Morena and the Matriarch Ch. 08

"Either way, we may need to move the men sooner than I thought."

"Missy, the Post Office isn't open until tomorrow morning," Steven told her. "That'd be the fastest way to tell the Matriarch. Otherwise, Deanne's going to have to travel a bit to get a message out. Next nearest is Mossy Hill, and after that, Bigglesby Station. You have enough time that you don't need to panic."

"Right," Alyssa agreed, taking a breath. "No Panicking Allowed. Got it."

"How about you go back to your house and your guys and calmly plan an evacuation," Steven suggested. "I'll go have a nightcap and also keep an eye on the Post Office in the morning. We'll plan on evacuating the men, three tomorrow night, three the night after. Scarfing up six horses around here isn't going to be easy."

"Okay..." Alyssa agreed slowly.

"And while you're at it," Steven went on, "put frilly girly linens on the beds. Make it look like it was your family's space and you've only touched it to keep it clean all these years."

"Okay..." Alyssa agreed. "Got that one, too."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow for lunch," Steven smiled. "Your treat, of course."

"Of course," Alyssa smiled.

* * * * * * * * * *

Deanne had bolted like a startled jackrabbit when she heard the front door opening. She just prayed that she'd been fast enough that Alyssa hadn't seen her.

She knew something was fishy when she headed for the tavern and an upstairs light went on. Everybody knew the story about Alyssa and Dosay coming home from delivering stock and finding their parents, their two brothers and their other sister dead in their beds. The girls had been suspected, at first, but the Medical Examiner from the City quashed that one. According to him, it was some kind of virulent bacteria or virus which had first made them very ill, and then killed them.

Which is why they were found in their beds without a mark on them. Freaky.

Dosay had claimed she could feel their ghosts, but then, she was always a little off anyway. It only got worse after she was raped. After that, she seldom came out of the house. And both girls lived on the first floor. Nobody went upstairs, even after the decontamination crew had gone through the entire house, top to bottom. Deanne knew Alyssa kept her stock in the basement while they were in transit. So she just had to go take a look.

And Goddess, what a surprise she got!

She'd snuck into the bushes by the living room windows first, and peered in past a loose shutter, trying to see where Dosay was. What she saw instead was the guy she'd captured out by Settlers' Ruin. Except he seemed healthy and happy... and a lot more buff than the scrawny little shit she'd snared. And he had no collar or manacles or any other visible kind of restraint!

She watched as he finished coming down the stairs, then turned and headed back towards the kitchen. So she'd snuck around to see what he was doing by peering into the kitchen windows as best she could, and she watched as he rummaged through a couple of cabinets, grabbed something and headed over to the doorway which obviously led to the basement. A quick look around showed her that all the basement windows had been bricked up.

So she swallowed hard, put her best sneak on and let herself in through the back door, leaving it open and the screen slightly ajar in case she needed to make a fast exit. Then she very, very carefully eased her way over to the basement door. What she heard made her shiver. The sound of a woman in the throes of orgasmic passion. She thought about the upstairs for a moment and decided to chance it. She eased her way up the stairs, using the edges, trying to avoid squeaks and listening for anyone in front of her. There was no one.

What she found, though, confused her even more. The bedrooms had been set up to use and in fact, a couple of them still had rumpled sheets. And guys' stuff laying around. Almost all the rooms, as if people were living in them. She wished she'd brought some kind of camera, but there wasn't going to be a chance like this again, so she moved silently back down to the basement door. Still hearing the sounds, she moved down the stairs, step by careful step, until she could see into the basement.

That was the next big shock. Dosay was kneeling across some big stud who was fucking her in the pussy while another big guy was in her ass. And she was enjoying the hell out of it, crying out for more and obviously getting off repeatedly. And what was even weirder was, they weren't restrained. Nor were the two buff guys playing cards, of all things! Nor the guy cutting up veggies in the back and of course, not the capture she'd sold to Alyssa, who was handing something to the veggie guy.

There were six Wildermen down here, where there was a cage with accommodations, but the cage was unlocked, the guys seemed cooperative with each other and she was starting to bet they were the source of the Triple-A+ and Alyssa was keeping them hidden.

Then her Procurer's senses kicked in and she decided she'd seen enough. Time to book.

She'd eased herself almost to the back door when she heard the front door knob turning. Her entire body became one huge adrenalin factory as she bolted out the back door, cutting hard right into the bushes, then hitting the dirt, crawling carefully away at a 90-degree angle and watching for pursuit.

She saw Alyssa come out the back door, looking for her, so she froze. When she wasn't immediately spotted, she began painstakingly crawling her way away from the house. When she got clear, she figured she'd head back to the tavern, get a drink and just hide in plain sight.

* * * * * * * * * *

"You thinkin' about which knives you want, Missy?"

Steven startled Deanne as she sat brooding over her drink.

