CH 131
Joan was taking her turn at watching the scry that showed a portion of a dirt street. To keep the spells active, Harry had to stay nearby, but he was working on a method to get them up and out of that world faster. A direct portal to there and they could just put a ladder down and Bob, Delilah and Anne could just climb up. There would be no need for Anne to possibly get lost in the astral plane and possibly not be able to contact the sheriff, who was also waiting near by.
"I got the ladder," Alison said from the doorway. "It's an extension ladder, so it can reach as far as we want!"
"The one we used for roof work," Joan said.
"Yup! it can extend 25 feet. It doesn't look that far down," Allison agreed.
Harry paused in his searching to say, "Just make sure it doesn't touch the edges of the spell, or the spell might collapse."
Joan looked at the size of the circle, then the ladder. "That will be a tight fit. Especially if someone's climbing."
"Someone's butt hitting the edge might do it too," Allison said.
"So the ladder's out," Joan said. "What about pulling them up on a rope?"
"That should work. They just hang on and we pull them up through," Allison agreed.
Joan looked around and said, "Bring the ladder in, We stand it up angled here the low end by that wall, the upper end against this wall. Rope straight down the hole, and we can pull them up and out!"
The got to work setting the ladder up.
"I haven't figured out how to make that portal yet," Harry reminded them.
"We're not worried, we know you'll do it," Joan beamed.
"They have faith in you Harry," Hothbert said. He then whispered, "No matter how misguided."
.
Walking to the main street, Bob saw people clearing the way for them. He also saw Nathaniel looking down the street. He had an idea. "Nathaniel!" he called and went over to him.
"We have to go," Delilah reminded him.
Bob raised a finger. "I know, just a minute."
Nathaniel eye the people with Robert. "Robert, they destroyed Eric the Black's keep. You know them?"
Bob nodded. "With him in it. Yeah, that's my mother-in-law Delilah and Anne, the sheriff's secretary. Look, you said you'd like to change things, didn't you?"
"I think you already did," Nathaniel said eyeing the women.
"I have to go. I'm giving you the house. Give me your coin purse."
"You're robbing me?' Nathaniel asked.
"Nope, I'll fill it for you," Bob said and held his hand out.
Nathaniel dumped the dozen or so silvers he had into his hand and handed the purse over. Bob went over to Delilah and opened the chest. He dug out a couple handfuls of gold, then filled the rest with silver and handed Nathaniel the purse back, now filled to bulging with coins. "Here, this should be enough gold and silver, you can run this town. You can straighten out all the shit you don't like. The house is yours too. So you wanna be the new lord of this town?" Bob coaxed.
Nathaniel stared at Bob a moment, then said. "Who are you, really? You disarmed and killed a bandit, word has it you killed Eric's son the same way, then you brought down his keep on top of him. You are no ordinary worker."
Delilah came over and said, "He's a Connor. We must go. Now."
"Take care of your people, Nathaniel," Bob said with a wave then followed Delilah.
.
"Hey, they're here!" Joan cried. She got on the ladder and climbed up directly over the hole. "Allie, the rope!"
"I'm not ready yet!" Harry told them.
"We'll try it anyway," Joan said and took the rope. "If we lose a piece of rope, it's no big deal."
Allison said, "Hold on!" She went out and got a stick and tied it onto the rope. "Lower the stick down. If something happens to it, then we'll it won't work!"
Hothbert frowned. "It may go down, but not back up."
Joan lowered the rope, making sure it was through the center of the hole. Passing through the circle, light flashed around the stick and the rope that followed. Joan stopped it hanging in the air and pulled up. The stick came back up.
"It works!" Joan beamed. She lowered the stick back down, this time all the way to the ground.
.
On the street, Anne grinned. "They got a rope through Harry's spell! We can just go straight back."
"All right!" Delilah cheered. Thinking quickly she said, "The circle isn't that big. Bob, send Hanna up through first."
"Why Hanna?" Bob asked.
"In case it doesn't work," Hanna said in a monotone. She hugged Bob and said, "In case I don't survive, thank you, Master."
Delilah took the stick off the end and tied a knot in the end of the rope to help Hanna hold on. "Here, hold onto this. Let yourself hang straight down. I'm sure someone will be helping you at the other end." She then jerked her thumb in the air. The rope started raising.
