Flame

by Margaret Tanner

  Chapter Two

  Flame hovered in the doorway of the small sitting room and stared at Alex. In repose, his face had lost the harsh lines. She was stark naked. The black man she now knew as Samuel had brought her food, provided a basin to wash in, then removed the bed sheets that were stained with her virginal blood.

  Alex’s dark brown hair was brushed back from his face and curled on to his shoulders. The top three buttons on his shirt were undone, she was able to admire the strong column of his throat and the tanned upper portions of his chest. His piercing blue eyes seemed to look right through her. How did she announce her arrival?

  She knocked on the door and entered. “Samuel…”

  Alex opened his eyes and his nostrils flared. “Come over here.” She edged toward him feeling nervous and agitated. The sun streamed through the open window as she obeyed him.

  “Please, what you said before about other men. I only want you.

  He laughed harshly. “I own you, body and soul. You do nothing unless I say you can.”

  She couldn’t remember who she was or where she’d originally come from. The only familiar thing in her life now was Alex.

  Samuel joined them and lumbered over to the cupboard and returned carrying a fine, almost see through white shift. It was trimmed with gold thread and touched the floor when he slipped it over her head.

  Alex swung to his feet and sauntered over.

  “Good,” he said. “Now, you red headed witch, it’s time for me to take you to meet my partner Jacques Duval.”

  He stubbed the cigar out on the heel of his boot, and handed the stub to Samuel. “I’ll take her over, you see to your chores.” He dismissed Samuel with a curt nod.

  Alex unlocked a heavy wooden door and stepped into a gloomy passageway, and on trembling legs she followed him. Samuel had told her Alex and Jacques were co-owners of the Gold Anchor saloon and brothel.

  It didn’t take long for them to reach a heavily studded door. He pushed it open and walked through, she scurried after him. They entered a large room, and she blinked at the sheer opulence. Gold and red were the dominant colors here. There were three red couches, a table with a white cloth, two chairs and an ornate chest.

  This she saw in the few seconds before a tall blonde man of similar age to Alex appeared from behind a curtain.

  “What are you doing here, my friend?” the man said. “So, this is the woman who has taken up so much of your time. Are you prepared to share her yet?

  Flame gasped and her hands flew to her mouth in shock. Fear almost overwhelmed her as she cast a desperate, pleading look at Alex. “Please.” She moved closer to him. “I want to stay with you.”

  Alex gave a cruel smile and his nostrils flared.

  “Ah! Mr. Alex.” A tall raven-haired, dark skinned woman glided out from behind the red curtain. She wore loose red silk trousers, which showed off her long legs. The top few buttons on her waist length jacket were undone, and left her large breasts dangling free.

  She stared at Alex. Flame felt a stabbing pain in her heart when he reached out a hand and rolled the woman’s nipple between his thumb and forefinger.

  “Later. This is Flame, she’s new, take her out and introduce her to the patrons.” Alex’s lips thinned. “They can look but not touch,” he growled. “She’s mine for the moment.”

  “She looks so virginal,” Jacques said.

  “Well, she was until last night.”

  “Who is she?” Jacques asked. “Where did she come from?”

  “I neither know nor care. Samuel pulled her out of the river unconscious. There was a lump on her head the size of an egg and she couldn’t remember anything. I took her virginity so it makes her mine until I tire of her.”

  Jacques laughed. “And you’ll educate her on all the delights of the flesh?”

  “What do you think?

  On trembling legs, Flame followed the woman out in to another magnificent room, with huge lamps hanging from the frescoed ceiling.

  “No other man can have you until Alex says so. I’m Ebony, I look after the health of you gals.”

  “He was kind to me last night, then today he was…..”

  “Cruel?”

  “Yes. He says I’ll have to service other men.” Flame wrung her hands. “I can’t, I just can’t.”

  “Listen to me Flame or whatever your name is. You belong to Alex and the Gold Anchor. Don’t make a fuss and you’ll be treated well. Do as you’re told. Entertain the men, it’s not so bad. It’s too expensive for dusty cowboys to avail themselves of the women here.”

