Chapter 3

Staring down at an intense pair of green eyes, James could tell that the woman on the other end of the shotgun was serious about using it. He saw no hesitation and no compromise in those orbs. Keeping his hands in plain sight, he slowly raised them to show that he had every intention of complying with this stranger.

“Step away from the girl, now! Nice and slow like, or I’ll blow your brains all over the wall,” the woman demanded of James.

He did as he was told, not wishing to risk the wrath of this woman. Though he obeyed, he only did so reluctantly. James was trying to find an angle at which he could wrest the shotgun away from her and keep his head.

“Just stay calm. There’s no need for anyone to get hurt today,” he said for Laura’s benefit as much as his. The woman kept the weapon trained on him, but did not rebuke him for his words, which James was thankful. As he walked in the direction she gestured, away from the door, she then asked a question of Laura.

“Are you all right? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“Ottilia?!?” Laura wondered as she squinted at the woman.

“Laura???” the woman asked, her head snapping towards the Italian girl. “How in the name of God did you get here??”

Her focus on James momentarily forgotten, Ottilia rushed Laura and enveloped her in a massive hug, which Laura returned. The two then conversed in Italian, the fast-paced chatter too much for poor James to keep up with. They continued to yammer, and James was curious if this was the same woman that Laura had told him about on their way here.

“Um, excuse me?” James politely interrupted. Both women stopped and turned to stare at him. “Would you mind handing that shotgun over, please? You waving it about like that isn’t exactly making me feel comfortable.”

Ottilia narrowed her eyes and raised the weapon at him once again until Laura snatched the weapon right out of her hands.

“Are you crazy?!? You don’t want to shoot him! He’s not only my ticket out of here, James is also a kind and considerate man! Shooting him would deprive the world of a good man when they are already in short supply!” Laura berated her friend as she then handed James the gun.

“Is this the same friend you told me about? The one who ran away from home?” he asked, as James gratefully took the shotgun from Laura and held it with the barrel pointing down.

“Si! She is!” Laura stated, while looking at the disheveled state she was in. “How did you get here?”

“That is a bit of a story to tell, a long story,” Ottilia said as she eyed James, but he kept his stance and presence neutral.

“Why did you point the shotgun at me to begin with?” James blurted out, almost wishing he could take the question back.

“I heard screaming and came running as fast as I could! I thought someone was being hurt or murdered,” she explained. “Who was screaming?”

“That would have been me,” Laura admitted bashfully. “You see, I asked Jim to make me a woman, properly, and he did. I may have been ... a little loud in my ... enjoyment.”

“So, it was ... consensual?” the disheveled woman asked timidly.

“Si, si, si! Mucho consensual and magical!” Laura grinned, her smile both genuine and pleased. Ottilia blushed hard, but it was difficult to tell with her filthy face. In fact, James noted how she smelled a bit rank, and scrunched his nose slightly. Laura noted this and also noticed Ottilia’s smell and put her arm around her friend’s shoulder.

“Well, how about we get you cleaned up and I’ll tell you about how I got here?” Laura offered.

“The showers don’t work and if they do, they likely only have cold water,” the dirty woman grunted.

“Not so. I managed to clean a few stalls up and they work proper now. There should still be a good deal of hot water left in the boiler before the tank is depleted,” James said, refuting her statement.

“What?”

“Si! How do you think we both look so clean and fresh right now?” Laura quizzed her friend.

“All right. While you get her cleaned up, Laura, I’ll look for some food. I now have a proper weapon to hunt with,” James stated, hefting the shotgun.

“I already caught some food,” Ottilia stated. “Took down two rabbits and snatched some eggs earlier this morning.”

“Superb! I’ll get a start on cooking them then. Where did you leave them?” James asked.

“In the kitchen of the command building. I’ve been using it to cook my meals since I got here,” Ottilia explained as Laura hustled her into the shower house. The mystery of who had been here had finally clicked into place, James bid the ladies goodbye as he jogged over to the command building. Though before that, he retrieved his duffle bag from the plane, knowing he’d need a few items from it.

