Our Story Continues

Pierre held the barn's side door for Cheryl, who curtseyed (flashing a coy smile) and entered.  He followed her inside and stepped to the deep sink, then quickly washed his hands and dried them on one of the towel rags his mom kept there for the purpose.  He hung a fresh rag for his young guest, then executed a courtly bow, indicating it was the somewhat wet, muddy, and bedraggled youngster's turn.

"Thank you, monsieur ," Cheryl said, curtseying again.

While she applied soap and water to her freckled face and the worst ends of her tousled red locks, Pierre opened the door of an old refrigerator and extracted a bottle of beer.  He twisted off the cap, tossed it in the trash, took a swig, and turned.  Cheryl was still at the sink, smiling at him sweetly, patting her face with the towel.

"I'll have one too, please," she said brightly and began drying her hair.

Pierre laughed.  "Not gonna happen, Kiddo... but nice try."

"Oh!" Cheryl complained, affecting a pouting smile and batting her green eyes.

She's gonna make some guy very happy in a few years, Pierre mused, reaching back into the fridge for a bottle of soda.  He popped the cap and handed it to Cheryl.  ...or very miserable.  More likely both.  He took a swig of beer and cleared his throat.  "Here's my proposal:  I know you guys are keeping Melissa a prisoner."  Cheryl's eyes went wide and she started to speak.  "Spare me!" Pierre warned with a grin (and Cheryl's jaw snapped shut.)  "I witnessed the capture."

"Oh," Cheryl said, then her smile returned.  "That's your proposal!  You want to ransom her!"  She took a lady-like swig of her soda and smiled coyly.  "Why, monsieur, she smirked, "what are your intentions towards my aunt?"

Pierre laughed.  "I intend to rescue her, and nothing more."

"Nothing, monsieur? " Cheryl demanded.

"Okay, dinner and a movie," Pierre admitted, "and we'll see where it goes from there."

"That sounds most reasonable."  Cheryl's smile became rather calculating.  "The ransom is... two hundred dollars."

Pierre laughed again, this time with gusto.  Cheryl smiled and waited for him to continue.  "I think five dollars is more like it.  Five dollars... and I don't call the Sheriff."

"Fifty dollars and no Sheriff," Cheryl countered.

"Ten... and various trade goods."

"And no Sheriff!" Cheryl reminded him.

"No Sheriff!"

"Tell me what you mean by 'trade goods' and we may have a deal," Cheryl said, sipping her soda.

"You're playing Cowboys and Indians, right?" Pierre asked.

"Oh please!" Cheryl objected.  "'Cowboys and Indians' is for children!   We're re-enacting the French and Indian War.  It's historical.

"More like hysterical," Pierre muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing," Pierre responded (stifling a laugh.)  "It just so happens I worked at the Fort Champlain Historical Museum last Summer as a guide, and I still have enough of my costume to make a rather convincing French Officer.  I also have some beads and necklaces and various stuff that will make your Indian opponents—"

"They're Hurons," Cheryl interrupted.

"...to make your Huron opponents look a lot more authentic."

"Cool!  The guys are gonna love it!" Cheryl said, nodding and smiling.  "Deal!" She spit in her right palm and held it out.  "You've ransomed yourself an 'English captive.'"

Pierre laughed, spit in his right palm, and took her hand.  "Now...," he said as they shook, "let's talk about logistics."

Cheryl frowned.  "Uh... you aren't really a Male Chauvinist Pig, are you, Pierre?

"Melissa calls me that?" Pierre asked, a wistful smile on his lips.

Cheryl nodded.

"I am male," Pierre admitted, "but I'm not a pig, and I've always thought Nicholas Chauvin was an idiot."

Cheryl's frown deepened.  "A simple 'no' would have sufficed.  That was a no, right?"

"Yes, that was a no."

