The Novice Prey & The Daring Prey

Chapter Four-1

Chapter Four

Waking up was a lot harder that morning than it had been yesterday. The ground under her sleeping bag wasn’t any softer than it had been, but Alexa didn’t mind it as much. She opened her eyes, saw that it was daytime, blinked, and closed them again. Just five more minutes, she told herself. She fell back asleep.

She wasn’t sure what woke her. Maybe it was a noise, maybe the realization that there was no snooze button to push, but she was suddenly completely awake and alert. She lay perfectly still, listening, and heard nothing. Still lying down, she turned her head first one way and then the other, looking. She didn’t see anything, so she drew back the top of her sleeping bag and sat up.

It wasn’t early morning. From how high the sun rode in the sky, it wasn’t even late morning, but getting close to noon. She muttered a curse and got up. She felt stiff and sweaty and she wanted a shower. There was no chance of getting one out here, though. She thought about using the stream for a sort of sponge bath and shivered. The water wasn’t cold, exactly, but it wasn’t even close to warm. She was planning to find out if that building she’d seen was really one of the trading posts, and, if it was, whether or not she could get new boots there. Maybe she could get a shower there too. In any case, given how slowly she’d have to travel, she’d better get a move on now.

She peeled off her clothes and underwear and stuffed them into a brown cloth bag. It still felt strange being naked outdoors, but today it felt a little exciting too. She stood up and stretched, as if to dare anyone to come along and spot her. It was almost a disappointment when no one did.

She had one clean set of underwear left, cotton panties and a sports bra. She put those on and wondered what she could do about washing her dirty clothes. Somehow that had never been mentioned in any of the books she’d read, and for all the stories she’d heard about that Elf-Girl, doing laundry hadn’t been mentioned there either. She pulled on a soft flannel shirt and donned her walking shorts. She checked her socks to see if they were dry before pulling them on. It was going to be a long, slow walk, but she really had to have some kind of shoes if she was ever going to get through this. She hid her stuff under leaves and pine needles again, took a last look to make sure nothing showed, and set off.

She was actually feeling pretty good about things. A big part of that had to be due to getting away…or, more exactly, being let alone. Thanks to not being on Will’s list, she still had a chance to win this thing. And, today she had a place to go and something to do. She was getting a very late start, which meant a lot of her walk back would have to be in the dark, but as long as she had the stream to guide her she should be all right. Early tomorrow, she’d have to move her campsite. It wouldn’t be a good idea to stay in one place for too long.

It was sunny and warm. In fact it was almost sultry out, and the further she walked the more she hoped that the place she was headed really was a trading post and she could get a shower there. She picked her way along carefully, watching where she put her feet. Where she thought she could, she walked normally so as not to strain her calves, which were still a bit sore. And all the while she kept looking and listening. She might not be on Will’s list, but she had to be on somebody’s.

She thought that she was about halfway to what she hoped really was a trading post when she stopped for a rest. There wasn’t anything to sit on, so she sat down on the ground with her back against a tree. As she took a drink from her canteen, she wondered how many hunters, or teams of hunters, were in the area, and how many of them were looking for her. It would still be a good idea to avoid any men that she saw, but it did kind of give her an edge to know that if she was spotted it might not be by someone coming specifically after her. Of course, even if they weren’t after her that didn’t mean that they wouldn’t later tell someone who was where she’d been seen. Looked at that way, it didn’t seem to be that much of an edge after all.

She was just about ready to start walking again when she heard some sort of disturbance somewhere up ahead. She heard men shouting, and then a woman’s angry scream. Without even thinking about it, she quickly moved behind some bushes for cover. There were some more male shouts, and another female scream, then what sounded like people trampling through the underbrush, heading in her direction. Heart pounding, she looked around for someplace to run to, but nothing stood out as offering better cover. Then there was the sound of a scuffle. Whatever was going on, it had moved close enough to her now to make out words:

“Get ‘er down! Get ‘er down!”

“I’m tryin’!”

“Watch out!”

Alexa heard a man grunt in pain, then an angry and triumphant shriek from whoever the woman was a shriek that was cut short. There was a sound of bodies colliding, then a crash of branches breaking followed almost immediately by another sound of impact, one that she felt through the soles of her feet. She hunkered down lower behind the bush and waited until the sounds of struggling subsided.

“Damn! You okay, dude?” a man asked.

“Yeah, yeah. She hit my leg, not my balls. It hurts like Hell, but I’ll be okay.”

“Well, let’s get her secured.”

Alexa thought for a moment before daring to stand up. She couldn’t see anything, and she wanted to know what had just happened. She started walking. The first thing she saw was a man, dressed in hunting camos, standing still and looking down at something. He didn’t seem to see her. Emboldened, she came closer, stepping around a patch of low-growing shrubbery that had obscured the rest of the scene.