Looking down, Joan asked, "Who's that?"
Allison shrugged. "Delilah had her go first, I'm sure there's a reason. Haul her up."
Joan did.
.
Hanna braced herself, gripping the rope and her eyes tight shut. Everyone watched as the rope disappeared, then her arms. The Hanna began disappearing until she was gone.
Hanna then felt someone grab her and pull her to the side. She heard, "Got her." When she felt ground under her feet, she opened her eyes.
"Let go of the rope, we have to bring others up." the young woman in front of her said.
"She's hurt," a woman who had to be a twin sister said. The woman scoop her up in her arms and said, "Anyone else who's hurt, bring them up to the house."
One by one, people were lifted up to disappear. A crowd gathered on the street to watch the amazing event. Anne teleported up through with the chest, not having to use the rope.
Joan lifted up three more girls, Allison guided them outside. Then Bob was lifted up with Jenny holding tight to him. Delilah came up last.
"Yes, we did it!" Joan cried. She jumped off the ladder to hurry out with Allison.
With everyone up, Harry dispelled the magic. The circle disappeared, the water ran all over the floor.
At the moment, Joan only saw Bob was back and safe. A red head was between them. Joan pushed her aside and she and Allison hugged Bob in a three way hug, with lots of kissing.
"You're back! we were so worried!" Joan exclaimed.
"Yes, no more getting kidnapped for Bob!" Allison added.
"Don't you call him that, his name's Robert!" one of the red heads snapped.
Joan turned her head to frown at the woman. "Who are you?" she asked.
"Malinara, no." Bob said firmly.
Malinara proudly said, "I'm Robert's slave, and so is Jo and Dina here."
"Slaves?" Joan asked. She then turned to eye Bob. In a flat tone she said, "Wanna explain that?"
"I do, can we go inside? There's much to explain," Bob said quickly as he looked into Joan's reddening eyes.
Delilah giggled, "Yes, let him explain before you show your unhappiness."
"Yes, and it better be good," Allison said, eyeing Bob. They each hooked one of his arms and let him to the house, casting unhappy looks at him. Instead of a happy reunion, it looked like Joan and Allison were holding him prisoner.
.
Joan parked Bob in a chair across from the couch where Joan and Allison settled down on, casting Bob an evil eye. Behind Bob, Malinara, Jo and Dina stood.
Coming through the room, Cameron guided Hanna out, saying, "You should be fine in a few days. Then we can figure out what to do with you." Seeing the looks Joan and Allison were giving to Bob, she asked, "What's going on out here?"
"Bob was about to explain his slave harem," Allison said flatly.
"Ah," Cameron said knowingly. "You mean why he saved these girls from horrid abuse? Come with me, I can show you first hand why."
Joan and Alison got up to follow Cameron. "Don't move," Joan growled at Bob.
Bob sat squirming in place while they were gone.
"We will not let them hurt you, Master," Jo intoned.
"I'm not your master any more," Bob said. "You don't need a master any more."
"What's their problem?" Malinara asked in a huff. "So you have six instead of just two? That only increases your status."
"Not here, it doesn't." Bob replied.
"You were going to have us run," Malinara said. "Why not run with us now?"
Bob rolled is eyes. "First of all, I love Joan and Allison. We made a home here and I am not about to leave. If you want to run, go. You can exchange your bags of coin for the currency we use at a bank. You're not slaves any more, you can go live like you want to."
"Then we will live with you," Jo stated.
.
Joan and Allison's faces were open in shock as they saw the bruises and bite marks Hanna bore. "Tell me the man who did this to you is dead," Joan said.
"He is. Robert killed him. That's how Robert got us. Instead of just using us, he had been kind to us. Even to me ... looking like this. He made me stay in bed and rest, he wouldn't let me work." Hana explained. "Robert is a very good Master."
"Where'd you get the bag of silver and gold from?" Cameron asked.
Frowning, Hanna said, "Robert gave us those to spend when he sent us away because Eric the Black was after him. We could not leave him by himself. He was going to stay and distract the soldiers while we fled. I will not leave him to save myself. Neither did anyone else. we refused to leave him alone to face the army by himself."
