Chapter 2

Betty rubbed her temples and groaned. It was well after high sun, and despite two wagon trains and several travelers on the dusty road, they were no closer to home than they were at first light.

Ghent stroked her back, and it made her feel slightly better.

“Thanks, honey,” she said. “But work on skinning those rabbits so we can get them on a fire.”

The big man gave her one last pat on the back before going to do exactly that. At least he’d managed to scare up the coneys and shoot them with one of the crossbows, so they would eat that night. Pallah apparently knew his way around a skinning knife, so he was helping.

“Hey, handsome. Where are you headed?” Lana asked.

Betty turned toward where the girls were standing by the edge of the road to see that three travelers had approached. She quickly gathered up her skirts and jumped down from the wagon to go join them.

“I ... Uhm...” one of the middle-aged men stammered. He had a wary look on his face. He glanced at his traveling companions, who looked equally apprehensive.

None were imposing enough to take on as guards, so that was out of the question. Betty didn’t even need to consult Ghent to know that. Instead, she moved in next to the girls and launched into an alternate proposal she had been considering.

“Are any of you heading west, by chance?” she asked.

They all shook their heads and the one man said, “No. Just into town, right down the road there.”

“We’re looking for someone to take a message to Windsholme. Do you know it?” Betty asked.

“Well, yes. Weird folks,” the man who had taken to speaking for the trio answered.

“Is there a way we could persuade any of you to head along that way and take a message to Heaven’s Table, on the edge of town?”

“We’d really appreciate it,” Lana said - batting her eyelashes.

“A lot,” Jan added, while resting a hand on her breasts to draw attention to them.

“That’s a few days walk,” the spokesman said. “Not much of one for sleeping out of doors.”

You’re not the only one, Betty thought. “We could make it worth your while, if anybody is willing. It’s such a little thing, and we’d be really, really thankful if someone would come to our rescue.”

The man in front appeared as if he was about to say something, but one of the others nudged him. All three men looked past the women and suddenly turned skittish.

Betty looked over her shoulder, but she knew even before following their line of sight that it was Ghent who had frightened them. He was intimidating enough as it was, and to make matters worse, he was holding the bloody knife that he was using to skin the rabbits.

“Sorry, we’ve got business in town,” the one man said. All three moved as one down the road.

“Shit,” Betty cursed as she watched them hurry away - constantly looking over their shoulders for imagined pursuit.

“Sorry,” Ghent apologized - knowing that he’d scared the men off.

“Not your fault, honey,” Betty said and sighed. “If you girls want to go sit down for a while, I’ll stay out here and stick out my tits for anybody who comes along.”

“Miss Betty, are the rabbits almost ready to cook?” Jan asked.

“All ready,” Ghent answered.

Lana hiked a thumb toward her fellow prostitute and said, “Jan’s a good cook, and my stomach is grumbling.”

Jan shrugged. “I’ve never cooked anything over a campfire, but I’ll try my best.”

Betty said, “If you have any talent, then you’re better off than me. Best I can do is get it hot. Probably burned.”

“I think there’s a few wild herbs growing over that way,” Jan suggested.

“Anything you want. Make us something good and I’ll give you cook’s pay on top of what you’re getting for putting up with this fiasco.”

Jan smiled and said, “I’ll see what I can do.”

No other travelers appeared, so Betty left her post after a while. Jan had gathered up herbs and even managed to locate a few tubers to supplement their rabbit. Ghent built a fire out of woody shrubs, and then raked out a coal bed. Once it was ready, Jan started cooking.

Betty leaned back against the wagon with a satiated sigh after taking one last bite of rabbit. She passed what was left to Ghent, and he eagerly tore into the meat. “Jan, darling, if you ever get tired of getting poked, or feel like making some extra coin, they could use you in the Heaven.”

The busty prostitute blushed and asked, “You think so?”

“I’ve been telling her, but she wouldn’t listen to me,” Lana agreed while standing to take the rest of her rabbit to Ghent as well.

“Damn good,” Ghent said between mouthfuls.

“Uh huh,” young Pallah groaned where he lay with his hand over his overfull stomach.

