A Tangled Web Ch. 03

Vera started to unbutton her coat and, in doing so, revealed her dress underneath.

"Look at the fancy frock! The only work this one was expecting to do would be done lying on her back," one of the women jeered causing the others to laugh. "Looks like a chou biaozi, dresses like a chou biaozi. Is that what you are, a chou biaozi?"

"No, really... I..." Vera again struggled with the slang. 'Chou' she knew was 'stinking' but 'biaozi' was new to her. "I don't even know what you mean."

"It means you're sort of trash who only does it for what she can get out of it. We know your sort," the woman continued. "We get them all the time. You get your kicks from being treated like the trash you are; you've heard about Madam Hong's reputation so you think you'll try it on. On the outside it's all 'please don't hurt me' but inside you're begging for it. A good roughing up just makes your choubi drip with pleasure; you act all posh but you're not, you're just a huli jing who wants a good 'cao'. Isn't that right? Isn't that how it is?"

Horrified at this onslaught Vera glanced up at the poop deck where Xui-Li was leaning against the rail watching the show but there was no help coming from that quarter. It was vital to Vera's cover that she continued to play along, that, somehow, she was willing to take this abuse. The crew seemed to think she was some kind of harlot; was that the role she was supposed to play?

"Please, ma'am...." she turned back to the boatswain.

"Oh stop your snivelling and get your clothes off!" the boatswain snarled. "Whatever else you are you're our huli jing now and you had best not forget it - move!"

From her vantage point on the poop deck Xui-Li watched the hazing. The crew were used to her bringing on board the simpering little girls who just adored 'a bit of rough' and, although their bark was worse than their bite, Xui-Li could appreciate how the crew's rough and ready ways would be very intimidating to a naive young woman like Vera whose life, up to this point, had been one of privilege and luxury. For all that, whatever sympathies Xui-Li might have felt, Jun-Lui was still the enemy, was still here on false pretences; let her pay the price for her iniquity, let the girl suffer a little. As she watched Vera unbuttoned her dress and the crew were 'helping' her in their own inimitable fashion. Xui-Li could see that the poor girl was nearly in tears but she certainly wasn't going to stop the show. With Vera now down to her full-length corset the girls were certainly having fun. Two of the crew held her by the arms whilst the boatswain had taken out her knife and was using the tip to tug at the lacy ornamental bows.

"What's this then, what sort of rag do you call this?" the boatswain mocked.

"It's my corset, Ma'am."

"A bit too fancy for my tastes; only a chou biaozi would wear a something like this, wouldn't they?"

"Yes, ma'am," Vera admitted.

"So, what does that make you?"

"A chou biaozi, Ma'am." Vera knew this game from back in school when the teachers would use similar tricks.

"Well, at least you admit it. Now, take it off."

With this Vera was flung to the deck where, on her hands and knees and to the derisive laughter of the crew, she struggled with the fasteners until the corset was undone and she could shrug it off. With the corset gone there was nothing to hold up her stockings, which were now puddled around her knees. Almost automatically Vera took them off as well; she couldn't afford another ruined pair.

"Well, it finally looks like you're getting the idea," the boatswain commented. "Now stand up and let's have a look at you." Vera struggled to her feet. "Look girls, she's got a hole in her drawers!"

Vera was indeed wearing split leg directoire knickers and the boatswain came up behind her and, putting one arm around her shoulders to hold her tight, reached down with the other and slipped it through the gap, probing roughly between Vera's legs with her fingers.

"You like that, don't you. Now open wide like a good girl."

For a moment Vera opened her mouth before she realised what her tormentor meant and she moved her legs apart allowing the boatswain to push her hand deeper between her thighs. The boatswain immediately curled her fingers so that they pushed roughly between Vera's lower lips.

"Yeah, you love it. You love my fingers in your choubi." The boatswain tugged her hand back and forth vigorously. "You'd do anything for a good hard cao, the harder the better."

The combination of the dockside accent and the course vocabulary meant that it took a moment or two before Vera realised just what the boatswain meant and, when she finally worked it out, she was horrified at the suggestion. The very idea that she was in anyway enamoured of this brutal treatment by this... this... this horrible woman.... Another spasm of pain shot from her groin as a tug from the boatswain's hand nearly lifted her off her feet.

"Take off your top; show the girls your nainai."

"My 'nainai', ma'am'?" Vera again struggled to understand.

"Your nainai!" The boatswain grabbed Vera's breast with her free hand. "Show the girls your nainai." She gave a good shake to drive the translation home.

