Back to the Present 10

It had become late morning when Bela reached the Cemetery Island. At the mooring, he had seen a few boats, obviously people who wanted to visit the graves of their beloved ones. So, he had decided to get ashore somewhere else and detected a small bay where he had spotted another boat.

Carefully, he had approached. Of course, he wasn`t doing anything illegal by visiting San Michele and sure, nobody could have known right now that he had stolen his boat. But if these were some smugglers or other criminals, it was better to be careful.

However, the boat looked abandoned and Bela could also not see anyone at the shore and so, he had a closer look. If it was a smuggler`s boat, he could perhaps find a weapon or maybe, something to eat. So, he came alongside the boat and looked inside.

The boat was bigger than his small barque, but still, he could see there was nothing in it – except for a woman`s dress. Bela frowned. It was a plain dress, yet it looked as if it had cost quite a sum: it was the dress of a citizen, not a peasant.

Bela looked around and then climbed into the other boat. In it, he also found a pair of shoes, indicating that the woman who had worn this dress now had to be somewhere either in other clothes or just in her camisole. Of course, it could have been that a woman was having a secret meeting with a lover, but then, she should be here, shouldn`t she?

When he took the dress, his eyes fell on a small sack that rattled softly as he moved it. Looking inside, Bela saw a few silver coins, a golden necklace with an emerald pendant on it – and a diadem. Bela gasped. This was worth a fortune! Again, he looked around for the original owners of the bag, but still, he seemed to be alone.

When he touched the jewelry, Bela again felt the aura of Janika and though it made him feel like a tracker dog, he concentrated on this feeling until he was sure: Janika had touched these items – and it seemed that she was somewhere not too far away.

He took the bag and hid it under his shirt. Then, he went ashore and walked to the cemetery`s wall he saw some 20 yards away. Since it was meant to keep out dogs and not attacking enemies, it wasn`t higher than some five feet and Bela could look at the graveyard. It was bigger than most graveyards he had seen so far, but otherwise, not the least special. A few people were standing at graves, contemplating, whilst a monk was watching the work of two gravediggers.

Bela guessed that the island measured some 500 yards in length and some 400 in width. He could see the towers of the church and he knew that except for the monks, there would be several more people living here: gravediggers, workers, servants, etc. Also, there would be several buildings where Janika could be. Her aura would lead him on his way, but he could not just knock on every door and ask about a tall blonde.

So, he decided to get back to his boat and wait for the evening when there would be less people. At least, the little bay was so close to the mooring that he could have an eye on the approaching boats.

***

Fiamma yawned and stretched her arms as Luigi and Lorenzo entered the dungeon. The blanked slid down her body, revealing her naked breasts. Beside her, Ornella still was sleeping. The two maids, who had still been given no clothes, had decided to make the best about being confined to the torture chamber, though rather as guests. They had stoked the oven and had a leisurely meal, together with wine and so, they still were a bit tired, but otherwise happy about the men`s return.

»Now, will we be allowed to get back to our work or will we have to spend more time with you?«

The redhead made no attempt of hiding her boobs. She did not love Lorenzo, but seducing the Doge`s right hand sure was a good way of earning some money. Ornella now also awoke and she smiled at Luigi. The bulky man also grinned and answered:

»Maybe, you will spend quite a lot of time with us in the near future! But maybe, it won`t be here!«

Lorenzo rolled his eyes at his comrade`s attempt to sound subtle and enigmatic. Ornella said:

»What are you suggesting? A trip to the mainland, just the four of us?«

»Oh, it will rather be the twelve of us!«, Luigi replied and Lorenzo had to admit that he had at least done the calculating right. Before entering the dungeon, they had selected four of the guards they considered trustworthy and who had no family ties. He stepped forward and said:

»A small palace in the countryside, how does that sound to you?«

Ostentatiously, Fiamma yawned again and Ornella also didn`t look too excited. Lorenzo continued:

»His Highness has chosen you to accompany his former Mistress and a few other women on their trip to Meduna.«

»But, that`s a nest!«, Ornella blurted and Fiamma added:

»Tell His Highness that we do not want to leave the palace! At least nor for some meager 100 Scudi!«

Now, Lorenzo laughed and the two maids also giggled. Then, he said:

»Unfortunately for you two, it is not on you to decide! Now, get on your knees and put your hands behind your back!«

The two girls still laughed and only when Luigi approached with some coiled rope and Lorenzo picked a cane from the table, they realized that the order hadn`t been a joke.

