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Hell in Heaven

by Yashi

Edited by Suzi. Thank you.

Copyright 03/05/03. No portion of this story may be reproduced in any media without the permission on the author

Chapter 1

Life was pretty good. We were in our early 50’s. The kids were grown and had left the nest. We both had jobs we liked and through wise investment we were planning to retire in just a few years. I’d spent the day splitting wood and doing the other fall chores that needed to get done before winter. I loved splitting wood; it’s the kind of job that shows instant reward – the sticks falling off the chopping block give a clear indication of your efforts.

After a good supper, we went to bed about ten. I woke up as the early morning sun was just peeking in the window. I looked around with a start – I sure as hell must have been dreaming. I knew where I was, my old bedroom at my folk’s house. They were dead and didn’t live here anymore so what was I doing here? The room was different somehow, but still close to the way I’d kept it. Damn, I suddenly realized I wasn’t alone – oh there wasn’t another person in the room, but there was someone else in my head. Or maybe I should say I was in his head because I could “feel” him there, way back in that dark corner. He was watching me trying to figure out what was going on, just as I was. I checked him out; he couldn’t hide anything from me. His thoughts were sort of like a computer, you just had to figure out what the files meant.

His name, I guess now our name, was Jimmy and he was 18. He had just finished his junior year in high school. I realized he was “slow” not retarded; he had all his bulbs so to speak, but most of them were pretty dim. I was surprised to find that he was very good in math, my worst subject, but hid his talent and passed with C’s. I was nearly overwhelmed by his pain as it washed over me. He had been the butt of many jokes and had been teased about his slowness. Jimmy was tall, around six foot one and a good athlete. They didn’t have football in his school (it was the same school I’d gone to as a kid) otherwise he might have been a star. Instead, he was the star of the soccer team, but few noticed – soccer wasn’t cool in town those days – Jimmy told me it was 1966.

I stood up and shed the shorts and tee shirt Jimmy slept in, I hated wearing anything to bed. After a quick shower I looked for something to wear. There was a warm breeze coming in the window and I started looking for a pair of shorts. It took awhile. During my search I realized that Jimmy never wore shorts except for soccer. This pair of cut offs was evidence of his mother’s attempts to make him wear them. A green tee shirt, a wallet from his slacks and I was ready for some breakfast.

I suddenly realized that this was the first time in more then 10 years that I’d awakened without a backache and without needing my glasses. I could get used to this – at least until the dream ended.

We had a bit of a conflict, Jimmy and me; he couldn’t understand why I didn’t put on shoes and socks. I made it clear that I didn’t wear any in the summer. He shrugged and we headed for the kitchen. After finding some coffee (of which Jimmy didn’t approve) and some cereal I sat down to read the paper, that I found on the porch. I was astonished to find that the war in Vietnam was going on as it had been in my teen-age years and for the most part the world seemed to be the same until I reached the classified ads. In addition to the normal, help wanted ads; cars, and what ever else I found a whole section on bondage gear. Strange! I consulted Jimmy and found that there was a whole subculture of bondage. It gave me something to think about.

The tap of shoes announced the arrival of Mary, Jimmy’s long-suffering mother. Gee, this was almost fun – I didn’t have to play twenty questions to find out about her, all I had to do was look in Jimmy’s “Mommy” file. She was 36 and not a bad looker, but not my cup of tea. She worked at the local high school as a secretary so she could keep an eye on Jimmy. She stopped suddenly and looked at me with a strange look. I almost looked behind me to see if there was something, I’d missed.

“What’s new in the paper? Any good photos?” She asked.

Shit, I forgot that Jimmy hadn’t read the whole paper in years – if ever. He might have pulled out a story for current events, but beyond that the world of news was a mystery to him. I decided to serve notice that I was in charge and was not going to play dumb. It might not be the best way to go about this whole thing, but what can I say.

“Not much of any great interest – they are sending more troops to ‘Nam and it doesn’t look good. The Stock Market closed up 100 points yesterday and the military industries were the big gainers.” I folded the paper neatly and laid it beside my dish. Picking up my spoon, I finished the cereal. Mary hadn’t moved, she was staring at me, her mouth open.

“What?” I asked.

Her mouth closed with a snap, “Nothing.” She turned and began fixing her own breakfast. James Senior, not Jim or Jimmy, would be down later. He was after all the local bank president and that just about made him God in a small town.

