The Novice Prey & the Daring Prey (30 page)

Well, she had no control over that.

Then there was the matter of the Andersons. They advertised themselves as 'girl catchers', as had Jacob, that interesting character she'd met last night That was different enough from 'female catchers' so that she'd tried to get more information on just what a girl catcher was. When she saw Will again she'd have to ask him why he'd never bothered to mention them. Last night, she'd asked the bartender about them, but he'd been too busy to tell her much. One of the waitresses who had just gone off shift had been a lot more helpful. According to her, girl catchers usually only went after the younger women, preferably the smaller ones. Tiny blondes were especially prized, 'tiny' in this case meaning no taller than five-foot two, which meant that Jacob Farmer had hit a jackpot with his little ex-gymnast. Once captured, a girl would be given some rough basic training in obedience and submission, with the emphasis on 'rough'. Then she would be sold off at auction, either back at the big slave market in Gordburg or in one of the little hamlets on the south side. Normally, Alexa would have been safe from girl hunters, but she probably wasn't safe from the Andersons at all, not after eluding them the way she had in front of an audience. Dumb luck had had a lot to do with that, but nobody seemed to realize it and she didn't feel like telling them.

The problem was that while she knew where Michael Andrew Jackson was, and was sure that she could outrun him over a long course, she didn't know where the Anderson brothers were and was just as sure that they could run her down any time they really wanted to. The more she thought about how she'd just barely escaped them, the more she came to think that they had been toying with her, planning from the start to catch her just before she reached safety. If they'd been toying with her like that, what might they be capable of if they ever actually caught her? Thinking about it made her shiver. She'd seen females come in for some rough treatment here, but was sure that there were much rougher things that she hadn't seen yet: Whipping, caning, nipple clamps, suspension... even strappado and bastinado, two words that she didn't understand at all until Will had explained to her what they meant. She didn't know how she'd react to those. There was a universal 'safe' word in Gordburg, though they called it a 'bailout' word, and she knew what it was. Last year she'd even heard Lynette scream it just before she could be rogered from behind by a strap-on-wearing Alexa. To this day, Alexa was kind of sorry that Lynette had wimped out like that. She would have loved to give the boot-stealing bitch a good, hard fucking in front of that very interested male audience in the slave market. Well, at least she'd been able to do it to Martina.

Reminiscing over last years' good times was fun, but it wasn't helping her figure out what to do next. Alexa turned her thoughts back to her current situation. Her next step had to be getting to the next and last little hamlet along this road. Mike was hovering nearby, but she could outpace him. And so far there was no sign of the Andersons. Maybe the business they'd mentioned having to get back to would keep them away for a while. She certainly hoped that it would.

And with that, she knew exactly what she should be doing right now. She got out of bed, hit the head, and went downstairs. Mike wasn't there, but she knew he had to be around somewhere. She turned in her room key and then went out into the street. It was a warm day, and dry. She made her way to the edge of town and began her warming-up routine. It attracted some male attention, as she expected that it would. As she went through her stretching exercises, she scanned the men watching her. None of them seemed to have anything to say, so the odds were that they already knew who she was, what she'd done, and what she was about to do. She didn't see anything in any of them to give her any concerns. One or two might be pretty fast in a sprint, but she didn't think any of them would have the stamina for a miles-long run. All the same, she gave herself as much of an edge as she could by suddenly breaking into a flat-out run without warning. She heard excited cries erupt behind her and just kept going. She'd had enough of looking back over her shoulder.

After a while the lack of any kind of noise behind her – no yells, no heavy footsteps, no labored breathing – compelled her to take a look. There were two men still trailing after her. One of them looked as if he was ready to quit, but the younger one looked motivated and determined. She'd never met either one of them before, and as neither one looked like one of the tall, lean Andersons she didn't feel worried. She was moving along at a pace she knew she could easily keep up until she reached the next hamlet. There wasn't any chance of being caught by either of those two.