"Okay then," Cheryl continued, her smile returning.  "We have to find a way to convince Aunt Melissa of that... or make her not care."  Her smile faded and she took a slow swig of soda, her freckled brow wrinkled in thought; then the smile was back.  "And I think I know just how we can pull it off!"

ON  THE  WARPATH

CHAPTER 4

Cheryl had been in the barn with Pierre for almost ten minutes and Mike was getting worried.  Had Pierre seen Melissa?  Maybe Cheryl was confessing everything right now, and parental retribution was on its way!  When she finally returned to the ditch he frowned at her.  "Is everything OK?" he demanded.  "Why were you gone so long?"

"Everything's fine.  Pierre just took me into the barn to, ah, see some kittens.  Kittens are really cute!"

Mike started to say more, but was silenced by his cousin's expression.  Something was up, but obviously she didn't want to talk about it.  He nodded towards Melissa, and Cheryl nodded back.

Melissa was oblivious to this exchange, and she was far from fine.  In fact, she was wet and smelly, and her soaked clothing clung to her body like a coat of paint, revealing her embarrassing lack of underwear.   Her skirt was now even more ripped than it had been, and one thigh and hip was bare to her waist, covered only by mud.  Nothing was broken, but the fall had shaken her up and she was sore all over.  Her morale had taken the heaviest blow.  She had been so close to freedom, and having failed at the last minute was almost more than she could take.  Tears started to course down her cheeks, making clean tracks through the film of mud.

Mike was upset by the tears.  He pulled out an almost-clean handkerchief and wiped at Melissa's face.  "We can't leave her like this.  Maybe we ought to—"

"—give her a bath," Cheryl interrupted.  "Good idea, Mike.  Let's all go to the swimming hole.  I really need to clean up too.  Tommy, you find Janet and Emily and tell them to meet us at the pool."  She motioned for him to get closer and whispered in his ear.  "Tell them to go to the house and bring a brush, soap, shampoo, towels, all that stuff, and Aunt Melissa's new dress.  She'll know the one I mean."  Tommy nodded, crossed the road, and immediately disappeared into the woods.

Mike, a puzzled expression on his face, glanced towards the barn, back to Cheryl, and started to speak again; but Cheryl gave a small shake of her head and held a finger to her lips.  Her back was to Melissa, but Melissa was so sunk in her misery that she would hardly have noticed if Cheryl had slapped her in the face.  Cheryl took Melissa's right arm and nodded to Mike.  "Let's help her out of the ditch."

"OK."  He took Melissa's left arm and they pulled her to her feet and helped her climb up to the road.  He raised his eyebrows and gave Cheryl a puzzled shrug.

Cheryl silently mouthed 'Wait', and pointed at Andy and Jeremy.  Mike still didn't know what was going on, but he deduced that Cheryl had a secret of some sort to tell him.  He gave orders to his braves, who had been happily hunting tadpoles in the puddles.   He pointed at Melissa. "Take this English girl to the pool in the creek.  I'll bring the other one."

Andy saluted. "Right, Chief.  We'd better hobble her, though."  He pulled a leather thong out of his pocket and tied it between the cable ties on Melissa's ankles.  The two warriors held Melissa's arms and led her into the woods on the Huron side of the road.  She didn't resist; she just shuffled along, her filthy face half-obstructed by her wet, tangled hair, following the directions of her captors.

When Melissa and her guards were out of earshot Mike turned to Cheryl and whispered, "OK, now tell me what the hell is going on."

Cheryl smiled and held out her wrists to be bound.  "We have to get some stuff from the barn, so let's talk as we walk.  Here's what Pierre and I discussed..."

ON  THE  WARPATH

CHAPTER 4

In a miracle of timing, all of the children reached the swimming hole at the same time.  Emily had her "flintlock," an armload of towels, and a small plastic bag full of toiletries.  Janet was toting a large wicker picnic basket.  Cheryl,  with her bound hands , was lugging a galvanized steel bucket, apparently full of something mildly heavy.  (Mike would have helped her with it, but being Chief and all...)  Their burdens were deposited near the base of a young willow, then Cheryl slipped into her command and control mode and issued her edicts (very much in charge, despite having her hands tied.)  "The girls are going to swim for a while.  Boys, you go back to the village and eat lunch.  Make some for us too, and we'll eat after our bath."

