“Can’t do that. I work for Miss Champe and she said bring you back to Helena and that’s what I plan to do,” he said. “Now shut up and let’s get back there.”
“My husband will kill you,” she repeated.
“Bring it on, I’m ready,” he said as he kicked the sides of his horse, making the animal go faster.
Pearl kept turning, hoping to see Anthony or Wesley, but she didn’t. Sadly she sat in front of the man, tears streaming down her cheeks as they galloped toward Helena.
Two hours later, when they arrived, he lifted her off the saddle and carried her over his shoulder into the bordello.
The place was brand spanking new and she knew she would be put to work immediately.
“Well, look who we have here,” Miss Champe said, walking up to her.
The man dropped her to the floor.
“Please don’t do this. I’m married. My husband will kill you for this,” she said.
The woman grinned. “I’m not worried about your husband. I saw him yesterday when you came to town. I guess you were surprised to see me.”
Pearl had been shocked. The woman had followed her all the way from Charleston.
“What made you come here?”
“Money. Lots of money to be made in these small towns where there are very few women. You’ll be working hard tonight,” she said.
“I’m married. I’m not a virgin. Why do you want me,” Pearl said, fearing what she would say.
“So you’ll now have to work almost two years for me before you gain your freedom. By then, your husband will have found some other woman to marry. By then, you’ll be worn out.”
Pearl was no longer an innocent. She knew that sleeping with men all day and night would soon destroy her or she would get pregnant with a man’s child and not know who the father was.
“I’m pregnant,” she said softly, not knowing for certain if that it was true, but hoping she wasn’t lying. Her breasts were tender and she was late for her monthly flow.
“Dear God, girl, you’re going to be the death of me yet,” the woman said. “You can work right up until you have the kid. A lot of men like a woman who is swollen with child. You’re not going to get out of paying your debt back this time.”
Tears welled in Pearl’s eyes. “I’m happy. I love my husband. Please don’t do this. Let me go.”
The woman looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “You know, I had respect for you before now. You escaped from me once and I thought that girl has a head on her shoulders. But now you’ve gotten yourself married, pregnant, and under a man’s rule because you love him.” She drawled out the last two words. “Please, get out of my sight. James, take her to the dungeon room. Tonight, she’s going to work with the men who like their sex on the weird side.”
Pearl’s heart caught in her chest. “No, please.”
“Dress her in the most see-through flimsy gown we have. I want her wares on full display because she’s going to make me some money tonight.”
Crushed, it was all Pearl could do not to spit at the woman, but she feared that would get her into even more trouble.
James dragged her up the stairs and then he gave her a gown that only hid her nipples and her pussy. The rest of her was on full display, even her buttocks.
Where were her men? Her husbands? Could they get her out of this mess before her first client?
CHAPTER17
Wesley and Anthony rode their horses hard. When Pearl rang the bell, they had glanced at each other and then raced to their horses as fast as they could.
When they reached the house, the door was open and a pot was boiling on the stove, but there was no sign of Pearl.
When Wesley went out into the yard, he noted the tracks of a horse. They followed the trail all the way into Helena. Now as the sun was beginning to set, they were once again in the small town.
Music spilled out onto the streets from the saloon. They had lost the tracks at the edge of town where many horses’ hooves covered the horseshoe they had been following. Glancing up and down the street, Wesley didn’t see anyone he recognized.