Chapter 6

The other two hadn't moved yet which was mistake number two that they made. Todd made the first mistake when he watched Bennie and not Janice. I knew my sister. She was a deadly fighter in hand to hand. I was good but she was better.

Bennie and I let her make the first move. She walked toward Todd dripping sexual invitation. Every part of her body wiggled enticingly. She reached kicking distance to Todd and spun his gun out of hand following that with a move that knocked him flat on the ground. Phillip went for his gun and Joe and Ed hit him with bullets. He spun around dead on his feet. before he hit the ground. Jeremy just dropped his gun and wet his pants. I looked at Todd and decided that he wouldn't ever be a problem again as his head was at a weird angle to his body. Janice might have hurried a bit breaking his neck.

George said, "Ed, come out. Joe, head down. We're leaving right now." I went to Jeremy and took his weapons and tied his hands behind his back. I took another piece of rope and tied him to a post and went to help the others. Janice and Jen both had a rifle and were standing guard over Jeremy and watching for anyone who might be coming. We piled clothes on the deck of the boat and cast off. We left Jeremy tied to the post and chugged away.

"What the hell happened?" Bennie asked.

"They were lying. Apparently, they farm but also have what Todd called a harem which means they are holding women against their will." Janice stopped for a second and then continued, "We have to try to help them. In Preservation, there is precedent. Mike, you're named for Michael and Cindy's son who was killed while helping to save my mothers among others."

George said, "We'll talk about it after we get safely away from the shore and sight." We traveled for an hour leaving the horizon clear behind us. "Now, let's talk about what you want to do."

Janice said, "We can't leave their harem there. First, it's bad for people, men or women, to be slaves. Second, they may be locked up and would starve if we don't help."

George said, "We don't know how many there are."

Janice answered, "That's true. Tonight, bring Bennie and me to the shore on their side of the bay and we will search them out. We will have a radio and can tell you what we find and what we recommend and why."

Bennie nodded. He said, "As you saw, Janice can take care of herself and I'm not too bad a shot or at hand to hand. You know that I am stealthy. I'm almost as good as Mike in the woods and Janice is, too."

Ed said, "Bro, it makes sense and is the right thing to do."

"Okay, let's plan this out as well as we can. Mike, what do you think?"

"I agree, it's what we should do and we can do it. My thoughts are close to Janice's. We should wait for night. There's no moon which is good. We can pull toward shore over on the other side of the bay from where we docked. We let Janice and Bennie out with their guns and radios. Then, we pull off shore out of easy rifle range and wait. Janice and Bennie will head out toward where we saw the smoke. If they haven't arrived before dawn, they can hole up for the day. We will pull further back into the bay though we risk being seen. Janice, they must have an observation post along the shore somewhere. That's the first thing to find, I think. Also, we don't have any silencers, so any of them you take out will have to be by hand." Janice grinned. I continued, "We will acknowledge reports with a double click. We will not call you to help you stay stealthy. I would even suggest that the radios be turned off except to report. Finally, stay together."

Janice and Bennie nodded. Janice said, "Brother, we going to be aunt and uncle, so we'll be good. We have a few hours and that will let Bennie and I snooze and be fresh tonight."

George said, "Okay, you have it planned out that far. What will be next?"

Jen said, "That depends upon what Janice and Bennie find. I expect we will all have to go to handle things but they will tell us."

George nodded and went back to steering the boat. Janice and Bennie went below to lay down. The rest of us began to pick up clothes and sheets that had been quickly thrown on deck when we left. We had the boat cleaned up in a short time. George said to me, "I wish we had charts for this area or even an old road map."

"I'll mention that to Janice and Bennie when they go ashore. It's a town and there might be something useful still there."

Later, we had supper still standing out to the ocean. The Yellow Rose had a dark blue hull and dark wood deck. The sails were bright yellow and George had had Ed and Joe furl them and cover them with dark cloths to make them less visible. We were using the motor which was pretty quiet since we were idling along with low rpm's.

George waited until it was fully dark because, coming in from the west, we would have been silhouetted by the sun. He eased us forward slowly and steadily with Ed at the bow watching for problems. They found a place to dock and let Bennie and Janice off. George marked the spot in his GPS and backed out slowly. Once clear, he continued to motor slowly away until he found a spot well out in the main bay with our back to land making it even harder for the boat to be seen.

"Mike, we have found some maps already. Bennie is putting them in his pack for later. We have found a spot where someone had been watching and smoking home-made cigarettes. We are continuing to move along the coast. Janice clear." I double clicked to respond to her. I then told everyone what she said.

George said, "Those maps may really help us later."

Jen leaned against me and shivered. I put my arm around her as she said, "I hope they're careful as they go about. I want them back safe."

We waited and then waited some more. After three hours, Janice called again, "We found one more observation spot with no one there. We have also found their camp. Jeremy is not, repeat not, there. There are only four men there and the women are kept locked up when they are not being used or performing chores. We will return to watch some more and call you with recommendations. Janice is clear." I double clicked.