Mike grunted.  "Captive English girl sure is mouthy.  Princess, you stay here as guard.  You got your musket?"

Emily raised her makeshift flintlock.  "Right here, Chief.  But I only have one shot, and we've got three captives.  Besides, the big one is fast on her feet and I couldn't catch her if she makes a break for it."

"This will hold her."  Mike lugged over the bucket and dumped its contents at Melissa's feet.  It was a very long light chain the children had found in the barn.  He dragged one end of the chain back to the willow, wrapped it around the base of the trunk, and used a cable tie to hold it in place.  He then returned to his captive aunt and fastened the other end of the rusty chain to her right anklet with another tie.  Finally, he cut the tie that connected Melissa's bracelets and untied Cheryl's wrists as well.  "If any of you captives give the Princess any trouble... we'll torture you later.  Hundreds of warriors are all around you," he 'warned' Cheryl and Janet.  "You no try to escape!"

Cheryl and Janet nodded gravely.  Once the boys had disappeared into the woods all the girls (even their guard, the Princess) took off all of their clothes.  Melissa had been struggling to free her hands, but the ropes that bound them to her waist were also looped through her bracelets, so she wasn't making much progress.  She lifted her right foot and unhappily regarded her steel tether.  Like a dog chained to a tree.  So much for any chance of escaping.

Cheryl said, "We'll help you, Lady Melissa.  Hold still."

Cheryl and Janet untied the knots and unwound the rope that compressed Melissa's waist.  Melissa moaned with relief, and sighed when they took out her gag.

Cheryl looked Melissa over.  "This skirt is a total loss."  She used both hands to rip the waistband and remove it.

Melissa protested, "Hey!  What am I going to wear?"

Cheryl nodded towards the wicker basket next to the tree anchoring Melissa's tether.  "The Hurons found some clothes when they looted the broth... er, the tavern.   The Chief had a dress that should fit you.  But we've got to clean you up first.  Take off the blouse."

Melissa was glad to shed the muddy garment.  Once she was naked she walked into the pool until the cool water reached her waist.  She ducked under the surface and scrubbed her long hair.  Most of the mud and algae washed out, but it wasn't really clean.  "I need a hot bath.  I still feel grubby."

Cheryl held up a small plastic bottle.  "I've got some biodegradable soap.  Come over here and I'll rub it into your hair.  We'll use the bucket to rinse it out away from the stream."

For once Melissa was glad to do as she was told.  Cheryl rubbed a dab of soap into her aunt's hair and scrubbed it with her hands, and then they walked away from the pool and as far down the stream as Melissa's chained ankle would permit.  Melissa bent forward at the waist, and Cheryl sluiced a bucket of water over her head.  "Thanks, Cheryl.  I feel almost clean now."

"Cheryl?  You must be thinking of someone else, Lady Melissa.  My name is Cora."

Melissa was silent for a moment.  She tugged at the chain connecting her ankle to the tree.  She thought, I might as well play along.  I still can't escape, and if I don't play the stupid game I wouldn't be surprised if the little savages left me chained here all night.  She shrugged.  "Oh, yeah.  You're Cora; I forgot."

Cheryl beamed.  "That's the way, Lady Melissa.  Wow, it's warm here today.  Let's get back into the water."  Cheryl pattered back to the pool, and Melissa clinked after her.  Janet and her sister joined them and the four girls splashed and played in the water for over an hour.  Emily was cute as a water bug, paddling around just under the surface with her Huron feather cutting through the water like the periscope of a submarine.

