»Do you remember when we started our – business?«

Frowning, the other two men nodded. After Arthur and Omar had developed their plan of how to kidnap a woman from the ship, they had tried to find a partner and, after several seemingly harmless talks to smugglers and other petty criminals in harbor bars, they had met Ben. He was a fisherman from a village near Muscat and he had said that he knew about slave traders from Somaliland.

Since Britain had abolished slavery more than 70 years ago, British authorities tried to get rid of the slave trade in the area. They more or less tolerated the existence of slavery around them, but they tried to at least prevent the arrival of new slaves. So, they had several patrol ships in the area, but since the Arabs still had an interest in slaves, there was still quite some illegal trade between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

Ben had talked to the only slave trader he knew. Actually, his parents had been slaves, too, and had only been set free by the testament of their former owner, but to Ben, it had just seemed fair to do the trade the other way round, by selling white women to Africa. The slave trader had shown interest, but had warned him as well: the locals that were involved in the illegal business did not appreciate any concurrence. However, Ben had only told Omar and Arthur that he had found someone interested in white girls.

»This policeman, Sergeant Adil – I know him! And I am quite sure that he has also recognized me!«

Arthur, who had taken another sip of rum and who now was becoming confident again, said:

»So, we are all wanted criminals by now! But all we have to do is get to the next big city, maybe Aden, and start a new life there! Ey, Big Ben, you can work as a fisherman everywhere at the coast!«

Slowly, Ben shook his head.

»You don`t understand. He has not recognized me just this night; he has been suspicious about me for some time. When I had been in my village last week, Samira has told me that Sergeant Adil has asked her some questions about me.«

»Well – and who is Samira?«, Omar asked.

»My little sister«, Ben sighed, »she`s just 18 and has nobody but me!«

The others fell silent. They were angry about the fact that Ben hadn`t told them about these things, but they also felt pity: whilst they had just lost the perspective of making a fortune, their companion had endangered the life of his sister. Omar whispered:

»Did – did Samira know about your – our business plans?«

Ben shook his head.

»No, of course not. But when I left three days ago, I told her that I had some business to do in Muscat and after that, we would leave the village and start a new life somewhere else. In addition, I warned her not to cross the paths of Sergeant Adil.«

Their concerns were interrupted by a sound that quickly became louder: the sound of a motor engine. Lit by the moon, a small boat quickly approached.

»Damned, it`s the police! They have found us!«

Neither Ben nor Arthur nor Omar had experience as professional criminals and so, none of them possessed a firearm. Actually, it had been quite hard for Arthur and Omar to even get the narcotic.

However, fleeing also wasn`t an option, since the boat was heading for them and with its engine, would easily catch up with them. So, they decided just to play dumb and hope for the best. Perhaps, it was just a routine control.

»Fuck!«, Omar muttered, »Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!«

The boat was now just some 20 yards away and he had recognized the man steering it: it was the man in the white suit – though he was now dressed in a dark djellaba.  The man that had kept the blonde woman captive in her own room.

»Mr. Baker and Mr. Sallah, I presume!«

The boat had stopped and now, Ben, Arthur and Omar could see the gun in the man`s hand. He continued:

»You have stolen something from me! Something very precious! However, if you hand me back my property immediately, I will grant you your life in exchange!«

Obviously, this stranger was no man of great words. The only problem was that they could not give this man what he demanded. Beside him, Arthur began to giggle:

»It`s all dead easy, you said! An easy plan to get rich, you said! Now, we are fucked, man!«

***