***

At around noon, Bela was about to doze off. There had been a few boats coming and leaving, but none of these had looked suspicious to him. Now, however, he rose from his place when he saw a rowboat approach at a considerably high speed.

It was rowed by no less than four men, explaining why it moved faster than the usual vessels. A gaunt man with a sword on his side stood in the bow and jumped to the landing gate as soon as the boat had reached it. Bela then watched the other men unload four barrels from the boat which they rolled towards the monastery, but they stopped right before the gate and approached a flat stone building instead.

Bela frowned. At first, he had thought that the monks just got their wine delivered. He knew that most monks were not very ascetic in their drinking habits and so, he hadn`t wondered about that. However, he had seen the men unload the barrels and either, they were some of the strongest men he ever had seen – or the barrels were empty. In addition, he was sure that the monastery`s wine cellar would be inside the cloister`s walls and not in a barn outside.

Of course, there were several reasons why one of the workers would need a few barrels, but sure, these would have been delivered by one man and not by five. It was empty barrels, not a treasure, after all. Bela decided to watch closer what would happen next.

***

»It seems we arrived just in time!«

Lorenzo, the first to enter the barn, had seen that Aurora was literally on the edge of her seat or rather the table she and Janika were placed upon. The former Mistress had been about to topple over and land on the floor when he pushed her backwards. He wanted to say something when the first of the men with the barrels entered.

»Wow!«

Though Lorenzo had briefed the guards about their mission, the man was overwhelmed by the sight of four naked, bound and gagged women right in front of him. He just stared and when the other guards entered one by one, they couldn`t help doing the same.

Only Aurora reacted to the arrival of the men by mmphing and shaking her head whilst the other three seemed only dimly aware about them. They were wriggling their hips, sighing and moaning and the specific fragrance told the men why these women were quite distracted.

»It seems they have been waiting for us!«, one of them finally croaked. Lorenzo, who had seen the four captives before and knew about the effects of the drug they had been forced to swallow, nodded and grinned.

»Well, they will have to wait a little longer, I am afraid! Once we are at – at our destination, we may have our way with them, but it will be a few hours of work before we can help these poor damsels to get what they want!«

Lorenzo had deliberately not told them about where exactly they would go. Once they had reached the mainland, it would be early enough. The men needed some more seconds to pay attention to his words, but then, it seemed that they wanted to get to work immediately.

The plan was rather simple: pack the girls inside the barrels, get them to their boat and row towards the mainland where Luigi would be waiting with a cart. If nothing happened, they would be at Meduna the next day – and then, they would start having fun with these four women, whether they liked it or not.

They cut the ropes that connected the calves of Janika and Aurora, but left them otherwise tied and gagged. The two men who then grabbed the blonde to put her into one of the barrels noticed that she squirmed and moaned as if she wanted them desperately. Her nipples were hard and erect and when one of the men put his hand between her legs, Janika reared up and groaned whilst the man felt she was all wet and hot.

»This volcano`s about to erupt!«

»Later!«, Lorenzo ordered and the men unwillingly stopped teasing Janika who commented the withdrawal of the hand with a disappointed grunt. She was then lowered into one of the barrels and one of the men groped her breasts for a last goodbye.

»Soon, my Dear!«

He put the lid back on the barrel and nailed it shut whilst his comrade and another guard now came for Aurora. She squirmed and moaned more desperately, trying to shake off the groping hands and so, Lorenzo allowed the men to touch the unwilling former Mistress for a while before she was stowed inside a barrel, too.

»You better get used to getting touched against your will soon!«, he whispered into Aurora`s ears, enjoying her fearful look.

Soon, Jelena and Tabea were separated from each other and whilst Jelena was pretty, but not too special, none of the guards had seen a naked black woman before. So, Lorenzo took care of packing Jelena inside the third barrel whilst he let the four men explore the Black for the time it took him to lower the small, but busty Gypsy into the barrel and to nail the lid. He grinned at what he saw: one man was massaging her pussy whilst two others had each taken care of one of her boobs. The fourth was trying to grope her buttocks, but the four men stood in each other`s way and so, when Tabea was put into the last barrel, the touches of eight hands had brought her no closer to her desired orgasm.

»Right, let`s get them to the boat and we can be at the mainland within one or two hours! We may have to spend the night on the road, but at least, we will have some company to keep us warm!«

Since Luigi was having Fiamma and Ornella with him, there would be no quarrelling among the men, for there would be a girl for each of them. Lorenzo walked back towards the boat, followed by the men who again were rolling the barrels. The sound of that and the men talking drowned all the moans and sighs the helpless damsels could produce. In addition, the landing gate was empty right now.