Cameron asked Joan and Allison, "Do you see?"
"Yeah," Joan said, feeling sorry for this girl who'd been badly abused. She saw all too clearly. Bob was the first man they saw that was decent to them, of course they would hold tight to him. She motioned to the bed. "She can stay here for now. At least until she's healed up."
"There is no slavery here," Allison said, "So you're not a slave any more."
"I do belong to Robert," Hanna stated.
"No, the only one you belong to, is you," Joan told her. "Same with the others. We understand better now. We still need to hear what he has to say about all this."
.
Joan and Allison went back out and sat on the couch. "Explain," Joan said to Bob, eyeing him.
Bob did, he told the mostly everything (leaving out the dual redheads in his bath and the girl pile in his bed). He explained how terrible things were there, and his 'buying' Jenny so she wouldn't be killed, then his fight where he killed Eric's son and trying to get his 'household' to flee before Delilah and Anne showed up.
"So, Bob, you at least tried to act honorably?" Allison asked.
Malinara balled her fists and took a stomp forward as she yelled, "Quit calling him that! His name is Robert!"
"What's wrong with Bob?" Joan asked.
Shifting her glare to Joan, Malinara said, "Bob is when you use your mouth on a guy's shaft. That is very insulting to call him that!"
Joan grinned as did Allison. They looked at Bob and burst out laughing.
"His name is Robert!" Malinara said again and stomped her foot.
Cackling away, Joan waved a hand at her. She quelled her mirth enough to say, "OK we get it."
"Do we ever," Allison agreed, chuckling.
"It doesn't mean that here," Bob explained. "Bob is only a nickname for Robert," he explained.
Malinara spun to frown at him. "A very insulting one!" she stated.
"It is," Dina agreed.
"Fine, how about Rob then?" Bob asked.
Malinara eyed him. "You want to be known as a Robber?"
"No, just Rob."
"You should insist on being called Robert, that is your name," Jo stated.
"It is!" Malinara agreed.
Allison clapped a hand on Joan's shoulder, leaned towards her and said, "We should keep them around for the entertainment value."
"No more Boatface Bob," Joan said with a fake sigh.
They laughed again.
Bob rubbed his forehead. At least he wasn't being beaten on.
Joan collected herself enough to stand up and say, "Girls, pay attention! Slavery here is against the law! So, if you insist on being slaves, you'll have to go to jail. You can be maids, workers, servants, but NO one in this world can be a slave. Got it?"
"What's jail?" Jenny asked.
"A very small room made of steel bars that they never let you out of!" Joan intoned.
Jenny hurried over and hid behind Bob.
"Hon, don't scare her," Bob pleaded.
"Wasn't trying to," Joan offered. "I just wanted to impress to the others here, slavery is not allowed." Scanning 'Bob's harem', Joan smirked briefly at what they knew as 'bob'. "However, if you girls want to work here while you learn about how things are done here, we could use a couple maids and say, a cook?"
Dina said, "I can cook, and Hanna was the cook's assistant."
"Good. I'll show you around the kitchen."
Dina frowned. "I know my way around the kitchen."
"You do, huh?" Joan asked.
"I do!"
"OK, then get the steaks out of the freezer to thaw for dinner tonight. We'll need eight." Joan told her.
"Freezer?" Dina asked. "Is this like more magic?"
"No it's electric. It's in the kitchen, we keep our meat in there."
Dina paused, "Who are they for?"
"Myself, Allison, Bob, I mean Robert, you four and Mr. Dresden."
Dina nodded and stopped again.
Joan pointed to the door to the kitchen. "Over there, that door."
"OK." Dina said and walked to the kitchen.
"What do I do?" Malinara asked Bob.
Bob shrugged. "Whatever Joan wants you to do." He got up and said, "I'm going down to straighten out the clinic."
"I'll help!" Malinara said quickly.
"Hold on," Joan said as she grabbed Malinara's arm, stopping her. "I got something different for you."
Dina wandered out of the kitchen, looking lost. "Excuse me, this is a kitchen in here? I don't recognize anything. It's small, there's no hearth, no lights ... no anything!"
Yes, the entertainment value of them being here was to be considered. Instead of helping Bob like she wanted to, Joan led the harem girls in to show them how things worked in their kitchen.