Then she came around another shallow dogleg bend in the road and realized that she hadn't thought everything out as well as she probably should have. Up ahead she saw two more men walking along side by side, their backs to her. From the way they were dressed, she figured that they'd been out hunting in the woods for a while and were now on their way back to town. Neither of them seemed to be aware that she was rapidly coming up behind them.

She had to think fast. In a moment her grim-faced pursuer would be coming around the bend himself, and if he had enough breath to call out a warning the two men up ahead of her might try to grab her. Alexa kicked her run into high gear, sprinting towards them. They must have heard her footsteps once she got close, because they both turned an instant before she heard someone behind her yell for them to stop her. They probably weren't used to potential prey running straight at them, and their hesitation gave Alexa the advantage she needed. Rather than run around them, she sped right between them, stiff-arming them both as she went by. She didn't know if they fell or just staggered back, but she was past them now, still running flat out. She heard angry cries and kept going. There was another shallow bend in the road coming up and she began to worry what she might find once she was past it.

This time her luck was in. The road ahead past the bend was straight and clear and she could see her objective, the last hamlet on this stretch of road, not too far off. She risked a look back. There was no sign of the grim-faced younger man, but the two men she'd shoved out of her way were just rounding the corner at a run. They seemed to be upset with her. Alexa laughed once and kept running. She didn't know how fresh her new pursuers were, or how fast they might be, but she wasn't taking any chances. She kept up her sprint until she'd passed between the stakes that marked the edge of the safe area. Once again, she'd attracted something of an audience by the time she got there, several men, a woman or two, and one black-clad proctor. Winded, Alexa came to a stop and leaned against one of the lampposts as she tried to catch her breath. Her legs felt rubbery, and the muscles in her thighs and calves had little tremors running through them. She pushed away from the lamppost and began walking in slow circles in the street. As much as she wanted to sit down, she was sure that she'd run the risk of cramping up if she didn't take a little time to cool down first.

Two men came over to her. They looked like the ones she'd brushed aside, though they didn't seem quite so upset now. They looked something alike, but that was probably because they were about the same height, had the same color eyes, and were both sporting several days' worth of beard on their faces. At second look, one had a predatory beak of a nose while the other one's nose was more stubby. They had different jawlines as well.

“What was that all about?” the beak-nosed man asked.

Alexa saw the proctor standing nearby. It didn't look as if she was going to interfere unless it became necessary.

“Sorry,” Alexa favored the men with her most dazzling smile. “You were in my way.”

“Who was that guy chasing you? Your boyfriend?”

For the first time, she noticed that the determined younger man was nowhere in sight. Where had he gone? Did he decide to just quietly fade into the woods? Maybe he didn't want to be embarrassed staggering into town all out of breath.

“No,” she said. “He was trying to catch me. He had another man with him.”

“Only saw the one guy,” beak-nose said with a shake of his head. “I think he turned and went back. How long was he chasing you?”

“Oh,” Alexa shrugged as if it was no big deal. “From the last town. A couple of miles, I think.” She took a deep breath. She was still winded enough that saying more than a few words took an effort.

“I don't get it,” beak-nose's companion said.

“Perhaps I can clear things up for you,” the proctor said as she came closer. Alexa saw that she was on the young side for a proctor, though her dark blonde hair was done up in the severe bun that seemed to be as much a part of the uniform as the drab black dress. “This is Alexa Marx,” the proctor told the men. “She started off on foot from the first town along the road yesterday morning. I was told to expect you, Ms. Marx.”

“Oh?” Alexa looked at her. “Why?”

“You tend to attract a lot of attention wherever you go,” the proctor replied with a hint of a smile.

“Excuse me,” beak-nose broke in. “Are you trying to get caught? If you are, you're really going about it the wrong way.”

“It would take me a while to explain,” Alexa said. “And I'd really like to sit down for a bit.”

“I guess you would, after a run like that,” beak-nose's companion commented. “We were coming to town to get a meal and a drink when you knocked us down.”

“Sorry,” Alexa said with a shake of her head. “I didn't know if you'd try to grab me or not and I couldn't take any chances.”