Bela now was sure that something strange was going on. Not only had Janika`s aura become stronger than ever, but it was just strange that these men came back with the barrels they had just delivered. If they had filled them with wine or any other liquid, it would have taken them more than the maybe ten minutes inside the barn to do so.

»Four barrels? There`s Janika, Tabea and Jelena – but who is number four?«

He went back for his small barque and followed the boat that now was leaving San Michele.

***

»Hey, look!«

One of the guards pointed towards the stern and Lorenzo turned around. He had decided to take the slightly longer way around the Venetian main islands and since there were many boats around, he hadn`t taken notice of the small vessel that was following them. But now, when they were on the sea strait between Venice and the mainland, he could tell that this boat was indeed trying to stay behind them.

Lorenzo scratched his head. Did the girls have an accomplice they didn`t know about? Quickly, he thought about his options. The man couldn`t do much against five armed men, but since their own boat now was quite overloaded, they could not shake him off either. So, he could watch their departure and so, it would no longer be a secret.

He signaled the men to stop rowing and reached for his bag. It contained a small crossbow. Lorenzo guessed that the other boat was some 100 yards away and so, he had to wait for the man to get closer to get a good shot at him.

»No sound!«, he whispered, getting the crossbow ready. He only needed to wound the man; once he was injured, they could get close to his boat and finish him. A look around told him that no other boats were close, so, their deed would remain unwitnessed.

The boat was swaying in the swell as the men were waiting for the smaller boat to approach. Since Bela was sitting with his back towards them, he hadn`t noticed yet that the other boat had stopped. But then, a short chain of events started.

The four barrels containing the girls had been placed in the boat`s bow, with one being positioned upon the others, secured by a rope. However, this rope hadn`t been tied properly and the swaying now caused the knot to get loose. When the next wave hit the boat, the barrel started to move.

SPLASH!

The sound of the barrel landing in the water and the curse that followed made Bela turn his head. It was the very moment Lorenzo fired the crossbow and reflexively, Bela dodged. Thus, he escaped the bolt, but the small barque capsized and he found himself in the water.

Lorenzo cursed and looked at the barrel dancing on the waves beside the boat. Then, he pointed at the other vessel where Bela had just managed to grab the hull, also just some 30 yards away.

»The barrel will swim long enough! Let`s finish this bastard!«

Bela had heard these words and now saw the men working on the oars to turn the boat around. He thought of swimming away, but it would not have improved his chances, for the boat would be faster than him. Desperately, he looked around, but there was no other boat around. He would soon meet his maker.

However, he could perhaps save the girls.

Bela pulled himself upon the capsized boat and then, he concentrated on the approaching boat in which Lorenzo now was standing at the bow, his sword in his right. The boat was so close Bela could see the grin on his face.

The two boats were perhaps some ten yards apart from each other when Bela felt his powers work. It was as if the sky literally tore open right behind the bigger boat and suddenly, there were purple clouds everywhere. Bela heard the five men scream and then, a blast washed over him and he felt he was thrown through the air.

Bela didn`t lose his consciousness and so, when he landed in the water again, he was able to struggle back to the surface. Close to him, he saw something and grabbed it. It was a barrel and he slung his arms around it.

Now, he heard voices and when he raised his head, he saw that his capsized boat was still around, though it was some 100 yards away now. Around it, he could see the heads of some men paddling in the waves, but the other boat was – gone!

»Holy shit!«

»Mhhmm!«

It took Bela some time to realize that the faint sound had come from inside the barrel. He shook his head and then, when another moan reached his ear, he knew that at least one of the four women was still here.

The others had meanwhile reached the boat and Bela decided that he should not wait for them until they had managed to turn it around. So, using the barrel`s buoyancy, he paddled towards the shore. From time to time, he could hear a moan from inside the barrel, but he could not do anything to help the woman inside.

Some hour later, he reached land and managed to roll the barrel to the strand. Though he was more than exhausted, Bela looked for a big stone and smashed the lid. He sank to his knees and looked at two eyes blinking at him. The eyes were blue and he could also see a few tresses of blonde hair.

It was Janika and she was alive!

***

Some distance away, Lorenzo and the four guards had also reached the shore. None of them had been killed by whatever had happened to them, but none of them was in the mood to frolic. Unable to turn the boat, they had used it as a raft and managed to reach the land where they now were lying, panting and still not able to cope with what they just had witnessed.

Lorenzo, who could neither be called a coward nor slow in the uptake, suddenly brought himself into a sitting position. He of course was still suffering from their encounter, but during their swimming ashore, he had had time to cope with it at least a little and had also tried to figure out what they should do next.