“No doubt,” Betty said. “You took a few rabbits, some potatoes, and leaves, and turned them into a banquet out here in the gods-forsaken wilderness. With a proper kitchen...”

Still blushing, Jan said, “Thanks, Miss Betty.”

“No, thank you,” Betty countered. “At least you gave us one little bright spot in this nightmare I got us into.”

Lana looked toward the road and said, “It’s them three again, coming back this way.”

“The wrong way,” Betty said with a shrug. “Probably run past as fast as their legs will carry them anyway, thinking Ghent’s going to skin them too.”

Everyone chuckled, and Pallah groaned again.

Betty watched out of the corner of her eye and she was surprised to see the trio stop a short distance away on the rutted, dusty road. They appeared to be arguing about something and frequently looked toward where everyone was lounging around the wagon. When they didn’t move along after a minute or so, Betty said, “I’m going to go over there. Everybody stay here, and honey, try not to look so scary.”

Ghent made a ridiculous, lackwit face and let his tongue hang out of his mouth. Betty joined in the laughter that followed and shook her head as she walked out to the road.

The three men continued to talk in a tight circle for a few seconds longer and then approached. Once again, the man who had done all of the talking led the group.

“Change your mind?” Betty asked when they stopped in front of her.

“Well, maybe,” the leader said. “I was thinking that maybe my boy and I could ride out toward Windsholme tomorrow. See if we could sell a few things out that way for more than we can around here.”

“If you could take a message along with you, we’d sure be happy about it,” Betty said.

The other two men nudged the leader, and he turned around to give them an irritated glance before making eye contact with Betty again. “You wouldn’t be ... Uhm ... You working ladies?”

Betty instinctively broke out into a seductive smile. Even though it was a risk, it was worth it if they could get a message back home. “Honey, I think we can work something out for you, if you’re going to Windsholme.”

“If I could take a little time now, and then me and my boy could take a little before we leave in the morning?”

Three humps was a steep ask for just delivering a message, but it was the best at hand, with the sun already making a descent toward the horizon. “We’ll take good care of you, honey.”

His face split into a smile and he said, “That sounds right fair.”

One of the other men asked, “How much for us?”

“Two copper crowns,” Betty answered. Having heard the conversation, the girls walked up to her side.

The other man spoke up. “Lady in town wanted way more than that, made us wait, and then told us to go away ‘cause she didn’t feel like it.”

“Well, she’s a bitch,” Betty said.

“We’re a lot nicer, honey,” Lana added.

From the way the man who had offered to take the message was eyeing her, Betty knew he’d taken a shine to her. She nodded toward the wagon and twitched her eyebrows. He approached while adjusting what was swelling between his legs, and she led him to the wagon. She saw the other two men walking up to Lana and Jan.

The man seemed to be at something of a loss as he climbed into the wagon, which was nothing unusual. Most men didn’t visit a prostitute regularly and didn’t really know how to go about it. Since he was paying with barter rather than coin, Betty made it easy for him by popping open the buttons on her dress as soon as he climbed in.

Once she wriggled out of the top of her dress, she reached out and gave a tug on the front of his pants while giggling. He tore his eyes away from her bared breasts and unhooked his belt.

She barely took notice of his crooked teeth, scruffy face, or pot belly while he took down his pants. He didn’t bother taking his shirt off, and stared lustily at her pussy when she slid down her panties. The moment she parted her legs, he was between them.

His less than impressive manhood likewise gave her no pause when she guided it to the entrance of her canal, and she ignored the acrid smell of his sweat when he leaned over and pushed inside her. Used to humping with men she didn’t find remotely attractive for years, she was wet enough for him to slip in to the hilt in one push. She played up for him, groaned as if he was hung like a horse, and clenched her intimate muscles around him.

He growled and humped away to a chorus of whimpers and moans she provided for his benefit. She could hear Lana and Jan giving a good show as well, which meant the other two had opted to hump in the grass, rather than waiting for a turn in the wagon.

It wasn’t long before he was breathing hard, and his face filled with color. Betty cried out a little louder and a little more frequently, matching his rapidly rising passion. A minute later, she felt the little hitch in his thrusts that told her he was on the edge, and she let out a squeal while thrashing in mock ecstasy beneath him.

