Chapter 7 2. Female prisoners

For a long time, Natalie stood there with her body stiff and motionless. The name she kept repeating and the figure standing on the boat tortured her bitterly. "Alan Rock... Alan Rock..." How did he know that she had left the villa?How did he find her?What is his purpose?Various answers collided in Natalie's mind, and she was so distraught that she finally had to turn to Captain Williams in terms that surprised even herself. "Captain, they're after me... I know this man. He's after me, and I'm afraid..." The captain smiled slightly: "Miss, they can chase you. But on my deck, they can't catch you."

"Are you sure? He's a daring man, capable of anything, and successful in everything." "But, miss, don't come to my ship. The days of pirates are over." "What are you going to do?" "I have no intention." "No?" "Absolutely not. We don't even need to pay attention to it. It's not easy to attack a well-equipped six-hundred-ton ship with only two people." "But what if he dares?..." "That's his luck. We'll just watch it go down. You have nothing to fear. There are foolish things no one does."

Natalie shook her head. "This man does what he says, there is no stupid thing for him..." The launch proceeded with uncommon smoothness.The distance between the two ships was shortening every second... fifty meters, forty, thirty... Natalie even saw Alan Rock's face.There was only thoughtfulness in his expression, not a hint of hostility, irritation or mockery.Alan Rock focused on measuring the distance, choosing a path, and decisively issued orders, his voice overwhelmed the whistling sea wind. Sailor Bertolt sat at the wheel and carried out the orders.Beside her was the woman, wrapped from head to waist in a purple woolen scarf.Natalie knew she was none other than the Italian singer.

When leaving 20 meters away, the motorboat cut to the right, leaving the track of the "Water Lily" and the billowing waves it set off, and soon it was in the same position as the yacht. "Damn it!" Captain Williams muttered angrily. "How can he stand on a small walnut shell? It's like walking a tightrope with his hands in his pockets." The sailors gathered around Captain Williams.Natalie clenched her fists and held onto the railing of the ship's side, her eyes fixed on the boat bumping in the churning waves.Alan Rock raised his head and held his hat in his hand.

He looked so calm from the beginning to the end, watching the operation of the boat very calmly, making people feel that as long as he is there, all difficulties and dangers will be no problem.The boat came up against the yacht. "It's crazy!" Captain Williams said angrily. "It's not crazy, what is it? He's going to sink. What the hell is he trying to do?" What does Alan Rock want to do?He tried to grab hold of the cable hanging over the side of the boat.Twice, he almost succeeded.However, the boat slammed into the hull of the "Water Lily" and was bounced away like a ball.For the third time, he jumped hard and grabbed the cable, his body was suspended in the air, and there was an abyss below him. With amazing strength, he pushed his legs on the side of the ship and climbed up to the deck.

Captain Williams was outraged.It was not an ancient pirate attack, and he was very annoyed. "Ah! No! No! Don't do it, man! Captain Williams can't be given a reason to say that he's turning a blind eye to such nonsense! . . . on the boat, isn't it, eh?" A moment of rage likewise took Natalie out of control, and she agreed to the captain's intimidation.She was also unwilling to let this "damn thing" appear by her side anyway, so she encouraged the sailors to add fuel to the fire for the captain's order. "Hurry up, everyone! He must not be allowed to be domineering... It's his bad luck."

Excessive excitement is only a momentary thing.No sooner had the ax touched the cable than she seized the hand that held it, snatched it from her, threw it far, far away, and bent over the sea again.The blow of the ax had but lightly grazed the cable, which was as strong as ever.Alan Rock had already touched the iron ring on the side of the boat, and supported his body against the bulwark with his wrist strength. All the sailors gathered together to block his way.A pistol was pointed at him. "Don't move! Or I'll shoot," the captain roared, pointing the gun in the assailant's face.

But Natalie squeezed in.Without saying a word, she stretched out her arms to protect Alan Rock.The people on the boat were pushed back by her and took a step back.As a result, there was a gap in front of Alan Rock. He took advantage of the situation and jumped onto the deck. He smiled, took off his hat again, and bowed slightly, just like he did in Villa Mirador. The movements are done lively, brisk, natural and generous. "Excuse me," he said. "I came here like an unexpected visitor. But, for your sake, madam, I have to." "For you, miss..." It was almost like a well-bred man paying his attentions to the woman he loves.After speaking, he was busy with other things.One end of the cable was looped around a copper post, and he untied the cable and dropped it.