»This – this n-never has happened!«, he croaked.

The guards turned towards him, staring at Lorenzo as if he had lost his mind.

»Th-That was w-witchcraft!«, one of them stammered. The others agreed and Lorenzo also nodded, but managed to raise his hand.

»It was witchcraft, for sure! But do you think Gritti will believe us?«

The Doge was known to be no friend of any superstition and he also didn`t like the Holy Inquisition. If something supernatural was said to have happened, Gritti usually looked for a plausible explanation and sometimes, those who had been talking about witches or demons were punished.

»We have no proof of what has happened! The boat and the girls are gone! All Gritti will do is either think that we abducted them to sell them for profit – or, he may send us to the Inquisitors so they may find out whether we are telling the truth!«

For a while, the men were silent. They all knew that the Inquisition would be interested in their story – however, if they considered parts of it to be a lie, they would use torture to find out the truth they wanted to hear. After a few minutes, one of the guards asked:

»But what shall we do now?«

Lorenzo looked at the water. At the horizon, he could see the silhouette of Venice and he knew that Gritti would be unaware of what had happened. He reached under his shirt and could feel his purse still was there.

»Maybe, we should all go our ways. We are soldiers and there is work for us anywhere on the peninsula. Gritti has given me 250 Scudi and so, if we share the money like brothers, each of us has 50 Scudi, plus a head start of at least one day!«

After a short discussion, the four guards agreed. Two of them had relatives at Chioggia which was just one day away from where they were now and so, they decided to get there before they would decide what to do next. Lorenzo took the sack with the money in it and handed it to the leader of the four men.

»I have some friends north of the Alps and will go there instead. I can walk there and live from fruits and sleep in barns, so, have all the money!«

The men smiled and Lorenzo watched them leave soon afterwards. He had lied, but he had not wanted them to kill him for his share of the money and so, he had given them all of it. After all, Luigi still had the rest of it.

Lorenzo waited for some hour, until he was sure that the four men indeed had left. Then, he walked until he reached the road and sat under a tree.

Their original plan had been that he and the guards would fetch the four captives from San Michele and get them to the mainland by boat. Here, they would wait for Luigi whose job it was to get a cart.

After another hour and several other passing carts and coaches, cart drawn by two mules approached. Luigi looked puzzled when he saw just Lorenzo, lacking his sword and also his boots and his clothes still sporting signs of his involuntary bath in the Lagoon.

»What has happened? Where are the others?«

Lorenzo climbed on the cart and pointed at Luigi`s wine hose. He quenched his thirst before he told Luigi what had happened. The man crossed himself and asked:

»What now? Shall we tell Gritti?«

»If you want to be the tortured instead of being the torturer for a change, go for it! However, I think we should go to the North instead!«

His plan was improvised and rather simple: Once they had left the Venetian territory, they could stop at some remote village and stay there for the next months. They still had more than 2000 Scudi and so, they could rent or even buy a small house and didn`t have to work for quite some time. Once Luigi had fully understood Lorenzo`s words, he nodded. Then, he pointed over his shoulder.

»What about them?«

Lorenzo parted the canvas that covered the cart and looked at the load. he could see two squirming bundles and heard a faint moan.

»I left them like we packed them, just as you told me!«, Luigi said.

Back at the dungeon, they had tied both Fiamma and Ornella identically. They had bound the naked maids` arms at wrists and elbows, ignoring their pleas. Forcing them to remain down on their knees, they had then stuffed their mouths to the bursting with rags before they had tied tight leather straps between their lips to secure the gags.

Next, Lorenzo had tied a rope around Fiamma`s waist, worked the dangling end between her legs and then threaded it between her bound lower arms. The girl had mewed and reared up when he had pulled the crotch rope tight before tying the end off to her elbow tie.

Whilst Luigi had applied a similar crotch rope on Ornella, Lorenzo had tied Fiamma`s legs at the ankles and above and below her knees. The girl had continued to plead through her gag and so, Lorenzo had tied another cloth over her mouth and secured it with a leather belt.

Once Ornella`s legs had been tied and her gag had been reinforced, too, the two men had looked at the two girls with their heaving, thrust out boobs and their fearful eyes above their gags. Then, they had pulled canvas sacks over them and wrapped their bodies with more ropes. By tickling their soles, they had found out that the two girls could neither move around much nor make much noise.

»What shall we do with them?«, Luigi asked once more. Lorenzo closed the canvas, sat back beside his friend and for the first time in hours, he smiled.

