Me: 'ello! I must mention I can only get on on the weekends. I also recently got a Numbuh 3 and a Numbuh 4 plushie, w00t! Anyway…here's the next chapter!
7. Captured!
Winnie was so drowsy that she could not tell if she was awake or not. Her limbs felt like they were weighted down by bricks and her wrists couldn't come too far apart without being stopped. A loud sniggering was heard followed by an acute swish.
Thwack!
The force of the blow sent the warrior-maiden against the wall and caused her back to arch in pain. She opened her pain-stricken dark pallor blue eyes. 30c was swinging a long whippy willow cane. The second stroke caught her left shoulder. Winnie leapt up at him to teach the little blighter a lesson. But the second she did, she was pulled right back down, manacles clanking around her.
She was chained!
30c laughed as he raised his cane, "Come on, spoilt brat, pipsqueak, treehouse pet, can't stop me now!"
The vicious branch rose and fell consistently, each time leaving a new wound to tend to on the young girl. 30c danced in celebration.
"Haha! Take this and that and th-"
His cane swung too slow. Winnie grabbed it and pulled 30c in. She bit, hit, and struck madly away at 30c accompanied by her chains.
"Owowowowowow! Help! She'd murdering me!" 30c screeched.
Sackdroll the slaver toughly broke up the fight. He harshly tossed Winnie down and threw 30c at the wall.
"By the Devil's furnace! Shut up already! What's going on here?"
"Stop telling me what to do, Snotdrool! Cree said I could give the twerp a good beatin' when she was chained up!" 30c remonstrated.
"Some beating, looked like she was giving you a good one for."
30c picked up the cane, "Not this time. I'll give her a good beating she won't forget soon!"
Sackdroll snatched the cane from the boy. "No you won't, rat rag. I was put in charge while Cree is gone. She want no noise around here, see? Now, get out of my sight before I lay this cane 'cross your back!"
30c scurried off, not wanting to be on Sackdroll's bad side.
Winnie looked around her, immediately spotting Chip, Luna, Carmen, and Stan. She waved to them.
"Hey, guys! What 'appened?" She asked.
"Shut the noise trap there!" The Interesting Twins shouted, each having a dagger pointed at Winnie. "Silence now, you'll waist valuable breath you'll need for marching."
When they left, a boy next to Winnie whispered, "Those are the Interesting Twins, they can be quite nasty at times. I'm Emmett Muffler, and you?"
"Winnie Beatles."
"Ohoo, where am I? Please take these dreadful chains off me. Wahaahaa, lt me go, wahaaahaa!"
The cries were that of Shia Sanban, cousin of Kuki Sanban. She was chained on the other side of Emmett, next to Luna, and had just awakened.
Ayessur ran over to Shia. She thrust her face a fraction away from Shia's. Dagger at hand, she shouted at the already frightened girl.
"Shut up or I'll give you something to really weep about."
Shia silently shivered with fear.
Cree bounded in through the back door, her red and blue diamond patterned mask and cloak plastered with water to her. She wrung her cloak to rid it of rainwater.
"Man is it comin' down hard out there. Oh well, to our advantage. There'll be no tracks for them to follow in this downpour. We'd best get marching now. The cart decoy will keep them busy."
Sackdroll and Ayessur brought out a long running chain. The captives were forced to stand while they ran it through their manacles and locked it securely at both ends. Winnie found that she was between Emmett and Chip. Luna, Shia, Carmen, and Stan were behind Emmett. Cree quickly checked and approved the line. She then began to twirl her three-headed mace expertly.
"I am Cree. You have all been captured by me and are my slaves now," her cloak swirled and her eyes glared cruelly through the twin eyeslits in the mask as she spoke. "If I say you walk, then you will, if I say you will run then you will run like your life depended on it. If I decide that you shall live, you'll live. If I decide you won't then I'll make sure you die. If ever you would be so rebellious as to escape, then my little friend here will retrieve you."
The teen launched the weapon at the nearest tree and it snapped like a twig.
She shrugged without a care as Sackdroll got it for her, "And if you can still walk after that, Then I'll have to toss you into the nearest ditch. A crippled slave is no use to anyone now is it?"
Winnie gulped. This girl was serious.
Cree turned to her slavers, "Keep these young ones marching south. We'll have to put as much distance between the Kids Next Door and us as possible. Move out!"
The domain's door was shoved open as the running chain of prisoners marched out into the downpour that drenched anything in its path as they began their long and treacherous journey to the mansion.