Lynette was still dressed, in khaki shorts and bush shirt, but she was lying on her belly on the ground. Her face was turned away, but there was no mistaking her long hair. Another man was sitting on her ankles, holding her legs down. Alexa wondered why Lynette wasn’t trying to get up and then noticed that the first man was actually standing on her hair: She couldn’t get up. She couldn’t even raise her head off the ground. Her arms were still free, but in her current position they were useless. She clawed at the leg of the man standing on her hair, but it didn’t seem to affect him. He just laughed. Then a third man appeared, carrying a pair of heavy handcuffs. He saw Alexa standing nearby, almost ignored her, and then did a double take.

“Well,” he said to Alexa as he straightened up warily. “Hello there, little girl.” His two companions looked at her without relaxing their holds on Lynette. “What are you doing here?” He smiled.

“Down, boy,” Alexa responded. “Even if I’m on your list, you’ve just bagged your limit.” She pointed at Lynette. Inwardly, though, she was nowhere near as calm as she tried to appear.

The man with the handcuffs laughed. “You’re right,” he nodded. “But what are you doing here? I’d have thought you’d have run off. We wouldn’t have even known you were here.”

Alexa raised her double-socked foot and wriggled her toes. “See that?” she pointed. “That b***h stole my boots the other day. I can’t really run anywhere without them. I was on my way to the trading post to try and get another pair.”

Lynette made an angry, snarling noise.

“Hey, Chuck,” the man standing on her hair spoke up. “Could you please take care of business and then chat with her?”

“Oh,” the man with the cuffs said. “Sure.” Alexa watched as he cuffed Lynette’s hands behind her back. Lynette didn’t make it easy, but she didn’t manage to delay things much. Once he had her secured, Chuck gave Lynette’s ass a hard swat, making her shriek angrily. He looked back up at Alexa.

“Goin’ to Smith’s, hey?” he said amiably. “That’s where we’re takin’ her. You want to keep us company?”

“Thanks,” Alexa replied with a shake of her head. “But I’m in a bit of a hurry. Do you suppose you could give me her boots for a while? I can get where I’m going faster with footgear, and I’ll leave them there for you if I can get another pair.”

“That’ll slow us down, ma’am,” Chuck answered. “She won’t be able to walk very fast without boots.”

Alexa put her hands on her hips. “So?” she countered. “I want a little payback for what she did to me. Besides, making her hike to Smith’s barefoot might make her a little more tractable.”

“‘Tractable’.” Chuck smiled. “I like that word. Hey, Dave, think you could give our friend here this b***h’s boots after you get her hobbled?”

“Sure,” nodded the man sitting on Lynette’s ankles. “Just gimme a minute. I like the way your mind works, lady.”

“Call me Alexa. And thanks. Oh, and if she complains about how it hurts her to walk, tell her to keep on the balls of her feet.”

“You f*****g, stupid, cunt!” Lynette railed. “You can’t do this to me!”

“Oh, I’m not doing it, dear,” Alexa said her voice nasty-sweet. “Your new owners are doing it. I hope you enjoy everything that’s coming to you. And think about this: I beat you. I may not beat the others, but I beat you. Suck on that while you’re sucking on other stuff later.”

A little time later, Alexa saw the roof of the trading post through the trees. She was feeling very smug and pleased with herself. What Will had told her yesterday had given her the nerve to approach the men who had taken Lynette, but after that it was all her own boldness and ingenuity. She now had footgear, knew for a fact that she was heading to one of the trading posts, and had had a chance to gloat over Lynette’s predicament. Served the b***h right, after what she’d done.

It occurred to her that she didn’t want to be in Lynette’s shoes…not for much longer, anyway. Lynette’s feet were longer and narrower than hers, and the looted boots were starting to pinch. Still, better on her feet than her rival’s. She wondered how the skier was doing. She’d seen the men record their capture of her by holding some electronic device to her ear and punching some buttons. Whatever the thing was, it was about the size of a cell phone, and looked a lot like one. They collared and hobbled her before they let her up. Unable to fight, Lynette had resorted to angry, venomous outbursts of profanity. It had been such fun to watch and listen that Alexa wished she could have stayed longer. But, her time was limited.

The trading post looked very much like an old, two-story farmhouse, with a couple of sheds behind it. It had either never been painted or time and weather had removed every trace of paint there had ever been. The bare wood was weathered gray. A wide porch ran across the front of the building and around both sides of it that she could see. She went up the three wide steps onto the porch, pushed open the screen door, and went inside. A bell rang as she entered.

The ground floor had been opened up into one big room. There were fireplaces at either end. To her right it looked something like an old general store, with shelves and tables stocked with goods, mostly canned food and drink. To the left was a kitchen area, a couple of small tables with mismatched chairs, and what might be a check-in desk. She stopped and looked around. There didn’t seem to be anyone here, but opposite the front door was another door. It was shut. There had to be something on the other side of it, but she didn’t know what it was.

