Skulls, Bones and Flowers 4

For obvious reasons, the retreating pirates had accelerated their speed as soon as being silent no longer was that important, though they had reduced their speed to a normal pace once simple exhaustion took over. So, they occasionally made small pauses in which they chewed some leaves that seemed to have a revitalizing effect before they continued the seemingly endless trip.

Nesrin was not given such leaves, and like her co-captives, she was kept thoroughly gagged and tied to the stick she was carried around with. The part till the first break had been the worst, for she had to cope with this kind of bondage, where her weight was carried by two ropes, and she helplessly dangled from her stick, bouncing around whenever one of the men staggered, and her neck aching from her constantly arching her head back, so her hair didn’t get entangled in the plants on their way.

Obviously, their transporting method had been inconvenient for the pirates, too, for one of those carrying Fleur had produced two more thongs and tied one around the black girl’s waist before fixing it to the stick. The other one, he had used to tie her hair together before he had fixed that to the pole, too. The others had looked sceptical, but he and his comrade had just lifted Fleur, proving that now, the girl swung around less, thus being easier to carry in the difficult terrain. So, the others had followed his example. Nesrin had to admit that it was a slight improvement: now being fixed on three points, the ropes dug less into her skin, she hung more stable, and the thong tied to her hair, though it pulled on her scalp, helped her to keep her head off the ground.

»Her« carriers walked first, for one of them was the Captain, and so, Nesrin, who was carried feet first, could look at the other two captives, especially when they walked up a steep hill. Fleur hung almost motionless, and only an occasional moan told that she hadn’t fainted. Marguerite, however, still squirmed and fought her bonds, and her mewing had caused one of the men responsible for her to tie an additional cloth over her mouth to further muffle her cries.

»Fleur at least has some experience in being enslaved«, Nesrin thought, feeling a little pity for the spoiled blonde. Her nightgown had slid up her thighs, and the angle of the hill allowed Nesrin to see that she was naked underneath the silk gown.

»Not that my panties will offer me much protection!«, she thought with a shudder. Nesrin had no idea why the pirates had kidnapped her and Fleur, too, for the Comte sure would only pay ransom for his daughter, not for a disposable slave girl and a woman he hadn’t even seen more than once before. There was an answer to that question, and Nesrin didn’t like the thought at all.

They had reached the hill’s peak, and Nesrin was lowered to the ground, in a way that she could look down into a small bay, where a ship was anchoring. Nesrin didn’t know much about old vessels, but she could see it had two masts and was rather small.

»The ›Bloody Mermaid‹!«, the Captain explained with some pride in his voice, and only now, Nesrin realized that their kidnappers spoke English, though a bit different from that she had learned at school. That wasn’t a great surprise, for most of the pirates who had haunted the area between the 1690ies and the 1720ies had been of English origin, including the famous ones like Blackbeard or Bartholomew Roberts. Given the fact he had only one small ship, this Captain belonged to the less famous ones.

Whilst they waited for Fleur and Marguerite, the Captain lit a lantern and sent a signal to the ship where it was answered little later. The girls were cut loose from the sticks and again put over three of the men’s shoulders, for they now descended to the beach where a boat was waiting. Before she was stowed on the planks, Nesrin could see that the ship had already set two sails and obviously was ready to leave the bay once they were aboard.

The trip was short, but Nesrin had the inconvenience that Marguerite had been placed next to her. She still had some fighting spirit, and since they had been placed face to feet, the blonde’s feet occasionally brushed over Nesrin’s face when she squirmed on the planks.

A scraping sound announced that they had reached the ship, and now, Nesrin could see the black hull, with the barrel of a cannon right above her. Again, she was put over one of the men’s shoulders, and he surprisingly agile climbed up the rope ladder dangling from the ship, though his hand clawed into her butt, either to stabilize her, or because he just liked the feel.

Once she was placed on the planks, some pirates gathered around her, some just curious, others more interested in her bra-clad breasts she involuntarily presented. Once Marguerite and Fleur were beside her, they got their share of attention, too; however, though they didn’t spare lewd comments, nobody had touched them so far.

