Chapter 8: A Change in Plans

Two figures hurried along the main road toward the docks. One was loping along, an unnatural gait if there ever was one. The second figure's way of walking was much smoother. A closer look revealed why the first person was loping along. It was the only way she could move faster than a walk without her abundant breasts bouncing wildly about. That's right, it is Tamarilla trying to get over to the bazaar before it closed.

The second figure, one Alice, was moving smoothly along next to Tammi. The only thing that was odd about this person was the fact that her dress and hair were not showing any movement at all. This was in spite of a gentle breeze blowing in the face of these women. That's right, the second figure was Alice, the wooden figurehead come to life.

Now that we know who those two figures are, let's add a third. One that, while innocuous and not really important, will cause a life altering ripple to take place in many lives.

Author's Note: Now that the stage has been properly set in proper literary fashion, let us resume the story of Tamarilla's Travels.

The two ladies were so intent on making it to the ferry docks on time that they almost bumped into a person. Alice had no problem stopping short, but Tammi started to fall. Her arms were wind milling in violent circles trying to maintain her balance, but Tammi knew that she was going to fall. She was pleasantly surprised when someone grabbed one of her arms holding her up. Tamarilla was able to recover her sense of balance in a few moments. Once she was steady on her feet, she looked at her savior.

Her savior was a fisherman from DaRker Island! He was a kindly looking old man dressed in worn work clothes and had a worried look on his face. "Are you alright miss? You looked like you were going to fall, so I steadied you. I'm sorry if I got your clothes dirty." It was then that Tammi noticed the smell that this man gave off. It was the smell of someone who fished, gutted and stacked fish for a living. She couldn't stop her nose from wrinkling up or the look of disgust that appeared on her face. Tamarilla breathed through her mouth trying to lessen the pungent odor of the man. It worked, to a fashion, but she now tasted the fish.

"Don't worry about it; you saved me from a nasty fall." Tamarilla brushed some fish guts off her sleeve and said, "Would you please tell me where the ferry docks are? You see, we want to go meet our friends at the bazaar."

A frown appeared on the man's face. "I'm sorry to say, but I think the ferries have stopped taking people out to the island. They are still bringing people back, but not to the island." A look of disappointment flooded Tamarilla's normally carefree face. Seeing this, the fisherman said, "Hey, you could ride over on my boat! It's not as pretty as a ferry and it smells like fish, but I can get you there."

Tamarilla looked over at Alice. "What do you think, shall we?" The wooden woman was staring at her hands and nails, that Pablo has painted a lovely shade of pink. She nodded her agreement while turning her hand around to see how the paint shimmered when it was moved through different areas of light and shadow. Tammi saw Alice's nod and said to the fisherman, "Well, it's agreed; we're all yours. Take us to your boat." The fisherman smiled showing his stained and missing teeth. Tamarilla stopped still for a moment reminded of her evil, former master Herbert, but she couldn't recall why. She shrugged off the bad feelings and took the arm that the fisherman offered. The two made their way further and further down the dock while Alice tagged along, her attention on the fine painting that Pablo had done for her.

Author's Note: Did you notice anything strange here? Like the fact that the ferries were only running from the Middle island, when in fact they were moored there at night? Like the fact that the DaRker island fisherman was being too helpful? Was it just a coincidence that he had the same bad teeth that Herman had? Maybe and maybe not!

Neither of the ladies noticed the men starting to surround them. It took until the gag was shoved into Tamarilla's mouth and a sack pulled over Alice's head before they realized that something was amiss. Of course, by then it was too late. Alice was tied up with strong, heavy ropes. Her captors knew that she was made of wood, but they did not know how strong she was and so they erred on the side of caution. Tamarilla's arms were jerked behind her back and tied together tightly with rigging line. One of the fishermen apparently enjoyed bondage as a hobby for her elbows were also bound together. This caused her unnaturally sized breasts to jut out in front of her in a stunning display that would cause any mermaid to be jealous. One of the crusty old salts could not resist the lewd show and cupped the bodacious boobs in his hands. The leader struck his arms down shouting, "Vast there! His Lordship has plans for this wench!" A struggling figurehead and a silent, top-heavy wizard were soon pushed onto the deck of a fishing boat. Tammi looked down through the open hole in the deck with horror. The bottom was hidden in shadows, but she could smell the stench of fish wafting up from it. A rag was slipped over her eyes and Tamarilla couldn't see anymore. Tammi thought, Great! Now I can't see or speak; I feel like a couple of monkeys for some reason. Go figure. Suddenly a voice whispered, "Hurry and get them out of sight, the ferry is returning!" Tammi felt herself being picked up, thrown and then nothing...

Author's Note: As an interesting side note, Tamarilla's gag consisted of a rather large crab apple stuffed in her mouth with some stout rope tied around her head to keep the apple firmly there.

The feeling of 'nothing' didn't last very long. It was replaced by pain as she slammed into an unyielding, wooden, something hard! One of her extra large boobs was trapped under her body; her arms were jolted so hard that she thought she had sprained something and the pain was incredible. To add insult to injury, her nose was assaulted by the stench of too many fish, long dead. Tammi realized that she had been tossed into the fishing boat's hold. 'It can't get any worse!' Suddenly it did. Tammi felt herself being crushed under something. She mercifully became unconscious before she could figure out what it was.

Tamarilla slowly woke-up. A dull pain throbbed throughout her body. She groaned, as well as her gag would allow. Whatever had been lying on top of her was no longer there. Tammi tried to block out the pain so that she could figure where she was. 'I'm still tied up and whatever I'm riding in or on is moving. It doesn't feel like a ship at sea. There is no smooth rolling motion, as a matter of fact I just hit a bump. Ouch!'