The door opened, and an elderly man entered. He was wrinkled, nearly bald except for a few wisps of long, white hair, and he wore bifocals. But he didn’t move like an elderly man, and when he saw Alexa standing there, his smile didn’t seem to fit an elderly man either.

“Good afternoon, young lady,” he greeted. “Who are you, and how might I help you?”

“Hi,” Alexa smiled at him. “I’m Alexa Marx. I’m in the contest…”

“I know you’re in the contest, miss,” the old man interrupted. “Kind of surprised to see you here so soon. It’s probably not safe.”

“Maybe,” Alexa shrugged. “But I need new footgear.” She explained the whats, whys and wherefores of her situation.

“Took her boots, eh?” the old man laughed. “Well, turnabout’s fair play. And those pinch?”

“Yes.”

“Well,” he rubbed his chin. “There are some boxes under that table there, the one with the shirts and jeans piled on it. Have a look through them and see if you can find anything that fits.”

“Thanks.” Alexa went over to the indicated table. There were two big cardboard boxes under it. She pulled out the first one and had a brief moment of despair. Shoes and boots were simply dumped in there, in no apparent order. She even saw a couple of pairs of high heels. She saw a desert boot that might fit her and started to pull it out of the jumble. That’s when she realized that there was some order in all the apparent disorder: Each and every shoe was tied to its mate, sometimes with string, sometimes by their shoelaces. She pulled off Lynette’s boots and tried on the new ones. They felt as if they fit okay, so she laced them up and walked around in them for a bit. They felt a little snug, but she was still wearing two pairs of socks. Speaking of socks, she should probably get some new ones, because the forest trails had not been kind to the ones she was wearing. She shoved the box of footwear back under the table and held up Lynette’s boots.

“What should I do with these?” she asked. “I promised I’d leave them here.”

“Oh, just leave ‘em on the table, miss. If they want ‘em back they can take ‘em. Say, would you like to have some fresh coffee?” He hit a switch on the coffeemaker he’d been fiddling with and Alexa heard a familiar gurgling sound. A moment later, a wonderful, familiar smell filled her nostrils.

“Well,” she said hesitantly as she went over to the kitchen side of the building. “Maybe just one cup.”

“It’ll be ready in a minute. By the way, call me Smith. You’re kinda interestin’. Never seen a woman settle on the first pair of shoes she tried on before.”

Alexa laughed and sat down on one of the mismatched chairs. “I can’t afford to be picky,” she said. “Where’d all those boots and shoes come from, anyway?”

“They were left here by other ladies,” Smith answered. “We got some nice clothes that were left here too, if you’re interested.”

“Uh…no, thanks,” Alexa shook her head. “Maybe some other time. Any socks?”

“Not at the moment,” Smith shook his head. “So, what was the name of the woman who got caught?” he asked. He took a big coffee mug and held it under the drip spout as he carefully poured coffee into it from the half-filled glass pot.

“Lynette. Lynette Meade,” Alexa replied quickly, her eyes fixed on the steaming mug.

“Lemme guess,” Smith went on. “Tall girl, light brown hair, real angry?” He offered the mug to Alexa.

“You must have read the files,” Alexa laughed as she accepted the precious gift. She took a sip. It was hot, and very good.

“Actually, no,” Smith said. He pointed at the nearest window. “Looks like they’re bringin’ her in right now.”

“What?” Alexa turned her head to see. Yep, there was Lynette, being led on a leash. She kept fighting it, which was probably why one of her captors was behind her, urging her along roughly. Alexa saw that they’d gagged her with something large, black and cylindrical wedged between her back teeth. It didn’t seem to stop her from making a lot of noise, even if none of it came out as words.

“They made damned good time,” Alexa observed. She expected them to come inside, but instead they all went around behind the building. “Where are they going?” she asked as she turned back to Smith.

“There’s some sheds out back they use,” Smith answered. “There’s equipment available that you just can’t find in the woods. Say, you look a mite hungry. I was about to cook up some sausage, eggs and home fries. You interested?”

“How do I know you’re not just stalling, keeping me here until more hunters show up?” Alexa asked.

“It’s against the rules,” Smith replied.

“Oh. Well, in that case, sure, I’m in.” Alexa smiled. “How much?’

“On the house,” Smith said. “It won’t take long.”

A few minutes later, Alexa was sopping up the last of the egg yolk with some home fries. Smith offered her a refill on her coffee and she accepted.

The front door opened, the bell rang and Chuck walked into the trading post.

“Hey, Smith,” he greeted the old man. Then he looked at Alexa. “Didn’t expect to see you here,” he said. “I thought you were in a hurry.”