Despite all that happened (and her continuing captivity), Melissa felt her spirits returning to normal.  She lay back in the shallows, basking in the sun with her eyes closed, happy as a kitten being licked by its mother as Cheryl ran a comb and brush through her long, straight, red hair.  Meanwhile, Janet and Emily splashed each other, shrieking and giggling as they cavorted in the cool depths like water nymphs.

"Here, let me do you now," Melissa said after a time, and they traded places.  Melissa pulled the brush through her niece's red hair, carefully and gently unraveling any tangles encountered.  "This is a damn fool stunt.  I hope you realize that," she said softly.

Cheryl opened one eye and grinned at her aunt.  "Us letting ourselves get captured by the Hurons?  Is that what you mean, Lady Melissa?"

Melissa sighed and grinned back (she couldn't help herself.)  "Close enough."

"Empowerment," Cheryl said smugly.

"Empowerment?"

"You talk about it all the time," Cheryl said.  "Did you think we weren't listening?"

Melissa tossed her head and laughed, her genuinely amused, bell-like voice echoing across the water.  "You little...  Kidnapping your aunt does not meet any reasonable definition of 'empowerment,' and you know it."

Before Cheryl could respond there was a loud cough from the trees, followed by a louder voice.  "Hey!  Is everybody decent?  Here I come!"  Mike appeared, ostensively holding his hand over his eyes, but somehow managing not to trip over anything.

There was a chorus of shrieks and the swimmers ducked down until the water covered them to the neck.  Cheryl screamed, "Get out of here!  We're naked!"

"Well, get dressed quick if you want some food.  If you don't my braves will eat it all."

"OK, just go away!" Cheryl shouted, and Mike did just that.  The three English girls and their miniscule guard waded out of the swimming hole.  "Wait here, Lady Melissa, and I'll get a towel and your new dress.  Alice!  Help me with this."

Cheryl gave a towel to Melissa then walked with Janet to where 'the Colonel's daughters' had hung their tattered dresses to dry in the sun.  Meanwhile, Emily squirmed back into her costume, sat on a rock, placed her 'flintlock' across her lap, and resumed her role as guard.  When Cheryl and Janet were dry and dressed they went over to the basket.  Of course, it held the dress Cheryl had altered for Melissa.  She held it up for Janet to admire.  It was burgundy satin with white lace trim, with a very low-cut décolletage and a full-length skirt.

"Melissa will look really good in this," Cheryl said proudly.  "I think it was an old prom dress.  I lowered the neckline quite a bit.  I hope it fits; the bodice may be kind of tight, but it laces up with these ribbons and we can adjust it, so I think it'll be OK."  Cheryl whispered, "I re-sewed the seams along the side of the skirt and on one sleeve with very weak thread so they'll come loose with the slightest strain."

Janet giggled.  "Perv!" she accused and the cousins lost it.

Meanwhile Melissa had finished toweling herself dry.  She heard a lot of giggling, and this made her uneasy.

"Here's your new dress, Lady Melissa.  I'll help you put it on."

"Wait a minute!  Don't I get any underwear?"

"No, the Hurons didn't have any.  But you wouldn't want it anyway, because a bra would show with this neckline, and you'd have unsightly panty lines with this tight skirt."

" Very funny" Melissa huffed.  "I don't like this.  I want my own clothes back."

Cheryl shrugged.  "They aren't around anymore, so it's this dress or nothing.  Nothing would be historical.  Sometimes the Hurons stripped their captives and made them walk through the woods naked."

Melissa considered this.  They wouldn't dare!  Would they?   Probably not, but she decided not to press her luck.  "OK, I'll try it on and we'll see how it looks.  This color clashes with my hair, though."  She struggled into the tight dress.

Janet helped her aunt straighten the hang of the skirt, then took a step back "Wow, you look hot!" she exclaimed.

"I look like something out of one of those Romance paperbacks," Melissa grumbled, her voice dripping scorn, "the ones with purple and lilac covers and a picture of some Fabio clone manhandling some airhead bimbo."