Still held in the boatswain's firm grip, Vera reached for the hem of her chemise and pulled it up until her nipples were just showing.

"I said take it off!" The woman's order was emphasised with another squeeze of her hand between Vera's thighs.

The boatswain loosened her grip around Vera's shoulders so that she could completely remove the chemise; her other hand, however, still held her firmly by the groin.

"Well, girls, what do you think?" The boatswain grabbed Vera's breasts and gave them a brutal squeeze.

"Judging by the udders on this cow maybe it is true that round eye girls do have bigger baoru than us," one joshed, and, coming up to Vera she grabbed each breast by the nipple gave them a shake. "Oooh, I could have fun with these."

"We're all going to have fun with them," the boatswain responded. "But as I outrank you I'm going to go first. Xiang, go and fetch the harness whilst I get her ready."

Xiang, the youngest of the crew, disappeared below decks whilst the boatswain and the other two led Vera to the capstan, and quickly and expertly, tied her arms to two of the spokes so that she was laid face up flat across the top. By the time they had finished Xiang had returned with a bundle of leather strapping. The boatswain took it from her and dangled it over Vera's face

"Do you know what this is, biaozi?" she jeered.

Vera looked at the bundle. At first it was a meaningless collection of leather straps but then she made out the wooden rod, a rod about nine inches long and an inch or so thick. The implications hit Vera straight in the stomach and she had to stop herself from crying out.

"It's a...." Vera struggled. She didn't know a suitable Mandarin word. "It's a male thing, ma'am."

"And can you guess where it's going?"

"In my...." Again Vera was lost without the correct word. "In me, Ma'am."

"Yeah, in your choubi and I'm the one who's going to push it in so hard you scream."

"Look, look, the little tramp is pissing herself!" Xiang pointed out in delight and, indeed, Vera's bladder had betrayed her and the crotch of her knickers were sodden with her urine, which was dripping down the side of the capstain.

All the while Xui-Li had been watching from her vantage point on the poop deck and was having growing doubts about what she was putting Jun-Nui through. Jun-Nui's losing control of her bladder finally brought her to a decision. She was terrified; Xui-Li was expert enough in terror to spot the signs and yet the girl, and that's all she was, had taken everything the crew had dished out without breaking, without losing her inner dignity. However this was about to go a step too far, it was about to include rape, there was no other way to put it, there wasn't one shred of consent, and Xui-Li knew far, far too much about rape to allow it on her ship.

"That's enough!" she called out and immediately the crew stopped what they were doing and stood back.

"She's my little biaozi and if anyone is going to go first it will be me," Xui-Li continued. "Now untie her and bring her to me."

"Of course, Madam Hong," the boatswain replied and they set straight to untying Vera before frog-marching her across the deck.

"Someone tidy up this mess," Xui-Li pointed to the items of Vera's clothing lying here and there, "and then bring this one something suitable to wear, something that befits a crew member. And you," Xui-Li turned to Vera, "follow me."

Xui-Li led the still shaking Vera back to her cabin.

"Thank you, Madam Hong, thank you, thank you," she half sobbed as soon as the door was closed.

"And to what do I owe such profuse thanks?" Xui-Li asked.

"For saving me, for saving me from...." Vera couldn't continue, it was too horrific to even mention what she had nearly gone through.

"I am not, repeat not, a rapist. Nor are my crew," Xui-Li said sternly. "Let us get that quite clear, right from the start."

"But... but...." Vera stuttered.

"Oh, I know what you're thinking but most of the girls I have brought aboard would have relished such treatment. You look surprised; there are plenty out there who like a bit of rough handling, especially when they know they're in no real danger."

"No real danger?"

"That was just a bit of horse play, no one would have hurt you, well, not more than you wanted."

"But who would want to be hurt like that?"

"You, it would seem. I mean, what were you looking for when you first turned up at my club? Excitement? Danger? Surely you never expected me to believe that nonsense about wanting to join the cause. And then, the worse I treat you, the more you return for more. What does that say about you except that you're one of those who craves humiliation?"

Vera was speechless. If she made too much protest she would blow her cover and to do so, here, out at sea on Madam Hong's ship would be tantamount to suicide, but to profess to wanting to be raped? Wasn't that the fate worse than death? She had to tread some middle ground and to admit to at least some of what Madam Hong was suggesting.

