“Yes, I guess that’s normal. Billy boys often seem to be embarrassed about having a cock, God knows why. What was it like?”
“Small, and soft. It didn’t want to stand up at all, but I sucked it and it came eventually.”
“Did you like that?”
“Different. I think I might have had more fun if it had been a bit bigger, but it got stiff and then it came. It was OK, I suppose, but I was too busy enjoying what she was doing to my cock to worry about that. I wish she was here, I could use a little cherishing right now.” He was stroking his cock lazily and watching Alistair do the same across the pen.
Papi cleared his throat. “If you come a little nearer,” he suggested, “I might be able to help.”
“No thanks, Papi. I think I’ll wait. It will make getting out of here feel that much better.”
There was a noise at the door and he hurried to tuck his cock between his thighs. It was another paper bag man. He came to look at Alistair. “You—what your name?”
“Alistair Tajuddin, why?”
The man grunted and left.
“I think,” said Alistair, “they have just realised that they have a problem.”
Chapter 36
The shed door opened and several paper bag men appeared. They were going to be moved. Tim looked frantically at Alistair and tried to convey by jerking his head that this would be a good time for a jail break. Alistair saw him, but did not seem to get the message. He decided he would try something alone and just hope that Alistair would be sharp enough to help. If only one of them could escape into the traffic outside, they would all be saved.
Unfortunately, the paper bag men knew what they were doing and gave him no chance. They started with Alistair. A torn strip of cotton sheet was put into his mouth as a gag and tied tight behind his head. They blindfolded him with a bag and with two men holding him down inside the pen, another two outside unlocked his handcuff from the pen rail and put it around his free wrist. He was stood up on shaky legs and a manila rope run from his cuffed wrists, up his back and looped around his neck. They pulled the rope tight to lift his wrists far up his back.
“Now you go free, huh?” said the team leader. “You free, understand?” and they led him out of the shed. Moments later they came back for Papi.
Tim felt afraid. He was sure that the three of them would be separated. He would be passed on to the Indonesian man, and that would be fatal. He was already trying to adjust his mind to the prospect when they came back for him. They seemed even more cautious with him, perhaps fearful of his size. They did not attempt to stand him up until he was tightly trussed. The gag pulled fiercely on his mouth. Inside his paper bag he was already giving up hope of making a break.
“You go free, huh? Understand? Free. You go now.” They tried to reassure him but he did not believe them. They had wound his rope around his elbows and pulled it tight before changing his hand cuffs. The rope was looped around his neck and back down under the tie around his elbows. They pulled it tight and the rough rope bit into him. There was nothing he could do. They dragged him to his feet and guided him outside. He felt the sun on his skin and rough concrete beneath his feet. They lifted one of his feet and put it on a metal step.
“You go up, huh? One step, you go inside.” Timidly he stepped up. As he put his weight on the step, he felt it give and bounce. They were putting him into some kind of vehicle, probably the van they had come in. They pushed him to sit down and he felt one of the others beside him. There was some fumbling at his back and the drumming of his rope being pulled tight through an anchor point of some sort. The rope pulled him back against the metal wall of the van. His captors got out of the van and the doors slammed shut. The engine started and they began to move.
It was difficult to sit upright as they bounced from side to side, and being blind made things worse. Tim experimented with getting the bag off his head by shaking it. It was free to move and no one stopped him. He shook and wriggled, making himself dizzy, but felt the bag inching upwards. Once it had passed his ears progress was rapid. The bag flew off and he blinked in the daylight. They were sitting on one side of the van. Papi was beside him, still wearing his bag. Alistair sat beyond him, his bag already at his feet. The inside of the van was old and scratched. The cargo compartment was separated by a grill from the cab where three men had their backs to the prisoners.
The driver’s mirror had been twisted around and one of the passengers was watching them. “You go free, huh?” he repeated. “Five minute, you wait little.” There was nothing Tim or the others could do.
