One Whore's Town Ch. 03

Janus shook his head. "This is home. Making the firebricks for a new kiln is expensive and time-consuming. I'll probably get a little more guff than usual for a while, but with you all gone and not threatening her little empire, the bitch won't risk sending anyone out here where Corra's men could nab them."

Betty said, "I still wish you'd come. I think you'd do well with the crazies in Windsholme. They'd jump at the chance to use some fine bricks to make the place look more like a real city. I'm not trying this again any time soon, so I can afford to front you the coin to get going."

"At least sleep on it?" Ghent asked.

Janus chuckled. "Okay. Two-thirds of the night, anyway."

Betty shrugged and said, "Well, we may as well change the sheets one last time and hit the rack, girls."

Her girls of negotiable virtue nodded and murmured in agreement.

****

Betty awakened once again confused and groggy. She'd had one too many cups of wine after the soldiers' warning. Only faint moonlight filtered through the window. Ghent slept at her side, and she remembered him coming back to bed, so she knew it was the wee hours of the morning before dawn. Her bladder felt a little full, but not uncomfortable enough to have awakened her.

An odd clicking sound caused her brow to furrow. Her eyes and ears homed in on the sound and she saw movement beyond the murky silhouette of Ghent's head. Her breath caught when she realized someone dressed in black was in the room, kneeling in front of the lock boxes.

A moment later she screamed as Ghent shot out of the bed with a roar. The intruder nimbly jumped out of the way, bouncing off the wall just before Ghent slammed into it. When Betty saw the glint of metal, she rolled off the bed on the opposite side of the struggle — snatching up her dagger in the process. She unsheathed it and set herself in a low fighting crouch.

Ghent pursued the intruder, but snatched his arm back and snarled in pain when a flash of metal glimmering in the moonlight slashed at his arm. Betty distinctly saw the intruder's eyes turn upon her and narrow a fraction of a second before he darted toward her.

The intruder was quick, but not quick enough. Ghent managed to snatch a handful of the dark-clad man's clothing, and with strength born of rage from the threat to Betty, hurled the man into the door, which burst open. The intruder was unsteady on his feet as he tried to rise. Ghent was upon him in a heartbeat, grasping the wrist of the hand that held the blade. The intruder grunted in pain as Ghent squeezed. Then suddenly, the man went limp and his dagger fell from nerveless fingers.

Betty saw Lana with her ring hand extended into the room as Ghent let the intruder fall into a heap on the floor. The blonde said, "Pallah's hurt. Jan's with him."

Her dagger still in hand, Betty said, "Go help Jan. And thanks."

Lana nodded and turned to return to the front room.

Betty said, "Let me see that arm."

"Just a small cut. Really this time," Ghent said as he held his arm out for her to examine in the faint light.

A bleary-eyed Janus appeared in the doorway to say, "I think he hit Pallah in the back of the head. He's starting to wake up, but he's going to have a big old knot."

"Speaking of knot," Betty said. "Can you find something inside the house to tie this asshole up with? And have someone fetch a brand to light the lamps?"

"Already got it," Lana announced as light filtered into the hallway from the front room.

After a brief flurry of activity, the house was filled with lamplight, and Ghent's arm was bandaged. The intruder was bound and unmasked. Both Pallah and Janus recognized him as Josephine's thief — Shad. Ghent discovered that one of the two doors leading to the outhouse was unlocked, even though he had checked it more than once during the night. Ghent carried the unconscious intruder to the front room and dumped him on the couch.

Everyone was a little rattled but began to relax in a house filled with light.

"I'm sorry," a still groggy Pallah apologized.

"For what?" Betty asked. "For getting hit in the head? The prick managed to get into our room and go after the strongboxes before we were any wiser. He was only a few inches away. It's hardly your fault."

The young man didn't look convinced.

"Is her little cutpurse tied good and tight?" Betty asked.

Ghent checked the bonds made from yet another sacrificed sheet and nodded.

Betty gestured to the trussed-up thief and said, "Lana, come use your ring to wake him up. I want to have a little chat."

The moment Lana touched the young man with her ring, he groaned and shook his head. A second later, he tried to move, realized he was bound, and began to violently lurch.

"Cut it out. You're not getting loose, so just sit still," Betty admonished.

The thief ignored her, continuing to flop and yank at the bonds holding his wrists and ankles together.

Betty sighed. "This will go a lot faster and easier if you just sit still and tell me what I want to know."

