'Must be the bouncer,' whispered Erik.
Manfred shook his head. 'I put the bastard to sleep first. Come on. Give me a hand with this couch.'
The couch was a venerable piece of furniture. Either it had been intended for some unusual antics in a higher bedroom, before its carriers had been defeated either by its weight or the angle of the stairs, or it was for elderly patrons who needed to lie down before going on to visit the delights on higher floors. It was solid and heavy, and made of some exotic black wood that Erik did not recognize. This was Venice. Strange things found their way here, even wood. The couch was about six cubits long and must have weighed at least four hundredweight.
Even with Manfred's oxlike strength, lifting it was not easy. They struggled to raise it above the banisters. On the other hand, the bunch of arquebus-armed men who came running up the stairs were unable to resist it as it came hurtling down at them. Neither was the wooden staircase up to this sort of treatment. It splintered. Amid the thunder of gunfire, the shouting--and screaming--of men, and the partial collapse of the staircase, Erik and Manfred fled upwards again.
'There are other stairs,' panted Manfred. 'Stone ones. They'll cut us off up those.'
Erik pointed. 'Take that next passage, any room and a window. If need be we'll break our way into the next house.'
'Corner room. Give us two sides.'
They legged it down the passage. Ripped open the door. And Erik suddenly remembered just where he was: in a notorious Venetian brothel.
The woman on the bed languorously raised herself up. Her very voluptuous self. She tilted her head and twitched full, red, red lips into an easy, provocative smile. 'Two of you?' She had an ornately arranged head of auburn-red hair, and pale olive skin. She wore a string of gold-netted millefiori beads. That was all she wore, so the skin was very obvious.
Despite the circumstances, Erik found himself staring at the almond-skin color of the broad areolar rings around her nipples, like a snake-hypnotized rabbit. His eyes were drawn down instinctively until he wrenched them upward and away with a tremendous force of will.
She, in turn, stared thoughtfully at the three red crosses on his surcoat.
Manfred shut the door hastily behind them. He had no trouble looking at her.
'Your friend seems a little shy.' There was amusement in her rich contralto voice.
Manfred snorted. 'Don't mind him, demoiselle. In fact, don't mind us. We're just passing through.'
'Demoiselle!' She chuckled. 'Most of my visitors are just 'passing through,' darling.' Her accent was a little strange to Erik, despite his skill with languages. Not that he was interested right now in worrying about where she came from.
'Well, we mean really passing through your room,' said Manfred, heading for the window. 'If you'd oblige us by not screaming about it, I'll come back for a longer and more generous visit when the fuss has died down. Oh.'
The 'oh' was aimed at the close-set steel bars in the window.
The woman laughed. Her laughter was low and cool, much like her chuckle. 'Madame Claudia doesn't like customers leaving--or coming in--without having to pass through her cash box.'
In the background they could hear the distant sounds of the pursuit. Getting closer. 'We'd better get out there, Manfred,' said Erik grimly, heading for the door. 'We'll have to try and fight our way out.'
'Wait,' commanded the woman. 'There is another way out. You'll just have to wait until the passage is empty.' She had inserted herself between Erik and the door, as effectively--in his case--as a portcullis.
'They're likely to search,' said Manfred. Unlike Erik he had no problems looking at her. Or at picking her up and moving her . . .
Her means of thwarting him was to blow a kiss at him. 'I think I can hide you for few minutes. For a . . .' she broke off, as if she'd reached a sudden decision. 'Never mind.' She looked appraisingly at Erik, and then turned to Manfred.
'You, and especially your shy friend, present me with something of a challenge.' She laughed wickedly. 'Come on, big boys. Both of you. Get those clothes off. There must be twenty of them out there.'
'I'll go,' said Erik hastily. 'They're only looking for me.'
