Chapter 5

Roberto was tired. Whatever the screaming was about, it was none of his business and he had a long way to climb up the mountain to where the others were waiting both for him and the supplies he was bringing. Furthermore, the boss had specifically ordered him to stay out of sight and out of trouble.

Nevertheless, a woman's scream in the night made him curious. Usually at this hour, the woods were deserted. The townsmen were superstitiously afraid of the hill country at night and flocked back to their homes as soon as the sun began to sink. The forest after dark belonged to the bandits and no one else. And yet somewhere near him, a woman had screamed.

Quickly deciding to see what was happening, the bearded young bandit slipped the bundle from his shoulders and placed it in the crotch of a tree. Then he began to move silently towards the source of the scream. For the slender self-confident young man, the woods had been his nursery, his college and his livelihood. Light or dark, he knew the hill country like the palm of his hand and he slipped through the shadows without a sound. Halting as he approached the edge of the clearing, the highwayman listened carefully, straining his eyes to see in the half-light from the moon.

The woman was somewhere near him now, because he could hear her stumbling footsteps as she blundered through the trees. Behind her, Roberto could detect another noise, the sound of a man running, crashing through the bushes and swearing.

Instinctively, the bearded bandit reached for the pistol hidden in his shirt. The boss would be angry if he became involved in some local lovers' quarrel now, so soon after the troubles they had just had, but this was Sicily and a woman in difficulty was not to be ignored. Raising the pistol, he stepped to the edge of the clearing just as the fleeing woman circled a large bush and darted into the open space.

Roberto was momentarily stunned. The delicate, terrorized girl, not seeing him, halted for a few seconds, looking around desperately for some avenue of escape and the bandit, still hidden by the shadows, stared in amazement at the lush naked beauty only a few feet from his place of concealment. This was no ordinary lovers' quarrel, he realized, and he strode forward boldly just as the lieutenant pounded into the clearing after her.

The exquisite American girl felt a new wave of horror sweep over her as she watched the dark mysterious figure of the bandit appear out of the shadowy woods. For a moment, Romina thought that the angry lieutenant had somehow circled around in front of her. Then she realized that this was a new element in the situation. Without thinking, the frightened naked girl decided that whoever he was, he had to be an improvement over the lustful furious policeman behind her and she rushed to where he stood. She stumbled blindly over a root as she ran and collapsed groaning at his feet.

The bold young man took another step forward, confronting Barzini and straddling the cowering, trembling girl as he leveled his pistol at the lieutenant.

"Don't let him near me!" beseeched the lush young woman, clinging to his legs, her mountainous chest heaving from the exertion of dodging through the woods. "I beg you, please..."

Barzini stopped in his tracks, apparently stupefied by the scene before him. Wearing only his white sleeveless undershirt, he presented a ridiculous figure and without his own pistol, a good deal of his courage seemed to vanish.

"Don't shoot!" he quavered.

"Ah, it's our noble police lieutenant," replied the bandit softly, a mocking tone in his voice. "What's going on, Barzini?"

Romina, curled at the bandit's feet, felt an enormous sense of relief as she saw the pistol and heard the unafraid stranger openly oppose the policeman in this way. Barzini failed to respond, his hands held before him, silently imploring the gunman not to fire and backing away from him into the forest.

"Just a minute, my friend," cautioned the outlaw in the same calm tone of voice, "the signorina seems to be without clothing. Perhaps you could loan her your undershirt."

A look of utter hatred passed over the policeman's face and for a moment, Romina feared he was going to try some desperate action. Then Roberto slowly and deliberately raised the pistol and cocked it, the barrel aimed directly at Barzini's chest. With a shrug, the policeman tore the sleeveless undershirt from his body and threw it on the ground in front of him, before spinning into the bushes and disappearing as rapidly as he had come.

The slender soft-spoken man walked quickly to where the soiled garment was lying and tossed it to. Romina. Christ, what a beauty she is, he thought as he watched her struggle into the male undergarment. No wonder that idiot policeman was trying to rape her! With a sense of regret, he watched her still-swollen, glistening breasts, the small droplets of perspiration clinging to her ripe brown nipples, disappear into the folds of the cotton. He stared at her boldly, studying her luxuriously curved hips and buttocks and the triangular patch of soft black pussy hair between her long bruised legs.

"It's not much," he remarked, shaking his head to drive away the lusty thoughts, "but it'll have to do for the moment. We'd better get going. His courage is going to return the moment he gets his ringers around a gun."

"Oh, thank you," stammered the girl as she tried to cover herself with the inadequate undershirt. "I have to explain...."