“I was,” Alexa answered. “I am. How’d you get here so fast?”

“Oh,” Chuck shrugged. “She made so much fuss about walking barefoot through the woods that we took turns carryin’ her for a while. Say, just how mad are you at her?”

“Pretty damned mad,” Alexa said.

“Want to do something about it?”

“What do you mean?” Alexa was wary.

“Just come on out and have a look. I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

“Let me finish, first.” Alexa wolfed down the last of her meal. She took the coffee cup with her. “Okay,” she said. “Let’s go.”

She followed Chuck around behind the trading post. There were three sheds out there, each one with three wooden walls and a sloping roof. She stopped dead when she saw Lynette. The men had stripped her naked and locked her into stocks, with her back towards the open part of the shed. Her legs were parted wide, tied at the ankles to something set in the ground. It presented a very interesting view. Chuck’s companions were running their hands over Lynette’s bare flesh, making her squirm and complain.

“She can’t see anything behind her at all,” Chuck said quietly to Alexa. “And she doesn’t know you’re here. Anything you’d like to do to pay her back?”

For all the wishing for dire revenge she’d done after Lynette had taken her boots, now that she was presented with an opportunity she couldn’t think what to do.

“Here,” Chuck said as he took down a wide leather strap from a hook and handed it to her. “Don’t you want to whip that ass?”

Well, yes. Yes, she did. “She can’t see me?” she asked in a whisper.

“Not at all,” Chuck replied. “Go ahead, lay one on her.”

Alexa moved a little closer and brought the strap up. She hesitated, savoring the moment, and then brought the strap down as hard as she could across Lynette’s taut, round, right butt cheek. It made a satisfyingly loud noise, followed immediately by a shriek of outrage and pain from Lynette. Grinning wickedly, Alexa brought the strap up again and brought it down on Lynette’s taut, round left butt cheek. Lynette screamed again, struggling uselessly.

“You can keep going,” Chuck said. Alexa took him up on his offer, lashing the backs of Lynette’s thighs, and then her calves. The strap had left wide red marks.

“Go again?” Chuck suggested. Alexa thought for a moment. “No,” she answered. “Now I want her to know it’s me.”

“Go for it,” Chuck shrugged. He gestured for his companions to move away from Lynette. Alexa had one brief moment of wondering what she was doing. Then she moved in, pressing herself up against Lynette and reaching forward to play with Lynette’s breasts. They weren’t quite as big as the skier always tried to make them appear. Alexa pinched the other woman’s n*****s and started bumping up against her as if she was f*****g her. Lynette squirmed and made complaining noises. It sounded as if the big black bit gag was still wedged between her teeth. Alexa stopped pinching and started caressing. Lynette relaxed a little.

“Isn’t this nice?” Alexa crooned to the other woman. “Mmmm…you have delicious t**s, dear.”

Lynette exploded into squirms, struggles and more muffled complaints. Alexa ignored her and kept humping away until she remembered that the three men were watching her. She looked up. They all seemed very interested in what she was doing.

“I really have to be going,” she said. “This was fun, though. Thanks.” She slapped Lynette’s ass as she stepped back.

“Sure you can’t stay a little longer?” Chuck asked.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Alexa looked at Lynette. “Have fun, girl,” she said, patting Lynette’s rump gently. Lynette still flinched. Well, from the big red marks on her ass and legs she had to be pretty sore. She made a snarling noise.

“It was nice meeting you guys,” Alexa said to the three men. She didn’t wait for a reply. She set out at a trot, heading north, which wouldn’t take her anywhere near her camp. They already knew what direction she’d come from, and she couldn’t do anything about that, but heading off in a different direction might be enough to throw other hunters off her trail if they came across Chuck and his buddies and got to talking. Once she was out of sight of the trading post she turned right, looking for her stream again. It was later in the day than she’d planned on, but she just couldn’t resist rubbing it in with Lynette.

She’d have to move her campsite now. There was no way around that. Word that she was in this area would have to spread. The only question was where could she move to? Right now every place seemed as good as any other place. And she really didn’t know the area all that well.

She came to the stream and stopped to rest for a moment. It was starting to get dark, but she thought she could get back to her camp with a little bit of daylight left. But, she’d have to hurry.

When she saw her camp, she froze. Someone had been here. She always completely covered everything with leaves and pine needles, but now she could see part of her sleeping bag. She faded back into the woods, crouched down, and looked and listened. She didn’t see or hear anything. For a moment she debated gathering up her stuff and getting the hell out of there, but if she did that whoever had been here could come back and know she’d returned. How easy would it be for them to track her? Of course, there was the possibility that her camp had been discovered by someone who didn’t have her on their list, or even just disturbed by some animal, but why take the chance? She still had two caches, and each one had a sleeping bag, and more food. She backed away from her camp slowly and silently, and then set out eastwards.