“Ok Jimmy, what next – what do you do after breakfast?” I asked in my/our head.

“Go see Kim. We hang out together during the day.”

Cool, I checked Jimmy’s “Kim” file. I was surprised to find she was a dish. She was sort of a big sister to Jimmy, although she was a few months younger. Mentally she was very mature for her age. From what I could gather from Jimmy, she liked him. Jimmy didn’t understand much about her and I guess you might say he loved her in his own way. Kim watched out for him at school and in return, he protected her. She was a mixture of Viet and French. With the war going on she was often the target of racial attacks. I was worried how I would mix things up with her – I was Jimmy, not Jimmy and I wondered if she would understand. Oh well, I’d already put my foot in it with Mary, maybe I should try to do better with Kim.

“I’m going to see Kim,” I spoke to Mary’s back.

She turned and looked at me for a long time before saying, “Ok, see you tonight.”

I got up and headed for the door.

“Shoes,” it was more a statement then a question.

“No.” I kept on going; she didn’t follow me or say anything else. I knew I confused the hell out of her.

We lived on a nice quiet, tree-lined street in a northern New Jersey town about 50 miles from New York City. Like most towns in the area, it had once been a farming town. Now it served as home base for many people who worked in New York or as the locals would say “The City” as if it was the only one on earth. While it was considered suburbia, there was still a lot of open land in town. Kim lived on an old farm her folks had bought and refused to split up. A much larger state park surrounded most of it. I crossed the street in front of my house and walked about a mile through woods. It was a wonderful day. I broke out in a field that ran down a gentle slope to her house. Off to the right an old barn had been converted into a sort of classroom; Jimmy wasn’t sure of the name, but I would call it a dojo. Kim’s father taught martial arts to a few select students. Consulting Jimmy I veered off towards the barn. To help Jimmy’s confidence he had begun taking lessons. While he was good at the moves and the falls, he lacked the spark needed to pull it all together.

Following Jimmy’s lead, I went into the dressing room and got ready. Entering the main area, I knelt and waited. Kim was already there. She glanced over and smiled. I could see she was one foxy chick. She was a very interesting mix with the black hair common to both her parents and almost green eyes of her mother; the dark skin of her father with just a hint of oriental upturn in the corner of her eyes. I knew from Jimmy that she was about 5 foot 5 and weighed about 115 pounds. Some might have called her skinny, but she was soft and round in all the right places. Her father came in and we began. I hesitated at first, but quickly saw that Kim was very good and I didn’t need to hold back. At first I let Jimmy do his thing, but soon realized that he was just going thought the motions. There was no spark. He was, as I said good at math and his world revolved around that rigid language. I began to let my imagination work into the equation and the moves began to flow. An hour flew by. Kim and I had worked up a good sweat by the time it was over. I went to shower in the dressing room.

I crossed to the porch/deck at the back of the house. The screened in porch had been part of the original house and Kim’s folks had added the deck. To tell the truth I was amazed at how much Jimmy knew about their world. Those who called him “slow” should share his mind for a while. He was slow on the outside and a social outsider, but he soaked up knowledge like a dry sponge. Anyway, I sat at the round table – in Jimmy’s usual place – according to Jimmy. Kim and her folks always ate outside if it wasn’t too cold.

A few minutes later Kim came out, her hair still wet. I nearly dropped my freshly poured coffee! She was “dressed” in a black Chinese silk jacket that came barely to her waist. Two gold and red embroiled dragons climbed the lapels of the jacket. It was completely open with no belt or buttons. Under it, she was nude from her bare brown feet to her raven black hair. The only words I could think of were “exquisitely beautiful.” It was a good thing I was speechless or I would have made a fool of myself. Jimmy’s reaction was a mental shrug – this was normal for her and he didn’t think much of it.

Kim glanced at me and sat down across from me, poured her coffee and picked up the paper.

“Kim, Jimmy, we’re leaving early,” Yvette, her mother, called from the kitchen door.

“Ok,” we answered in unison and she was gone. The car started a few minutes later and pulled out of the garage.

Kim put down the paper and looked around, then watched as I took another sip of my coffee. She smiled.

“I don’t remember you drinking coffee.”

I shrugged, “People change.”

