At first, as Mistress Snow looked, she saw nothing. So, she looked harder and then turned and looked at Gina wondering what she had seen, but Gina was still pointing. She was starting to back away from what she was looking at. Mistress Snow looked back she knew that she had to be seeing something and she started to wonder just what she was missing. Snow looked closer and saw some movement, and could tell that it was a person, but she didn't get a good look at who it was. The only thing that she could tell for sure was that it was someone that she didn't know.
Snow turned to the girls and said, "Just stay close, and pretend that you don't see him. We will lure him away from the others. With everyone seeing you three girls the word will spread that you are no longer at the mansion. So, they will stop looking for you there and that will make it easier on Kathy."
Gina really liked the sound of that, especially if they were leading them off the island. She knew that she was their target, and she didn't mind them following her even if they tried to get her as long as the others were safe and no longer in danger.
Gina stopped pointing and the four of them started walking toward town. Gina kept an eye on him and there was no doubt that he was following them. As they got closer to town, she noticed that he had started to move in closer. Gina was sure that he was going to try and grab one of them until he saw that they were all leashed to Mistress Snow. Once they made it into town and there started to be people around, he disappeared into the group of people that were wandering around shopping. With the way that he had been following them, Gina was not sure if she had seen the last of him or if he would try something later.
Even though someone was following them Gina was glad to get out of the house, they had been more or less trapped inside there, ever since the missing girl posters had been first spotted. As they walked through town, she couldn't help but notice all the looks and see them all whispering.
As she looked around, she noticed a lot of places where people could be hiding, and as soon as one of them was not careful enough they could pull one of the girls to hide them. That was why Snow had made sure they had been leashed to her.
Gina thought about it and knew that this town had been set up that way on purpose so that one could be kidnapped easily.
It looked like most of the businesses that were there were set up for the slave trade either buying or selling of people. Or the things that you would need to keep people in bondage. Gina knew that it was all to boost the profits of the leaders of the island. Gina was wondering just why Miss Kathy built a life here. With this being such a hard place to live. All the buildings were looking like they were starting to get run down. Gina couldn't think of any reasons that made sense to her, but she knew that she was glad that she was there. It was the only thing that saved her. She knew that if Snow didn't have them leashed, they never would have made it without someone grabbing them, or at least trying to.
Gina looked over at Katie and noticed that she was going through so many emotions and thinking of so many things. Gina didn't think that Katie was even aware of anyone looking at them. Gina knew that she had to be thinking about seeing her dad again. When Gina looked at her it seemed like all the anger that she had for him she must have used up when she was hitting him because Gina didn't see any anger in her now. All that was left was the sadness that had been left behind ever since she had heard that he was going to try and sell them both.
Gina didn't understand Rodger at all. She knew that her parents had only been nice to him and his whole family. They gave him more than they gave to anyone else and that was mostly because she had become so attached to Katie. Gina knew that he and Stan were the only ones that she hated, and she needed to see both of them punished for the deaths of her parents. Even if it was going to hurt Katie some to see her dad punished.
Snow kept a close eye on the girls making sure that no one got too close or tried anything. The girls were not making it any too easy for her with Katie in her own little world thinking about what was going to happen, and Gina's mind wandering off. Mia was the only one who was trying to keep away from everyone as usual. Snow could tell the danger that they were in and that is why she kept them so close and didn't let any of them fall behind. She would not have let any of them fall behind normally but she was especially careful now that so much attention was paid to them.
Snow saw all the looks and heard the whispers. She was hoping that they were not getting to the girls too badly, but there was nothing to be done about it. At least until they got on board the ship, and she couldn't wait for that to happen.
Snow thought to herself she had never seen any reactions like this before. It was not just that the girls looked alike, but the fact that they were on leashes. There were plenty of leashed slaves around, so they were like a lot of others there. Since it was a slaver's town seeing girls on leashes was common. It had to be the huge reward that Stan was offering for them. Snow could tell that the hunters were just waiting for her to slip up and lose track of one of them so that they could snatch them.
Snow was happy once she saw the first sail at the dock. Even if it was not the sail that she was looking for. It meant that they were getting close, and it would not be long before they would be on board. The fact that she knew that there always were more town guards hanging around the docks brought a smile to her face.
Katie could not help but be walking with her head down and looking at her feet. She was not really interested in seeing anyone, or for the fact of the matter she did not really want anyone seeing her either. She knew that it was in her best interest to be on a leash, but it didn't matter, she did know how anyone could like the feeling of being walked around on a leash since it was so degrading. Especially when it meant that you were supposed to be someone's property. She had noticed all the people looking at them. She knew that some of them were supposed to be looking to kidnap them and others were just gawking because they were dressed like triplets or like they had some kind of uniform on which no one around her had seen. She was hoping that no one saw the collar around her neck or the fact that she was being led around on a leash.