.
"Fill this with water," Joan told Jo and handed her a bowl, then went to show Malinara and Dina how the stove worked. She didn't notice Jo leave the room.
"Where's the fireplace?" Dina asked scrutinizing the stove.
"No fire, each knob turns the burner on when you when you turn it like this. See the light? The farther you turn it, the hotter it gets."
Not seeing any fire, Malinara eyed Joan. "Which burner is on?" she asked.
"Front left side, see the picture in dots here?" Joan said, pointing to the icon.
Malinara didn't believe it, so she put her hand on it to see how warm it was. "Yeooow!" she cried, pulling her hand back and shaking it. "WHY is that so hot?"
"Because it's on?" Joan said with a smirk.
Dina looked at the stove and made a conclusion. "It's magic, right?"
"No, it's electric." Joan said. She motioned Malinara over to the sink. "Put your hand under cold water, over here."
Joan turned the cold water on so Malinara could sooth her burning hand. She then looked around and asked "Where did Jo go?"
.
Jo went to fill the bowl with water at the place she'd seen water, the lake. Walking down, she saw Robert in the building they had come out of, mopping the floor. Looking in she asked," Robert, why are you doing that! We should be doing that."
"I thought you were busy," he said. "What's with the bowl?"
"Joan wanted me to get water." she said and pointed to the lake.
Bob smirked. "Ah, Jo? You can get water right in the kitchen."
"I didn't see a barrel," she replied.
"It's there, trust me" he replied.
Jo frowned at him. "Where then?"
"Go ask Joan, I'm sure she'll show you."
Jo let out a huff and turned to go back to the house. She paused enough to say, "And we'll do that for you, so come relax."
"I'm fine, go help Joan or Allison." he said, waving her on.
"Robert, two of your fancy carts are missing."
What? He looked out at the driveway. "Cameron and Delilah went home, so?"
" Did they leave you any horses?" Jo asked.
Bob laughed. "The horses are under the hoods, in the front of the cars."
"That's not a very big space."
"They fit."
A form shot up out of the water at the end of the dock. "Ob!" Ellen said with a wave.
"Hey Ellen," Bob said, waving back. "elp?"
Ellen nodded and turned away to show a small alligator clinging to her hair. Bob went out and turned the alligator over to tickle it's belly. It let go, squirming in his hand. He tossed it in the water.
"An koo!" Ellen beamed and raised her arms at him. Bob knelt down and accepted her hug. She jumped back in and swam away.
"Who was that?" Jo asked, eyeing the ripples from Ellen's exit.
"One one the mers," Bob told her. "The young alligators like to catch rides in people's hair. Allie and Joan have had it happen to them too."
Jo eyed him and grabbed a handful of hair, then looked around on the ground. "They climb up on you?" she asked.
Bob laughed. "No, they only do that when you're swimming."
"They won't get you when you're standing on the ground," She concluded.
Bob winced. "Ahh, you do have to watch carefully when you walk, there are rattlesnakes around, and alligators do come up on the land too."
"Rattlesnakes?"
"Yes, they are venomous. The have a rattle on the end of their tail. They rattle it, and if you don't move away from them, they do bite," Bob explained. He scanned the area. In some bushes, he noticed an alligator tail. He pointed to it and said, "Look over there."
Jo looked. "I don't see anything."
Bob took her by the hand and moved them closer. "See that bush? Look under it, near the ground. That saw toothed looking thing behind it."
Jo studied it and asked, "That log?"
Bob shook his head. "It's not a log. That's an alligator's tail. Looks to be five, seven feet long. Probably sleeping. You should get back up to the house."
Jo gripped his hand and pulled. "Yes, let's go."
"Jo, I got work to do."
"No! I saw that little one, if they get that big, you'll be in danger here!" she hissed and pulled him.
Bob went along so she would go. "Jo, it's fine, he's sleeping, not bothering anyone."
"You're coming with me!" Jo stated, hauling hard on him.
.
Bob was glad the girls were fascinated about things in the house Joan and Allison were showing them, and paid no attention to him. With faces opened in amazement, they were in awe at a simple vacuum cleaner. They went crazy over the television where they could watch other people do things very far distances away. Getting water as easy as turning a knob delighted them as well. Even hot water.