She just nodded and picked up the clothesline from the chair next to her. Jimmy remembered for me that her father had renewed the clothesline the day before. I watched with interest as Kim played with it. She began by wrapping it around her wrist and then her fingers. Pulling up her feet and crossing them, she wrapped the line around her toes. It was all I could do to keep from coming in my shorts. Jimmy withdrew further into his corner. I loved the look of concentration on her face. With a sight she stopped playing and reached for her coffee.

“Have you ever been tied up?” It just sort of slid out. I guess I’m a dumb ass – my wife had put up with my slips, but this girl was a completely different world. I had to remember that she was less then a year younger than I was.

Kim looked up. I wondered if she would yell at me. I didn’t see why, it was a simple question.

“No, I don’t know much about ropes,” she said with an impish smile.

“I know a little and I can try, I’m sure you will be able to get out.” Yeah right – just call me the old sailor – Boy Scouts are noted for being honest, sailors aren’t.

Kim cocked her head, nodding it slowly.

“Ok, but you have to do your best.”

“Ah, how long do you want to stay tied?” I wondered if I was giving the game away.

“Well, you said you were sure I could get free, so I guess it doesn’t matter. But if you need a limit let’s say lunchtime.”

“I was hoping you would go hiking later, so why don’t we say an hour?”

“Why? You don’t think you can tie me that well?”

“I bet I can tie you well enough so you can’t get out by lunch, but then we can’t go hiking, can we?”

“If you don’t tie my feet we can go anyplace you want.”

“But I wanted to go up to Indian Falls and that’s a 45-minute drive. You game for that?”

She laughed, her eyes flashing. “I don’t mind going up there tied or untied, but I can’t imagine you driving all the way up there in my Jeep. The last time you tried to drive it you almost stripped the gears out of it.”

“I can always untie you so you can drive.”

“I wish you would just tie me up. Once I’m tied then you can do anything you want. I’d like to go to Indian Falls, but I’ve never been there and I bet you haven’t either.”

I reached across the table and picked up the rope. It had lain between us like a question mark, waiting for an answer. I stood up and she followed my lead. She turned and walked into the kitchen. A moment later, she came out nude. Kim walked up to me, looked up into my eyes and then without a word turned and pulled her hands behind her. She crossed her wrists. I uncrossed her wrists and let her arms hang at her sides as I doubled the rope and found its middle. I slid the free ends through the loop I’d formed in the middle. I slid the rope up over her arms until it was just above her elbows and began to pull it tight. I didn’t try to make her elbows touch – I was sure they would, but I had other plans. I tied off the rope and then I pulled up her wrists so her hands were just below their opposite elbows. I began in the center wrapping her forearms together, right side first and left side. I had enough rope left to throw the ends over her shoulders. I brought these ends down and tied an overhand knot between her breasts. I took one end and pulled it below her breast and then behind her. I wrapped it around her arm above the elbow and then brought it back in front, but took it over the top of her breasts. I did the same other side. I went back and forth until I ran out of rope. Next, I took a short length and tied it around the ropes just outside her left breast, trapping and squeezing it. I noticed her nipples were hard. I pinched one gently and she wiggled, but didn’t say a word. I did the same to her right breast. Stepping back, I looked her over. She looked down at herself and pulled at the ropes.

“What do you think?” I asked after watching her experimenting with the ropes.

“Cool man. It’s going to be great fun trying to get out. Are you done?”

“For now, but I reserve the right to add more later.”

“Ok, what’s next?”

I picked up four pieces about six feet long, doubled them over and found the middle. I flipped the rope over her head so the middle of the rope was at the back of her neck. Taking the ends I began to braid them together starting at her throat, so it was snug around her neck. In a few minutes I had a nice collar and lead.

“What’s next? I’m going hiking. You can stay here or you can go with me.”

She looked up at me and then down. “I want to go – I want to go anyplace you’re going.” She had suddenly become a meek, submissive Kim. A Kim Jimmy had never seen.

Grabbing the rest of the rope off the table, then her leash I turned and headed for the Jeep. I tied the end of the leash to the roll bar. There was no way she could reach it to untie it. Leaving her I went to the kitchen and found some cold cuts for lunch and a bottle of lemon-aid. I stuffed these things in a bag, locked the kitchen door, grabbed the Jeep keys and walked out shutting the door. Kim was waiting at the Jeep where I’d left her. Judging by the sheen of sweat on her body she had put some effort in trying to free herself.

