Chapter 18

We had been underway for about an hour when Kayla came up and laid a hand on my shoulder. “Master, I have a bit of a problem.”

I turned and looked up at her. “What’s wrong, my pet?”

“We’re out in the middle of the ocean and I really have to go to the bathroom. I’ve been trying to hold it so I wouldn’t have to hang out over the edge of the boat. I can’t hold it much longer,” she said as an embarrassed blush crept up her cheeks.

I burst out laughing at her statement. “Did you really think you were going to have to hang it over the edge of the boat? I guess you could if you really wanted to, and I’m sure it would make an amusing picture, but there’s a bathroom on-board. Not much of a bathroom I’ll admit, but it works. The door is just around the side of the control center.”

She hurried off to use the bathroom. A couple minutes later came back out and sat in my lap with a hurt look on her face. “You could have mentioned that earlier, Master. Ive been trying to hold it for the last half hour.”

“I suppose I could have,” I replied. “I would have missed that highly entertaining conversation though, and the lovely mental picture of your ass hanging over the back of the boat. How did you think we were going to take care of that without having a bathroom on-board?”

“I thought you were planning to stop at the other island,” she said quietly. “You maintain the airfield and dock facilities for the French government, so I thought you had planned to use them.”

“That would be a good thought, but what if we weren’t going that way? This boat is made to be out on the water all day for fishing trips, having a bathroom on-board makes far more sense. You may want to let Dawn know as well, and if you are getting hungry, there is some breakfast in the cooler. We will catch up with the twins in just over an hour.”

She gave me a kiss then went back to talk to Dawn. I laughed when Dawn scurried past me a moment later on her way to the bathroom. While Dawn was in the bathroom, Kayla asked if I had brought any silverware, and I let her know it was in the drawers in the console behind my seat. She brought up some breakfast a minute later, then her and Dawn sat down to eat.

An hour later the twin’s signals stopped moving. The sun had been up for about half an hour and they had gone just over sixty miles through the night. I figured the skis had finally run out of gas and we were still about five miles away from them. Almost ten minutes later, we caught up to them and I slowed down when we saw them. They had been sitting together talking, and when they heard the sound of our engines, they turned and started waving for help.

As I pulled up alongside of them, they called out, “Can you help us? We got lost and ran out of gas. We have a gas can but we don’t know where the closest land is.”

I stopped the boat and stood up to look over at them. They were both soaking wet and shivering, and the look on their faces was a mixture of shocked disappointment and relief when they saw me. “Of course I can help you, my pets, but probably not in the way you were hoping. Even if I told you which way to go to get to the island you missed, it would not help. You don’t have enough gas in that gas can to get even one of the skis back to it. If you had made the island, you still had no chance to escape. Fangatau is uninhabited, and the only fresh water supply is at the abandoned airport. If we had left you there, the next visitors would have been my maintenance crew next week when they checked the facilities.”

“I’m going to back the boat up to you, and I suggest you both climb on-board as your only other option would be sitting there until you die of exposure and dehydration,” I told them as I sat back down to reposition the boat.

They climbed on the boat with dejected looks and asked, “How did you find us so quickly?”

“First things first, strip out of those wet clothes. You both look like drowned rats. Dawn, Kayla, under the front seats you will find towels and blankets,” I called out. “Let’s get these two dried off and warmed up. As for how I found you, Dawn woke up around three am and found your notes. I could tell she was conflicted about telling me when she did, but I think she realized your attempt to run wasn’t going to work and she was more worried about you.”

“All of my watercraft have a GPS tracking device installed on them, so following you was easy at that point.” I told them as they took off their wet clothes and dried off. “Don’t blame Dawn for telling me. From the look of your path, you ran at full speed south for a few minutes before you turned and realized you would freeze if you didn’t slow down. After you turned, you forgot to adjust your course to account for the movement south and you missed the island by two miles a couple hours ago. Even if you had made the island, there are no scheduled visitors, as they have to get permission from the French government to be there. I know about it several months in advance as the caretaker.”

“Now that you’re dried off, come with me,” I told them as I led them to the front end of the boat. “As the two of you have shown you have no issues with lying, I will be securing you to your seats, and keeping you bound until I feel you can be trusted with more freedom again.”

I pulled out wrist restraints from the storage compartments and secured their hands behind their backs. I then sat them down and attached the restraints to the securing rings I had mounted in the seats. “We will not try to fight Master,” Faith said with tears in her eyes as I secured Hope. “We had to try to get away so we could help our little sister. The money you paid mother for us won’t last, and we knew she would sell Sophia if we didn’t stop her.”