Soon, much sooner than five minutes, the van pulled up and reversed. Tim could see large metal gates through the windows in the van doors. Their guards were wearing their paper bags again and jumped out. The sun flooded in as the doors opened. He saw an imposing entrance with large ornamental gates. His friends were waiting, Faith, Hope and Ahmed.
“You go out! Out!” shouted one of the men. Tim tried to move and found his rope was loose. He pulled against it and it came to him. He shuffled towards the van door. Ahmed and the girls were there, reaching for him, pulling his rope loose and helping him out. Moments later they were all free, standing naked in the sunlight, having their gags removed. The girls laughed and cried, hanging onto Alistair while Ahmed untied his rope. Alistair led them all inside, away from the small group of passersby that had stopped to stare. As they hurried to the gates, Tim looked back for the van. It had gone and they had not noticed it leaving.
It was a glorious day. Tim was alive, he was free and he had friends around him. The sun shone, the short grass tickled between his toes and he felt safe again. It did not matter that his hands were still cuffed behind him. They followed a curving drive up through a garden that was more like a park. Alistair’s house was an imposing white building with shuttered windows. It had a large masonry porch to protect Victorian ladies from the rain and the sun as they got in and out of their carriages. Their procession went around to the back of the house to a shaded swimming pool with a tennis court beyond. A small bar stood beside the pool, and on it a telephone was ringing.
The girls ran to pick it up. “Yes, yes, yes,” they shouted excitedly. “He is here—now. You take,” said Faith, holding it out for Tim. He bent his head and she held it for him.
His voice caught in his throat as he heard Sherry on the other end of the line. Sherry was quiet, subdued. There was not much they could say. When Faith took the phone away he found there were tears in his eyes. He looked around. Alistair was being hosed down by Ahmed, and Papi was waiting his turn. He went to join them.
Sherry put the phone down. Relief flooded over her. With a big smile growing inside her, she went for her dress.
Outside in the big office, the girls from the ashram waited for them. Bright, colourful and anxious amongst the dull women who worked there, they wanted news. They crowded around Sherry and Ranji, laughing, crying, asking for Papi. They ignored their surroundings and all crowded out down the stairs together. Hangchi’s van was waiting to take them home. Hangchi wove back across town, dropping off girls as he went. At the police station Darti, Janice and Sherry changed into his car and he drove them back home.
“What will happen to the Irishman now?” asked Sherry. “Are you going to arrest him?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to consult with my colleagues in Johor Baru first. See if we’ve got enough to connect him to the kidnapping. I’ll have to warn you that it’s unlikely. He’s probably been too clever to leave any connection, and I can guarantee that none of his men are going to talk.
“How did he treat you two? You must have been very persuasive.”
“Not that persuasive, I think. He was happy enough to take what we offered, but I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have let them go as he promised. Not without the rest of the girls waiting outside, and you in the car park. You looked quite threatening in your uniform.”
“I still don’t see why you had to be nice to him. You might’ve known he wouldn’t play fair.”
“Oh, we had to give him the chance. A little bit of carrot’s better than a little bit of stick. He might’ve taken it, you know, and we all would have been a lot better off if he had. Now I’m afraid we’re in his bad books. He’s not going to forgive us for humiliating him. Damn it! After we tried so hard to be nice to him. I suppose he’ll chase all of us now, but especially Ranji and me. I’m beginning to get worried about it.”
“No, don’t worry. You’re going to be alright,” said Hangchi. He sounded quite sure of himself. “I don’t know exactly what will happen to the Irishman, but I’m sure he’s finished in Singapore. Not because of you, but because he kidnapped Alistair.”
“You know, he didn’t realise he’d taken Alistair. He seemed quite shocked when we told him. Is that bad for him?”
“Very bad. Alistair’s a very important person in Malaysia, and kidnapping him is going to have consequences. Wait until tomorrow. I should have something for you by then.”
