REFLECTIONS OF MY LIFE.....
ANOTHER TIME....ANOTHER PLACE
by ANNE
My name is ANNE HASTINGS MARLOWE. I am an unmarried spinster;
at the time the events which I am mentioning occured, I had recently
celebrated the 40th year of my birth. At that time I was a very buxom and
rotund lass who weighed l5 stone, and was only less than l6 hands tall.
I have brown eyes and straight auburn tresses that fell to my waist.
I was always one to be very particular about my appearance and very
meticulous in my grooming and strived for perfection in faithfully carrying
out my duties.
I am proud to be a subject of Her Majesty’s British Crown. I
was fomerly the "nanny" and later groom and domestic associate to a MISS
BEATRICE HOLLINGSWORTH, at the time who was in her l6th year. She
is the daughter of SIR WALTER HOLLINGSWORTH and MARY ALBERT HOLLINGSWORTH.
At the time the treacherous saga began for me, SIR H, was residing in a
near Eastern country, where he was serving as a special emissary to Her
Majesty in trying to settle a territorial dispute between the two countries.
Both parents did not wish for their daughter to be deprived of the higher
education they wished for her, and for that reason the child was left behind.
Her parents knew she would be in the best of hands because not only was
I there to care for BEATRICE, but also, my parents who had long been in
the employ of the parents of the young lady,were there to take care of
the child. We had very close attachments to the H.s since I, too
had been born on the estate.
It was when me and the child were asea returning to England following
several month’s vacation with her parents that my tragic story unfolds
. "......We had been on the ship for only 5 days when tragedy befell
us! Unbeknowingest, we had no idea why at such an early morning
hour why the captain of our ship yelled at us to lock our cabin door!
I had already been up for sometime and was almost dressed in my day wear....I
had alread donned my chemise, corset,and pantaloons. In momemts I
could hear the sounds of sabres clashing, men yelling,and volleys of muskets
firing! I became quit fearful, and roused my charge from her
sleep, when all of a sudden bursting into our cabin were 3 very fierce
oriental men, bare chested and carrying sabers and one a musket!
One of the intruders grabbed me, put his burly hand over my mouth. and
held me tightly as another of the men tied my wrists at my back!
The last time I saw the lovely child, she was jerked out of her bed,
thrown over the remaining ruffian’s shoulder and carried away, the poor,helpless
child doing her best to free herself from the infidel’s unwelcome grasp!
My original attacker pushed me forward hp the ladder to the main deck.
I was horrified to see all the carnage about me! the bodies were those
of the Mongolian slave traders and those of the ship’s crew; in addition
to bodies of several Royal Marines who were there to guarantee our safety...but,
as it turned the attack by thr pirates was so quick and unexpected,
it was a wholesale slaughter! Those on the ship as crew and guards that
were not killed during the assault, were all soon executed! I cried out
who I was and I had to be with the girl; the pirates just laughed at my
pleading! I was hustled into a dinghy tied up to the bigger ship,
and the oarsmen immediately began to row the small craft to their own juk,
nearby. My last view ever was that of the hapless young lady struggling
to escape from the heathens. I also heard her mournful cry calling
out my name. Once aboard the enemy ship, I was hustled dow a short
ladder into the hold of the ship! I almost became throttled from
the heavy stink of decaying wet straw covering the floor, combined with
the hideous odor of decaying human slops! I was led to the far wall
of the hold,and as I trudged slowly forward my bare feet sunk deeply into
the wet straw.
 |
I was told to lean against the wall, and once I did another man approached
me, and once my other captor encircled my ankles with horseshoe shaped,
heavy iron shackles,his associate rammed a heavy iron, long bolt thru the
eyelets of the crude fetters, closing them about my limbs, and securing
the bolt from being slid off the opposite end of the 2 feet long rod, a
padlock was inserted into the eyes drilled into it!
It made me aware that from the weight of the crude irons which had
already dug deep into my tender ankles, that the slightest movement of
my feet would be near impossible! Next my wrists were enclosed vin
additional iron cuffs which were at opposite ends of a 1 inch thick, iron
bar! |
To these manacles were attached a heavy, short, chain which was attached
to the bilboes cruelly imprisoning my tender ankles in their non-yielding
treacherous grasp. I realized immediately there was no way
possible I could assunme other than a seated position whic I horrifiedly
realized would cause me additional problems of a most-intimate nature!
I was in a state of total shock, and fearful what was going to happen to
me!!!! More so, I worried about my young beauty, and what was to be her
fate also!
There was nothing I could do but sit stoicly still for the slightest
movement would wound my limbs more than they already did! Driplets
of blood seeped slowly down from each of my cuffed limbs....goudged deep
by the crude irons. I had been in the stench-ridden hell for countless
hours..how many I had no idea. Then I noticed a man carrying a bowl and
a leathern flask. The bowl contained a type of gruel, made
of fish, with a fishhead floating on top, a hunk of stale bread was
dunked into the bowl. The flask was filled with water.
I had took note, on the wall infront of me there was a small crack
between two of the boards, this gave me to know when it was daylight and
dark. There had been 3 times I had seen the light in the crack
turning from light to total darkness. I had been there three days,
and since daylight had appeared again, I realized it was now the 4th day!
