In the Land of the Long White Cloud

elements are more your thing. We have something for everyone. Fire, air, water, earth…” One after the other, she gestured to three of the girls, who were busy at work on the other men at the moment. The first was a pale, almost ethereal-looking creature with straight, pale blonde hair. Her limbs were petite, she was almost skin and bones, but he could detect big breasts beneath her thin shirt. Lucas found that repulsive. He would never be able to overcome his distaste and make love to this girl. A blonde dressed in blue with topaz-colored eyes embodied the element “water.” She appeared quite lively and was joking with the obviously enthusiastic Norman. “Earth” was a brown-skinned girl with black tresses, without a doubt the most exotic creature in Madame Jolanda’s collection, if not exactly pretty. Her facial features made her look tough, and her body was stocky. She nevertheless appeared to be charming the man she was flirting with just then. As he so often did, Lucas marveled at the criteria other men used to select their partners. Daphne was the prettiest of the girls, and Lucas knew he should have felt flattered that she had chosen him. If only she aroused him even a tiny bit, perhaps if she…
    “Tell me, don’t you have anything younger to offer?” Lucas asked finally. He did not like the way that came out, but if he wanted to save face tonight, he had the best chance with a slender, boyish girl.
    “Even younger than me?” Daphne asked, blown away. She was right; she was a mere child herself. Lucas guessed she was nineteen at most. Before he could answer, though, she looked him over with a careful eye.
    “Now I know where I’ve seen you before! You’re the fellow who ran away from the whaler. While the fat queer, that Copper, was ordering a bath for you and him. I could have laughed myself half to death—there’s no way that guy had ever come into contact with soap before! So the love was unrequited, eh…but you do prefer boys, right?”
    Lucas’s blushing saved him from having to answer her half question, half assertion.
    Daphne smiled—a little deviously but also with understanding. “Your fine friends don’t know it, is that it? And you don’t want to stand out. Pay attention, my friend, I have something for you. No, not a boy, we don’t have any of those. But something special—but for looking only, the girls aren’t for sale. Interested?”
    “In…what?” Lucas stammered. Daphne’s offer seemed to be giving him a way out. Something special, prestigious, that did not require him to sleep with anyone? Lucas’s only misgiving was that the rest of his pay would likely disappear for this.
    “It’s a sort of…well, erotic dance. Two very young girls, barely fifteen. Twins. I promise you: you’ve never seen anything like it.”
    Lucas gave himself over to fate. “How much?” he forced himself to ask.
    “Two dollars,” Daphne declared quickly. “One for each of the girls. And the one you’ve already paid for me. I don’t leave the girls alone with the men, you see.”
    Lucas cleared his throat. “They…ahem, they’re not in any danger with me.”
    Daphne laughed. Lucas was amazed at how young and tinkling it sounded. “I believe you there. Fine, I’ll make an exception. Don’t have any money, is that right? Left everything on the
Pretty Peg
? You’re a real hero! But now off you go, room one. I’ll send for the girls. And I’ll see to it myself that I make Uncle Norman a happy man.”
    She sauntered over to Norman and made the blonde-haired “water” girl look instantly shabby. Daphne was, without question, radiant—but what was more, she had something approaching style.
    Lucas entered room one, which confirmed his expectations. The room was furnished like a third-rate hotel with a great deal of plush,a wide bed…was he supposed to stretch himself out on it? Or would that scare the girls? Lucas ultimately settled in a plush chair, partly because the bed did not look very trustworthy to him. After all, he had only just gotten rid of the fleas from the
Pretty Peg
.
    The arrival of the twins announced itself with murmuring and admiring calls from the “salon,” which the girls had to cross to reach his room. Apparently, it was considered a luxury—and no doubt a special honor—when one was allowed to order the twins. Then again, Daphne had left no doubt that the girls were under her protection.
    The twins seemed to find the attention embarrassing,