by Tobias Roote
I tried to run, but his reactions were fast, or he had anticipated my move. He caught and held me tight. Escaping him was impossible as he held me almost off the ground. His face near mine, the alcoholic stench of his breath was overwhelming.
Although dark, I could see the hard gleam in his eyes and knew he would not just rape me; he would kill me and then dispose of the evidence. The ‘tchaka’ could do that to you.
Screaming out would not help me either, nobody would interfere and it would go harder for me. He would just say I led him on, then I would be the one in trouble, not him.
I carried a knife. One where the blade compressed into the shaft on a spring. When he pulled me to the ground and tried to mount me I stuck it into his neck, it must have severed an artery and gone into his throat, he bled all over me and grabbed his neck; the rasping noise he made was frightening.
I pushed him over, kicked him off me and ran to the safety of the compound. I immediately buried the knife, burned my bloodstained clothes in the large drum we kept lit and used for litter and bathed in the communal bathhouse, washing away all traces of blood down the mud hole they called a drain.
If I had been discovered the sentence would probably be death by stoning, such was the local custom, the men were never considered to be at fault. A white woman would not be protected this far away from the city. They would just draw a veil of silence over it and move on. If the authorities asked nobody would remember anything.
Over the next week I was grilled along with other suspects by local police. Fortunately, they had no desire to find the guilty party as the dead man had been a source of trouble in the village. When other past incidents came to light, several Elders were heard to say in passing that a ‘tick had been removed from the village dog’. Their version of ‘a favour done’.
A short time later I was offered sanctuary with a distant member of the royal family, Dajit. I decided that being under the influence of royalty would do me no harm at all. He took me into service teaching his children in return for living within his house under his protection.
He was about your age, like you he had honour. He respected me and would never lay a finger on me. His five wives would have skinned me alive if he had. A man can do no wrong there, its always the woman's fault. I found out later that it was one of his wives who had been attacked by the dead man. I suspected it had a lot to do with my offer of sanctuary although nothing was ever said.
I was given a small private area within his large house for my own use, a bedroom, tiny lounge and toilet facilities.
All eating, bathing and social activities were conducted within the communal areas of the house. There were many other guests residing there including a Russian couple who were running an aid programme in rural areas. They had many visitors from their home country and sometimes it seemed more like a Russian embassy.
It was fine for about eighteen months until one day his brother brought one of the Crown Princes to the house for a meal, a massive honour for my benefactor. I was presented as the children's Nanny and Teacher. Because I was white and English speaking I was allowed to sit behind and to one side of the Prince as he rarely had an opportunity to practice his language skills.
His English was really good and we spoke much through dinner. He took a shine to me with my English ways and our conversations dominated much of his attention. I saw, but misunderstood Dajit's concerned look throughout the evening, I thought he was worried that I was dominating the Prince, but it turned out his concerns were for me.
At the end of the meal the Prince turned to Dajit saying that he was taking me to the palace where he had decided I would be allowed to teach the other young royals. Dajit was very upset, but there was nothing he could do, his position was such that he lived at the behest of more important royals. The Prince misunderstanding Dajit’s concerns offered him a replacement.
I was taken immediately. No-one asked me. Everyone assumed I was a chattel despite being white and holding a British Passport. Unwittingly, I had become a non-person and far too late, realising the gravity of the situation I had gotten myself in to, it dawned on me that absolutely nobody knew where I was.
Dajit tried to help, quietly pulling strings where he could, to ensure I was not bullied by the other servants. For a few months, as I found my place in the new order of things, it seemed as though I wouldn’t be under a great deal of scrutiny. I constantly looked for an opportunity to leave. Dajit was going to help me get to the border and enlisted the help of one of the palace servants to get me out under cover of darkness.
Unfortunately, the servant was also a spy for the King, and when he heard that there was an English girl under his roof, he decided to pay me a visit.
Again, like the other royals, his English was Eton standard so he was very well educated. We talked for a few hours. I was invited to dine with him. At the main dinner I sat with him, ahead of his wives as his guest. I had little choice in any of this and knew I was getting into deeper water by the day.
The following morning one of the wives came for me and took me to their rooms. We know it in the west as a harem. There were guards there that looked menacing and unimpressed with a ‘white girl’ entering their King’s lair. Once settled I was found new clothes, taught how to behave, pampered, sunbathed, manicured, my hair styled, and body massaged. Whatever I wanted I could have, except freedom to leave.
I was never chosen by the King although he would often look in on me while I was being cared for. Sometimes he would watch while they bathed me, or massaged me. He enjoyed looking at the whiteness of my skin and I was not allowed to sunbathe too much in case I got too brown. His wives continued to tutor me in palace protocols when I wasn't teaching the children English.
After several months I discovered, purely by chance, that I was to be married to the King and that was that. I knew I needed to get out, and fast! Once I was married I would never be able to leave and if I tried I would be killed.