Sherry sat at home. Her friends were upstairs changing and showering. Outside the day was fading and it mirrored her mood. After the grief and excitement of the past two days she felt drained and limp. She had spoken to Tim again. He too sounded tired. He had been handcuffed, he said, and it had taken a long time to cut the cuffs off all three of them. Papi was fine. He had been taken into town to get new glasses. Alistair had arranged it, and he would be fitted out that evening. Alistair was still full of energy. He had even gone into his office to report what had happened. Tim was left at home with the girls, and Sherry felt a twinge of jealousy. He had sensed it and reassured her. Tonight the girls had eyes and feelings only for Alistair. He told her that Papi was no sort of substitute and that made her laugh. He would come home tomorrow. Alistair was arranging a police escort to the border and a hand-over to the Singapore police.
Darti and Janice called her upstairs. The shower was free. She went up to find them waiting for her with a bath half-full of soapy water. They stood her in it and scrubbed her all over. Darti was naked but Janice insisted on her panties. They both got wet all over again as they washed Sherry.
Then they had insisted on getting her dressed again. They wanted to celebrate at the Pizza Hut in the shopping centre and they wanted Sherry to put on her finest. She let them dress her and did not object when Janice selected a dress she had bought for her flute-playing lessons. They would go to the Pizza Hut looking like three high-class tarts.
They tripped back home along the rough pavement, arm in arm. Their tummies were full of pizza and Tiger beer. The tensions of the two past days had already faded away and been replaced by a pleasant relaxation. Sherry started to feel secure again; her friends walked beside her, and she expected Tim home tomorrow.
They walked quietly along Holland Road, heels clicking on the concrete. She was happy, but there was the sense of a chapter coming to an end. Tim would have to move on, to leave Singapore. Even if they wanted to stay, Krumbeins would move them on. They would not tolerate one of their engineers being kidnapped and it would take more than a phone call from Hangchi to change their minds. Oh well, nothing was permanent in the parallel world of the oil patch. She always held at the back of her mind the thought that she would have to leave Singapore sooner or later. Assignments were meant to last two years, but business was a fluid thing and engineers were usually moved before their time. They would have their marching orders soon.
They turned into Moonbeam Walk and she stopped in front of their house. It was a pleasant place, two storeys and a patch of tropical garden front and back. It had made a good home for them. The windows were open and welcoming behind the security grills. They had been comfortable there before, but since the recent changes to her life it held even happier memories. She would not be exactly pleased to leave, but she would be excited. It was time to move on, to follow Tim to somewhere strange. It would be a very different Sherry that boarded the plane out—smarter, hungrier, sexier.
She was laying nude under the sheet, drifting towards sleep, when the door clicked open and Darti and Janice came in. Darti had wrapped a sarong around herself, but Janice liked to show off her breasts. She was naked except for the inevitable panties to cover her uncertainty. They were smiling like naughty children as they came to her. Sherry moved into the middle of the bed to give them room on each side. She wrapped an arm around each of them and they snuggled up. Their long, strong hair was draped over her shoulders. She felt like the earth mother.
“What are you two going to do if we leave Singapore?”
“You go, Sherry?” asked Darti. “No, you stay Singapore. We love you, Sherry.”
Janice felt the same. “You stay, Sherry. We all stay here.”
“I don’t know,” she pondered. “I think Tim will have to go soon. His company will send us somewhere else.”
“Where you go, Sherry?”
“I don’t know. Could be almost anywhere. Anywhere that has oil-wells.”
Darti thought for a while. “OK. No problem. You go, and we live with Hangchi. We make him very happy, but better you stay. We love you, Sherry.” She pulled herself up to kiss Sherry’s cheek. “You are very special lady, Sherry.”
A shiver ran through Sherry as she felt Janice’s hand on her breast. “So big!” whispered Janice.
Sherry forced herself to relax. She was with friends, she told herself, as Darti took possession of her other breast. She stared at the ceiling and enjoyed the small hands stroking her and pulling at her nipples. Deep inside she felt herself opening and yielding.
Her hands were loose on their shoulders now as they leaned over her, nibbling and suckling at her. She stroked their hair, happy to give to her friends. Janice was laying half on top of her, holding her breast with both hands and tormenting its button with her teeth. She felt Darti’s hand on her stomach and gave herself immediately. She sighed as the fingers dipped between her thighs, searching for her centre.