  “I couldn’t, please Ebony, can’t you help me get away?”

  “No, I don’t aim on getting myself killed. You don’t leave here unless one of the men take a real liking to you and can afford to buy you.”

  “What!” Her position was getting worse by the minute. If only I could remember who I am and where I come from. Was someone searching for her even now?

  A bloated middle-aged man lumbered over to them and Flame cringed away from his outstretched hand.

  “Get here, gal.” He grabbed her arm and swung her against his fat belly. Vomit rose in her throat when she felt his sweating anticipation.

  “She’s not available at the moment,” Ebony said

  “I paid top dollar to come here, so I can have whatever whore I want.”

  “I’m sorry,” Ebony said. “You’ll have to take it up with the owners.”

  As they circulated, Flame noticed most of the girls were dressed in floating see-through shifts like her. Doors leading off the far wall were obviously where the girls took the men if they wanted privacy. One man sat at a table holding a drink and tapping his boot with a short-handled whip, which had four tails. Would he use it?

  Please God, save me from this evil place. She wanted Alex to come and get her and take her back to his house.

  As if thinking about him, made him materialize, he strode toward her and she had to force herself not to run up to him.

  “Do you think you would enjoy working out here?” There was a bitter twist to his mouth.

  “No! No!” The words came out on a sob. “Please, don’t leave me here. I’ll pleasure you, I’ll be obedient, just don’t make me stay here.”

  He stood grim-faced without speaking, while she begged and pleaded.

  Alex saw the terror in her eyes, but said nothing to relieve her fear. He had no intention of leaving her here yet. He ached for her sweet body, craved the taste of her, not that he would ever admit it. She deserved to suffer a while longer, had to learn he was the master here and expected absolute obedience.

  “All right, you can come back with me.” Her radiant smile almost floored him. God, she was beautiful. “If you don’t obey me, submit to my every whim, this is where you’ll stay, and you will be expected to service a dozen men a day. Do I make myself clear?”

  He should have given her some of Ebony’s special potion this morning, but had been too busy enjoying her body to think of anything else. God alone knew what was in the muck. It restricted a woman’s monthly flow, enabling her to continue servicing customers, and more importantly, stopped them from conceiving a child. No-one would know better than him what it was like to be born a bastard. He had to watch his mother prostitute herself to put food in his belly, while his aristocratic father lavished money on his legitimate heirs and numerous mistresses, leaving his mother and him to virtually starve on the filthy London streets.

  ****

  Flame had been with Alex for several weeks when this one particular morning, Ebony took her into a large room with polished floor boards, and heavily draped windows. Light from wall lanterns threw eerie shadows on to the walls. Her shocked gaze became riveted on a huge wheel. Two men grabbed her, spread her arms out and secured them to a spoke on the wheel, likewise her legs. Fear engulfed her and she fought to get free, all to no avail. Suddenly Alex strode up.

  “Please, Alex, take me down from here.”

  Ignoring her, he leaned down a
nd flicked a lever Flame hadn’t noticed. With a slight whine, the wheel slowly started to turn. Initially, she was frozen with fear; this gave way to anger at the lecherous stares of several men who suddenly appeared and jostled each other for a prime viewing position.

  The comments came hard and fast, suggestive, filthy and degrading. She felt like a piece of meat hanging on a butcher’s hook, with customers squabbling over it.

  The wheel made a full turn, while the onlookers clamored for more. By the time the wheel had turned for the fourth time she was feeling giddy. She fought against her restraints much to the mirth of the audience.

  “How much to buy her from you?” A voice called out.

  “She’s not for sale, but for fifty dollars you can enjoy her company for a few hours,” Alex said in a cold, emotionless voice.

  Ebony wrote the names of the men in a small leather-bound book. Once they released her bindings Flame collapsed on to the floor and stayed there until Ebony gestured to a couple of Alex’s men to haul her up.

