Sacrifices of the Siren [Sirens and Sailors 6] (Siren Publishing Allure) (6 page)

“I only know that she didn’t work as a Siren because she was Hermandine’s housekeeper,” Ademia replied, looking at the others.

“Hmm,
servant
, more like.” Hebe shook her head. “She did everything for that woman.”

“That’s why she wants her back. How could she get there without anyone knowing though? She can’t have gone on her own.” Ligia frowned.

“There’s only one way—where’s the computer?” Farris was on his feet in a flash.

“The Refrainian!” Dr. Jay was already on his way to the big house where he had his own computer. There was a laptop which was used by all the islanders, which usually stayed in Rech’s house, but with him and Aitan away any one of the islanders could have been using it today. Dr. Jay had his own private tablet which he kept all his medical notes on. It was a new acquisition, given to him when the Medical Board refurbished one of the back rooms of the big house into a surgery.

* * * *

“Rechavia, come in.” Dr. Jay had the machine fired up in seconds and was trying to Super-Skype their friends.

“They must be there by now. Probably gone for lunch,” Farris said with a moan. “I know they’re picking up some supplies, too.”

“I need to get over there, we’ve got the address.” Blandon was already rereading the note.

“If we can get hold of Rech and Aitan they can go look for her. It’ll be a lot quicker than us trying to get over there, especially as we’ve only the fishing boats,” Dr. Jay reasoned.

“But we have to do
something
!” Blandon was becoming desperate.

“Kally’s remembered something.” Ademia was out of breath as she caught up with everyone at the big house. Some were piling into the large front room, while the others sat around on the grass outside.

“Melantho
was
a Siren,” Kalliope followed the large blonde girl into the sitting room. “I remember her starting. She only did it once or twice though.”

“Then Hermandine took her to be her maid?” Farris queried.

“I don’t know. Probably. I don’t remember seeing her much after that.” Kalliope shrugged.

“Do you think that was her secret?” Dr. Jay asked Blandon.

Blandon thought for a moment. He had assumed Melantho had been a virgin, though she had never said she was. Perhaps she was ashamed, especially after the other night. She must have realized what he thought and didn’t know how to tell him otherwise. He sighed. It didn’t really bother him whether she was or not, but he knew it might bother
her.
“Probably,” he murmured.

“But why would she think no one would want her on Refrainia? We were
all
Sirens,” Sapphire piped up, looking over his shoulder at the note.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Dr. Jay said with a sigh. “I wonder if Pallas knows anything.”

“I’ll go and see her.” Blandon was pleased to have something practical to do.

Pallas was the only Elder still living on the island. After Poseidon had decreed that the old ladies were no longer required to preside over the island most of the others had taken umbrage and left. Pallas had been relieved at the loss of responsibility and chose to stay in the home she loved. She had a tiny hut not far from the big house, and it didn’t take Blandon long to find her sitting in the sun on an old wooden chair.

“I don’t know much about it, dear,” she explained, handing him a cup of cold water. He had explained what had happened and the poor old dear looked quite shocked.

“Was she a Siren?” Blandon asked.

The elderly lady screwed up her eyes as she thought hard. “Yes, she was. She trained along with all the others. She didn’t do it for long, though, but I can’t remember why.” She shook her head.

“Hermandine made her the maid at the big house. I suppose that’s why she didn’t want her to go over to Destiny Rock every afternoon.” Blandon sighed.

Pallas frowned. “But they didn’t go every day. They worked on a rota basis. Most of the girls only went out there every other day. Some enjoyed it and offered to go more often, so those who weren’t so keen didn’t have to go so much.”

“But then why was Melantho exempt? Was she related to Hermandine? Was it preferential treatment that she didn’t have to go, or was she being punished by being kept behind? Had she done something wrong?” Blandon’s mind was whirling.