"That would be you," Cheryl said with a smile, "'Lady Bimbo.'  You like that better than 'Lady Melissa?'"

Melissa favored her giggling nieces with a decidedly unamused stare.  "All this thing needs is a ripped..." Melissa raised her right arm and the sleeve's seam split, revealing a smooth, freckled shoulder.  "...bodice.  Hey!  Is this thing going to come apart when I move?"  She raised her left leg and the skirt's side seam split to the top of her thigh.

"Don't worry," Cheryl said, "It's just for effect.  I reinforced the seams just above and below the rips, so they won't widen.  They just simulate the damage that would be caused when you were dragged for miles through the wilderness."  She fussed with the ribbons on Melissa's bodice, pulling them tight and tying a pretty bow.

Janet called, "OK, Chief.  We're all dressed now."

The Hurons appeared from the woods, and Mike whistled when he saw Melissa.  "Wow! English girl look heap pretty!"  He produced a cable tie.  "We go to village now.  Hold out your hands."

"No!  I don't want to."

Mike pointed to Emily, who was aiming her musket at Melissa.  "The Princess can shoot you, so you must surrender.  Besides, you're still chained."

Melissa considered her options.  She could fight, but even if she won she would still be chained to the tree.  But could she win?  There were a lot of children, and all they had to do was hold her hands together for the short time needed to connect her bracelets.  And in the struggle her new dress would probably come apart... and leave her naked.  She reluctantly held out her hands, and Mike fastened her bracelets together.

Andy doubled a piece of nylon rope and looped it around the tie between Melissa's wrists.  He wrapped the ends in opposite directions twice around her waist and tied them in back, pulling hard so her hands were forced tightly against her stomach.  Jeremy hobbled her ankles, and Mike tied a leash around her neck and cut the tie fastening her ankle to the chain.

Melissa eyed her low, bulging neckline and frowned.  "If I pop out of this thing," she muttered towards Cheryl, "I'll see that you get grounded for twenty five to life, Cora."

"Don't worry," Cheryl said with a sly grin, " I reinforced that part too.  Just don't start doing jumping jacks or anything, or I won't be responsible."

"I can't very well do jumping jacks with my hands tied like this," Melissa observed, "now can I?"

"I knew you'd come around to our side," Janet said brightly.

Melissa started to reply, then noticed the twinkle in her grinning niece's eyes.  "I refuse to be baited," she muttered.

Princess Emily took the end of the leash, and with the familiar command of "Mush, Paleface," she led her captive into the woods.

The Huron warriors tied a leather thong around Cheryl's wrists and cinched it with a lead rope.  The Chief took the rope and led "Cora" away.  Then the twins turned to Janet, who obligingly clasped her hands and held them out.

"English girl isn't getting off that easy." Andy said.

"Right," Jeremy agreed.  "You've wiggled out of our ropes too many times.  Huron warriors made to look like fools."

"Just proves that sometimes appearances aren't deceiving," Janet said smugly.

Janet learned that clever comebacks are sometimes better left unvoiced, because the outraged warriors pulled her hands behind her back and wrapped rope around her arms from her fingers to her armpits, and then around her body.  She was young and supple so this didn't really hurt, but it was going to make escape a lot harder, if not impossible.  "Oh, well," she murmured, "maybe Hawkeye will rescue me."

ON  THE  WARPATH

CHAPTER 4

The Hurons marched their captives through the forest and into the village.  Three small trees stood in a circle, and each received a captive English girl.  The warriors used plenty of rope wrapped around legs, waists, and chests to immobilize their prisoners, hitching things snug and tight and interlacing the bands to prevent slack from developing when the captives started squirming.  Redundant knots were tied behind the trees and well away from questing fingers, then the Hurons disappeared into the woods.  Even the Princess didn't remain behind as a guard (much to the relief of the more ticklish captives.)  She stayed long enough to stuff a hot dog into each captive's mouth and then she too vanished into the woods.