  Alex turned on his heel and strode off, obviously uncaring of her distress. Fool that she was for believing his lies. He didn’t love her, had only been training her to service his customers. She couldn’t do it. She just couldn’t.

  Purposely, she let her body go limp.

  “Take her to the green room,” Ebony said. “She’ll be working out of there from now on.”

  The green room was exactly that, painted in soft green, with deeper green and gold cornices. The four-poster bed was covered in green velvet. After they dumped her on the bed, the men stomped off.

  “Now, are you going to behave and give the customers what they want?” Ebony hovered over her like an avenging angel.

  “No. I’m not a whore.”

  “Yes, you are, my dear. Alex made sure of that. Even if you could get away from here.” Flame followed the other woman’s gaze to the barred windows. “Where would you go? You have no money, no memory. You wouldn’t get far walking the streets in those clothes. You’d be raped and probably murdered by the first man who saw you.”

  “I….I….” Tears rolled down Flame’s cheeks. “I don’t want to live like this,” she cried out in anguish.

  “Too bad. Make the most of it. Save any extra money the customer might give you and you might be able to buy your freedom. Or, be so obliging some man will want you for his mistress.”

  Ebony patted her dark curls. “Now dry your eyes and rest, I’ve started you off easy, only three men tonight.”

  She minced off, leaving Flame sobbing into her pillow

  After a while Flame rose from the bed and stepped over to the window. The room was up on the second floor. Knotting bed sheets together would enable her to climb down to the ground, if only she could get out of the barred windows. She shook each bar and they were rock solid. No way could they be removed without tools of some kind.

  Mid-afternoon, Ebony sashayed in carrying a tray set up with cake and coffee.

  “I don’t want it.” Flame pushed it away.

  “You’re being foolish, there’s no use fighting the inevitable. You have three men to service tonight, and service them you will.”

  “You can’t make me, Alex can’t….”

  “My dear, Alex can make you do whatever he wants, he owns you.”

  “I’ll tell the customers I’m being held against my will.”

  “You foolish girl. Do you think they’ll care? All they want is to get between your les and get their money’s worth.”

  Flame picked up the tray and flung it against the wall. “That’s what I think of your food.”

  Ebony gave her a long, angry look. “You’re going to regret this.” She proceeded to clean up the mess before mincing out of the room.

  Five minutes later, Ebony returned accompanied by two men. They pinned her arms and legs, so she couldn’t move. Ebony leaned over, grabbed her mouth and poured a bitter liquid down her throat. She coughed and spluttered, but Ebony kept pouring until the glass was empty.

  The men released her, and Flame shot up in the bed coughing and spluttering.

  “That will quieten you down.” Ebony dismissed the men with the wave of one hand before taking a seat by the bed.

  What was that ghastly stuff? It wasn’t the milky drink Alex used to give her to drink so she wouldn’t conceive a child. Her eyes grew heavy, she fought to keep them open, then finally gave up the struggle.

  ****

  Flame awoke and groggily glanced around. It was night time. Two lanterns were lit, one on the dresser, the other hanging from the ceiling. She fought to focus her eyes, everything was fuzzy and distorted.

  Running a hand down her body she was shocked to find herself naked. She tried to grapple with something important, but couldn’t get her brain to function properly.

  A man entered the room. She stared at him then lowered her eyes. He was tall, slimly built. He stripped to his drawers and climbed into bed, put his arms around her and rested his head between her breasts.

  “I’ve had too much to drink,” he said. “But I’m celebrating, I won a pile of money at cards and aim to have some fun. What’s a beautiful gal like you doing working in a place like this?” He slurred his words slightly. Any wonder, his breath reeked of whisky.

  “I don’t want to be here, only I’ve got nowhere to go, no money.” She didn’t tell him she had lost her memory. She had been getting flashes of remembrance on and off. A shop, something to do with food, was one thing that stood out.

  “If I give you money, will you leave here?” He shocked her by saying.

