A tall muscular figure appeared in the doorway of the bar and with one look from Gina a squeal of joy rang throughout the place.
Will stood in the doorway just shaking his head. He knew that the girls would be happy to see him just as much as he was to see them. They were like daughters to him and most of the crew after the way that they had changed the cook and made everyone's life better.
Will said, "Captain Filmore heard that you were looking for passage and since it is not too far off our route, he decided to be the one to take you all."
Will gave them a strange look he knew that the two girls looked like twins but now there was another one that looked similar. By the way that she was dressed even if her hair was shorter and not cut the same, they were still dressed alike. You had to look closely to tell that they were not related but it looked like the girl had lived a rough life and now was timid and once you looked closely you could see some scars from the past that still marked her skin even, though they were mostly faded.
Mistress Snow stood up and addressed him. "Hi, I am Mistress Snow, and I am making sure nothing happens to the girls. I assume that you are one of Captain Filmore's men?"
Will approached and said, "I am Will. His first mate. I am here to escort you on board the ship."
Mistress Snow took a good look at him and could tell that he had seen his fair share of action in the past he was the tallest sailor that she had ever seen. He was not just tall, but he was built, and she thought she would not have to worry about coming to the ship in the dark with a guy this huge coming for them it was not like anyone would mess with him.
Gina jumped up and started to run to him when her collar pulled tight and about pulled out of Snow's hand before she could do anything about it. Gina choked a little and that made Katie and Mia burst out laughing seeing her stop like a dog on a leash that didn't know when to stop.
For a moment Gina just stood there in a daze until she realized what was going on and just what had stopped her. She blushed as she got a goofy smile on her face, realizing how she looked to the others, the only one who was not laughing was Will. He had a very serious look on his face questioning just why was she on a leash and then he saw the collar around her neck with a lock on it they could all see him puffing up ready to break the chain that was holding her.
Gina remembered seeing Will start getting this way when one of the crew was refusing to do something that he had been asked to do. She knew that he was getting pissed and she knew that she had to say something to him. Gina held up her hand to stop him and said, "No. Wait... You don't understand. It's okay I belong to Miss Kathy who is protecting me from Stan and Rodger."
Will furrowed his brow and demanded, "What do you mean you belong to?" and then he noticed that all the girls had leashes and collars on. His look of anger intensified there was no way that he wanted his girls wearing collars or on some kind of leash like a dog.
Mistress Snow stood up she could tell that things were quickly getting out of hand and said in a firm and commanding tone, "The girls are under my protection, and they are collared and leashed to make sure that no one can steal them away. Do you have a problem with that?"
The guards that were sitting at a nearby table stood up and the guards at the door started looking over to see if there was any trouble that they were going to be needed for.
Will saw everything and just stood there silently looking over them all trying to figure out which one he should take out first.
Snow saw that she hadn't really gotten to him yet and she needed to explain things better. She calmly said, "You see this is a slaver's town and unprotected girls are easy prey for the ones that are trying to gather them. Even someone like you could fall into a trap and wind up serving someone for a week to pay off the debt that they would put on you but as for the girls a young one like these could wind up in a lifetime of service to a disreputable person that would take advantage of them."
Will gave her a look like isn't that what you are doing. Snow continued, "Like I said I am protecting them, and the collars are there just to protect them and all they have to do is ask and they will be removed. The leashes are only on till we get on board the ship to make sure that they are not grabbed and stolen away. Stan had put a high reward for them, and we have had more than a few try and get them already." As she looked around the room pointing them all out with her eyes, she was very aware of them sitting at different tables just waiting for their chance to grab one of them that is if they couldn't get them both.
Will's expression changed as he looked where she had pointed seeing the type of men that were there. He puffed out his chest even more and said, "Come with me it is time to get you on board the ship."
Will had seen places like this before and he knew that they used enslaving people to increase the economy of the island when it just would not have anything else that it could produce. But he didn't like seeing the girls mixed up in it. They were just too nice and sweet for such a thing and to be treated this way.