He came with a warbling groan. Betty feigned the breathless throes of a climax until he collapsed atop her. She moaned, trembled, and caressed his back - all the while silently planning what she was going to say in the message he would be delivering for her.

When his breathing slowed somewhat, she gave him one final moan and said, “There’s a barrel of water and some cloths on the back of the wagon there, if you want to clean up, honey.”

He got the hint and lifted off her with trembling arms. His limp member had long ago slipped out of her. By the time he haltingly scooted toward the barrel at the back of the wagon, Ghent was at the side, handing her two cloths, one of which was damp.

One right after the other, she heard the girls cry out in apparent bliss, mingled with the sounds of the two men grunting while they flooded the girls with semen. She pushed out what cum she could onto one of the thick linen cloths, wiped up, and then used the damp one to do a more thorough job. Ghent talked to the man who had just spewed inside her once he got his pants up, making arrangements for the next day.

Betty pulled on her dress, but didn’t bother with her panties, because she knew she would be watering the bushes and pushing out the last of the cum as soon as the men were out of sight. She sat up and leaned over the edge of the wagon, wearing a dreamy expression of spent delight, which her girls matched as they walked over to join her. All three waved and blew kisses as the men headed down the road.

When the girls returned from peeing Ghent said, “That fellow will be back along a little after sunrise with his boy.”

Betty said, “You should probably take a little nap before it gets dark, honey.”

He nodded. “Pallah said he’ll keep an eye out until you girls bed down for the night.”

Lana had volunteered to give the former stableman his thanks when Betty mentioned it, and had taken to sitting at his side. She ran her fingers through his hair and said, “I’ll make sure he has pleasant dreams before I go to bed tonight.” She punctuated it with a giggle.

Pallah was grinning from ear to ear and blushing hotly enough that Betty was surprised his mop of long hair wasn’t catching fire.

“Ho, Ghent. Is that you?” a voice called from down the road in the direction where the men had vanished not long before.

All eyes turned to see a man with a face severely marked by pox walking toward them. It was hard not to look at the damage done to his face by the disease, but in their line of work, the prostitutes had learned to ignore unpleasant features. It was day-to-day life for a whore.

“Janus,” Ghent said, calling the man by name.

“I was hoping to have a few drinks with you.”

“Hoping I’d buy you a few more, you mean?”

Janus laughed. “Not that I would complain, but I feel like it’s my turn to return the favor. What are you doing out here?”

“Long story,” Ghent said, and then grunted while he shrugged his wide shoulders.

“Josephine?” Janus asked.

Betty said, “Yes. Ghent told us what you said about her.”

“She’s more of a pox than the one that got my face,” Janus said, and then spit off to the side. “Run you out of town, I suppose? You’re not the first.”

“Unfortunately, you’re right,” Betty said. “We’re a little stuck out.”

“I know the feeling,” Janus remarked. “If you want, you can come hole up at my place. I’ve got a barn for your horse and wagon, and I keep up the old house, even though I hardly ever stay in there anymore. I’m just around the bend up there.”

Betty brightened at the unexpected boon. “That’s awfully kind of you.”

“To be honest, anyone that bitch Josephine doesn’t like is fine by me.” He turned to Ghent and said, “Drinking with you is the best time I’ve had in a dog’s age. I make whisky and wine, if you’d like a nip.”

“Honey, I think we could all use a nip,” Betty said and then laughed.

Janus looked at Pallah and said, “I know you from town. Work the stable at the inn, right?”

“Used to,” Pallah said and sighed.

Ghent explained, “The golden bitch got him sacked because he stopped her cutpurses from stealing from us.”

“Well, you’re welcome too,” Janus said, and smiled while giving a nod. “I was honestly hoping for beer, but I’ll take whisky and wine with someone I like over beer with assholes any day.”

Betty exchanged a glance with Ghent, and that was all he needed to accept the offer. “Well, we’d be damn idiots not to take you up on it.”

“I’ll help you hitch up your horse and we’ll head that way,” Janus said.

While the two men walked over to their horse, Betty said, “Well, maybe things are looking up a little, girls. At least we’ll have a roof over our heads, and tomorrow we can get word off to home. Oh, and what those boys paid you is all yours, on top of making up for your lost time out here and Jan’s cooking.”