Dajit got a message to me that he had found my passport, and that he had contacted Dad from the details in the back page. Help was coming. I didn't believe it would happen. Dad would never be able to get into the palace and he might even get himself killed trying. I worried myself sick and lost a lot of weight. I had got myself into a right mess and he would be risking his life just to try and get me out.
It came like a whirlwind. I was bought before the King in public to be presented as his new bride and at the moment when I thought all was lost, armed men materialised out of the crowd with guns. They shot two of the guards. One held the King at gunpoint while two others grabbed me and whisked me away. The one who grabbed me told me they had come to get me out and to keep up with them
Others suddenly appeared in combat gear helping to keep the King's guards pinned down; I realised they were military types, I was being rescued.
A hair raising Jeep ride later, I was in a helicopter. Within another two hours I was over the border and Dad was waiting for me at a clearing in the jungle. Everything was hush! Hush! He had plane tickets, a new passport and before I knew it we were on a commercial flight to Johannesburg.
I was not allowed to leave South Africa until I had been debriefed by their Secret Service. They had been monitoring Maumb’ta for years as it was a Russian satellite, they suspected it was acting as a conduit for people trafficking and drugs. Other white women had disappeared over recent years and they wanted me to help identify possible persons of interest to help their investigation. They were nice about it, but underneath they weren’t going to give me a choice in the matter, so I cooperated.
After I left there I had to go back to England and be interviewed by the Foreign Office. It appeared they also had important commercial interests there and didn’t want them upset. They wanted assurances that I wasn’t going to go public to the Daily News, or cause problems for them. I had to sign documents before they would let me have my passport back to enable me to come over to Dad's.”
Alice leaned back in her chair letting
go of my hands in the process. She looked pale. Re-living her experiences had temporarily dissolved her confidence, much of which, I could now see, was smoke and mirrors. Yes, she was a very strong and determined confident girl, but these experiences must have really bought her down low.
She had been throwing herself at me from a subconscious need for security. She had felt instinctively safe with me, from all that her Father had told her about me, and I probably reminded her of Dajit. I was near enough his age, and she probably felt guilty about him too. To her I was the nearest safe harbour.
I walked across to the drinks cabinet. Retrieving a flat half bottle of brandy, I poured some into a small glass. When I turned around she was looking at me, tears streaming down her face. She took the drink, at first sipping it, but once she felt the fire in her throat she knocked it back and gave me the empty glass, coughing from the alcoholic fumes.
The colour came back into her face, looking better as the brandy did its work. She smiled wanly and I felt for her. I took her hands in mine.
“Alice, what you have gone through, and how you have coped with it is quite remarkable.”
I sat beside her. I’m not good with words and felt awkward, but knew I needed to say something to help her.
“You have been through some incredible experiences and these have made you what you are. Just the way you handle what happens to you is amazing. I am proud of you, and I know your Dad is too.”
This bought more tears and I drew her into a hug and we stayed like that for a while.
We talked about her experiences and about the events of the last few days. Eventually, the brandies had their effect on her as she fell asleep in my arms. As I carried her to the cabin placing her gently on the bed she half woke, pulling me into a deep long kiss before finally letting me place the rug over her. I left her to sleep.
At the helm, I spent the rest of the night deep in thought. Alice had given me much to think about and I knew it was going to affect our relationship from here on in. I felt that in telling me all of this, Alice had been clearing the ground for something. I suspected she wanted to know more about my history. I was going to have to think hard about what I could tell her.
My previous existence was not something you ever told people about, it was never pleasant, killing on orders from someone you work for. Often you did so not knowing what the target had done, or even who they were. You were given photographs, locations and agendas. You were met, provided with equipment, ferried to locations, planned kills carried out, and expedited out of the area. Debriefed, short break, repeat. Sometimes you worked in a team, mostly it was a ‘Lone Ranger’ existence.
Nights end finally saw us creep round past Messina on the Italian coast and into the home stretch. With the coast now on our starboard side I anticipated arriving at the Island sanctuary, which is what I was calling it, by tonight, approximately twenty hours away.
We would be following land all of the way now, although distantly and I considered where to stop for supplies before going into hiding for a week. Fresh meat and vegetables were going to be essential and despite Alice's predilection for nudity she would be needing some clothes.
CHAPTER 11
Alice didn't wake until the sun was well up in the sky. She was quiet, the emotional drain from last night evident in her mood. I gave her space to gather herself, handing her a coffee on my way back to my post at the helm, which got me a smile, but not much more. She had pulled another shirt out of the wardrobe and wore it tucked into her shorts. She looked unusually demure.
By lunchtime she was more herself, although still fragile. We ate more of her bread with some of the cheese and she took to sitting and cuddling Mercury on the front deck. It was hot, but she remained clothed, her mood still withdrawn.
I decided that we should take a detour and headed the boat towards the Italian coast. I remembered a small estuary where there was easy mooring quite near Rome that would provide us with tourist boutique shops and somewhere to pick up supplies. I had been there previously in another life and I reasoned we could get in and out without drawing attention. The Alice II would certainly look at home there.
