Night

  

Night had fallen on the Northwik plantation. At that moment, no one in the mansion thought about the slaves in the fields, because there was something to celebrate. Ben's fiancée came to visit with her family. So there was plenty on the table, as visitors from Kingston were rare here.

Douglas Bullhand, a merchant from Kingston, sat opposite Edward Northwik. Alice and her daughter Nora sat to the right, while Ben Northwik sat next to his future fiancée Sandra Bullhand. Sandra was a delicate, almost fragile-looking creature. She wore a white dress supported by a corset. Her pale skin only got a little color from the light from the candlesticks, which made the room bright and friendly. Occasionally you could see cheeky freckles on her cheeks. The young woman did not have a particularly voluptuous, but well-proportioned cleavage, which was beautifully highlighted by the sophisticated dress decorated with lace.

The Bullhands were undoubtedly rich and liked to flaunt it. In the boastful conversation between the two heads of the family, Douglas Bullhand never forgot to emphasize that his suit came from the most expensive tailor in London. A real competition developed between Edward and Douglas, in which one of the others rarely interfered.

"I saw that you only used mares for your wagon. Aren't stallions stronger?" Ben finally asked, who was just as bored by the old men's talk as his blonde and silent fiancée. She didn't seem to be interested in him at all, but seems to live in a world of her own.

"Oh boy, you still have a lot to learn!" Douglas laughed loudly. "With a work animal, it's not just about strength, but also about docility. A mare does far better under the whip than a stallion. You should know that here on your plantation."

The men all laughed and Nora, Ben's older sister, laughed and gave Naomi a piercing look as she came in the next aisle. Naomi was Nora's age and had very light skin for a black slave. The plantation owner's daughter had often speculated about whether her own father had perhaps fathered her. Fatima, Naomi's mother, was quite a pretty woman for a black slave, after all.

Naomi lowered her gaze so as not to accidentally draw too much attention to herself. The young mulatto knew from her mother how to behave towards the white man. He had the power over life and pain. Provoking one of the men at the table might not bode well. So she quickly put the plates with grilled chicken halves on the table.

She knew that Master Ben was watching her because Ben loved to act out his desires on her whenever the opportunity arose. Just like his father, he was often rough about it and Naomi knew that she shouldn't give him a reason to use the whip more often than he already did. The plantation owner's son had no real job on the plantation, which was primarily run by black slaves. Like his sister, he enjoyed an easy and fairly carefree life.

Naomi secretly hoped that after the young master's wedding, his stalking would stop. Hate still flashed in her eyes when Ben grabbed her and attacked her in the kitchen, the dining room, or wherever else he found her alone. Sometimes he used the whip first, sometimes he satisfied his lust in it straight away. In contrast to his father, the boy primarily used her rear entrance, which hurt even more.

"You can go, Naomi." Alice's voice broke the slave from her thoughts. Ben's kind mother, who, unlike her husband and children, never treated the slaves badly, sent the girl away for good reason. She hadn't missed her son's looks at his half-sister's voluptuous curves.

"Thank you, Mistress," breathed Naomi, who had now collected the empty plates. Then she hastily left the room. She didn't know if Alice had sent her away to protect her from her son's stalking or if she just didn't want him to do it in front of his future wife.

Meanwhile, the men's topic had changed. Douglas Bullhand told Edward about his business and the dangers of the pirates.

"The pirates are fleeing the Caribbean. Despite the high taxes and customs duties, the king is unable to secure the waters. Why am I throwing my money down the state's throat?" The businessman's anger was clearly audible.

"Are the pirates really still such a threat?" Ben asked. Who had heard a lot about this scourge of the world's oceans, most of which could be reduced to exaggerated adventure stories.

"Yes, even I have lost a ship to these criminals." Bullhand cursed under his breath. "Pirates are the most nefarious rabble that has ever plagued the Caribbean. Apparently there are even some runaway slaves among them."

Sandra flinched slightly, although none of the Northwiks noticed and Douglas wasn't particularly interested in his daughter's emotional world. The girl witnessed a pirate attack six months ago while she was on board one of her father's ships. This was also the reason why her father now married her to a plantation owner. The pirate captain had not only stolen the ship's goods, he had also taken Sandra's virginity.