“I can’t imagine her doing anything wrong. Melantho was always so quiet and good. In fact, I don’t know much about that time when she stopped going over to Destiny, it must have been a couple of years ago at least. We Elders were just told by Hermandine that she wouldn’t be a Siren after all, but she never told us why. Mind you, in those days we were all too afraid to ask. Hermandine was a formidable character, you know.” Pallas bit her lip thoughtfully.

“So, you were just told not to send her over there and she stayed at the big house with Hermandine?” Blandon shook his head.

“I don’t recall seeing her after that, so I suppose Hermandine
must
have kept her in the big house,” Pallas mused. “She was always such a quiet little thing. I suppose most of us didn’t really take much notice at the time. I’m sorry, dear. I’m not much help to you.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s just what we thought anyway.” Blandon took another sip of water.

“Blandon! They got through to Rech. He’s on his way to find Mel.” Naida came running over with the news.

Blandon shot up, thanked the old lady, and ran back to the big house.

“They’d gone for some food.” Farris looked up when Blandon burst into the room. “We told them what happened and they went to that address. Looks like she must have stowed away. Rech was fuming—he said she should have just asked them. She can’t have had a comfortable journey and she probably hadn’t eaten.”

“She must have had her reasons,” Dr. Jay said calmly. “Anyway, the main thing is Rech and Aitan can bring her home and we can find out just what those reasons were.”

Blandon smiled for the first time that day. He felt drained as relief swept over him.

Ademia arrived with cups of tea and fresh griddle scones and they all tucked in. The islanders chatted away merrily as they enjoyed their meal.

The computer was kept on, so they knew exactly when Rech and Aitan returned to
The Refrainian
.

“Is she OK?” Dr. Jay asked as soon as Rechavia appeared on the screen some time later.

“I don’t know.” Rechavia looked like he was fuming. “We found the house but Hermandine wouldn’t let us in. She said Melantho
is
there and she is fine but she doesn’t want anything to do with the islanders. She said she’s going to stay there from now on.”

“Did you see her? Is she OK?” Blandon’s blood ran cold as he started to panic.

Rechavia shook his head. “No, she said Mel didn’t want to speak to us. The old witch reckons she’s all right though.”

“Not good enough,” Farris said with a sigh.

“What do you want us to do?” Rechavia asked.

“There’s nothing you can do at the moment,” Dr. Jay replied, “Come on home and we’ll decide where we go from here.”

Rechavia nodded and the screen went blank.

“Well, I know where I’m going from here—straight over to
there
!” Blandon slammed his cup on the small table and stormed out.

Melantho went to bed that night totally exhausted. She had been given a tiny attic bedroom, which was cold and draughty. It had a tiny window which had glass in it, but it had nails hammered around the frame which kept it shut. There were no curtains and no warm rugs on the floor like they had downstairs. Her bed was a wooden block with a couple of rough blankets over it, which smelled of must and stale urine.

As soon as she had arrived at the little house she had been put to work. The house smelled rank but she had only been allowed to open the windows which looked onto the yard at the back. All the windows at the front had been nailed shut. The backyard was more gray concrete with a washing line where she had to hang out the old ladies’ clothes after she had scrubbed them in a tub. Their clothes were filthy and the smell made her retch. They didn’t appear to have been washed since the old women had left the island, which was almost a year ago. Hermandine and Solon looked dirty and unkempt, and the house was a mess. She had taken the rugs from the floor and beaten them before leaving them outside to air for as long as she could. She had swept all the floors and gathered up all the dirty pots which had been left strewn around the house with mouldy food festering on them. Her hands had been raw from scrubbing the floors. She planned to take the furniture out into the yard to wash and air it, but the rain had started to fall. She had never experienced rain during the day before—on Refrainia it only ever rained at night, and even that was quite a rare occurrence.

Her face stung from Hermandine’s slaps. She hadn’t noticed the rain at first and had left the clothes on the washing line, getting even wetter. Hermandine had been so mean to her. She had told her she was stupid and useless, and refused to give her anything to eat because of it. Melantho hadn’t eaten since yesterday and felt sick with hunger.