»During the next months, we have to keep our heads low and will have to stay at our new house for most of the time. So, some company will be quite nice!«

Now, Luigi smiled, too. He wasn`t the brightest candle on the chandelier, but even he knew that two girls for two men was the same as six for six as their original plan would have meant.

»Do you think they will be good – company?«

»Well, if not, we will have all time to persuade them – again and again!«

Luigi now turned the cart and when they were travelling to the North, Lorenzo looked towards Venice at the horizon for one last time. For someone who had survived veritable witchcraft, he had managed to get away quite well.

***

Once he had pulled her out of the barrel, Bela had looked for something to cut Janika`s ties and gag with. However, the blonde had been lying on her back, wriggling her hips and her hard nipples pointing at him and so, he had quickly undressed and thrown himself upon her. To his surprise, it was the first time Janika reached the peak before him. With a deep guttural sigh of relief, she sank back to the beach whilst a slightly puzzled Bela withdrew and then used a sharp piece of wood to free his beloved.

Once she was free, Janika slung her arms and legs around him and demanded to be loved a second time. Only then, with the opiate no longer affecting her and satisfied by her second orgasm, the blonde finally calmed down. To increase Bela`s surprise, she suddenly wept.

»What have I done!«, Bela thought as he held the sobbing girl in his arms. However, it had just been too many emotions kept inside Janika for too long and after a while, she seemed to have recovered mentally. She cuddled against him and was able to tell him what had happened since she had left him. Then, she looked around and asked:

»Where are the others?«

Now, Bela told his part of the story. Janika`s eyes widened.

»You – you mean, you sent them back to their time? Together with the boat? Wow, that`s tough!«

»I – I think so!«

Of course, this question had been in his head as soon as he had been able to think clearly again. He had tried to look through time, but he had only been able to sense that obviously, Tabea, Jelena and Aurora had reached the 21st century and still were alive. Perhaps, he could see more once he had recovered a bit.

Now, with his girl back in his arms, he just felt tired. What he had done had exhausted him and having to swim towards the land had also taken its toll, not mentioning sleeping with Janika, though he would not complain about the latter.

He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on Tabea and the others. However, he got distracted by another thought. He leaned over to Janika and whispered:

»Their time?«

»Hm?«

»You said ›back to their time‹. Isn`t it your time, too?«

Janika looked at him and put his arm around him, pulling him closer to herself. She kissed him and breathed:

»How could it be my time if you couldn`t come with me?«

When they kissed this time, Bela felt nothing but pure joy and relief. Kissing and laughing they rolled through the sand until Janika suddenly twitched.

»Ouch!«

She reached under her back and found that she had landed upon Bela`s discarded clothes. Entangled in his shirt, she felt something hard. It turned out to be a small bag.

»Is that-«

She opened it and her eyes fell upon the glistering beauty of Aurora`s jewelry.

»That should be enough for a start of a new life in your – I mean our time!«, she said and embraced Bela.

***

To Tabea, the hours since the drug-soaked gag had been forced into her mouth had felt like a long dream or rather a nightmare. She could quite clearly remember how Aurora had pleased her orally, but after that, everything had become blurred. There had been the close proximity of Jelena, naked like her, the growing fire between her legs and the loss of reality. There had been other impressions; hands, rough male hands touching her everywhere, but not getting her over the brink. Then, darkness, being pushed and rolled around in a tiny wooden box and finally, a constant swaying.

Suddenly, the swaying had turned to what felt like a hurricane. There had been a strange swoosh and she had seen purple clouds everywhere.

»Hhrrrrrrmmmmmm!«

Her muffled screams had echoed around her as she had been on a rollercoaster ride that suddenly had ended abruptly. She had spun around herself for a few more times and then, the bizarre ride had come to a halt.

Tabea blinked and saw a strange pale light above her eyes, looking close and far away at the same time. The drug seemed to wear off and so, she was able to focus on what she was looking at. Her tiny prison, obviously rather a barrel than a box, had partially broken and through the gaps between the staves, she could see the full moon or at least parts of it.

She heard a voice and slowly, she turned her head. Through another gap, she could see something that took her some time to recognize, though it was something all too familiar – or at least, it had been in her old life. It was a car.

»Mmhhmmm?«

Again, she heard the voice and now, she could see a man standing beside the car. He was wearing a suit jacket and he was talking into something he held to his ear.

»A cell phone!«, Tabea´s memory told her after some seconds. Then, her eyes widened with fear. She knew this man! It was Sandor, the Hungarian who had sent her and Jelena back in time to alter the past!

Sandor now finished his phone call and approached the barrel.

***