The memories of the night with the feared pirate captain Long John Sinner were far less bad than people generally thought. The pirate was a half-breed. His dark brown skin and equally dark hair contrasted with his bright green eyes that shone like emeralds. He hadn't really taken her by force, no, he had seduced her. Because it was only the night before her release that she gave herself to him. If she had known that her father would marry her off to a rough slave driver, she might even have taken up John's offer to stay with him. But it was too late for that now.

John had sailed on and free without her, while she was forced into the slavery of an unwanted marriage. She felt nothing for Ben and his father actually scared her. She had begged her father several times not to marry her to the impulsive young Northwik, but all her pleas went unheeded. What she wanted didn't matter. She was just a young woman, subject to the will of her father and her future husband, for better or for worse. She was a slave, even if she wore the noble robes of a merchant's daughter.

She had secretly exchanged many a letter with John over the past few months. The bold pirate captain had always managed to send her fiery love letters, and she had also had many a letter from her youthful crush delivered to him. His letters were her secret, her pirate treasure that she stashed in her little box under the bed. She might end up here as the wife of a slave owner, but this youthful adventure would stay with her forever and give her strength for the future.

***

The evening was well advanced on the plantation when suddenly a commotion in front of the house startled the illustrious group of men. Edward Northwik, followed by Douglas Bullhand and his son, went out onto the porch to check on everything. He saw Mister Johnson sitting on a horse and holding a torch. Behind him were Rihanna and Kabona. Both were tied up. A branch was placed over each of their necks and their wrists were tied to it. The two slaves wore a noose around their necks.

Rihanna wore the tattered clothes that Edward had left her in that day. Her eyes were erect and seething with anger as she saw her master coming out of the house. He had carried her off into the wilderness and abused her body. He had thrown her away like a used toy. However, her anger was not only directed against her master, no, the slave overseer Johnson was also punished by the young woman with withering looks. He had brutally beaten Kabona, even though he only wanted to help her back to the slave quarters. They had tried to explain it to the warden when he caught them returning to the quarters, but he wouldn't believe them.

"What's going on here?" asked the plantation owner in a loud, authoritative voice.

He looked into Rihanna's anger-filled eyes. Blood, black as night, trickled down the right corner of her mouth to her chin. In her torn dress and ebony skin, she looked like a fury from hell in the torchlight. Edward, of course, recognized his own handiwork in the girl. But Johnson must have drawn her too, because the blood on her mouth glistened freshly in the dim light.

Kabona also bore clear signs on his face. A lash had cracked the skin from his left forehead to his right cheek and the blood also glistened darkly on his face. Just like Rihanna, there was still a defiant pride in his young eyes that briefly worried the experienced slave owner.

Now the women also came out of the house, especially Nora, who was always quite curious. She was followed by Northwik's wife and Sandra Bullhand. Some of the slaves also came running out of their huts. Everything quickly developed into a real mass gathering.

"I caught the two of them trying to steal away from the camp," Mister Johnson explained firmly as the audience gathered.

Kabona, who barely spoke the white man's language, wanted to say something, but Rihanna beat him to it. She didn't care about her own fate, but she didn't want Kabona to be punished. He had just wanted to help her. So she said, "Lord, I got lost fetching water and Kabona brought me back."

Alice, who immediately saw the bleeding young black African, intuitively grabbed her handkerchief and rushed forward to clean the blood from his face and eye. Unlike her husband, dark-skinned slaves were also primarily human. Edward let her be normal in her naive world, but today he couldn't use her weak heart.

"Stop! Woman!" he shouted loudly. "Runaway slaves deserve no pity."

Alice didn't obey, but continued to wipe the blood from the face of the boy who was her son's age. The white handkerchief quickly became soaked with the young man's fresh blood.

"We didn't mean to run away," Kabona murmured in a deep voice. He visibly struggled to form the words.

"Lies, nothing but lies!" Edward snapped, knowing the truth all too well. He left Rihanna unconscious in the woods. If Johnson had picked them up near the slave quarters, Kabona must have really brought them back. But he couldn't possibly reveal his knowledge. Not in front of his wife, not in front of the Bullhands.

“How do you usually deal with runaway slaves here?” asked Douglas. Something glittered in his eyes. Expectation and desire for a spectacle that sweetened the arduous journey from Kingston. And there was something else, an unfinished business that he was only too good at presenting.