I tossed the stuff in back and turned to her. I untied her leash and helped her get in. I looked for the seat belt and put it on her. I suddenly dawned on me that it was a bit early for a Jeep to have a three-way seat belt, one more of those odd things about this world. I bent down and tied her ankles together then tied the end of the rope around the seat support. About this time I realized I was getting ready to take my nude, bound girlfriend in an open Jeep on a 45-minute ride. I consulted Jimmy, he didn’t think it was odd and it was normal to see bound nude woman in public. In fact there was a name for them: Chain Girls. Math man Jimmy informed me that they made up about 12 percent of the adult female population. I was dumbfounded. I walked around and got in. All I could think was that I had a lot to learn about this world.

The Jeep started quickly and easily. The knob on top of the stick shift informed me that it was a five speed. Now I knew for sure I was dreaming. This whole thing was just a dream. I hope I didn’t wake up too soon. I had complained about the three speed transmission I’d had in my old CJ 5 jeep; too few gears for the road and too fast in the woods.

I wiggled the stick around and found the gates. It felt like a nice transmission. Selecting first I eased out the clutch feeling to see how high it engaged. I let the clutch all the way out and we were off.

Chapter 2

“You aren’t Jimmy are you?” It came out of the blue as we turned onto highway from Kim’s driveway. “You look and sound like Jimmy, but you don’t drive like Jimmy, you are…different,” she didn’t dare say sharper – that I’m not sure I really was, “and you tied me up. Jimmy would never do that.”

I glanced at her. “Can we talk about it later or do you want me to take you home?”

“Yeah, we can talk about it later. I like the new Jimmy. I liked the old one, but I think I could love the new one. Besides if you took me home you might want to untie me and I don’t want to be untied.” She gave me her normal impish grin.

“You said Jimmy would never tie you up. Was it good or bad that I tied you up?”

“Oh good, very good, I’ve been thinking about it for along time. I just didn’t think you would be interested.”

I let the conversation slide into silence. The Jeep ran great and I relaxed and enjoyed the day.

Talk about a weird trip. I just couldn’t get over driving down the road in an open Jeep with no top, no doors with a naked bound girl. I had a mild, well a bit more then mild, panic attack when a State Trooper pulled up behind us. After a few miles, he passed us with a wave. This was even stranger because I could never remember a State Trooper waving to me. Maybe it was the pretty girl.

The park was just where I remembered it. After parking, I untied Kim’s feet, grabbed lunch and helped her out of the Jeep. I pointed to the trail and she started in front of me. I almost came in my shorts, for the second time this morning, watching her walk up the trail. She seemed comfortable with her arms bound behind her and walked with confidence. About a mile in we came to the falls. They really aren’t much of a falls if you define a fall as water dropping off rocks into a pool. These were more of a cataract, the water bouncing, tumbling about one hundred feet down a rock-fall. There was a nice pool at the bottom and we found a nice place to spread out the blanket. Kim went down to the water. The water wasn’t very deep and she waded right into the middle of the pool and sat down. After cooling off for a few minutes she stood and returned to the blanket.

“What else can you do with rope?” She asked with a shy smile.

“Hummm…let’s see.” I pulled several lengths out of the bag. After cutting all of them to the same length I motioned her over to stand in front of me. I found the middle of each rope by folding it in half. Next I passed the loose end of the rope through the loop. Working quickly I fix a length of rope to each of her legs above the knees and then each ankle.

“Kneel on the blanket and then sit back on your heels.”

She did as I asked. I tied her ankles to her thighs and then had her lean forward. Taking the ropes tied above her knees, I lashed them to her arms above her elbows and across her back, securing her in a ball. When I finished she was panting softly and licking her lips. Without asking I slid my hand down her back and between her legs. Her pussy was soaking wet. When I touched her she tried, without much luck, to push back into my hand. Carefully I rolled her onto her back. Shedding my clothes, I knelt down between her legs and ran my tongue up her slit. Kim tried desperately to help me pleasure her, but the bondage was too good. All she could do was moan and rock a little. I kept teasing her, bringing her to the brink of an orgasm and then backing away. Finally, I relented and bore down on her. With a little cry she exploded.

I slid up beside her on the blanket and held her as she cried. Finally she calmed down enough to talk.