»All right, get the yawl aboard, and get the girls to my cabin!«

In all pirate movies she had seen, an order from the Captain caused the sailors to rapidly follow that order, but now, some just looked at him angrily, and one stepped forward and protested:

»You only spoke about the Comte’s daughter! What about the other ones?«

He didn’t show any respect towards the Captain’s position, and, according to the murmuring of some of the crew, they shared his position. »A mutiny!«, Nesrin thought, but the Captain also didn’t shy back from the other man.

»I said, get them to my cabin! Tomorrow, when we are out of reach, I’ll explain!«

The two men stared at each other, and the protester snarled:

»Don’t forget, Eddie, you are only Captain as long as we please!«

The Captain straightened, and though the other was one inch taller, he managed to stare down on him.

»That’s right, Hank! But as long as I gain us profit, it better should please you! Once I make mistakes, you may depose me – but that’s the decision of the whole crew, not just yours!«

A staring contest of a few seconds followed, and finally, the one called Hank lowered his head, spat on the planks and grunted something that didn’t sound like »Aye, Aye, Captain!«. However, when the Captain repeated his order, three men carried the girls to the ship’s stern and through a corridor, into a cabin that even in the dim light showed it had seen better days. It looked as if there had been a rough bachelor party just hours ago.

The men placed Marguerite on the only bed, and Nesrin and Fleur had to sit on the floor right in front of it. To their slight surprise – and great relief – the men then left, and the girls could hear shouted commandos and the sounds of a ship coming to life before it began to move, heading for the open water.

***

At the mansion, a few more confused than anything overseers had shooed most of the women back into the quarters and locked the door. Daisy, covering herself with the blanket, had mixed among the group gathered at the court and listened to what those who had worked in the house had to tell about what had happened. When she returned to the corner to which Lilly had withdrawn, she was quite worried.

»Some criminals kidnapped the Comte’s daughter – and also Nesrin, as it seems!«

Lilly grew pale. She had Nesrin had rather been acquaintances than friends, but she definitely wanted to have the Iranian by her side when they returned to their time. An escape would have been more than difficult with her being close to them, but now, she could be anywhere.

»I heard that the kidnappers left a ransom note!«, Daisy added, but they both knew that the Comte would most likely not pay for Nesrin, too. And they had little illusions about the fate she would have in the clutches of a gang of criminals.

Lilly felt as if a giant fist was squeezing her heart, and she sniffled to fight back her tears. Daisy put her arm around her, and she pointed at Sayana’s small hut.

»What do you think happened to her?«

It was more an attempt to distract themselves from Nesrin’s uncertain fate, but Lilly looked up. She had only been able to see the fight a bit blurred, but she had heard Sayana ask for some »Nyala« – and the Comte’s order to get her to »the mill«.

»We still need her help! But what is that mill, and where is it?«

They decided to ask Tarra, but she just bent over the dough she was kneading and refused to talk to them. Questioning a few others led to similar results, some even crossed themselves. Lilly knew that according to the »Code Noir«, a code containing rules for slavery in the French Colonies, all slaves had to be baptized, and obviously, some now were either Christian or had adapted Christian elements to their original faith. Anyway, they now knew that the mill was something extremely dreadful, and even speaking about it was considered evil.

»They sure won’t grind her to flour!«, Daisy scoffed, and Lilly also had no idea what kind of torture a mill could be. During the time she and Nesrin had worked at the museum, they had learned about some of the cruel punishments that were put upon slaves, but there had been no mill in any form.

»However, we know that there are windmills at Martinique!«

In 2024, there were only a few ruins left, but they had been introduced to the island by the late 17th century, as an easier way to grind sugar cane. And since the Comte ran a plantation, it was quite plausible that he owned one.

»We must get out of here!«

They withdrew behind the barrack that was the most remote. It also was the quietest corner, for most of the others were close to the door, trying to get some news about what was going on. The mood was almost relaxed; not only was this a break in the daily routine, the fact that for a change, the Comte was the one suffering seemed like poetic justice, and obviously, none of them was too worried about his daughter’s fate.

Though, except for bras and panties, it was their only cover, they tore the blanket, producing a makeshift rope some three yards in length. Daisy tied a stone to one end, and then, she threw it over the palisade, so it stuck between two posts. She pulled to test the rope’s stability, and then, they managed to climb over the palisade. Either, nobody had seen them, or the others did not want to report an escape attempt, so, nobody was shouting after them.