Entering the structure, James made his way to the kitchen and, sure enough, he found the food that Ottilia was speaking of. Two rabbits and nine eggs sat on the table, with several cooking utensils and pots nearby. Having been taught how to hunt when his mother was still alive, James got straight to work, cleaning the rabbits first. Once that was done, he retrieved his hunting knife from his duffle and went about skinning and filleting them, stripping the meat off the bone.

It was done with relative ease and speed, as James had always loved hunting and eating that which he killed. James had a breakfast recipe come to mind while he was cutting up the meat, hasenpfeffer, and eggs. He searched around the kitchen and found a cupboard where everything had been stored. He found vinegar, salt and pepper and a few other spices, but found that he lacked all the ingredients to make the dish.

James settled for a rudimentary version of the recipe, starting up a fire in the nearby fire pit and getting everything cooking. He did the rabbit first, as it would take the longest to cook, before he did the eggs. He got a nice sear on the meat and was nearly done with it when the ladies arrived. Setting aside the meat to cool, James grabbed the eggs while Ottilia grabbed a few plates and cutlery she had cleaned and set aside earlier.

“I’m guessing that I have you to thank for finding and collecting everything here neatly?” James asked as he scrambled the eggs.

“Si!” Ottilia responded. “I’ve been here for a while now and since it was only me here, it made sense to find anything I could use and bring it all here.”

“Smart girl. Makes my job of preparing the food much easier. I’d say these eggs are done right now. Plates, ladies?” he said to both women as he finished with cooking the eggs over the fire.

Laura and Ottilia came forward eagerly, both women ravenously hungry. James was sure to give them each a third of what they had, which wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. After seeing the ladies served, James helped himself to the rest of the food and ate every bite. It filled the hole in his middle somewhat, but at this point, it was the best he could hope for.

As he ate, James finally got a good look at Ottilia, now that she was clean and wearing more than that raggedy dress she had on. The borrowed uniform she wore fit just as well as it had with Laura, but it hugged her frame more. Though the reason for this was because she was shorter and had more assets to squeeze into the clothes than Laura did.

She stood at around five foot six, with proper blonde hair and green eyes, which were set into a face that looked like it belonged on a porcelain doll. Her body, what James could see of it, was the epitome of what a voluptuous woman should look like. Ottilia’s hips were around forty-two inches around and her bust was a forty-four E cup, making her curves pop more than Laura’s.

This fact was not lost on James at all, as he kept stealing glances at the woman, but kept them discreet. Seeing both her and Laura cleaned up had an effect on the man, even though his balls were amply drained just a couple of hours ago. They all finished their meals and set the dishes on the table before James asked his question of the wayward young woman.

“So, Ottilia, I know that Laura has asked it of you already, but I would like to know how you wound up here.”

“I did say to Laura that I would tell you both that tale after I got cleaned up and now that we’re here, I might as well,” Ottilia stated as she collected her thoughts.

“A few months ago, before Laura got engaged to Paulo, he and I were seeing each other. It started out platonically, but progressed much further and at a faster pace than I thought it would. Not that I minded, as I am fed up with the nice girl traditions of my upbringing. We had our first time together, maybe two months after we had started dating. My time alone with was good, but I was unaware of what Paulo had planned,” Ottilia remembered.

“While I was recovering, Paulo left to get a glass of water, or so he said. When he came back, he was accompanied by his gang of friends. He told them he’d taken my virginity, so it was now ‘open season’ on me. I tried to call to him, to get him to say he was joking, but he wasn’t. All five of them ... attacked me and they were ... forceful,” Ottilia sniffled, reliving the brutal attack that had stolen her innocence.

“When they were done, they called me names, said that I was their whore now and that I would service them whenever they called. I almost believed it when they told me that, but a part of me refused. They finally let me go and I went home and told my mother of what happened. I dared not tell my father, as he would be furious with me, for letting it happen,” she cried.

“Letting it happen?!? What kind of backwards barbarian would believe a bunch of boys he did not know over his own daughter?” James interjected.