Modesty which had long been one of better traits,,,as well as dignity,
pride, and hopes had all deserted me. There was no longer need for such....I
had been transformed into as near "animal" as any human can be! To
mention just how dastardly my surroundings were would turn the stomach
of the strongest grenadier! You can imagine having to exist on billious
gruel made of fish what it did to me! The chef whoever he was did
change the ingredients at times by adding raw shrimp, fish eggs, and maybe
a baby crab or two to the conglamoration that was my sole nutrients.....I
ate it and as a result my surroundings were more ghastly than that of "ANY
FISHMONGER’S MARKET IN LONDON!" My clothes as well as my entire body were
saturated with filth..even my custom-made stays, created by the corset
makers of the firm of "BUTTON, BOOTS, & SPUTTERDASH" one of London’s
most fashionable corsetieres; presented to me along with my lacy pantaloons
and chemises, as a gift by my employer’s on my last birthday.
Needless to say my ample body was peppered withbites of the hordes of body
lice which infested the floating dungeon where I was being held captive!
There were many big and little rats scurrying about the hold, but when
I sensed one of the rodents nibble as my toes, all I had to do to frighten
it away was to rattle my heavy chain and they would immediately go away!
I don’t know exactly how long I had been in the old, when one morning,
gaged by the dim light creeping into the enclosure, when I was aroused
from my usual doze, by a loud roar and a heavy splash into the area
behind me, and it was follwed by a sound of grating chain, which made me
think the ship was being moored and the sound I heard was that of the ship’s
anchor. I felt a sense of relief to hear the sound which might have
meant I will be released from this horrible place.....anything would be
a great improvement of being kept any longer in this HELL HOLE!......Can
it be true?????WILL MY HOPES MATERIALIZE????
My hopes came true, for in a short while my jailor came over to me
and freed my hands of the cuffs, and unlocked and removed the bilboes from
my ankles. The man then extended his hands to assist me to stand; obviously
aware of the fact my legs were numb since I had be able to move them very
little since my captivity, and I had been forced to remain seated for almost
a week! He then hustled me out of my fetid prison, aided me to walk
up the steps to the main deck of the vessel. Once I was on the deck,
the brightness of the glowing sun blinded me, since my eyes had been exposed
to total darkness or dim light while in the brig of the ship. The cool
sea breeze afforded me the most welcomed relief I had ever experienced,
but it did make me aware of how much my filthy body reeked
with such a nauseating stench! Immediately, my hands were bound at my back
with crude rope which cut deep into my already lacerated wrists. I was
then placed in a dinghy and two of the pirates accompanied me to the shore.
Once the small craft was moored to the pier, and I was helped to
get on the pier, we were confronted by a group of dark skinned men, all
wore white flowing robes and turbans, except for one who was attired in
black. Once I stood before him he glared at me, with a frightening
stare ih his eyes. He then put his hand to my bosom, fondled my full left
breast, then tore the chemise from me, then mauled both of my mammaries!
He then lowered his hands, tore the busk on my stays open, parted the sides
of the garment,and tore it off me! He then commenced to fondle my
naked bulging belly and then reached for the waistband of my pantaloons
and torn them off me; then his hands fondled my most intimate parts, both
back and front! Needless to say I was humiliated irregardless of my present
state of duress. I remained as still as possible as his hands continued
to roam freely about my nudeness....squeezing, patting, pinching me all
over! presently he backed away, spoke in a language unknown to me to one
of the Mongolians at my sides, and from his tunic he produced a leather
bag, whic he handed to the Oriental. Then my abductors bowed to the
Saharan, and left. Within minutes several of my new captors gathered
around me. From behind I sensed some sort of object was pressed against
the back of my neck, at he same instance the thong lashing my wrists together
was removed, and each man standing at my sides, grasped my wrists and stretched
them and they, too, were inserted into notches cut into the same board
which now was completely encircling my neck. The weight of the crude
"YOKE" felt heavy on my shoulders, and it was all I could do to remain
erect! To prevent this, one of the men grasped and tautly held the chain
affixed to the yoke, to prevent me from falling. At the same time
another of my captors was securing my ankles in a pair of leather livestock
hobbles. once this was done I was led forward. With the first step it was
evident to me the more steps I took, the more in peril was I from the danger
of falling, and if so, it would cause me serious danger! It took
all the stamina I had to trudge slowly ahead as I had to do!
The chance to see a naked white woman prisoner,was spread all over
the village! This was quite clear by the numbers of men, women, and children
that lined the street to gawk at me as I painfully and laboriously inched
my way along the stone pathway! It was made clear to me my presence, irregardless
of the cause I was here, not by choice, but as a prisoner, by the manner
in which I was yelled at, apparently cursed in their tongue, and soon became
a "target" for the sticks, rotten fruit, and even clods of dry camel wastes
the spectators threw at me! As I moved along at a snail’s
pace, being impossible to elude the missles and angry words thrown at me,
I was in true awe as to what lay ahead for me in this sordid fate! I could
see and hear the laughter of the men and children who foiund reasons
of joviality as they eyed me.....with nothing but the layers of sweat and
grime covering my ill-shapened and grossly obese filthy body. True enough
it was most embarassing to me, but my mind was centered on more serious
problems!
(TO BE CONTINUED)
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