Bypassing the Marina, we motored up the small estuary a little to where stone walls from olden days of sea merchant warehouses had been converted into stylish coffee-shops, boutiques and apartments.
There were quite a few large boats scattered around and it was a simple matter to moor up near a couple of them and blend in. Leaving Mercury on Patrol, we made for the shops. I had plenty of cash mostly from the safe and split it with Alice. We wouldn’t use credit cards and would also avoid CCTV with caution and sunglasses. The first thing we did was buy tourist hats. My Panama looked good.
I was quickly rewarded with seeing Alice smiling and enthusiastic. It seemed clothes shopping was one of her favourite pastimes and the Italian styles all suited her. Leaving her to it I knew it wouldn't take long for her to get a few outfits that would be suitable for both street and boat.
I organised myself getting the supplies and stopped in a few other shops while waiting for Alice to finish her buying spree. We were fully laden by the time we walked back to the boat, both in better spirits for the change of scenery. We had taken just over two hours and were now headed back out to sea with Alice in the galley cooking up a storm. Dinner tonight smelled like it was going to be a feast compared to the last few days. I smelt lots of Italian herbs.
I managed to log onto a free open Wi-Fi network briefly before departing the mooring, where I downloaded and checked my messages. There appeared to be nothing important, but I would check through them again later.
The afternoon kept me busy as we progressed up the coast. I had turned off the transponder so we wouldn’t be tracked by the navigation satellites which meant I had to rely on the maps that were stored in the cupboard.
The islands and the heavy traffic made it difficult to keep us far enough away from anyone who might want to pay us any attention. By evening we had taken a route out of sight from the coast and off the traffic lanes and were now heading directly for the Island Sanctuary.
It was quite late when we approached the Island which was actually ideal as nobody would see us sliding in quietly behind the large outcropping of rock. It was apparently a Nature Reserve, which also still had a working Monastery, the outline of which could be seen in the deepening dusk.
There was enough light to find ourselves a good location and I set the anchors. With no other boats moored or close by we were going to find it very quiet.
John had suggested this place for a reason, either because we would be safe here, or because he needed us to be here for other reasons. Either way I trusted his judgement and would also follow his other instruction which was to wait a week before moving on to land and establishing another persona.
I felt Alice felt was better for the shopping today. The new outfit she had on was chic, with three quarter length casual grey cotton trousers and an off the shoulder striped seaman's shirt with long sleeves which she had pulled up. I liked it and said so.
She took the compliment well and turning back to me as she walked away, I was rewarded with a blown kiss as she swished down the gangway. Mmmh! very nice, I thought.
We had a superb dinner of Italian fish in wine sauce and pasta dish, with a bottle of white cooled nicely. After doing the washing up between us Alice found a book she liked and sat on the sofa with Mercury on her lap. She sipped her glass of wine and looked much happier and relaxed.
I wondered how we would manage to entertain ourselves for such a long time, but there were DVD's of films, books and music and I'm sure swimming and sunbathing would occupy Alice at least some of the time. Mercury was becoming a real ship's dog and had perfected the art of squatting over the side. He had one post he was allowed to pee against which I easily washed down with a bucket of sea water a couple of times a day, most of the pee went overboard when he cocked his leg anyway.
CHAPTER 12
I suddenly remembered Jo
hn's letter. I hadn't read it yet nor had I looked at the memory stick. I knew there was a port on the laptop built into the navigation system, so I decided I would look at them both tonight while Alice slept. I was tired, but having been able to catnap in the chair using the proximity alarm to warn me if anything was coming close over the last few days I could manage a late night now there was no piloting to do.
I was contemplating this as I looked out the cockpit window, my body and mind still in pilot mode and not yet ready to relinquish my post. I didn't notice Alice come up behind me. As she reached me she ruffled my short hair and then put her arms around me. My sitting gave her a height advantage and she used it to swivel the stool around towards her, lifting one leg over mine, straddling me.
She had changed into the long shirt she had been wearing to bed the last few nights and I could feel her body through the thin cotton fabric. She felt hot and firm and I sighed quietly, she noticed and smiled.
“Dan, I need you by me. I don't mind if you can't handle sex with me, but I would like to sleep with you.” As she leaned in and kissed me I felt the resistance that I had maintained up to now, dissolve as I accepted what this young woman was capable of and as my hands pushed under her shirt tail they came in contact with her trim curves which were sitting provocatively on my lap. I felt her body tense as it responded to my touch.
Sensing my positive reaction to her Alice deepened her kiss and pushed her tongue gently between my lips which parted as she explored, my tongue fought back and together we sparred, I hadn't kissed like this since I was a teenager! It was exhilarating and totally consuming.
My hands which had so far done nothing except hold her now slipped down, feeling her cheeks and exploring between her fleetingly with the tips of my fingers, sensing her heightening reaction to my gentle caresses there.
Moving up, I stroked her lower back, feeling smooth skin against my rough hands. As I moved higher; feeling my way slowly and deliciously upwards, massaging tight muscles in her back, around her sides feeling her ribs as they stretched to offer up firm breasts.