An hour went by.  Janet said, "This is getting boring.  Where did they go?"  She had been struggling since the Hurons left, but she found she was caught this time (for real!)  "Can either of you get loose?  I can't."

Cheryl said, "No, I can't either.  How about you, Lady Melissa?"

"Me?  I've never been able to get loose.  How much longer is this going to go on?"

Cheryl answered, "I don't know, but I'm starting to worry.  The boys have been acting... funny lately."

"What do you mean 'funny?'"

"It's like they're really living their parts.  And they keep watching that stupid movie, where the boys turn into savages.  I think we'd better try to escape."

Another hour went by, and in spite of increasingly desperate struggles all three captives remained as securely and tightly bound to the trees as they ever were.

Melissa asked, "What do you think is going to happen?"

Staying in character, Cheryl replied, "Well, girl, there are three possible fates for women captives of the Hurons.  If we are very lucky we will be ransomed, or perhaps Hawkeye will rescue us.  More likely, we will be adopted into the tribe and become slaves, or perhaps the wives of warriors.  Of course, to a Huron brave there is very little difference between the two.  If we are unfortunate, we will be tortured to death.  They don't burn many women, but they will if they are annoyed.  I'm afraid your escape attempt annoyed them greatly, Lady Melissa.  Please, do as they say and be meek and submissive."

Melissa snorted in derision, but she was starting to worry too.  She knew Cheryl was a good little actor (and Janet was a notorious drama queen), but something was in the air.

Finally the Hurons could be heard approaching the village.  The girls gasped when they stepped from the trees.  Their chests were bare and they were painted with detailed, tattoo-like patterns and symbols in black and red.  Their makeshift costumes were replaced with what looked like real buckskin leggings and flannel loincloths.  Hammered bracelets and bone necklaces adorned their arms and throats, and Mike had a turban-like headdress with trailing feathers and porcupine quills.  Somehow, the boys had been transformed into something very close to the woodland warriors they had been pretending to be.

Each of them was carrying an armload of firewood, and they dropped it near the center of the tree circle.  The chief built a campfire while the braves collected even more wood.  Only the three male Hurons were present; the Princess still wasn't anywhere to be seen.

The chief approached Melissa with her old enemy, the cloth-wrapped stick-gag.  She whined softly, but decided to follow Cheryl's advice and accepted it without further complaint.  She regretted this decision a moment later when Mike made an abrupt motion... and the braves started to pile firewood around her feet!  Melissa mewed through her gag and twisted in her bonds.

Cheryl shouted, "Hey!  What are you doing?  Snap out of it, guys."

Janet chimed in.  "Enough is enough, you morons!"

"English girl try to escape.  She must burn."

"No!  You can't mean that!  You—mmumph!"  Jeremy and Andy had stepped forward and silenced Cheryl with a gag identical to her aunt's.

"Look, Chief," Janet said, fighting her bonds and watching her cousins approach with a third gag.  "She's sorry!  She's really, really sorry!  You don't have to bur—nnmf!"  Andy held her head while his twin jerked the gag's thongs tight and tied a knot.

The Hurons were dancing around the fire now, chanting and yelling.  They picked up pieces of wood and lit them in the flames.  When each had a blazing torch they started to dance around Melissa, and the chanting became louder.

Melissa was becoming genuinely frightened.  She couldn't believe her nephews would really burn her alive, but the torches were swinging closer and closer to the wood piled at her feet.  She whimpered and pulled on her bonds.

"Wait!" a voice shouted from the edge of the village, and Pierre stepped into the circle.  He was resplendent in the "irregular" uniform of a French officer on detached service.  He wore moccasins and fringed buckskin trousers and shirt.  A white sash under a sword belt was around his waist, with cartridge case, pistol, and sword.  A powder horn and satchel were on a strap slung over his right shoulder.  A white silk cravat was neatly tied around his throat, and around his neck was a gold gorgette on a thin chain, the badge of rank of a captain in the Armies of Louis XV.  His hat was a black tricorn with gold trim, and he carried a musket in his left hand.  This glorious sight stunned the onlookers.  The dancing and the chanting stopped immediately.