Will noticed several of the tables start to stand that she had pointed out. He gave them a growl and a mean look that made them think twice and sit back down knowing that there was no way that they were going to be able to get one or any of the girls away from him. Will cracked his knuckles, each one loud enough to be heard just daring anyone to try and challenge him for the girls. With a sneer on his lips, he left the bar still not happy that the girls were in collars and on leashes but seeing all the guys that looked like were after the girls he understood why Mistress Snow put the collars and leashes on the girls.
Will followed them closely letting Snow lead the way. He was surprised that everyone parted the way for her. It did seem like she had a lot of power here. He saw the looks in the eyes of the people who looked into hers, and she was doing a better job intimidating everyone than he was. Will could tell that she could handle herself as well as anyone who would try and challenge her. The fact was he found that he was intimidated by her. It was not like he thought that she would beat him up or anything like that. It was that he felt like if he messed with her she would ruin his life, and he would wind up in some kind of prison or something worse.
After thinking about it Will admired her a little but he still didn't like seeing the girls that way.
Snow led them down the dock and once they got close Will took the lead to get them on the deck of the Windstruct. Gina expected to see the captain but he was not anywhere to be seen. She remembered that he usually left most of the loading to Will and the others. Gina then looked at Katie who was looking hard for Jake who was nowhere to be seen. Gina remembered how Will and the Captain had threatened the crew with punishment or getting kicked off the ship if any of them touched either one of them, so she wondered if he was still onboard the ship. Gina took a deep breath she knew that Katie would be totally devastated if Jake was not there.
Then Gina watched as Katie blushed and then tried to hide her face as well as her collar and then quickly turned to Mistress Snow and asked, "Can you let me off the leash now and take off the collar you said that we would not need them on the ship, and you would take it off any time that I asked?"
With a smile Mistress Snow knew just what Katie wanted and why it was so important to her at this point. So, she said, "Sure but I will want the collar at least back on when we land there is no telling how many will be there to try and collect the bounty on you both." Then she unclipped the leashes and put them away, took out the key, and unhooked the collar that Katie was wearing. As it popped off Katie smiled but at the same time part of her was feeling the loss of it. Then she looked at the other two with their collars on even though they had little locks on them the locks were small and once you take the leash off and turn the collar it looked more like fashion than a way to control and restrain them.
Katie took the collar in her hand and looked at it closely it was not like the only way to attach it was with the lock there was a little latch the lock was added so that the latch could not be opened until the lock was removed. Katie thought hard about it. At this point, she could just put it back on and leave the lock off so that she could remove it whenever she wanted and at the same time she would still look like the others.
Then she thought that it was not so very important to look like the others while she was on the ship, in fact, if she was going to be able to get some alone time with Jake then not looking all sweet and innocent was going to be what she wanted.
Gina was puzzled, she could see that Katie was thinking hard but she started wondering just what she was thinking about that had her so distracted to the point that as Will led them down the stairs, she almost walked into something.
Mia was unsure just what to do as she watched except when Snow was removing the collar off of Katie, she held a hand over her own there was no way that she wanted the lock removed. Her life was better now than it had ever been as far as she could remember and there was no way that she was even going to give anyone a chance to ever try and get ahold of her again. She looked over at Gina and Katie, she had feelings for both and would not want anything to happen to them, but she knew that if she could only save one or if she had to give her life to save one it was going to be Gina that she would do it for.
That was not to say that she was not loving Katie too, but she knew that there was something that she felt with Gina that she didn't feel with Katie. Even though she didn't love her the same Mia knew that she loved her like a sister and would do anything that she could to protect both of them. Mia was just glad that Mistress Snow was there so that Snow would make sure that nothing was going to happen to them. Gina and Katie remembered the way down to the room well and when Will stopped at a different door and said here is your room it surprised them both.
Will opened the door and it was lots bigger than the one that he had put them in last time. Even though they were still going to have to sleep in hammocks they were bigger and spaced in such a way that you didn't feel like you were all on top of each other.
Will said, "In the bunker in the corner are the hammocks to choose from there are little ones set up for you all to sleep separately but if you don't mind sharing ones, they are a lot bigger and yet still give you more room. We have them for couples or if we get a huge family trying to travel cheaply."
Then he thought about what he said and disappeared before they could take it the wrong way and think that he was accusing them of trying to travel cheaply.