“Thanks, Miss Betty,” both girls responded.

“What’s this about cooking?” Janus asked while they were turning the horse in front of the wagon.

“Jan turned some rabbits I shot into a feast,” Ghent said.

“I just like cooking,” the red-faced Jan said.

Janus offered, “Well, you can look through my pantry and see if you can turn anything there into something other than slop, if you’d like. Sorry I missed the rabbit. Haven’t had it in forever, because I can’t hit the broad side of a barn with a bow.”

“I’ll keep my eyes open and pop one if I see it,” Ghent offered.

Janus said, “This just gets better and better.”

The two men soon had the horse hitched to the wagon, everyone piled in, and they were on their way. When they turned off the main road onto a pair of dirt stripes, they took in Janus’ property.

The house had obviously been much smaller at one time, but later additions had expanded it into a fairly large, single-story brick structure. The low barn and what Betty guessed was his workshop were also made of brick, and they all were roofed with slate. The beehive-shaped building near the workshop left her confused.

“I’m sure you’re wondering,” Janus said. “The round one is the kiln, where I bake the bricks. That’s how I make my living. Can’t really see it, but I’ve got a bunch of mud bricks drying out yonder too.”

“Just you out here?” Ghent asked.

“Lost my ma, pa, brothers, and sister to the pox. I was so sick with it that I didn’t even know they were gone until I got better. Neighbors buried them for me, and thought they were gonna have to bury me too.”

Ghent winced and said, “Sorry.”

“No need. It’s been years. That’s why I don’t spend a lot of time in the house. Reminds me of them. The shop reminds me of pa, but he was a slave driver in there, so it’s not quite as hard on me. I keep the house patched up and clean it a couple of times a year. Should keep the rain and the dew off you. No worries about the pox. Burned everything that wasn’t wood or brick and replaced the beds. Thought about running a hostel for travelers to make more coin, but with this face...” He shrugged. “Pull up to the barn and I’ll open the door.”

Betty saw fences peeking out from behind the barn. From the smell and some clucking, she knew he had pigs and chickens. A horse neighed from inside when Janus hopped down and opened the graying wooden door.

“Your horse have a name?” Janus asked while climbing back into the wagon.

Ghent answered, “Studly.”

Janus laughed and said, “Well, there’s a name to live up to. My girl’s name is Margaret.”

The two horses eyed each other curiously as the wagon pulled into the barn. Janus said, “Margaret, this here’s Studly. He’s going to be staying for a spell, so you make nice.”

Margaret snorted and nodded her head in a strangely humanlike gesture. Studly responded with a lip-flapping snort of his own.

Betty noticed that one side of the barn was entirely devoted to the finished bricks. They were stacked all along one wall.

“If you want to get unhitched, I’ll go show the ladies my place, and then come back here to help you get situated.”

Pallah said, “I’ll take care of the horses. It’s what I’m good at.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Ghent said.

“Sure can’t,” Janus agreed.

Pallah hopped up into the seat, and then down from the wagon that way. Betty led the girls out the back and followed when Janus gestured. He led them over to the house, where he pulled out a ring of keys and unlocked the door.

“May have to blow the dust off everything,” he apologized. “Haven’t cleaned up in here since spring.”

“Compared to sleeping in the wagon? I think we can manage,” Betty said.

The front room was filled with stout, serviceable furniture, and centered on a large, elaborate, brick mantle fireplace. As Janus had suggested, there was a layer of dust on virtually everything. The brick walls were coated with plaster on the inside. Like the walls, the floor was made of brick worn smooth by years of use and sweeping. Betty could see a kitchen off to one side, and two doorways leading to halls.

Janus pointed out the different areas as he explained, “Kitchen’s over there. Well’s just outside of it through the door. Got a tub in a little room just off the kitchen. Only room that’s bearable for it in the winter, and closer to carry hot water. Big room and another are through the door that way. Four more through the other doorway. There’s a door leading out to the outhouse by both sets of rooms. Two-seater. The mattresses should be good, but I packed up all the bedclothes in waxed cloth so the moths can’t get to them. I’ll bring them over later. Make yourselves at home.”