"Greetings, Chief of the Hurons," Pierre stated, raising his right hand in salute.  "I wish to purchase one of your captives.  It has been a long time since I have enjoyed the company of a European woman.  These three are a sorry lot, but I suppose I could spare some small amount of gunpowder, or whatever you need, for one of them."

Mike returned Pierre's greeting.  "Captain Pierre is a friend of the Hurons."  He pointed at Melissa.  "We were going to burn this one.  She is rebellious and disobedient, and has ugly red hair, like this other one..."  He pointed at Cheryl (who glared at her ad-libbing cousin over her gag.)  "...so you can have her for twenty muskets and ten kegs of powder."

Pierre gave Melissa a close inspection, his eyes wandering over her tousled red hair; her lightly freckled face; her wide hazel eyes; her full lips and white teeth framing her tight gag; her bound wrists; her heaving, (and barely covered) rope-framed breasts; and one long, shapely leg revealed by her ripped dress.  His eyes returned to Melissa's face... and she blushed, and turned her head away.

I should be angry, Melissa thought, her cheeks burning; but to her infinite amazement... she found she wasn't.

"Rebellious and disobedient, eh?" Pierre muttered.  "Well, I suppose I can beat that out of her.  I'll give you ten muskets and five kegs of powder."

Melissa's head snapped back to face Pierre, her eyes flashing .  Her shy blush had become an angry flush... then she saw the amused twinkle in his gorgeous blue eyes, and her anger fled as quickly as it had come.  He's playing his part, she realized,  He's joking.  Maybe he was joking before, when I first got here... and maybe I'm a complete idiot.

"She strong," Mike countered, continuing to haggle.  "You can make her work hard all day.  Fifteen muskets and seven kegs of powder."

"All right.  She's not worth it, but you're my friend, Chief.  Bring the English girl to the fort tomorrow and collect your payment."

Melissa's emotions were badly scrambled.  Fear had been replaced by resentment at being treated as an object, and then more fear that the sale wouldn't go through.  Now she was dismayed that she would have to spend another night as a captive, but this changed to happiness and gratitude when the Chief next spoke.

"Captain Pierre is man of his word.  You take English girl now."  He motioned to his braves, and they untied all the ropes holding Melissa to the tree and connecting her hands to her waist.  Her wrists and her ankles were still connected by cable ties.

Pierre smiled and tossed a small buckskin pouch to Mike, which clinked suggestively when he caught it.  "The Chief honors me with his trust.  Here are ten gold sovereigns plundered from the hated English (and a two-for-one coupon from Antonio's We-Deliver Pizzeria.)  The Hurons cheered as Pierre took out Melissa's gag, slung his musket, and lifted her into his arms.  "You belong to me now, mademoiselle."

"Thank you for saving me, Pierre," Melissa whispered, blushing prettily.  "It's silly, I know, but I really was a little frightened."

"You are welcome," Pierre said with a grin.  "However, much as I care for you, cherié, the proprieties must be observed.  I must insist that you address me as Captaine, or Sir.  My dignity as a French officer demands it."

By now Melissa found it easy to play her part in the game.  "As you wish, Sir."  She lifted her bound wrists.  "A little help here?"

"Alas, madmoiselle, I cannot.  I told the Huron chief that I wanted you as my slave, and he would be angry if I freed you.  Besides, the English are enemies of France, no?  It is my duty to keep you a prisoner.  You must come with me to 'the fort' as you are." 

He kissed her, and Melissa felt herself go all squishy inside.  Then she reasserted her dignity.  "Two questions, monsieur le Captaine."

"Oui?" Pierre responded.