The thief settled, finally convinced his struggles were futile. He stared at Betty with hard eyes and said, "I ain't telling you nothing."

Ghent leaned over the man — wearing a positively evil grin — and said, "Best sing, little birdie. 'Cause if you don't, I'm going to crush your eggs."

A disturbing sound that mingled a whimper and a gag emerged from the thief when Ghent's huge hand squeezed between his legs. The bound man's eyes grew as wide as saucers and filled with tears.

"That's enough," Betty said as their prisoner's face tightened into a mask of pain.

The thief whimpered and tears rolled down his cheeks when Ghent released his family jewels.

Betty said, "Look, we already know you're Josephine's, and we know your name is Shad. She knows we're here, right?"

The thief coughed and groaned.

"She knows we're here and whoring, right?" Betty repeated.

After a couple of seconds, Ghent asked, "Want me to crack his nuts again and loosen up his tongue?"

The thief lurched and wriggled away from the big man while gasping, "Yes! She knows!"

"Stop," Betty said while pushing down the arm Ghent had lifted while making his threat. "She sent you here to rob us, then?"

The bound intruder nodded.

"You're lucky we caught you, to tell the truth. There's a poison needle trap on that box. It probably wouldn't have killed you, but you would have wished you were dead for about a week," Betty said.

The look of horror on young Shad's face suggested that he hadn't detected the trap, which was actually coated with a sleep drug, rather than poison.

Despite him hitting Pallah over the head, trying to steal from them, and cutting Ghent, Betty felt sorry for the thief as she looked into his terrified, still misty eyes. He was barely a man. She guessed he was in his early twenties at most. He was a desperate young man with two younger brothers to look after, caught in the spell of a manipulative woman.

"Look, you may as well talk to me," Betty said. "Think about it. You just got caught. You failed. Something tells me your Josephine isn't very understanding about things like that."

The thief's shoulders slumped in response to her words.

Betty said, "Let me guess. She's showed you her tits, maybe let you play with them a little, gives you sweet little kisses and a squeeze when you please her, and keeps promising she's going to let you get your dick wet someday, but someday never comes. There's always some excuse why you can't fuck her today."

Used to careful study of a man's expressions and body language to find out what would get him excited and keep him coming back for more, she could read the look on his face like a book. She'd hit the nail squarely on the head.

Betty shrugged. "She'll eventually jerk a squirt out of you, once she realizes promises aren't enough to keep you in line. Maybe suck it for you once that's not enough. Eventually, she might even let you poke her. I wouldn't hold my breath, though. Especially not now."

She gave that a few seconds to sink in before continuing. "Right now, you've got a lot better chance of getting something from talking to me than getting anything from her. She's got bullies beating up people coming here, right?"

He nodded.

"Do you know who they are? Where they're hiding along the road?"

The thief's lips pressed together and his eyes filled with fear.

Ghent held up a squeezed fist and said, "Tweet, tweet."

The fear in their captive's eyes intensified.

Betty put her hand on Ghent's forearm and gave him her not now look.

"Yes'm Betty," he said as he backed away.

Betty turned her attention back to the thief. "I'm guessing that your brothers are outside somewhere, watching. By now, they're probably worried sick, because they've seen all the windows light up. They know we're all up and you haven't come back. They know you're probably caught, or dead. What are they going to do?"

She could see a new element of fear creeping into his eyes.

"I'm assuming your parents are gone and that all you have is your wits and Miss Golden Pussy's charity to depend on. I'll make you a deal. Start talking, and I'll make sure they have at least a chance. I'll get them away from here. If they're willing to work, I can find them somewhere to make a life."

The thief's eyes narrowed and he asked, "Why?"

"Because I'm not a heartless bitch like your Josephine, and because I'm an orphan too. I'm trying to keep my girls and our host safe. It's a small price to pay, and I don't like to watch anyone struggle to survive, because I've been there."

"How can I believe you?" the thief asked.

Ghent said, "You know Pallah, right? He got fired because of you and that bitch. Miss Betty took him right in."

Betty said, "Your brothers are just following your not-so-smart lead, because you're the oldest, and the closest thing they have to a parent right now. This isn't their fault. Did you tell them what to do if you got caught? What do you think they're doing right now?"

"I..." The thief trailed off and his brow furrowed.

A voice emerged from the hallway. "Skulking in the woods, scared to the point of almost pissing themselves. The locks on this place are complete shit, by the way."

Everyone turned toward the voice and it was all Betty could do not to squeal in delight when she saw Raven leading the two boys into the room.

****

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