"Please, Madam Hong, I'm sorry. I really do want to... to do some of those things, really I do but it's all so new, it's all a bit frightening. Please, please let me prove myself," Vera tried.

Xui-Li nearly took pity on the poor girl, nearly let her off the hook but the thought that she was a serpent in the grass, a two-faced deceiver who was playing the submissive only to betray, hardened her heart.

"I could have plenty of other companions," Xui-Li continued, "plenty of girls who would willingly provide me with what I desire. Why should I suffer one such as you who says she wants to be my geisha one moment but fights it every inch of the way whenever it's not completely to her liking? When there are so many who are willing, why should I put up with one so reluctant?"

"Please, Madam Hong, please give me time to learn." Vera was frantic, how on earth could she play this? Even if she were to get out alive she was in danger of losing her role as a spy. She had to persuade Xui-Li that she was not unwilling when it was obvious to all that she was. "I cannot lie to you, I am reluctant, I do find this hard, but, however reluctant I am, I want to learn, I want to be all that you want me to be. Please give me another chance."

Xui-Li stood back and took a long hard look at the girl, so frail and vulnerable as she stood naked except for her sodden knickers. There was something about her, something that hinted at a troubled soul underneath. Xui-Li had had plenty of lovers but none like this one and, in recent years, the simpering girls she always seemed to end up with were fun in bed but had no appeal in the long term. Jun-Niu, for all her deceit, for all her lies, had shown character and determination and Xui-Li was developing a grudging admiration.

"And how would you 'prove' yourself'? How would you prove your worth? If I were to order you to offer yourself to the crew, to volunteer your body for whatever use they might wish to make of it, would you still be willing?" Xui-Li asked.

"I would beg you not to but, if that is what pleases you," Vera replied. "If that is what I must suffer then so be it."

"I told you, no one on this ship is a rapist. We'll find some other way."

At that moment there was a knock on the cabin door and, in answer to Xui-Li's 'enter', the door opened and Xiang came in carrying a bundle of clothing.

"Are they the clothes I ordered?" Xui-Li asked.

"Yes, Ma'am," Xiang replied. "It's my spare set; she's about the same size as me."

"Very well, take her away, remove those soiled undergarments and, before she gets dressed, maybe a bucket of water might help. After that, I'm sure the cook can find her work to do, something suitable for a huli jing like her."

"Certainly, Ma'am."

"Oh, and tell the girls she may be a 'chou biaozi' but she's not a 'gong gong qi che', well, not yet anyway." Xui-Li waved them away.

As they were dismissed Vera struggled with the slang. So she wasn't to be a 'bus that everyone rides', well, not yet, anyway although the thought that she might well end up being so was less than appealing. In the club she had been at everyone's beck and call but, however degrading the work, her body had been sacrosanct. Here on the ship... a shudder ran through her body as she imagined what the crew might do to her. Could she really offer herself up to be so abused if Madam Hong demanded it?

Xiang took Vera out onto the main deck and stood her next to the rail. Whilst Vera was ordered to remove her knickers Xiang fetched a bucket and lowered it over the side. Without any warning or ceremony the contents were tipped over Vera's head and the effect was surprisingly refreshing. Still damp, Vera was dressed in Xiang's spare clothes, a loose fitting pair of pants and a simple tunic.

Vera was led below and set to work. As she scrubbed away she felt lost and very alone. In no uncertain terms the whole crew had conspired to show how she was an outsider, and a despised one at that. But was this really any different from the way she was treated back at the British compound where, in so many subtle ways, the other women of the regiment made quite clear that she wasn't wanted either? Even back in Britain, the way her father had been so keen to pack her off to the other side of the world spoke of a lack of care, a lack of love. The crew might be course and callous but at least they were honest about it.

Xui-Li had talked about proving her worth. Did she have any worth? What would she say if she knew why she was really here? What worth would she have then?

Some time later Xui-Li sat at her desk and studied the collar she had retrieved from Vera's handbag when she had searched it. Why she had kept it was all part of the puzzle, all part of the conundrum that this girl presented. It had been a throw away gesture, part of the ritual humiliation back at the club and she had been left wearing it as a symbol that she had been owned, that the Chinese had had the upper hand for once. And yet she not only hadn't thrown it away but had, unbidden, brought it with her. Mulling this over she went out onto the deck and checked with the helmswoman that all was well. The course was set and there was nothing to do until they arrived.

"Very well, then," Xui-Li said when she was satisfied. "Have Jun-Lui sent up to my cabin. She's spent enough time below."