A rule had to be made. Only flush the toilet ONCE, not again and again just to watch it.
.
Despite her surprise and instant anger at finding out Bob had a harem of slaves, Joan had found out Bob hadn't done it to collect women, but to shield them from how badly they'd been treated in that world. Talking to Malinara and Jo mostly, Joan found out that's all these women knew, how to properly serve as slaves so they would not get punished. Although very uneducated, none of them were dumb. They were just ingrained to serve their 'master.' Unfortunately, right now, they all saw Bob as their Master, and seeing how he was good to them, they weren't about to let go. To them, Bob was a safe haven.
Joan had thought she had their new roles laid out for them. Jo and Malinara were the housecleaning/maids, Hanna and Dina were kitchen help and laundry. Instead of a game room, the large empty room was split into two bedrooms so each had their own room. After dinner, Bob and Joan got a temporary wall up and thankfully, they had camping gear they weren't using so Hana and Jo had something to sleep on. Many of Joan or Allison's clothes fit, so each girl had more to wear than what was on their backs. Tomorrow was going to be a big shopping day.
Weary from the surprises of the day, Joan and Allison were ready for a sexy shower with Bob. The five foot square area of floor in the shower with two hand held nozzles and one fixed shower head that was adjustable and each were adjustable in temperature. The three of them piled in for some soapy fun together.
Away from the 'harem' for the day, Bob shared kisses and soaped up Joan and Allison in long strokes as as they soaped him and each other up. In their good clean fun, Joan and Bob made sure Allison's breasts were nice and clean, then paid attention to Joan's orbs. Holding and kissing Joan and lightly cleaning Allison's slit, Bob was very surprised to hear Hanna's voice.
"Robert, look! Most of my ugly spots are gone!"
All three stared in shock at a happy and naked Hanna in the shower with them.
Beaming her smile, Hanna petted her breasts and said, "See? That milk Cameron gave me really works good! Not only are the ugly spots going away, but they feel better too! So does my ribs here and my hip! I can..."
"WHAT are you doing in here?" Allison asked, interrupting her with a growl.
"Hanna, you need to leave, now," Joan added.
"Excuse me, can I use the soap?"
They turned to see Malinara had slipped in behind them. The shower door opened and Dina came in. JO was undressing out in the bathroom.
"EVERYONE, STOP!" Joan cried in a red eyed yell.
Malinara stopped and frowned at Joan. "The shower here is big enough for all of us, isn't it?" she asked innocently.
"THIS was OUR time with Bob, NOT YOURS!," Joan yelled, "GET OUT!"
Hanna blinked. Meekly she said, "Sorry, I was just excited I was healing well."
"Ahh, yeah," Malinara offered, looking confused. "Sorry to disturb your time with Robert," she said, stressing his name. "I thought we were all just going to get cleaned up in this wonderful shower place you have."
"NOT all at once," Joan growled at her, looking like she was ready to kill.
Dina backed out of the shower and coaxed Jo to get dressed as she did.
Hanna turned to run out and slipped. Out of instinct, Allison caught her from falling. She then forcefully helped Hanna out of the shower.
Joan grabbed Malinara by the hair and walked her out. "You can shower AFTER we are done!" Joan growled. Joan and Allison then turned to eye Bob.
Embarrassed and unsure what to do now, Bob said, "That sure was a mood killer."
.
Grumbling as they donned their robes and went into their bedroom, Bob was sure he wasn't getting any tonight.
"They are fuckin IMPOSSIBLE!" Joan growled as she clenched her fists. Throwing her arms up in the air, she focused her anger on Bob. "I know they need help, I know they need to be taught how to live their own lives and I try to understand but can you keep them OUT of the SHOWER and OUR BEDROOM?"
Trying to calm Joan down, he offered "They're not in our bedroom."
"Turn around," Joan growled.
Bob did. Yup, there was Malinara.
"We can use the shower now?' Malinara asked weakly.
"Yes," Bob said. "Just not when we're in it, OK? and Knock before you come in here."
"Knock and wait for permission," Allison said more pointedly.
"OK," Malinara said cautiously. "Robert, can I ask you something, out in the hallway?"
"Sure, shut the door on your way out," Bob told her. Looking at two pairs of red eyes, he said, "I'll go explain things to them."