The girls sneaked around the slave quarters, over to those for the male slaves, from where they could see the mansion’s veranda. Daisy, who had better eyes, saw the Comte give orders to some men on horses, most likely a search party.

»I hope they look for his daughter somewhere very far from where we have to go!«

They had only two clues: the mill could not be too far from the warehouses they were just passing, and a device run by wind had to be on a hill or at least somewhere exposed. In addition, even Lilly would be able to see something the size of an elephant.

Indeed, when they had passed a large, narrow warehouse, the girls could see a considerably large windmill standing on a hill. To Lilly, it looked out of place, since in her opinion, such things belonged to the Netherlands. Daisy grabbed her arm and pulled her behind a bush for there was a mounted patrol, but since the men didn’t slow down, they obviously hadn’t spotted them.

»This search has one good thing – I mean aside from that they maybe find and free Nesrin. The mill will most likely be unguarded, as everyone who can hold a gun is searching for the Comte’s daughter!«

The low hill on which the mill stood was covered with bushes, allowing the girls to approach without risking to be detected immediately. They also were at the mill’s backside, if one could say so about a round building. They could now hear the creaking of the wooden cogs, and see how the sails slowly rotated in the light breeze.

»All right, we now have to get around from both sides!«, Daisy whispered, grabbing a large stone as a makeshift weapon.

»Famous last words!«, Lilly joked and also took a stone before she sneaked towards the other side of the building. Lilly had no idea what to do if she ran into Toussaint and his comrades, but after a minute, she met Daisy by the only door leading inside, and she had also not seen anyone. There was no lock, and so, they quickly sneaked inside.

They were met by an overwhelming sweetish stench, obviously from sugar cane, and in the twilight, they could see the giant millstones. Obviously, the mill had something like a free-wheel, for they stood still. It was »you get what you see«, and there was no sign of Sayana.

»Maybe, she’s up there!«

A ladder led up to a wooden platform, and Daisy stood guard whilst Lilly climbed up. Here, she could see the hub of the propeller, two large cogs, and two levers, obviously meant to start the mechanism downstairs. She looked around, but Sayana wasn’t here either.

»Maybe, she managed to fly away!«, Lilly joked, and Daisy chuckled a bit hysterically. Perhaps, a person capable of sending people through time was capable of such things. Daisy angrily slammed against the wall, causing some dust to whirl.

»What the fuck? I mean, is ›mill‹ a metaphor for something?«

Anyway, this mill had nothing to offer that could be helpful in their escape. The girls stepped outside and looked down onto the glistering sea. Daisy could see a bit of the pier, and she pondered:

»Maybe, we can get there, and steal a boat! I mean, when they find us, we will be punished anyway, and Nesrin sure isn’t anywhere close!«

»Sounds like a plan!«

They once again looked around, then, they went into the direction of the coast. However, after just 100 yards, Lilly, suddenly overwhelmed with rage, turned around, raising her middle finger to the windmill that had made them lose precious time. Daisy laughed, but then, she firmly grabbed Lilly’s arm.

»There!«

She pointed at the windmill’s sails that still did about one round per minute. They were off-white, and therefore, something dark tied to one sail contrasted with the background. It had the shape of a human body.

»Holy shit!«

They staggered back, staring at the windmill’s sail. When they approached, Lilly could also see more details: the figure was indeed a naked black woman, forced to rotate as the sails did. And then, they could see the full perfidy of the mill, and they understood why the other slaves had spoken of it like a devilish entity.

The sails were like wooden grids, covered with canvas. The woman, most likely Sayana, was tied to one of them so she was upside down when the sail was on its lowest point. Her arms were behind her body, and several tight straps encircled her upper body. Her ankles were shackled to the sail’s sides, so she was dangling from her feet. Only when she reached the higher parts of the round, she got some relief from the strain. Sayana’s face was covered with something black, like a hood, though the girls could see her hair flutter in the wind.

»We must get her down! But how?«

It had to be possible somehow; after all, Toussaint and the others had tied her to the sail a few hours ago. Lilly said something encouraging, but wasn’t sure if Sayana had understood them. Then, they entered the mill and climbed up the ladder, trying the levers.

After some trial and error, they indeed managed to declutch the propeller, and, due to gravity, the sail Sayana was tied to now came to rest at the lowest point. Lilly also found out that the ladder could be moved, allowing them to take it outside and lean it against the sail.