“The same barbarians that wanted me to marry that cazzo (dick) in the first place! European families are staunch traditionalists, no matter the circumstance or how others feel about it,” Laura said, soothing James’ anger. Taking a breath and assuaged by his outburst, Ottilia continued her story.

“My mother assured me that everything would be handled in the morning and, like the fool I was, I believed her. I went to bed and woke up the next morning, hoping to find that my mother had come up with a solution. Instead, she was waiting downstairs, with the men in white coats,” she shuddered.

“My mother said they’d help me get over my problem I had imagined and that I would be safe with them. Instead of believing me, she betrayed me and had me locked up in an insane asylum. The guards and orderlies would not listen to me. Dr. Villani kept telling me I had imagined being raped and that the boys were not to blame, but that my vivid imagination was.”

“I knew that I hadn’t imagined it, as my puta (pussy) was still sore and tender for more than a week after they committed me. There was no way I would walk out of that place until I said what they wanted me to and believed it. I would not allow them to break me even though I was fed drugs to keep me docile. After speaking to a few other patients, I got around the drugs they were giving me.”

“How?” Laura asked. “I hear the drugs they give people are strong enough to put down men like Jim here with one dose.”

“Right after I swallowed then, I went to the bathroom to throw them up. I had to be careful though, as the orderlies were watching me constantly. I played the part of the drugged and helpless girl while I planned my escape. With the help of the same patients who helped me circumvent the drugs, we left after lights out, using keys we had stolen to get out. By morning, were long gone and in the next town before they even knew we had escaped.”

“Before I got that far, I had to stop by my home and see my parents, to find out what was going on and why they let me be taken. I was on the porch, about to walk in, when I heard my mama and papa arguing. Though it is unladylike, I eavesdropped on them and what I heard horrified me,” Ottilia growled.

“My father was berating my mother for what had happened and how I would bring nothing but ruin to them. My mother tried to come to my defense, but my father would hear nothing of it. He shouted at her to be quiet and prepare dinner because he was hungry. Meekly, mama obeyed while he went upstairs to take a shower.”

“I snuck inside to try to talk to my mother, but stopped when I saw an envelope on the coffee table. I opened it and it was stuffed with money! I counted it briefly and saw it was more money than what papa would make in a year! Inside the envelope, I also found a note that read, ‘Thank you for your understanding.’ It was signed by Giuseppe Santorini, Paolo’s father.”

“Wait a minute! You’re saying that your parents took a bribe from Paolo’s father to keep you quiet about Paolo and his cronies gang raping you?” James asked incredulously.

“Yes. My parents had sold me out and I was beyond angry with them. I had half a mind to say something to them, but they would have just called them men in white coats to take me away again. I walked out of my family home and did not look back, but of course, I took the money before I left,” Ottilia said, looking at both James and Laura, who were smirking at her gumption.

“I picked up a few rides from kind strangers, as I was not going back. The money ran out not long after I got to this town and I had to resort to stealing and scavenging what I could to survive. I meandered around town for a while, until the posters showed up, with my face on them.”

“When I left town, I had hoped to find an abandoned shack or something I could live in. At least until I could figure out how I would find a way to across the border and beyond my parents’ reach. When I stumbled upon this place, I thought it would be a good place to hide out for a little while. Until I could make a plan that was sound at any rate,” Ottilia admitted.

“Well, you don’t have to worry any more, Ottie. Your way across is here,” Laura told her friend while she hugged her.

“I’m sorry, what?” James asked quizzically.

“Jim, there is no way we are leaving Ottie behind, not after what she’s endured. She’s coming with us,” Laura told him in a tone that brooked no argument.

“I am?? Thank you, Laura!!!” Ottilia cried gratefully. Laura comforted her friend with more hugs and shot James a withering look, daring him to refute her.

“Well, since we are taking an extra passenger, it will be more difficult to maneuver the plane when we’re up. It wasn’t built to take on three people,” James stated.

“But the cargo compartment isn’t filled to its weight capacity, is it?” Laura asked.