"Do you believe in equal pay for equal work?"

Pierre grinned.  "It is only right, mademoiselle.  What else?"

"Free choice?"

"I have a personal opinion, mademoiselle," Pierre answered, "and I believe you are entitled to one of your own.  We can discuss this in greater detail... over dinner?"

For several seconds Melissa stared into the handsome face of her rescuer, fellow actor, former childhood friend, and new owner.  Then she smiled, lifted her bound hands, placed them around Pierre's neck, and returned his kiss.  "Fair enough," she answered.  "Know a good French place around here?"

The children cheered.

THE END

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The Chief and his braves left the village before Pierre and Melissa were out of sight, probably headed back to the house to take advantage of Pierre's coupon.  Soon Emily returned, and she untied Janet and un-gagged Cheryl.  She released Cheryl from the tree, but left her hands and arms tied.

Cheryl was smug. "This worked out just like I planned.  Pierre will keep Melissa so bedazzled that she'll forget about telling any unpleasant stories to our parents."

"You're very clever, Cheryl," Janet said in a sarcastic tone. "Whatever happened to Tommy, by the way?"

"He's back at the house.  He wanted to watch Resident Evil , or another equally stupid movie, and Pierre didn't have any authentic Hawkeye stuff for him to borrow anyway.  I think he was jealous of the Hurons."  Cheryl struggled against the ropes holding her captive.  "Untie me now, please."

Janet ignored the request.  "I can understand why Tommy would feel jealous.  The boys really looked like Hurons, except for the blond hair."  She asked, "Where did Pierre get that gorgeous uniform?"

"He was a guide at Fort Champlain last Summer.  The uniform is absolutely authentic."  Cheryl struggled some more, then glared at her cousins.  "OK... you can let me go now."

Emily and Janet exchanged a knowing smirk.  "Now why should we do that?" Janet asked.

"Yeah," Emily added, a chillingly cruel smile on her pixie face as she wrapped an additional bandana around the stick-gag she had just removed from her older (and increasingly nervous) cousin's mouth.  "What would be the fun in that?"

"It's your fault, all this getting tied up and dragged around the woods stuff," Janet said as she sorted the Huron's collection of thongs and rope, selecting several of the long coils that had so recently held the 'English captives'  helplessly tied to the saplings near the fire.  "If you like it so much, I think you ought to spend the night about as tied up as we can get you."

"Yeah," Emily said, "and I still don't believe your feet aren't ticklish.  I want to try the honey and ants thing.  That's something Indians did to bossy captives, right?"

Cheryl swallowed and her toes curled, as if on their own.  "C'mon guys," she whined, looking towards the woods as if she expected another rescuer to magically appear.  She edged away from her cousins.

"We can do that tomorrow," Janet said, casually reaching out and ending Cheryl's would-be escape.  "We'll just warm her up with some feathers tonight."

"Ok, you scared me," Cheryl huffed, trying without success to disguise that she really was getting a little frightened.  "Untie me and we can play again tomorrow."  (Provided you can catch me .)  "It's been a long day and —Ow! —No!  Melissa!   Aunt Melissa!   Hel-mmfh!"  Janet had tripped her to the ground and the double bandana-padded stick was in her in her mouth and Emily was tightening its attached thongs.

"We'll lash her ankles on top of that log," Janet suggested, "then tie her knees and... heck, we'll tie her legs and arms all the way up to her neck; then we'll braid her hair and tie that to something so she can't even squirm; then you can tie her big toes together."

"Wow... tying the toes," Emily said, a rare look of respect directed at her big sister.  "I never thought of that before!  While we torture her she won't even be able to wiggle!"

Her green eyes darting from Emily to Janet, Cheryl squirmed in her bonds, then sighed through her gag.  Well, I did bring this on myself .

OK... NOW IT'S

THE END

REVISIT
CHAPTER 1	CHAPTER 2	CHAPTER 3	CHAPTER 4