"We'll whip them!" said Ben coldly. He could have added that it didn't happen often. Most slaves usually died when they were recaptured, unless they died while escaping through the wilderness. The slaves were usually whipped for minor offenses.

"Excellent!" said the merchant, rubbing his smooth chin with his fingers. "Why don't you show it to us right here. That's certainly a nice end to this wonderful evening, my future son-in-law."

Ben looked at his father questioningly. He mostly used the whip for fun. The real punishment usually fell to the slave overseer, Mister Johnson. His father seemed to be thinking. He had taken pleasure in the merchant's unscrupulous words. Perhaps this braggart, whose daughter would soon be living under his house, was a man after all, after all. Edward thought for a moment. Kabona was a slave of value. If his son, who until now had mostly only used the whip on his half-sister Naomi, were to harm this boy, it would be a shame. Maybe there was a better idea.

"Mr. Johnson!" he shouted loudly.

"Yes, Mister Northwik, sir." Johnson only used the polite tone towards Northwik because he knew that the plantation owner liked to be the strong man in front of his guests. That was also his reason for taking tough action against the two young slaves. Normally he would have beaten the boy and laid the girl. But since he knew that Northwik's seed was probably still in her from this afternoon, he had little interest in it. Especially since there were other slaves on the plantation that he could use as he pleased. So he turned it into an affair that either delighted or shocked noble society, because he was almost certain that Sandra had never experienced the fun of a flogging.

"Tie the runaway slaves to the posts for flogging!" Edawrd ordered in a stern tone.

Alice looked at her husband disapprovingly but said nothing. During her years of marriage she had resigned herself to the fact that she could hardly do anything in this cruel society. Since the birth of her son, she has avoided being close to her husband. She didn't hate him, but his rude manner made her uncomfortable. It didn't bother him much either, because her husband mostly satisfied his urges with the young slave girls, whom he could beat and treat as he wanted.

"Yes, Mister Northwik, sir!"

"Ben, get your whip. You get to show your fiancée how capable you are with it."

***

Ben hurried off to get his long bullwhip inside the house. The slave driver had Rihanna tied between two posts by two strong slaves. The ones standing on the square in front of the manor house. The older slaves did this without compassion or hesitation. They had been raised with the whip for many years and did not know the girl, who was a stranger to them. So the young slave was tied tightly by her wrists to the wooden bars so that they were slightly above her head height and supported the petite young woman.

Rihanna offered no resistance. She knew that she was mercilessly at the mercy of the white man and the other slaves. They wouldn't be listened to. She hated the men who did this to her. She hated the men who did this to Kabona. He struggled slightly against the slaves' grips, but a blow from a wooden club caused the proud boy to collapse helplessly, so that he could be placed between two other poles and tied like them.

“Look closely, little dove,” Bullhand said to his daughter. He had put an arm on her shoulder. "That's what happens to all young things who want to escape from here."

A shiver came over the young merchant's daughter. She didn't recognize her father. With a lustful look he looked at the dark-skinned slave, who might have been Sandra's age. Her breasts lay exposed in the light of the torches surrounding her and she panted with tears and anger. Ben had taken a position behind her. His white shirt almost glowed in the dark as he raised the whip to aim at Rihanna's bare skin.

Mister Johnson was now standing behind Kabona, who had come to and was shouting and cursing loudly in an unknown language. The plantation's slaves had now also been called in full to receive their master's sentence.

"These two slaves tried to escape. According to the law, I am obliged to punish them." Of course there was no law requiring the punishment, but it was allowed. For Edward, this was a good Christian duty and a good lesson for everyone else. "Both of them should be punished with 40 lashes each for their betrayal of me. Let it be a lesson to you, you ungrateful lot."

A slight murmur could be heard among the slaves. Many could barely speak English and came from a variety of tribes. So it was more of a wild confusion of languages ​​than a conversation. Dozens of torches had bathed the square in front of the mansion in reddish light. The tropical heat did not subside during the night. The light caught on the beads of sweat and bathed the slaves' naked upper bodies in a surreal glow. The women in the mansion all wore white dresses. Even Naomi and Fatima. They formed an almost sacred contrast to the dark slaves dressed in rags. The plantation owner and the merchant stood on the porch like generals while Ben and Johnson took up positions.