“No, it’s not, so there is that. How did you...”

“You live around airplanes for years on end, you learn a few things,” she told him plainly. James just shrugged and rolled with it, not even thinking about arguing.

“OK, but since we have a third passenger, she will have to sit with you, since I’m flying us out of here,” James said as he gathered his items and stowed them back in his duffle bag.

“We will manage that just fine, Jim. A little discomfort is a small price to pay for our freedom,” Laura said, while Ottilia nodded vigorously.

“You will need a coat, or a blanket at least. It’s going to be cold up there and you need every bit of warmth when flying,” James told the blonde woman.

“Si! I have a blanket I can get from here!” Ottilia said as she darted away to a closet that James had overlooked in his search. The woman came back moments later with a heavy wool blanket, a couple of kitchen knives, a two pound sledgehammer and an old M1911 pistol. The weapon startled both James and Laura until Ottilia discharged the magazine, which was empty.

“I’m guessing you found that here?” James wondered, taking the weapon as Ottilia offered it to him.

“Yes. I scrounged around and found some old ammo, but it wouldn’t fire. I kept the ammo, in case I needed it or if it would work someday.”

“I’ll have to take the damn thing apart to be sure what’s wrong with it. The firing pin spring could be jammed or broken. My bag is laden at the moment. Do you have any other bags or anything that could be used?” James wondered.

“I haven’t found anything, but there is a small door with an old lock on it. I haven’t been able to break it because my arms aren’t strong enough and I didn’t want to waste any shells on it,” Ottilia told him.

“All right. I will have a look at this lock and see if there’s anything we can use in the room there. You two stay put while I have a look. Where is this door?” James asked as he hefted the sledgehammer. Ottilia told him where it was, and he went hunting for it with his Katana in hand as well.

He found the door in question and saw that the lock was indeed old, if a little battered. There was little visible rust on the thing, and he noted the dent mark in it, likely the result of Ottilia’s attempts to break it. Setting himself, James swung the hammer hard on the lock. It took him five swings before the lock broke, its old metal finally snapping under the pressure.

Opening the door, James walked in and found a small storage closet, loaded with old uniforms, coats and jackets! He looked up and also saw several empty duffle bags, a small lockbox on the shelf, along with dusty tomes and moldering papers. Smiling at his luck, James grabbed the lockbox and browsed through the clothing, looking for some additional clothes.

Though he had clean clothes still in his bag, they were limited in supply, as he had left the majority of his wardrobe at his family’s estate. Once he had found several sizes he was sure would fit him; he started to select several uniforms and coats that would fit the women.

After a moment, he just thought to forget even trying and grabbed as many uniforms as he could, bringing them with him. James walked into the kitchen area with his arms laden and plonked down the uniforms in front of both ladies. Surprised, they walked on over and looked over everything, before glancing back at him.

“Found these in that locked closet. Figured you two could go through it all and decide what fits and what you want,” James said to Ottilia and Laura. Looking at each other, then back down at the clothes, they immediately sifted through the pile, selecting what they wanted. Chuckling, James went back to the closet and grabbed the empty duffles and the lockbox before returning.

He plonked the empty bags right next to the clothes while James busied himself with the lockbox. It was locked, which prevented him from opening it. He thought about using the hammer to smash it open, but he didn’t want to risk damaging what was inside. For all he knew, it could be something fragile and priceless. He then settled on using his hunting knife in conjunction with the sledge.

After he dug his knife back out, James set the box face before he used it as an impromptu chisel on the locking mechanism. Carefully, he used the knife to separate the lid from the box and only stopped when he had the knife tip on the inner latch. Then, using the hammer, he gave the butt of the knife a solid whack, pushing the inner catch down. He hit it again, pushing the catch further, until, on the seventh blow, the lid popped open.

Out of the box, spilled a M1917 single action Colt revolver, along with several dozen .45 caliber rounds! James eyes almost fell out of his head at what he’d found! Weapons like this were old and unique collectors’ pieces, worth many hundreds of dollars! He picked up the steel reverently, almost like he was hefting Excalibur, and held it in his hand.