She washed in freezing cold water from a misshapen enamel jug, which she poured into a cracked, stained bowl. She shivered as she combed her long, straight mousy-brown hair and climbed under the blankets to try to get warm. Tears streamed down her face as she looked around the shadows in the pokey, dark room. Her thoughts turned to Blandon and the friends she had left behind. She knew they would be disappointed that she had upped and left without speaking to anyone, but there was nothing else she could do. They would all hate her for sure if she had let Hermandine tell them her secret. She hated herself for it. She sobbed into the scratchy woollen blanket until sheer fatigue overtook her and she drifted into another miserable nightmare.

* * * *

Blandon was having a sleepless night. Dr. Jay and Farris had finally convinced him that it was pointless taking one of the fishing boats over to Eastland until they knew all the facts. Besides, it would be dark before he arrived and the little boats weren’t really equipped for sailing at night. Instead he had waited impatiently for Rech and Aitan to return. They hadn’t been able to tell him much more about the situation, except to describe the house and the street in which Melantho was living with the two old crones. It sounded awful and he knew she would be unhappy. He couldn’t believe she had willingly left him—but he was convinced that whatever hold Hermandine had on her it wouldn’t be enough to turn him against her. He just had to convince her of that!

He was sure Rechavia and Aitan had done all they could to convince Hermandine to let them see Melantho. Rech was a well-trained Dom who would never give up without a fight. He had told them that, although he and Aitan could have forced their way into the house, they were concerned that their actions might have an adverse effect—they wouldn’t put it past Hermandine to punish Melantho for their actions. Blandon hadn’t actually considered that, and was now desperately trying to find a way around it.

He had hardly slept a wink when he heard giggling from Marinos’s bedroom. The sun was already streaming through his open window as he grabbed a towel ready for a morning swim. He hoped it would wake him up a little and put him in a better mood for the day ahead.

As he passed his friend’s bedroom he heard a yelp and pushed the door open to see if Marinos was all right. He needn’t have worried. Marinos was lying on top of Sapphire, making love to her while Delmer was lying beneath her. They were obviously involved in a session of double penetration which was why they were being so noisy. He could see a sheen of sweat covering Marinos’s broad back and heard Sapphire moan uncontrollably. Marinos’s black hair stuck to his neck and his muscles rippled as he increased his pace. Delmer’s sandy-brown hair could just be seen on the cover, and his gasping indicated the proximity of his orgasm. Shaking his head, Blandon quietly closed the door and headed for the beach.

He welcomed the bite of the cold water on his tired body and sprawled in the waves before taking himself for a strenuous swim to try to clear his head. His mind whirled with possibilities as he hauled the water around his aching body. He put all his anger and frustration into his strokes as he heaved his muscles through the deep green ocean. After a while he slowed his pace as he realized how tired he was becoming, and he looked back to shore. He was amazed to find that he had swum a long way from the island, and headed back inland. The swim did him good, as he felt much calmer, though exhausted when he finally dragged his panting body onto the beach.

“Good morning.” Pallas had been watching him, and smiled as he neared her. He slumped down onto the sand, careful not to splash her as he started to rub himself with the towel. The old lady was sitting on a rock, as she found it difficult to get up and down from the ground nowadays.

“Hi,” he managed as he threw her a smile.

“That was some swim you had there.”

“I needed it.”

“I can imagine. It reminded me of something. Melantho used to come down here very early in the mornings, before Hermandine and the rest of the girls would have got up. She used to swim for a while. I came down one day when it was still dark and saw her. She was crying. She must have been crying while she swam because her face was bright red when she got out of the water. I hid behind those rocks so she wouldn’t be embarrassed. I saw her do it several times, but I never told her I’d seen her. She must have only been able to cry because she was alone. Sometimes I could hear her sobbing while she was in the sea. I never knew why she was so melancholy. She had become quite withdrawn and wouldn’t confide in anyone. I tried but she would hardly speak to me. Poor thing—she never seemed to have any friends.” Pallas had a faraway look in her eyes, and seemed very sad as she spoke.