"Come on," he called to his two accomplices. "Berto, are you ready?" Berto put down the steering wheel and the woman stood up too.He tied the cable in a knot, and the woman put her feet in the knot and grasped the cable with both hands, and Alan Rock wound the cable around the copper post and slowly pulled her up. The scene at that time was like practicing aerial acrobatics in a circus. There were no mistakes or unnecessary small movements, and it was done effortlessly, as if it had been repeated countless times on the protection net.Half a minute later, the woman came on deck; for the scarf had fallen, she showed her face.As Natalie reckoned, she was indeed the Italian singer.

According to Allen Rock's order, the motorboat turned around and headed back towards the French coastline. Alan Rock has thus accomplished the unbelievable, the unimaginable feat.Natalie ran away twice, but Alan Rock thwarted the obstacles she had deliberately set up and stood in front of her again. His victory was so obvious that she completely lost the idea of ​​resisting, and as for him, he didn't even think of the need to justify.There is no explanation between them.His actions will be explained by his subsequent actions.Natalie returned to the cabin and left the victor to deal with the ship's affairs.Captain Williams and crew will follow orders.

Moreover, it soon became apparent that he was a man who commanded, and therefore had a right to be obeyed. The posture in which he steered the wheel, and the tone in which he gave orders to change course, showed that it was his profession and habit to give orders.Ten minutes after he boarded, the "Water Lily" changed her course to the southwest, that is, to Spain, and headed straight for the southeast, that is, Italy, or Sicily to be precise.Alan Rock became master of the boat, just as he manipulated the development of the entire event. If Natalie hadn't restrained herself, she would have quarreled with anger and humiliation.She was a captive now, a veritable captive, as she had been in the days of piracy.She is not the freed queen that Alan Rock said on the first day they met, but a slave who was imprisoned and kept under strict supervision.The role of the Queen seems to be occupied by the woman who sings on the streets and in nondescript cafes, a favorite concubine who is inseparable even for a moment, and takes her by her side to share the victory. Natalie really didn't understand.She shut herself in the cabin, staring at the porthole, the faint light in the cabin was trying to resist the dark world, remembering the scene of meeting him for the first time at Mirador Villa, she found herself saying to Alan Rock She can remember every word she said clearly, and she also remembers every little thing that happened on that unusual night.He held up the lamp, looked at Natalie face to face, and said, "I've seen you before. The sun was shining all around you, and you were in the garden by the fountain. Yes, we had a minute together in our lives once." , so, I look for you everywhere. I add myself to your life, and finally I will find myself." This is what he said, and he said other things that he denies today, because what he did was completely the act of the enemy.She was terrified, but she was always waiting for him in her heart, and she believed that he would come to explain, or on the contrary, to accuse her of why she had run away.It was impossible not to come to her while she was close at hand. She was wrong.He didn't come. He rang the bell and had supper brought. Two hours passed.Thinking that everyone was asleep except the watchman, she quietly came on deck.Two dark figures stood together, one next to the other, with their backs against the engine room at the stern.A nearby light identified them as Alan Rock and the Italian woman.They don't look like they're chatting.Probably said a few words, that's all, and the voice was very soft.She wanted to hear it clearly.However, not a single word was heard. She didn't think about it, and in an uncharacteristic situation, she let her emotions drive her. Even she herself knew that what she did was shameful and hateful.She rushed towards Alan Rock and whispered to him: "What is your purpose? How can a person do such a thing? Be so rude to me!  …" She no longer knew what she was talking about, and when she realized it, she ran away without finishing her sentence, without even understanding the purpose of the accusation.She went back to the cabin and bolted and locked the door, hurt and trembling with old and new hatred.Such is the pain of self-importance, the most unbearable pain of a woman who never doubts herself, never doubts her own power. At this time, she saw that book again, just like a person praying to the oracle when he was in trouble, she was so childish that she wanted to get some inspiration from it, so she opened a page casually. "The secret of love lies deep in my lonely heart..." The secret of love!What an insult.She opened the porthole and threw the book into the sea. She didn't fall asleep until early morning, but this time she slept soundly and without dreams. It was evening when she awoke, and the "Water Lily" was motionless.The chugging of the machine stopped.Through the porthole, she saw a pier, cars rolling by, and a few houses.She quickly put on her clothes and walked out of the cabin, calling Captain Williams. "Well, where are we?" "Palermo." Her eyes flicked around and saw neither Alan Rock nor the Italian singer. "Where is he?" "gone." "Huh? Gone?" "Yes, there was only one word at parting: Thank you, captain. He wanted to give me five hundred francs to distribute to the crew. I refused. So he crumpled up five bills and threw them into the sea. Then , he asked me to deliver a letter to you, miss. Then he took his girlfriend and left, as if nothing had happened, like a passenger on a fine steamer. Hey! The damned thing!  …” The captain took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to the girl, who opened the envelope vigorously.Inside were a few lines scrawled in pencil: Natalie didn't hesitate.She was free, thinking only of running away for the third time, and getting back to sea again.The captain told her that she had to wait for some of the sailors who had landed to return.She had no choice but to walk around on the deck, looking helpless and anxious. The machine started.Three sailors had returned, and then the remaining one.But just as they were about to pull up the gangway, Natalie suddenly changed her mind, and after a few words to the captain, she hurried away with a bag on her back. A taxi stopped at the door of the church."Is that Miss Manolson?" asked the coachman. "Miss Manolson," Natalie answered in the affirmative. She got into the car. The road is rough and full of water after the rain.The rolling hills are planted with fig and citrus trees.Natalie couldn't see anything, she didn't see anything, she just sank into a hazy dream, feeling painfully that she was doing something against her will.Why did you agree to make this trip?Why inexplicably succumbed?The coincidence of her father's death and Jericho's being in Sicily could not have influenced her own decision.But what? ... The road spiraled up, and the hills gradually disappeared into the night.Natalie arrives late at a seedy little hotel where two men sit drinking by the fireplace.Another guy is smoking a cigarette.The old woman who kept the inn looked at the three men and the shop, the plastered walls blackened, as she searched for the visitor book.Natalie wrote her name in the register, and Mrs. Zer took her to a room on the second floor, where dinner was arranged to be delivered. She had never experienced such a predicament, and she really wanted to cry it out.The hotel looked eerie, and she even wondered if she had fallen into a trap.The chauffeur, the innkeeper, and the three at the table were probably all in the same gang.In case of murder, who would know what happened to her? She decided to spend the night in a chair.She was half awake, half asleep, feeling agitated, her ears pricked up vigilantly, regretting that she had blown out the candle, and not having the courage to relight it.The church bell rang punctually.Twenty minutes after midnight, around this time, she shivered suddenly, convinced that someone behind the chair was trying to open the window.She didn't dare to look back, didn't dare to shout, even if she wanted to, she couldn't, because she was so scared that her throat was choked. But the sound became more and more distinct, allowing her to judge every movement of the visitor, the prying of the shutter, the squeaking of the glass, the turning of the handle.A cold wind blew over suddenly.The window is open.Someone came in. A flash of lightning appeared around her.The back of the chair blocked her, and she hoped to stay still so that no one would notice.However, the man walked towards her and almost touched her.She was terrified, and believed that she had touched her. Suddenly, she mustered up her courage and stood up abruptly, ready to fight to the death with the other party. Before Natalie could see the figure of the attacker clearly, the flashlight had gone out.A hand grabbed her throat.She sat down again with a plop, completely losing the ability to resist in the panic. The thing went on for at most a minute or two.The hand did not continue to exert force.Natalie can breathe freely. However, another hand fumbled here and there on her neck.Her hood was loosened.A button of the underwear was undone.Natalie shuddered with fear and loathing.What does he want to do?She suddenly understood. That hand grasped a piece of jewellery, like someone hanging a reliquary, a pendant she kept on her breast at all times, an ancient reliquary. The man snapped the gold chain and snatched the jewelry. Natalie didn't fight back.He jumped out of the window and escaped.