It had a good and smooth feel to it, like it was fitted for his hand and his hand alone! He gave it a proper look over, making sure it was still in once piece. The hammer was in good condition, as was the firing cylinder. The barrel was in good shape, still holding its finish after all these years. The weapon was empty, which was good, as it was always dangerous to stow loaded firearms.

He’d seen a similar weapon back at the estate, in his grandfather’s collection. He’d been allowed to heft every piece he owned, except that gun. His grandfather had said it was a first-generation piece and would be worth good money someday. James had been allowed to look at the gun, but never to touch it. Not even his uncle Andrew had been granted that privilege, which was something that always made Tom smile.

“Woah! That was in the closet too?!?” Ottilia goggled at the steel in James’ grip.

“Yup!”

“Do you think it still fires?” Laura asked.

“Let’s find out!” James said as he plucked one bullet from the dozens strewn on the table and inserted it in the cylinder. Closing the weapon up, James took aim at a rusty hanging pot and fired. The bullet punched through the weakened metal, causing that section of the pot to explode, before falling to the ground.

The shot startled both women, who immediately cursed at him in Italian, but James didn’t hear them. He liked how the weapon had felt in his grip when it fired. A good amount of kickback ensued from the shot, but it didn’t jar his hand like some revolvers did.

As he ejected the spent shell casing, James noted how smooth and clean the bore and the cylinder were. Whoever had owned this gun before took the time to care and clean it properly, so it could fire with no issue. The girls had kept yammering at him until he raised his hands, which quieted them.

“Sorry about that, but I had to be sure it would fire. I won’t be taking any more shots, but let’s hurry and finish picking clothes before we head off to the plane. It’s getting close to time to leave,” James told them.

Indignant at his actions, but accepting of his apology, Ottilia and Laura went back to squabbling over the clothes. James laughed as he set aside his blank uniforms into his bag, before securing and stowing the gun, the ammo and the small cleaning brushes he found in the box.

The girls were busy picking out jackets when he heard a noise. It was an odd noise to be sure, and one he wasn’t sure about. He strained his ears to listen but failed to identify it. James then asked the girls to be quiet, but they were still yammering. He then rounded on them, almost yelling at them to be quiet. They both turned on them before he cut them off with his question.

“Do you hear that?”

Laura and Ottilia looked at him funny before they, too, listened.

“It sounds like cars passing by. So what?” Laura asked.

“We’re in the middle of a forest!” James breathed.

Faces lighting up in recognition, both women followed James as he hurried to the entry area of the command building. Sure enough, they spotted what looked like four police vehicles and an ambulance of some kind. Ottilia’s face was etched in horror at what she saw coming for them.

Jack MacLaren slowed down to a stop around fifty meters short of the command building. Everyone in the car and he assumed the other vehicles had heard that shot too. It didn’t sound like a shotgun, more like a pistol, maybe a revolver. He put the car in park and got out, his partner and a couple of other officers following suit.

“We all heard that shot?” he asked the assembled men. They all nodded before he continued. “It could be a hunter, but she could also have gotten her hands on a gun, so let’s see if we can coax her out. I don’t want to have to go to anyone’s home today to deliver bad news.”

That bit of information sobered them up, especially the orderlies who had been sent by the local asylum to help with detaining the woman. They had been told that she was crazy, bordering on insane, and would likely put up a fight. The orderlies were sent to ensure that she would be contained if it had to come to that.

“Remember boys, this is a seize and capture racket. No killing and you keep your hands to yourselves!” he reiterated to the gathering of officers. Once he turned back to his car, Jack’s partner winked at a couple of the other officers and they winked back. They smirked at the fun times to come, thinking they’d have a damn good night ahead of them. Jack backed away from his car, holding a bullhorn, and spoke into it.

“Ottilia Natale! This is the police! We know that you’re in there! Come out with your hands up and you will not get hurt!”

“Holy shit!” James breathed as he saw the amount of police officers outside with their weapons trained on the building. “What in the hell did you do??” he growled at Ottilia.