"Oh! Steven... didn't see you..." Obviously a lie -- everybody saw Steven. "No, actually I was thinking about where I might try hunting next. All the usual spots are getting played out."

"That is a problem with always hunting the same area," Steven agreed. "Smart prey stay away."

"That's becoming obvious," Deanne told him. "I'm thinking about going out west of Bigglesby Station. Out beyond Mistress Tara's lands."

"Yep," Steven nodded. "Maybe. You might have to go a lot farther out, though."

"Yeah, I was thinking about that," she said, then drained her drink. "I'll let you know tomorrow what I decide about the knives."

"Sure thing, Missy," he told her as he watched her head for the door.

He knew that what she was actually thinking was a lot different than what she'd told him.

* * * * * * * * * *

"It's good to have friends in low places," Steven told Alyssa the next morning, handing her a piece of paper. He went on as she read it.

"Flaggin' Ginny, the Postmistress, sent that to the Matriarch's Chief of Security about half an hour ago. It's pretty obtuse."

"Why does everyone call her Flaggin' Ginny?" Alyssa asked. "Never understood that one."

"Because she's like a bitch in heat, always flaggin' her tail to get laid," Steven explained. "I keep her happy," he added with a slight smile.

"Hence the friends in low places," Alyssa nodded. "Fine. So what does this mean?"

She read from the paper.

"VD source MA/MD free-range home now."

"She's trying to be slick and succeeding," Steven told her. "She's saying Vern's Dale, the source of the Triple-A is MA/MD -- that's Mistress Alyssa/Mistress Dosay -- and you're using free-range males and they're at your home right now. The Chief is going to understand this -- from what I picked up last night, they've already discussed this. She's working for the Matriarch. I'd bet on her being Mistress Tara's accomplice."

"They can't get enough police or military out here for a raid until tomorrow. That means we have to move all your guys tonight. They'll have to scram on foot, get as far towards the new place as possible, then hunker down until we can send in the cavalry to find them. I'll give Gann a little transmitter, wind-up spring type, limited range. But my people will be able to find it. Otherwise, they need to get lost."

"And you and Dosay need to stay the fuck out of the way. Your house is going to get raided and gone over with a fine-toothed vacuum cleaner. You don't want to get caught there."

"I can send Dosay with the guys," Alyssa offered. "They can protect her and keep her out of harm's way. Me, I want whoever the leader of the raiding party is... I want to jam her up the Matriarch's ass."

"Sending Dosay is a good idea," Steven agreed, "but you going for vengeance is not. We can argue about it while we get everybody gone. And I'm going to make sure Deanne takes a nice long nap so she can't see anything and warn anyone. I'll meet you at yours in an hour."

Steven walked off in the direction of the smithy. Alyssa headed for the basement.

"Meeting time, folks," she told them and as they gathered around, she went on.

"We've been ratted out. They should be raiding this house tomorrow, probably early morning. Gann, you take the guys and Dosay and bug out. I'll give you a compass and a heading. You won't have horses. You'll have to get as far under cover of darkness as you can. Then you'll have to go to ground during the day. I can't tell you your destination in case you get captured. The heading will get you into some hills with ravines and fresh water. Take enough food for several days' cold camping."

"Steven will be by later with a little transmitter device, spring operated. It's a weak signal, but his people will be looking for it. They'll take you the rest of the way to safety. You'll take suppressed carbines with you. If they try to track you with bloodhounds, kill the dogs. Then kill the handlers. You will be fighting for your lives. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Mistress," they answered as one.

"Good. I'm going to try to delay them a bit. I will catch up with you later. Do not, under any circumstances, come looking for me. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mistress," they again answered as one.

"Good. Then get your shit together and move out to the ruined homestead. Stay in the cellar until after dark. I'm going to spray this whole area with bleach, then set off a bug bomb. Hopefully, any dogs will be confused by the overlapping scents upstairs and lack of scent down here. I'm going to booby trap the doors to the basement and the upstairs with obvious grenade traps, hotwired to shock them when they disarm them. Last of all, I'm going to rig the tunnel to blow up and collapse, if necessary. Don't try to come back in."

They spent the next hour getting their gear together. At Alyssa's request, Dosay supervised digging out the old family heirloom bedding and hope chest stuff and dressing up the upstairs bedrooms to look frilly, complete with the stale scent of naphthalene. The last thing Alyssa did was make up a huge sign for the front door that read, "Gone Hunting. Will Return. Stay Outdoors. Trespassers Will Be Violated." Steven, at least, found it amusing.

"So what did you do with our little stool pigeon?" Alyssa asked him.

"She came to the shop to look at the knives -- and keep an eye on you. She got thirsty. She is now sleeping peacefully, tucked under an evergreen tree deep in a forest quite some distance from here. She will find her way back sometime tomorrow morning."

"Very good," Alyssa smiled. "Let's get this show on the road."