»All right, let’s see if the lockpick I once arrested told the truth!«, Daisy murmured a bit indistinctly, for she had put her hairclip into her mouth to have her hands free for climbing. According to said lockpick, opening such old locks was piece of cake if one just had a piece of wire.

»All right, we are here now, relax!«, she said. A faint groan from Sayana was the only answer, and Daisy couldn’t blame her as she saw the details of her bondage. What they had considered a hood was actually a piece of black leather, pulled so tight over her face that it moulded to Sayana’s lineaments. In the middle, it had an opening from which her nose protruded.

The shackles had been wrapped with some tow to provide abrasion, but now, Daisy discovered another perfidy: a tight leather strap was tied around Sayana’s waist, and from it, another strap with several knots in it disappeared between her legs. This crotch rope seemed to be fixed to one of the horizontal bars somehow, meaning that when the sail had reached the highest point, Sayana was resting on the rope between her legs with her entire weight.

»Maybe, she preferred being upside down then«, Daisy thought and shuddered. The mere thought of that line of fire between the woman’s legs sent a shiver down her spine. She forced herself to concentrate on the lock of the shackle that indeed opened after a few minutes of poking. Sayana’s leg weakly dangled down, and the Black now swayed around, uttering a faint groan.

»All right, Lilly, get ready to hold her!«

Daisy went for the other shackle, knowing that once her leg came free, Sayana would hang from her crotch rope, and Daisy had no knife.

As a blessing in disguise, once she had opened the second shackle, Sayana only had to suffer for a few seconds before the bar broke. Lilly gasped as she was sent to the ground by the falling woman, but she was unharmed as was Daisy who had to jump when the ladder suddenly fell.

»Are you okay?«

It was Lilly, working herself free from Sayana’s body. Daisy nodded.

»I am fine – at least compared to her!«

Sayana wasn’t moving, and only her heaving breasts indicated that she still was alive. Obviously, she had fainted. Lilly now discovered yet another perfidy: the Black had been tied with wet leather thongs that had meanwhile dried and shrunk in the sun, so the knots could not be undone without a knife. They could also not loosen the tight leather from her face.

From the distance, they could hear what sounded like thunder, but was the sound of hooves. The search party was a few hundred yards away, but perhaps, one would wonder why the propeller wasn’t turning anymore.

»We must get away! Do you think we can carry her?«

Lilly pointed at the ladder, and they placed the unconscious Sayana on it, using the ladder as a makeshift stretcher. Quickly, the made it down the hill and between the bushes that would hide them for the moment.

»Okay!«, Daisy gasped when they had lowered the ladder to the ground, »I will go and have a look at the pier, and you stay her with Sayana!«

Lilly just nodded. She was less sportive than Daisy, and she was already feeling exhausted from today’s adventures. Only a look at Sayana prevented her from complaining. The Black seemed to have regained her consciousness, for she weakly chortled and moved her head and legs, though she made no real attempt to sit up, let alone get to her feet.

Lilly looked at the helpless woman, tied and gagged so tightly, with no chance of getting free on her own. Even Lilly couldn’t help her right now. She looked for a sharp stone, but there were only a few pebbles, and she didn’t want to cut Sayana. This woman was, at least partially, responsible for them being here, but Lilly couldn’t feel angry.

»We will get out of here! And then, you will help us to get back to our time, in exchange for us saving you!«

Sayana just groaned, not showing any real sign of understanding. Lilly brushed over her arched back shoulder and started to say soothing things, not caring if her words were French or German. In the end, she was singing an old German nursery rhyme, when Daisy finally returned.

»Okay, bad news is that there are a few armed men at the pier! I don’t know if they are just waiting for an emissary from the kidnappers, but fact is, they are there, and if we try to get to one of the boats, they will see us!«

Lilly noticed that Daisy didn’t look that depressed, and so, she asked for the good news. Daisy showed a weak smile.

»Om the other side of the headland, there’s a small boat towed. I have no idea whether it is seaworthy, but I could see nobody around!«

»Well, beggars can’t be choosers!«

They carried the ladder with Sayana towards the little beach where Daisy had detected the boat. It was indeed a nutshell, just some four yards long and one and a half yards wide, but the girls could see no leakage, and  there was even a mast with a small sail.