“I stole that shotgun from a police vehicle not that long ago,” she admitted quietly. James cursed as herded the girls back towards the kitchen.

“Ottie!” Laura yipped at her.

“No time for that now! They don’t know that we’re here, they’re only here for Ottilia. So, we can at least get out of here, if we’re fast and lucky,” he said, rounding on Ottilia. “Please tell me that there’s a back door on this place.”

“SI! This way!” Ottilia squeaked as they gathered their belongings, stuffing everything into their bags before and taking them as they left.

Both women had selected a pair of coats that had been left behind, as well as two flight jackets that were a perfect fit for Ottilia and Laura. The warning came out again on the bullhorn, telling them that Ottilia had one more chance to come out before they came inside.

Quickly, the trio found the back door and taking a quick peek outside; they found no one there and bolted on out. They ran for the far side of the building, heading south, towards the hangars, shutting the door behind themselves. Running as fast as they dared, they made it to the rear of the first hangar before the first officers came around the building.

Keeping quiet, the three of them kept on moving away, as the officers’ attention was on the command building. The men in uniforms were heading around the back, in the direction they had just left, heading for the back door. Both women crossed themselves that they had the good sense to close the door as they left. They all kept on moving until they had made it to the third hangar.

As they were coming around on the far side, the final warning of the officers coming in came out and they stormed the building. Seeing that they were all distracted, James, Laura and Ottilia hurried around to the front of the hangar. They slipped in quietly; the girls removing the old tarp from the plane as James opened the cargo compartments. Stowing their gear fast, the girls put their jackets on and grabbed the blanket, hopping into the back seat.

Closing the cargo bays, James put on his coat and hopped into the cockpit. He had them seal up the canopy before he dug out the keys from his pocket and inserted them. He closed his eyes briefly and muttered a brief prayer to his mother, asking her to keep them safe. He then turned over the ignition, starting the plane.

“Well, this is damn bust! There’s no one here!” one of the officers groused.

“It seems that our time has been wasted!” one of the burly orderlies grumped as he crossed his meaty arms.

Jack was sitting there, scratching his head in puzzlement, as they had checked most of the main areas where Ottilia could be hiding. They were still checking, as the command building was large and there was a lot of ground to cover.

“Detective!” he heard one officer call out. He hustled in the voice’s direction and found himself in the kitchen. He saw there were some old dusty uniforms on the table, a busted lockbox, the remnants of a fire and filthy cooking utensils. He checked the fire, and seeing it was still smoldering, his eyes lit up.

“The fire was just put out. She can’t be far, find her! Check the back door and the surrounding woods!” Jack shouted as he marshaled the men towards the back door.

They were out in seconds and were moving into the woods when Jack heard a familiar sound. He turned his head and couldn’t believe what he saw! There was a plane coming out of hangar three and it was taxiing towards the runway! He stopped dead in his tracks as he shouted out new orders.

“There’s a plane over there! Get back to your cars!” he screamed as he reversed his direction and charged around the building, trying to get to his car. He managed to get there first, while the other officers and orderlies were still attempting to reach their vehicles. Wasting no time, Jack slotted his keys in, turned the engine over, and gunned it.

He raced out past the buildings, frantically trying to keep the plane in his sights. Once he cleared the buildings, he saw the plane had made it to the runway. Jack saw that was moving down the runway and gaining speed fast! He put the pedal to the metal, trying to intercept the plane before it took off!

He closed with it as it moved along, picking up speed, but so was he! He was less than fifty feet away and it looked like he would collide with it. It would be a fiery wreck, but these people, whoever they were, would not get away! Suddenly, the plane picked up a burst of speed, shooting ahead of where it should have been! The collision that would have grounded it did not happen as it passed right by him!

Slamming on the brakes, Jack turned the wheel, drifting the car as he tried to straighten out to follow the plane. The car then stalled, the engine dying as it lost power due to the rapid stop. The plane coasted along a little further before it lifted off into the air and out of his reach. He cursed violently as he saw the plane gain altitude and then veer off west.