"Please do," Allison said flatly.
Bob went out to see all four waiting for him.
"Why can't we shower with you? The bath was much smaller and three of us fit in there fine," Jo said.
Bob heard something break in the bedroom. Yup, they were listening. "Girls, look. If you remember I told you before, Joan and Allison don't want to share me with anyone else. Things are very different here. You don't need me nearby to be safe, OK? Ruining private time I have with Joan or Allison is really rude, and Joan doesn't get much as it is. We're all busy, especially Joan. We do have to work so our private time is precious to us."
"Robert," Malinara said, "I don't understand. You gave away a fortune, and now you have to go to work? Don't you see anything wrong with that?"
"You're right, Malinara, he is crazy," Jo said.
"I'm not crazy," Bob said firmly.
"Of course you're not," Hanna offered in a soothing tone. "People give away their fortunes all the time."
"We like the work we do," Bob told them. "Me, Joan, Allison, we play football. Joan plays with me on one team, in the other season, Joan plays with Allison."
"What's a football?" Dina asked.
"It's..." Bob though about explaining it, then instead, he said, "The point is, we have jobs and people depend on us to do them. If you want to watch a game, it will be on TV, and we have some videos of our games. I'll show you a video tomorrow, OK. My. Point. Is, we do not have a lot of time to enjoy each other, so I am begging you, to never interrupt us unless it is vitally important!"
"So, we can take a shower now?" Dina asked.
"Yes, be sure to turn the water off when you're done," he reminded them.
"When will you have your turn with us?" Hanna asked.
Bob could just hear Joan and Allison's hearing turn up when she asked that. If they didn't have their ears pressed to the door, he'd be surprised. "You won't," he stated.
Hanna frowned at him. "That's not fair! I get to be hit, bit and hung up by my boobs, but a nice guy like you doesn't want me?" she asked.
"It's..." Oh boy, he knew someone's hearing was turned to to the max. "Hanna, Joan and Allison are my girlfriends, I've known them for years. I've tried to tell you, they are the ones I want to be with."
"If they are off playing with these footballs, Can't you have us then?" Jo asked.
Bob was wishing he had a box to climb into, and someone to nail it shut. "Being boyfriend and girlfriend means I stay loyal to Joan and Allison as they are to me."
"I'm loyal to you, we all are," Malinara stated. The other three nodded.
"Can we pick this up tomorrow?" Bob asked hopefully.
"Sure, Master," Jo said with a crooked grin. "Let's go get clean."
Bob let out a sigh when they all headed for the bathroom. He went to reach for the knob, and the door opened.
Seeing Joan eye him, he said, "I'm exhausted."
"I can see that," she agreed and guided him in.
Bob was thinking for what she must have heard, she was either way too calm, or knew he was trying his best to ease away from the harem.
"Tell me about these baths, Who did you share with?" Joan asked in a frighteningly calm voice.
Slipping up on his other side, Allison said, "I want to hear this too."
Shrinking between them, he told them about him getting in, then Malinara and Jo climbing in with him. What frightened him most was they didn't yell.
"Joan, Allie, I never asked for any of that to happen. I am sorry it did," he offered.
Joan replied. "You do know if it had been under normal circumstances, they would be dead and you would be in serious pain."
"Yeah, I do," Bob agreed.
"How much they cling to you is making more sense," Allison said. "Once a girl has a guy, she wants to keep him."
"I am sure Hanna wants someone who is good to her, and not just brutally raping her when he feels like it," Joan added.
"When she's her a while, I'm sure she can meet someone," Bob offered.
"I think we need to find a psychiatrist for all four of them," Joan stated.
"That's a good idea," Bob agreed.
"I'll find one, you two are heading to Dallas in a week or two, right?" Allison asked.
"We are," Joan agreed. "I called the manager and told him we'd be there on time."
Allison nodded. "Then I'll handle the harem while you two are gone. What about that girl Jenny?"
"Her parents are dead, in another world. She had nowhere to go," Bob said sadly.
"Then we'll adopt her," Joan told him. "It would only seem right. You paid for her after all, didn't you?"
"That was to save her life," Bob said firmly.
"I'll get her in school," Allison said.
.