“We ate not long ago, but are you hungry?” Jan asked.

“A bit,” Janus answered.

“I could cook something for you, if you’d like?” she suggested.

“I’d certainly be obliged, from what I hear.”

Jan smiled and said, “I’ll go see what you have.”

Lana said, “I’ll go look at the rooms.”

“I’ll leave you ladies to it,” Janus said with a bow of his head.

Betty followed him to the door, and then outside.

“I can’t thank you enough,” she said while closing the door behind her. “We were in a bit of a bad way.”

“Be nice to have company, to be honest,” Janus said.

It was obvious from his guess as to why they were outside of town that he knew their line of work, so she didn’t beat around the bush. Her voice thick with sultry invitation, she said, “I’m sure Jan or Lana would be happy to say thank you privately.”

Janus shook his head and said, “That’s okay. No need for that.”

“I meant a free one,” she explained.

“No need.”

That left her more than a little perplexed, as he likely didn’t attract much attention from women, due to his pocked face. “No need to be shy, honey.”

“It’s not that ... I...” He sighed.

Betty took a step back and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“No. I...” He paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and then continued, “Well, I got kicked by a mule when I was little, and nothing down there really works like it should.”

It took a lot to make Betty blush, but that misstep did the trick. “Gods,” she apologized. “I am so sorry.”

“I’ve never known anything different. No need to fret. You ladies make yourself at home. I’ll bring over the bedclothes and some wine in a bit.”

“Thank you,” she said with her face still burning. He nodded and headed toward the barn. Betty walked back to the house, but remained outside to regain her composure.

That poor man. I thought I got a bad shake, she thought. Her own sad story of being orphaned, nearly molested, and having to turn to whoring to eat paled by comparison - especially in light of where she ended up. She looked over her shoulder at him and sighed as he entered his workshop near the barn. How he managed to keep his chin up, she would never know.

The trials and missteps of the day were long forgotten as everyone sat in the front room of the house that evening, drinking and laughing. The prostitutes were feeling particularly good after taking advantage of the tub by the kitchen for their first good wash of the trip - something they took for granted at the Kip.

Though the girls had mostly stuck to wine, the look on Janus’ face when they all took a shot of whisky straight without flinching had been priceless.

Ghent was still trying to stop laughing after Janus told them a story about one of his neighbors falling off the roof into a wheelbarrow of horse shit when he said, “We probably better lay off.”

Betty said, “You’re right. We’ve got to be up at first light.”

“What for?” Janus asked. He was beginning to look a little unsteady from the alcohol.

“Got this fellow gonna come by with his boy in the morning and take a message back to Windsholme for us,” Ghent explained. “We thought we were still going to be camped out with the wagon.”

“What’s his name?”

Ghent shrugged. “Didn’t really get it.”

“What’s he look like?”

“Middle-aged. Run to fat. Brown hair going gray and falling out,” Ghent began.

“Spotty beard and crooked teeth,” Betty added.

“Horseshoe of hair with a little bit right here?” Janus asked while pointing a wavering finger at a spot a little above his forehead.

“That’s the fellow,” Ghent agreed.

Janus said, “Potter. He lives down the road a piece. He couldn’t miss you if you wait for him out by the road.”

Many of the stories the girls had told revolved around their work, so Betty felt comfortable openly saying, “I promised him and his boy a hump to take that letter for us.”

Janus shrugged. “I said to make yourselves at home.”

“But that?” Betty asked.

“Doesn’t bother me.”

“I don’t want you to get on Josephine’s bad side. She could send the law out here to hassle you.”

“Not out here.”

Betty sat up a little straighter and asked, “Why?”

“The men who run the law in the barony and in Hard Creek are both Draxnian, and they’re from old rival families. Roja comes out here, or Corra goes into town, they’re going to be in a blood feud. Already would be, if the governor didn’t threaten to hang them both and charge their families for the scaffolding.”

“Still got her bully boy and her cutpurses,” Ghent said.

“Out here, they have to watch themselves. Corra knows they’re in cahoots with Roja, even though he can’t prove it. He’d love to hang them all out of spite. She used to have one more man stealing for her. Sent him out to rob these merchants who camped a ways down the road because one told her she wasn’t worth what she was asking. He got caught, and they turned him over to Corra’s men.”