  “Yes. Yes. A hundred times yes.”

  He sighed. “Just hold me for now, beautiful gal. What’s your name?”

  “Flame.”

  “Mm, matches your hair, darlin’.”

  “What’s your name?”

  He didn’t answer, his hand cupped her breast and she realized he had fallen asleep. His coat hung on the back of a chair. He had mentioned winning a lot of money, maybe this was her chance. He was drunk and wouldn’t know.

  She wasn’t sure who she was or where she came from; anything had to be better than this.

  His hands were roughened indicating he did manual work. A cowboy maybe? A black Stetson lay on the chair next to his clothes. No guns, although Alex had a policy of no weapons inside the Gold Anchor.

  The man stirred. “Are you awake, darlin’?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.” He muttered something before rolling over and falling asleep once more.

  Chapter Three

  Forcing her mind to function, Flame eased herself out of bed, sneaked over and grabbed the man’s coat off a chair. The desire for self-preservation cleared the remaining fog in her brain. This was probably her one and only chance to escape.

  She fumbled through his pockets until she found the money, quite a nice little roll of bills. She took about half. Desperate and all, she couldn’t leave him with nothing. She hadn’t sunk that low.

  She spotted a waistcoat and grabbed it. Tiptoeing to the wardrobe she lifted out her most somber gown, a deep green satin and put it on. He muttered something and she stood motionless, until his heavy breathing came once more.

  The gown was low-cut, as were all her gowns and showed plenty of cleavage. It screamed saloon girl and soiled dove. Slipping her arms into the plain brown waistcoat, she buttoned it up, successfully covering her exposed breasts.

  If he had been a smaller man, she would have dressed in his clothes, but she was only five feet two inches tall compared with his more than six feet.

  How could she get away? Her best chance was to creep out through the side door near the kitchen and pray no-one saw her.

  Feeling low and despicable for stealing the cowboy’s money, she quietly slipped out of the room. Glancing at the closed doors on either side of the hallway, most being used by the groans, grunts and laughter, she hurried along until she came to a door.

  Please don’t be locked. Please don’t be locked. It wasn�
�t. She opened it and edged her way down the stairs. They led to the saloon, which was alive with activity even at this hour.

  Cyril played the piano and several cowboys were singing. A drunken young man, with a grin on his face and reeking of lavender, which was sprayed around the rooms and on the doves to camouflage any unpleasant smells, had obviously been upstairs.

  “Good evening, handsome.” She linked her arm through his. “Like to buy a lady a drink?”

  “Be plum honored,” he said with a smirk.

  She forced herself to smile at the barman. She rarely came here unless ordered to do so.

  “What ya doin’ down here, Flame, and wearing a man’s waistcoat?”

  “I’m having a drink with this handsome cowboy.” She ran her tongue slowly across her lower lip like she had seen some of the other women do. “And maybe a little more.”

  She elbowed her companion in the ribs and he grinned. “Must be my lucky night.” He squeezed her breast and she forced herself not to slap the leering smirk off his face.

  “What about the waistcoat?” The barman stared at her.

  “Oh that.” She gave what she hoped was a careless laugh. “A gift from a satisfied customer.”

  Turning away from him she focused her attention on the young man. “How about we go out into the side garden where we can have our drinks in private, and maybe a little more.”

  He paid for the drinks and with her arm linked through his, they strolled out on to the side porch where bushes and small trees surrounded a small walled garden. Alex had taken her out here for a drink after supper while he was luring her into his honey trap, in what seemed another lifetime.

  She was no longer a fresh faced amnesic girl, innocent in the ways of the world, but an embittered woman so defiled no decent man would want anything to do with her. If her memory returned, she would still be a fallen woman. Nothing could ever erase that.

  She quickly swallowed the drink the young man had bought her. It was too dangerous to be loitering out here in case Alex or Ebony caught her.

  “Did you ever play hide and seek as a boy, handsome?”

  “Yeah, I did.”