»Nearly as good as the one Nana had when she fled from Haiti! And she only had two little children to assist her!«

»I am sure Nana at least had some water and provision!«, Lilly thought, but she swallowed her concerns and helped Daisy to place Sayana inside the boat. Then, they pushed it into deeper water and climbed aboard. There were only two small paddles, but they managed to steer the vessel out to the deeper water where the waves cradled it. Daisy pulled on the sail.

»We can’t risk setting the mast right now, but the stream is carrying us away from the coast! So, we can use it as a sun shelter!«

They did so, and though it was quite warm and stuffy, it was better than getting grilled, and Lilly relaxed a bit when daisy, who was peeping through a hole in the canvas, said that they had brought some yards between themselves and the coast, and that so far, there was no sign anyone was behind them.

»Maybe, this is the beginning of our rescue!«, Lilly thought before exhaustion took over and she dozed off.

***

Nesrin had no clear idea how long it had been since the pirates had stowed them in the cabin. She had tried to get closer to Fleur’s bound wrists with her own hands, but the girl had shied away from her, lowering her head.

»Even now, she thinks I have the Evil Eye? How tactless of the pirates not to blindfold me, too!«

She was sure that, with some effort, she could bring her hands to her front and then, she could maybe loosen her bonds and gag. However, even if she managed to get from the ship, the men would notice and hunt her down. And then, she would be punished severely. In addition, it would mean leaving the others behind; Nesrin had no idea whether any of the two could swim.

So, she had waited, trying to find a tolerable position, whilst they all waited for things to come. From the bed, they had heard some sobbing from Marguerite, and then, there had been voices and the sound of steps.

»Comfy?«

It were three pirates altogether, and obviously, they thought that they had done their share of carrying the girls around, for they cur their leg ties, but left their gags and wrist bonds in place as they grabbed their arms and made them all stagger on deck. Here, it seemed that the entire crew had assembled, for some three dozen men were standing or sitting around, staring at the three more or less dressed girls.

Nesrin looked at the sea, but there was only a shadow of some island at the horizon. They now were alone with their kidnappers.

Now, she noticed that the men more or less formed two groups, one around the Captain, the other around the man who had confronted him and whom he had addressed as Hank. The Captain mockingly bowed towards them and said:

»Just make yourselves comfortable, Ladies!«

They were forced to sit on the planks. All three were exhausted, but Marguerite mewed and squirmed; she obviously couldn’t find a position her half transparent nightgown revealed even more than when she was standing. Nesrin, who ha to present her bra-clad breasts to the crowd, felt with her, though a little lack of modesty was the least of their problems.

»I hope you understand English, for my French is not the best!«

He repeated his words in a French so bad he proved his words, and some of his men chuckled. Hank commented:

»If they don’t understand us, we can see if they at least can swim!«

This caused a volley of laughter, but Hank just grinned triumphantly and pointed at Nesrin who had gasped at Hank’s words, whilst Margerite and Fleur had just blinked and stared at him with fearful eyes, unaware of the threat.

»This one understands us!«

»Well, well«, the Captain now said, getting up from the roll of rope he had been sitting upon, »so you speak English! Also, you are wearing the strangest clothes I’ve ever seen on a girl, and when we grabbed you, you and the Comte’s daughter did things my men did get red ears if I mentioned them!«

This caused another outburst of laughter, accompanied by obscene comments and gestures. Nesrin doubted that these men would get red ears from anything, but she felt her own cheeks burn. That now everyone including the ship’s cat seemed to stare at her boobs didn’t help the matter.

The Captain made gesture to the man closest to her, and he pulled the cloth from her mouth. Then, he hooked a dirty finger into the cleave gag and worked that over her chin, too. It was left to Nesrin then to spit out her gag, and the fact that some drool came with it gave reason for more naughty comments from the men.

The man who had ungagged her now roughly, though not unfriendly pushed the neck of a bottle between her teeth, and Nesrin coughed when he poured some rum into her throat. The strong liquor burned in her stomach, and she tried to shake the man off, but he forced her to drink another sip before he withdrew the bottle, drinking some by himself.

»So, you can understand us?«

Nesrin looked at the Captain who seemed just curious. She nodded.