“We will discuss that matter later, as it’s clear how far you’re willing to go to try to help her.” I told them as I secured Faith to her chair and wrapped the blanket back around her. “But first you are both facing a significant punishment. Not only did you attempt to run away and steal from me, but also you broke your promises to Peter and William. I suggest you think about what it is you really want to do on the trip back to the island.”

I walked back to the rear of the boat and asked Dawn and Kayla to go sit with the twins and help warm them back up. As I secured the skis to the boat, Kayla came back and asked if she could release the girls long enough for them to use the bathroom. I gave her permission to escort them, but the wrist bindings had to stay on. Once the skis were secured and everyone was back in their seats, I turned the boat around and headed back to the island.

Half an hour into the trip back Kayla came and sat down next to me as Dawn walked to the back seats. “Master, I have been talking with the twins and trying to find a way to keep them from doing this again. I don’t think they’ll stop until they find a way to help their sister. They’re very determined and asked for a few minutes to talk alone. They have no way to get free, so I figured it was okay.”

“That’s fine my pet,” I replied. “Give them a few minutes to talk. You may want to get them some breakfast ready though. I imagine they’re probably hungry after their night.”

She leaned over and kissed me as she stood up. “That is the reason we all love you Master. Even after what they did and the punishments they have coming, you still think of their comfort. I imagine even now you are thinking of a way to help them with their sister.”

I smiled as she walked around to get them something to eat. “Yes I am actually, but they may not like my options too much. I’ll discuss it with them after we get back to the island.”

Kayla got some breakfast put together and asked Dawn to help her feed the twins. Dawn looked confused for a minute then realized with their hands bound they couldn’t feed themselves. “How are they going to get through their days until Master lets them use their hands again?”

“They won’t have their hands bound behind them for long, probably just until we get back to the island. After Master moves the binding to the front, they will be able to do most things themselves again,” Kayla replied. “Even then they will need us to help them some. I have been through it a few times over the years I have been with Master. Some of his new pets don’t appreciate the gift they have been given at first. Once they accept being Master’s pet, they’re given more freedom. You never had to go through that stage.”

“I’m not sure I’m completely there yet,” Dawn said. “I know I don’t really have a choice, and I’m trying to accept it, but it’s hard to do. I didn’t want to tell Master about the twins running away at first. It took me a few minutes to decide that they couldn’t get away, and if I didn’t tell Master, I would be punished as well. I could have handled the punishment if I thought they had a real chance, but when I worked out how they couldn’t get away, it was only then I went to tell Master.”

“That just means you have your own mind. I can’t say I would have done differently if I was in your place,” Kayla told her. “I would risk a punishment to help one of my sisters. The only punishment Master has ever had to give me was because I helped Anna sneak out of the pens one night to see Antonio. It was somewhat foolish as Antonio was courting her at the time and Master would have given permission if she had asked. We both ended up with a very sore ass because we tried to sneak around though.”

“You got punished for helping someone do something they would have been allowed to do if they asked,” Dawn asked.

“It was not what we did, but how we did it. Master was upset with us because she snuck out, and when the trainers came looking for Anna that night, I lied and said she was in the bathroom,” Kayla explained. “Master doesn’t like lies or people breaking their promises. The twins are going to be in more trouble for not keeping the promise they made to Peter and William than the actual escape.”

Dawn looked thoughtful for a moment then nodded as she helped get the food for the twins. “That makes a lot more sense now. It is not what you do but the meaning behind it, and a lie is an intentional choice to be disrespectful.” Kayla smiled as they walked up front to feed the twins.

We were about half an hour from the island when Dawn came up and sat by me. “Faith is asking to speak with you Master. We have all been talking and they decided that she would speak for both of them.”

“I was about to call to shore and have William come meet me at the docks,” I told her. “He will take you, Kayla and Hope back to the pens, and I will take Faith and talk with her then. Can you let the others know?” She got up, and after a quick kiss, went back up front. I called back to the docks on the radio and let them know I wanted William to meet me at the docks with one of the larger carts for the pets. I would also need someone to bring a truck to take the skis back to the lagoon. They said that they would take care of it and signed off.

William was parked at the end of the docks when we came up and I saw him start walking down as I pulled up to the docks. We quickly secured the boat and he helped Dawn and Kayla out as I got Hope. After fastening a restrictive ankle binding, I released her from the retaining ring then moved her bindings to the front and re-secured them. I could see the tears in her eyes as I handed her off to William.

“Her bindings need to stay on. When you deliver her to Peter, let him know she is under new acquisition protocols until further notice. Dawn and Kayla will be riding back with you as well,” I informed him. “I will deal with Faith myself and may not be back for a couple hours.”