“Hell
no, they weren’t.
Your friends probably
died from a disease, if you know what I mean, or they have become the tenth
wife of some foreign dictator.”
“Okay,
I get it.”
Mika wiped a tear from her
eye and looked away.
She wouldn’t let
this man see her cry if she could help it.
In the stillness, Mika was aware of the lack of noise from the upper
deck.
Then she heard the footsteps of
Milas
as he made his way downward toward them.
“What’s
goin
’ on?
Tryin
’ to get with my woman?”
He smiled at his friend.
“Nah.
Tryin
’ to knock some sense into her pretty little head.”
“Guess
you know what’s in store for you if you go back and try to help your friends,
eh?”
“What?”
“I’m
smarter than Stein here.
If he knows
what Carver is up to, you can be damned sure that I do.”
Mika
felt trapped as she looked from one man to the other.
“The ship will come for them.
I know it will.”
“Damn
woman, you’re denser than me,
ain’t
she,
Milas
?”
“Sure
is.
Their ship will come, but it
ain’t
no
marriage boat.
You wait and see.”
Mika
folded her arms.
“Maybe I will.
I’ll just wait and see.”
The
sound of a ship coming closer made them stop their contest of who was right.
“See,
I told you, the marriage boat is coming.”
Mika
snuck past Stein and hurried to the deck.
She looked back at Stein and
Milas
who just
stood there with their arms folded.
“Wait and see, Mika.
We’ll all
wait right here and see.”
Shortly
after the ship docked, Carver appeared from the thick brush and met the captain
who looked more like a pirate than a ship’s captain.
The two men spoke briefly and then the captain
followed Carver into the bushes.
When
they came out again, each man was carrying one of the women Carver had stashed
in his cave.
Mika gasped as she looked
through the binoculars at them.
They
appeared to be drugged and they couldn’t walk on their own.
They were carried onto the boat and into the
lower quarters, and then Carver walked back into the thick foliage, thumbing
through a wad of cash.
“He must have
thousands of dollars.”
Mika was
impressed.
The
dilapidated old boat took off slowly, and Mika,
Milas
,
and Stein crouched low until it had passed.
Mika stood and watched the man steering the boat.
He looked like a hardened criminal and Mika
felt bad for her friends, but what was going to happen to her?
Stein and
Milas
were criminals, too.
She turned around and
looked at
Milas
and Stein.
Their faces had lost their stern looks and
smirky
smiles, and they motioned her to them.
Slowly,
Mika walked toward the two hardened criminals, expecting to be tossed out of
the boat or personally handed over to Carver.
She stood an arm’s length from them and her eyes went from one man to
the other.
“You
believe us now?”
Mika
nodded her head.
“You
want to wait here or go with us?
Mika
whispered, “Where are you going?”
Stein
smiled his devious smile which, oddly, put Mika at ease.
“Can’t
say, but on our way to wherever the water takes us we plan to drop your sexy
ass off.”
“Off
where?”
Milas
threw his head back and laughed.
“Damn,
woman, you’re as dumb as Stein.
Your
home, sweet cheeks,” he said as he reached a firm hand between her legs and
gripped her crotch.
“Mm, Mm, I am going
to miss this.”
Mika
backed up a little.
“Guess
I’ll just have to find me another piece somewhere along the way.”
He smiled broadly, but Mika just stood there
awaiting her fate.
“Let’s go, Stein.”
Mika
fell backward when
Milas
pulled his hand from her
crotch, and she sat on the deck wide-eyed, watching as the two men readied the ship.
“To the lower level with you,
dearie
.
Milas
takes corners on two wheels.”
Mika
backed up slowly, turned, and ran down the stairs where she sat quietly.
How could she know for certain that these two
would really take her home?
The ship
moved slowly away from the shore and then it took off at a fast clip.
Mika felt seasick as the ship seemed to toss
and turn in the choppy water.
She
lay
down and fell asleep in the darkened room.
When the ship docked it did so suddenly, and
Mika sat up and looked around.
She had
had a dream of being whisked off on the marriage boat and was now stopping at a
port along the French Riviera.
Reality
soon kicked in and she felt cold.
Wrapping a thin blanket around her, she started up the stairs.
The
wind was stinging cold as it whipped around the anchored vessel, and when Mika
looked up she saw Stein standing there like a mountain.
“Where are we?”
He
held out a hand and helped Mika to the deck.
“Home, as promised.”
It
was dark, but Mika could see the small homes of her village.
She breathed in and let the fresh scent of
the island’s wildflowers comfort her.
Milas
gave
her butt one last squeeze and then practically shoved her off the ship.
“Mm, Mm, got a real nice
piece between those young legs.”
Mika
turned to make a smart remark, but the hard hearted man seemed to smile, if
only a little.
“What’s that?”
Mika pointed down the shore.
“Through
his binoculars, Stein recognized the
weasly
little
man who had handed over Mika’s friends to Carver.
“Looks like the marriage boat,” he answered,
with a scowl.
Through
the trees, Mika noticed two young women being forced onto the boat, their faces
filled with anticipation.
“You have to
stop them.
It’s not what they think.”
Stein
jumped over the side of the boat and stood behind Mika and held her arms firmly
to her sides.
“Then you should tell
them.”
“You
mean?”
“Yes,
warn them, and then tell the village elders to have all the young ladies fitted
with chastity belts and never let them get on the ‘marriage boat’, as it does
not exist.”
He let her go and Mika
looked up into the criminal’s eyes.
Why
was this man doing something nice?
He
was a cold blooded killer.
“
Whatcha
waitin
’
for?”
Milas
started the motor and Stein jumped aboard.
Mika watched as the ship made a sharp turn and sped away.
Then she ran down the beach to change the
course of history on her island.
~K. Lyn~