Katie noticed that Gina was looking at her and she couldn't help but turn away. She knew that Gina loved the collar and leash but that still didn't help with the way that she was feeling.
Gina started to move closer to Katie, but then Katie pulled away. Gina had never seen Katie pull away unless she was really upset at her. She took a step away from her to give her the space that she needed. Gina was worried about her now and was wondering if all this was just going to be too much for her to face. She was thinking that she might have to skip listening to everything so that Katie would not have to. Katie was feeling so obligated to listen to everything that had happened just to be there to support her. Gina really wanted to hear it all, but she would skip it for the sake of her friend.
Mia had been watching everything as usual trying to stay part of things, but trying to stay out of the way. She saw how disturbed Katie was about the collar, but she didn't know what to say to her that would ease her mind. She knew that the first time that someone would try and grab her it would save her and that her opinion of the collar and being leashed would change. If she didn't have one on if someone would grab her and take her away, she would feel different about it. But the likelihood that someone would try now was slim. All she could do would be give Katie some time and space like the others were doing.
Mia felt the collar around her neck looked around and saw that there were people following them and heard all the whispers about them. She was so glad that she was in the collar and on a leash. There was no way that she wanted any of them grabbing her and putting her back into her old life of torment. She had lived through it before and there was no way she was going back to life like the way it was before she met Miss Kathy.
With a shutter from the thought, Mia felt the leash go slightly tight and knew that she needed to take a few faster steps to keep up with the others.
Snow saw that Gina was becoming worried about Katie and she knew that she would have to talk to the both of them. The bottom line was she was going to be there to support them no matter what happened but now was not the time to try and handle things they would have to wait till they would get somewhere safe. She felt the leashes go slightly tight and she quickly looked back to see the girls. The surprising thing was that it was Mia who had fallen slightly behind, but she knew that it was that she was just worried about the other two. She saw that Mia had taken a few faster steps and was right there with the others.
As they left the main streets and entered the docking area Mistress Snow breathed out a sigh of relief. She had figured that if anyone was going to try anything it would be when they were in a more crowded part of town when they were surrounded, and no one could tell just who was doing it. Snow made sure that at no time they could get boxed into where someone could get close enough to cut the leash and grab the girl even if they couldn't get the collar off. Using the other people to try and cause some confusion so that they could grab one of them. But she knew with it being broad daylight that it was unlikely that they would do anything. If they had made this trip at dusk or at night, they would have surely tried something.
Snow looked up at the sails that were out in the water and the ships that were docked at the docks. They were going to have to walk out on the pier to wait and see when the ship that she had arranged to take them to the other island would get there. She knew that they would have to wait till the ship was unloaded and reloaded and they would be leaving with the tied, but it was better to get there early. To get there at the right time would have made it riskier for them to travel.
Snow had been hoping that they were going to arrive early because the captain had given her a range of times that they would be arriving. It was not like he could give her a specific time since the ship relies on the wind for its speed.
Snow knew that if they had to, they could rent a room and stay close to the docks. It was going to be better to stay close than to walk back and forth knowing that once it got dark it was not like the ship would be landing even if it was close.
As Snow looked out in the water there was no sign of the ship that she had hired to take them yet. She was disappointed that it had not already landed, let alone the fact that she didn't even see it approaching in the distance. Snow knew that this was a possibility when they left, but it was better to be there and wait than try and catch it once it landed. They would have to try and hurry to get there before it set out again.
The problem that she was having was just what to do with the girls she normally would have just gone to the bar to wait. Knowing that it was a bit more of a risk she decided to take the girls to the bar. They were not hungry, but they could have a drink or two and wait. It was not like they wouldn't hear that the ship was landing and offloading.
When Snow entered the bar, the leash went tight as Mia stopped short not wanting to enter. Snow turned to her and saw that she was slightly trembling and said, "It's okay. You can come in. You all need to stick together all the time, if you can't do that you will have to go home and wait for them to return."
Now Mia had a terrified look on her face just the thought of being left behind pushed out all the other fears that she had and made her quickly rejoin the others.
Snow figured that was all she would have to say to get her moving. She knew that this was going to be about the only time that she was going to be able to use it. Once they were on the ship, she knew that sending her back home would not be much of a threat since she would not be able to. But it was not like she couldn't make her stay in the room while they were away at court.
Snow picked a little table off to the side making sure it was out of the way. That was just big enough for the four of them to sit around. She ordered some drinks, making sure to keep them light, it was not like she wanted the girls going wild.
The barmaid brought over the drinks, and they thanked her as she handed each one their drink. Time passed quickly and just about the time that Mistress Snow was about to get rooms for the night the ship pulled into the dock and started to quickly offload and "1">