Ben tore Rihanna's dress, exposing not only her shapely breasts, but also the rest of her young, ebony body, which was displayed in the game of fire before the eyes of those present. She bowed her head in shame. The young slave had previously been able to avoid being exposed in such a humiliating way in front of so many men. She was part of the Winrows' household as a kitchen helper. Until recently she was allowed to sleep there in the manor house and only knew the crack of the whip from a distance. But the Winrows had died of a fever and she had fallen into the hands of this disgusting gentleman. The fact that his son now exposed her in front of everyone embarrassed her even further.

The male slaves looked fascinated at Rihanna, whose smooth, naked skin was presented to their greedy eyes. The girl had hidden from them like a shy animal and had thus escaped the men's pursuit. The slaves on the plantation were by no means just at the mercy of the white man's greed. No, there was also a hierarchy among the slaves, which even Johnson respected. The experienced foreman of the sugar cane plantation knew exactly which slaves were at the top and how high up. Kabona wasn't one of them, so he slid the whip down the boy's back with a smooth movement of his hand as the old Northwik nodded to him.

The muscular boy screamed as the leather hit his skin, burying itself into his skin like a poisonous snake. Ben heard the signal and struck too. Until now he had mostly only punished Naomi with the whip. He always had a certain desire to punish the young woman with a riding crop or whip before sex. After a few strokes with the crop on her naked ass, the mulatto quickly became wet and submitted to all the wishes of her master, who was one year younger than her. Now it was time to show this slave what he could do.

Rihanna had been able to hide from Ben until today. But that day would change everything in her life. His father had taken her virginity, he would take her body and soul. The first lash of the whip did not catch her unprepared. Still, disbelieving horror was evident on her face when she was hit. Never before had the leather wrapped around her delicate body like this. A loud scream escaped her throat and she didn't even hear Kabona, who also screamed next to her. She was too focused on her own pain.

“One!” shouted the plantation owner in a loud voice.

The next blow hit her even harder. The stripes of abuse ran from her left shoulder to her right buttock by the young gentleman who had put all his strength into the blow. The leather snake squeezed the air out of her lungs and tears welled up in her doe eyes.

"Two!"

The following blow hit the slave from the side. The leather wrapped around her chest and flicked over her breasts. It left barely visible marks on the dark skin as Rihana caught her breath. She gasped loudly as the hellfire spread along the violent welts.

"Look carefully, daughter!" Bullhand repeated again. "That's what happens to all young things who want to escape from here."

Sandra winced. Why did he say that to her? Every crack of the whip that hit one of the two made them scream inside too. Her eyes were on Rihanna. The girl her age writhed under her fiancé's whip. She reared up and screamed her pain at the top of her lungs as Edward, her future father-in-law, counted out loud.

Douglas leaned forward and whispered in his daughter's ear: "Your pirate certainly won't come to rescue you here. So don't even think about escaping from here."

Sandra shuddered. She suddenly knew why her father wanted to marry her off so suddenly to this son of a plantation owner. The scales fell from her eyes as the screams of the slaves and the crack of the whip flashed through her brain. He knew of her true feelings for the pirate captain who had kidnapped her. Her father must have heard something of the letters between Long John Sinner and her. Is that why he wanted to banish her here? Did he want to punish her?

"Why?" was the only word that came out of her mouth.

"I raised you and gave you every freedom and you betrayed me with this pirate, my arch-enemy. You even voluntarily spread your legs for him and thereby dishonored you and me. Now you get a place in the green hell. Here you will "You learn to be humble and grateful, or your husband will punish you like that thing did. And don't think you can run away to Kingston. I've already spoken to your father-in-law. He'll be happy to see you until your wedding next month keep me here. Since you're no longer a virgin anyway, Ben can then start working on producing a grandchild for me. Your first child will then come to me and inherit my assets. That's what it says in the marriage contract."

Sandra swallowed and stared into Rihanna's shining eyes. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She knew that her father was an unscrupulous businessman who had become very rich through the slave trade and sugar cane. But she would never have thought that he would see her, his only child, as just a birthing machine that would provide him with what he saw as a valuable heir.

Johnson didn't put much force into it, but rather slid the leather over the man's skin, primarily instilling pain and fear in him. He wanted to teach him to be afraid of the whip and not to make him unable to work by hitting him too hard. Meanwhile, Kabona kept gritting his teeth. His body had gotten used to the pain. Each blow seemed to harden him more than weaken him. Fear gave way to determination. He was not a slave, he was a tribal warrior and at some point his chance would come, he secretly swore to himself.