"Save it!" snapped the outlaw, taking her by the arm and raising her to her feet. "You're going to need all your breath for getting up on that mountain. Barzini will be after us in another minute and we have enough problems without my shooting a cop. Let's go!"

Romina pulled the policeman's undershirt down as far as it would go and discovered that it failed to cover very much of her. The shirt ended just above her much-abused and battered young pussy and the neckline was scooped, providing a clear view of her generous, well-formed young breasts. Roberto glanced at her appreciatively for a half a moment but decided he could waste no time in admiring her beauty. There would be time for that later, but in the meantime he had already disobeyed the boss by becoming involved in an affair which was none of his business. If he got into a shooting match with the policeman, there would be hell to pay, and Barzini was no man to be trifled with.

As it was, he would have some explaining to do when he arrived at the hide-out with a half-naked foreign girl in tow. The frightened young woman behind him, he lead the way rapidly through the woods and up the steep slope.

So much was happening that Romina had barely time to get her wits together. Most of her attention was devoted to watching where she was going, since Roberto avoided the paths, if there were any, and took her through the thickest portions of the woods. The mysterious individual who had rescued her seemed to be able to move in the darkness with perfect ease. Romina, whose eyes were accustomed to the bright lights of the city, could hardly see a yard in front of her and time and time again she stubbed her bare feet against rocks. Her legs and arms were already badly scratched from her wild flight from the lieutenant and she sustained a few more gashes and bruises being dragged through this impenetrable forest. Not knowing where he was taking her or why, she followed the fast-moving energetic stranger as best she could, clinging to his hand as if he were her older brother.

After an hour's silent march steadily uphill, they cleared the woods at last and struck what seemed to be a mule path where the going was easier.

"We're almost there," commented Roberto, at last breaking his long silence. "We must have lost our friend by now. Do you want to rest for a moment?"

"Oh, if we could," the exhausted girl pleaded, feeling as if her lungs were about to burst.

"Fine, here's a rock you could sit on."

Romina sat down gingerly, feeling the cool moss-covered stone tickle her naked buttocks, inwardly grateful that it was too dark for him to see here properly. "What happened with the policeman?" he inquired mildly.

"It must be an old story," the ravishing American girl responded with some bitterness, trying to cover up her half-exposed breasts with her arms. "He got me to drink some of that funny wine they make here and then started ripping off my clothes. I was running away when you came by." Too shy and embarrassed to admit that she had been the victim of a highly successful rape, and unwilling to discuss precisely what had caused her to run away, Romina hoped that nothing in her voice would betray the fact that she was giving a rather condensed version of the facts. She told him she was a tourist, hoping that the story of her search for Il Volpe had not traveled this far.

"And ... can I ask who you are and where we're going?" she inquired timidly.

"I'm afraid you've fallen into rather bad company," he commented calmly. "Although perhaps not as bad as you were in when I found you. My friends and I live here in the mountains because we have all managed to get ourselves on the wrong side of the law."

"Then ... you're outlaws?" the striking young woman asked excitedly, forgetting in her emotional state to tug the undershirt down over her naked pussy. Could they conceivably be the band she was looking for? The lieutenant had said that the hills were full of criminals? Was it possible?

"Rather melodramatic way of putting it," Roberto replied dryly. "But I suppose you could say that, although we hardly ever think of it in those terms. Come on, if you're rested, let's go up to the cottage and we'll give you some clothing and decide what to do with you."

Without waiting for her to say yes or no, the youth rose and started up the trail, forcing Romina to scramble to her feet and follow him or be left behind. After another fifteen minutes of climbing, Roberto suddenly motioned to her to stop and she froze, wondering if the lieutenant had somehow managed to trail them here.

The quick-moving bandit slipped a few more feet down the trail and disappeared around a corner. Romina waited, her fears mounting. Had she escaped out of the frying pan into the fire? What would these men do to her? Suppose this was not the group she was looking for at all.

Her heart nearly stopped as she heard Roberto's soft voice conversing with another man with an exceptionally deep voice. She could not make out what they were saying and remained rooted to the spot until Roberto re-appeared, smiled briefly and extended his hand.

"Come," he said simply. "I want to present you to our leader.'-

Her knees weak with apprehension, Romina leaned heavily on the young bandit as he helped her the last few feet. There, standing full in the light from a cottage window, stood an unusually tall man, thin but powerful-looking with hawk-like face and penetrating eyes.

He extended his hand without smiling.

"My name is Il Volpe," he said.