“Bet that didn’t end well,” Ghent said.

“Nope. Corra made sure Roja and Josephine both knew he was there, right in front of town, then read off the charges, and cut that fellow’s hands off. They rode off and let him crawl back into town, but he bled out. Only time I’ve ever seen that bitch Josephine look worried. He was the only real thief of the bunch, and the three brothers that do her stealing now aren’t that good. She’s got the oldest under her spell. The two younger ones are afraid of Damson and not having anything to eat, or they probably would have run off by now.”

Betty said, “Still, they could make trouble for you.”

“If it makes Josephine mad, I’m all for it.”

Betty said, “You really don’t like her, do you? I know there’s nothing to like about her, but, still...”

Janus explained, “I used to have friends in town. She turned them all on me because it bothered her that I didn’t drool over her every time I saw her. Folks in town are afraid to buy bricks from me because of her too. I would have had the coin to build a second kiln by now if it wasn’t for her.” He poured another splash of whisky into his cup and downed it.

“It won’t do you any good to have whores humping in your house, though,” Betty said.

“Can’t make it any worse at this point,” Janus said and let out a chuckle - after which, he downed yet another shot of whisky. “Besides, my ma and pa always said it was work like any other, once I was old enough to understand, and we heard people saying nasty things. They always said hello to the ladies that used to work in town, and my ma made them dresses sometimes. The last thing me and my pa did before the pox was rebuilding one of their fireplaces for free. I don’t know for sure, but I think maybe my ma used to do it before she met my pa. Maybe even that’s how they met. I don’t know of anybody from my ma’s side of the family.”

Janus fell silent and stared into his empty cup, looking increasingly wobbly by the moment. After a couple of minutes, Betty caught Ghent’s attention and nodded toward their host.

The big man rose from his chair, walked over to Janus, and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Looking pretty knackered there, fellow.”

“I...” Janus began, the word slurred. He then said, “Yep.”

“Let me get you to your bed.”

Janus gave a nod, and the gesture nearly sent him hurtling out of his chair.

Ghent caught him, manhandled their host to his feet, and half-carried him out the door.

“That poor man,” Jan quietly remarked once the door closed.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Betty said and sighed. “We should probably get to bed.”

Lana stood up, walked over to Pallah, smiled at him, and held out her hand. He took it and stood up, wearing an expression of nervous excitement.

Jan and Betty waited until they heard a door close before they giggled.

Betty said, “Go on to bed. At least two of us are going to have our legs in the air first thing in the morning.”

“Okay,” Jan said, and then headed down the hall after Lana.

Betty waited in the front room until Ghent returned. He was steady on his feet, having imbibed less than everyone else, and having more bulk to absorb it. It wasn’t particularly late, so between his relative sobriety and the likelihood that there were roosters as well as chickens, she wasn’t worried about awakening in time to meet their messenger by the road.

“Got him in bed. Rough one that fellow’s had,” Ghent said.

Betty nodded. “Let’s go to bed.” As they walked, she said, “You know, I may have to hump one of those boys first thing in the morning, right?”

“I know,” he said and smiled at her. Though it hadn’t been an issue for a couple of years, he was well aware that she preferred to abstain with him when she had to work on her back. It was harder to play up for a man after receiving real pleasure, and she was always a little sore for a few hours after taking his big cock.

Once in the large bedroom that had likely belonged to Janus’ parents, he stripped down to his breeches, and she to her panties. Despite the warning that they wouldn’t be having sex, she could see even in the low light that he was half hard.

They slipped into the bed, and Betty gave him a kiss on the forehead. She lifted her eyebrows and said, “Well, I may not be able to have any fun tonight, but there’s no reason you can’t.”

The big man broke out into a wide grin when she rolled on top of him and began kissing her way down his dark-haired chest. He groaned with every touch of her lips. Then she evilly swirled her tongue in his naval, because she knew he was ticklish there. His muscles tightened showing off their rock-hard detail. Betty giggled, tracing the little oval with the tip of her tongue while he squirmed beneath her.