“Tell you what,” beak-nose said. “Come on into the saloon with us. Sit with us, have a drink with us, and you can tell us your story. We'd kinda like to hear it.”

“All right,” Alexa agreed readily. She noted that they hadn't offered her anything to eat, but if she drew her story out long enough they might wind up buying her a meal. She wasn't especially hungry at the moment, but having strange men pay for her meals was starting to feel like something she was entitled to. Besides, if she told these two what she was trying to do it might add to the reputation she was trying to build. It might also get her caught before she reached her goal if it attracted the attention of too many hunters intent on bringing down such daring prey. Inwardly, she shrugged. If it worked, it worked. If it didn't, it didn't. This was no time to start playing it safe. Besides, she was having too much fun.

The hamlet at the end of the line turned out to be the biggest of the bunch. It had all the usual facilities: Saloon, general store, slave barn, a small doctor's office, and a couple of wood frame houses that Alexa supposed the staff lived in. But there was also an actual horse barn where the stagecoach teams were changed and housed, a two-story building that advertised itself as a rooming house but was actually more like a small hotel, with a one-story restaurant attached, and a few more frame houses. Everything was built to look like an old Western set. A walk around the place turned up several small dirt roads heading south, east and north out of town, but no one Alexa asked about them could or would tell her anything about where they led. Even the young, blonde proctor who seemed to be stationed here wasn't helpful. All Alexa learned from her was that her name was Martha, this was her first season as a proctor, and she was very interested in what Alexa intended to do. Martha had heard about last year's contest, but had been elsewhere, undergoing training, while it was going on. Alexa had the distinct impression that the proctor was disappointed she had missed it all, but wasn't sure why that was so.

Late in the afternoon the stagecoach rolled into town. Four women disembarked from it. Alexa thought that they were all in their late twenties or early thirties. Two of them seemed happy and excited to be there, while two others appeared to be distinctly edgy. Then Mike got out, stretched his legs, and caught sight of Alexa. He smiled and waved as he came over to her.

“What are you doing here?” Alexa demanded. “Can't you take a hint?”

“That's part of the charm of this place,” he replied with an infuriating grin. “Like I said, I don't have to take hints. Anyway, I thought you were just playing hard to get. If you were serious about not wanting me to follow you, you shouldn't have ravished me back there. I'd like to do it again, but with me on top this time.”

Alexa tried to appear angry with him, but she couldn't keep it up for long.

“All right,” she laughed. “You're infatuated with me. I can understand that. But really, you'll have to just get over it if you can, you poor man.”

“Don't want to,” Mike said with a shake of his head. “You came here to be hunted, and I mean to hunt you down. I want to find out what you're like when you're stripped down, tied up, and helpless. I got a feeling you'd be very eager to please.”

“You're welcome to try,” Alexa shrugged. It was flattering, in a very unique way, to have a man so focused on her. It was also terribly inconvenient and distracting.

“You hungry at all?” Mike asked. “I missed lunch.”

“I suppose I could go for a bite.”

Mike was ready to go into the saloon, but Alexa suggested that they try the restaurant instead. It was an interesting-looking place with small, square tables, solid, heavy wooden chairs, and red and white checked tablecloths. The wait staff didn't dress like dance hall girls. They wore jeans and red and white checked shirts instead. There were no menus, just a big blackboard with the day's offerings written in pale yellow chalk. It was a limited selection, offering steak, pork chops, roast chicken and grilled fish.

“I suggest we go Dutch this time,” Mike said to her.

“What? Why?”

“Why not?” he replied with a shrug. “We're not on a date. I'm hunting you. But I promise once I catch you I'll feed you by hand myself. Deal?”

Alexa snickered. “What makes you think you're going to catch me?” she asked.

“Let's just say I'm hopeful,” he grinned. “And you gave me a Hell of an incentive the other day.” He leaned towards her and lowered his voice. “You really do have the tightest pussy I've ever had the pleasure to fuck,” he said, his tone conspiratorial. “Why did you do that, anyway?”