Suddenly they paused and the boy bit his thick lip as he looked around in pain. Rihanna lay limp in her bonds. He couldn't tell if she was dead or still alive. Frightened, he tore at his bonds. The white man who had whipped him up until now walked past him and grabbed Rihanna's hair. Kabona cursed himself for returning with her. She should have escaped her together. He should have gone into hiding in the wilderness and tempted fate there.

“Is she dead?” asked Nora Northwik, who had watched the spectacle with fascination. Nora had never seen a slave whipped on the pole. It excited her internally how the whip had wrapped itself around her naked body and elicited screams from the girl. So her question was more out of curiosity than sympathy.

“Bring water!” Johnson ordered the slaves. "No, she just fainted."

"Ben, don't be so hard. Treat her like a lover, like your wife, not like cattle for slaughter."

These words came from Ben's father, who looked excitedly as the girl he had seen lying beneath him in the forest hours before was now being whipped by his son. Her body was limp, her head bowed. Her hair fell over her shoulders and down to her breasts. Who still moved treacherously. The dark-skinned beauty's wrists were chafed raw. His eyes were glued to her as a torrent of water poured over her head and her bruised body. The welts were now clearly visible. Some had burst open. Blood mixed with water and sweat. It flowed over her breasts and back, pooling between her thighs and in her down before finally dripping down, as a voluptuous woman's pleasure nectar tends to do. A trickle formed between her slender thighs and reached to her feet before nourishing the parched, dusty ground.

Rihanna woke up from her faint. But she woke up again in the hell of the plantation. Ben looked at his fiancée and smiled, seeing the fear in her eyes. He knew nothing of her father's words. He also didn't know about the marriage contract between the Bullhands and Northwik. For him, at that moment, the girl's only appeal came from her fear. The otherwise insignificant boy felt his superiority and savored the feeling.

With a jerk he brought the whip down on the slave's body. He hit her young, slightly rounded bottom, which he had spared until now, and received a loud scream. He liked his future wife's flinch even more than the scream. She seemed really afraid of the whip. Maybe he would just take her to bed with him on their wedding night as a joke.

Johnson and Ben performed the final lashes before the spectacle finally came to an end. Johnson saved the biggest punch for last, making Kabona scream again. This blow from his left shoulder to his right hip exploded and nearly knocked the boy unconscious, but he persevered.

Rihanna also survived the final blows without fainting again. She bucked with every blow. Her breasts, which were already marked with a few welts, shone in the light of the torch. Her hair fell wildly over her shoulders and back. They tugged desperately at their bonds and now cried tearfully for mercy. But she wasn't granted one. On the contrary. The young master's beating was now completed with limitless pleasure, while the young slave was exposed to the lustful looks of the other men and felt this pleasure deep inside her. She was wanted, she was desired, and she knew that her suffering would not end with that night.

Ben had now turned more and more of his attention to Sandra and would have preferred to continue with her straight away. But it wasn't time yet. She was still just his fiancée. Now, after the two slaves had been whipped, Ben suddenly couldn't wait until Sandra was his wife. She was still boring in his eyes, but he would take great pleasure in making her scream too.

***

It was Fatima who looked after the two young slaves. Together with Naomi, she treated the wounds with old herbal mixtures that she had learned from her mother. Rihanna cried all night while Kabona silently looked at her, his hand reaching out for hers. The girl grasped it gratefully, while she whimpered in pain and shame, hoping for a restorative sleep.

But Rihanna wasn't the only one fighting back tears that night. Sandra was also lying in her bed, which she shared with Nora, her future sister-in-law. While Nora slept and dreamed of being in her brother's place, the merchant's daughter sobbed and cried.

Sandra knew that she would now be a slave here. Banished and betrayed by her own father, who had sent her into the hands of a monster. The girl didn't know who she would be more afraid of. All the men on this plantation were monsters in her eyes. Beasts that came from hell. Ben's face kept appearing in her mind's eye as he looked at her while he brought the whip down on the girl's helpless body. Was he thinking about her? Was this perhaps just a foretaste of what was to come? An icy shiver came over her.

"Oh John, why didn't you keep me with you?" she murmured sleepily. "Oh, John, I miss you." With these words on her lips and her greenish shimmering eyes, the girl finally fell asleep.