»More or less«, she croaked. She thought of asking him to let them go, but she was sure that this would have either ended in more laughter, or in some punishment. So, she just waited for the Captain to continue.

»Some of my men, including my Quartermaster, are not happy you are here! One girl for the entire crew’s just not enough!«

Nesrin shuddered. Like most people her age, she had been a great fan of »Pirates of the Caribbean«, and once, she had seen a documentation about the real Pirates. These usually had some strict rules – one of them being that all loot that could not be put into equal parts belonged to the entire crew. Hadn’t she been sitting already, she would have sunk to the planks now. So far, her alternatives were getting killed – or gang rape.

»Our Countess here«, he pointed at Marguerite who desperately tried to understand his words, »will get us a nice ransom, and so, we won’t touch her, unless her father refuses to pay! And the black pearl will get us a nice extra at some slave market, or the Comte wants her back, too, and can pay some more! However, you are no slave girl – but maybe, your father’s a rich man, too?«

Marguerite now screamed through her gag, and that distracted the Captain from Nesrin’s face for a few seconds, allowing her to consider the situation. If she told the Captain a lie about her being a friend of Marguerite, and they found out it was a lie, they would perhaps do even worse things than they were intending to do now. However, it would buy her some time if they believed her for the moment. Nesrin took a deep breath, her brain working quickly.

»Please, Sir, my father is a plantation owner! He isn’t as rich as Marguerite – but I am his only child, and he loves me very much!«

The Captain rubbed his chin and seemed to let her words sink in. Again, Marguerite moaned, and he snarled:

»Tell your friend that if she interrupts me once again, she will become our new figurehead, no matter how much her father pays!«

Nesrin gulped; then, she told Marguerite in French that she should listen to her. The blonde finally stared at her; it seemed that, despite the circumstances, she was a bit perplex that Nesrin dared to call her by her first name instead of »Mademoiselle«.

Once the panting Marguerite showed attention, Nesrin spoke, knowing she had to be very careful. It could easily be that some of the men spoke French, too. So, she said:

»Listen, Marguerite! The Captain wants you to calm down! He also doubts that I am your friend! He thinks I am nothing but a worthless whore, but if we can’t convince him, he will kill me – and you’d be alone!«

She knew that she had forgotten about Fleur, but now, the Captain made a gesture, and the man behind her clamped her mouth shut. Then, Marguerite was ungagged and given a dose of rum, too. Once she was finished with coughing and panting, the Captain asked in his terrible French, pointing at Nesrin who was silenced by the man’s rough hand:

»What’s her name?«

Nesrin closed her eyes, her heart beating so loud she could all but hear it. If Marguerite now let her cover story blow, she would be doomed. So far, the Comte’s daughter had no reason to see anything but a plaything in her.

»Va-Valentine de – de Maine! Valentine de Maine! La fille de un ami de mon Père!«

Nesrin let out a fluttering breath. Marguerite had confirmed her lie! If the Captain wouldn’t go into details before she and the blonde had agreed on some details, she was off the hook; at least, for the moment.

The Captain now looked at his Quartermaster.

»Now, Hank, what do you and the others say now? Another goose that lays golden eggs! And you wanted to treat her like a whore!«

It seemed that Hank accepted his defeat, for he just grumbled, spat on the deck and stepped aside. Now, the girls were untied, and once Fleur had spat out her gag, they were forced to take a few more sips of rum. Nesrin felt tipsy already, for she wasn’t used to drinking, especially hard liquor.

»I must stick to my role, no matter how much they force down my throat!«

The Captain now yelled »Music!«, and indeed, some of the men produced instruments now. Nesrin realized that they now built a circle around the three girls.

»Now, I want to tell a story to those who weren’t there when we took these three pretty Ladies. However, one of them is not really a part of this story, she was just there!«

The Captain pointed at Fleur, and before she knew what was happening, one of the men had grabbed her arm and pulled her on his lap. The girl squirmed and protested, but the pirate and the two next to him now caressed and fondled her whilst the others booed because they could only watch.

»As I said, when we entered the room, the Countess and her friend were busy with each other, in a way that was – interesting!«

He paused, then, he grinned at Nesrin:

»Will you please tell your friend that my men and I want to see you two continue what you did until we interrupted you! And you better do a good show!«

***