“Wow man that was cool! Thank you.” Looking down she wiggled a bit. “Untie me so I can do you.”

“Do you really want me to untie you?”

“No, but you’re hard and you haven’t cum yet.”

“You seem to know a lot about this.”

“You know I read a lot.”

Smiling I rolled her back onto her knees. I spread my legs around her and slid up until my cock was in her face.

“Better?” I asked.

“Yeah, but I’m not sure what I’m doing. You know I’ve never done this before.”

“Take it your mouth, play with it with your tongue, and suck it.”

Kim made up for her lack of experience with a great deal of enthusiasm. It took a while, but I finally came. To my surprise she sucked and licked every drop up. As soon as I recovered, I untied her. In a few minutes, we stretched out together on the blanket in the dappled shade and fell asleep.

When we woke I just held her for a few minutes. I looked into her eyes seeking any sign or distress or unhappiness. All I could see was happiness and love. Jimmy had retreated into a corner of my/our mind. He was becoming more and more transparent. I realized that we were becoming one.

“Hungry?” I asked as I reached for the bag.

“Ummm. Are you going to tie me up again?” Kim stretched lazily.

I watched her erotic grace with fascination.

“Is that what you want?”

“Please.”

“Turn around.” She scrambled to her knees with her back towards me, wrists crossed. I simply lashed her wrists together and checked to make sure her circulation was ok. “I see this was a ploy to make me feed you.” I pushed on her shoulder to indicate she could turn and face me.

“Maybe,” she giggled, eyes dancing.

I pulled the lunch out of the bag, opened it and began to eat. I didn’t force her to beg or play games. I just fed her.

“I’ve been thinking,” she started.

“About what?”

“Well you know my grandparents live about a hundred miles north of here near the Appalachian Trail. I was thinking that it might be fun to hike up and see them. It shouldn’t take more then a week.”

“I don’t have any plans in the next few weeks. It sounds like it might be fun.” I had always wanted to hike the whole trail and perhaps someday we would. A relatively short hike was better then none. “When do you want to go?”

“I have to go into the City with my folks day after tomorrow. I’ll be gone overnight,” she paused, “how about starting in five days?”

“Cool. While you’re gone I’ll pull the gear together.” I was already thinking about what to take.

After lunch, we hiked the trail that ran beside the falls until we reached an open swamp where a beaver dam had impounded several acres of water. We marveled at the wildlife and then headed back. After picking up our gear we hiked back to the Jeep. Come to think of it, we never did have a discussion about who I was.

Chapter 3

The days flew by. Kim and I talked on the phone a few times. Her father was gone so we didn’t even work out together. We cleared the trip with our respective folks – mine didn’t care, they were too caught up in their own lives. I spent a lot of time worrying about my wife. I had no way of knowing if I was in a dream and would wake up to find myself back with her or if this wasn’t a dream and I’d be here forever. I really liked Kim and the things we were doing, but it’s hard to forget someone you lived with for so long. I kept busy doing chores, like mowing the lawn, so no one would have to do it while I was gone.

Finally, the waiting was over. My folks had gone to work early and I simply picked up my pack and hiked over to Kim’s. She was waiting on the deck nude. I just couldn’t get over the fact that she was so comfortable nude. In my other life a girl might go nude around the house or outdoors if there wasn’t much chance of discovery. But Kim hated clothes and spent as much time nude as possible – which meant all the time when it was warm enough. I noticed she was wearing what appeared to be thick bracelets on her wrists and ankles. I pointed to her wrist and she held it out for me to examine. They were stainless steel lined with some sort of soft rubber material. They were smooth, I had to look hard to find the joint and next to it just a tiny hole for a key. Both sets of cuffs had two rings on opposite sides. The rings had been fitted in such a way that they would fold flat against the cuffs.

“Like them?” Kim asked. “I found them in the City and figured you’d like them.”

“Yeah they’re cool.”

We split the food, checked everything, put the packs in the jeep and headed out. Two hours later we reached the trail head. As soon as we got out of the jeep Kim reached in the side pocket of her pack and handed me a small brass padlock. After I took it from her, she turned and held her hands together behind the back.

“If you don’t mind,” she asked over her shoulder, “please?”

I threaded the lock through the rings and locked her wrists together.

“There’s a 14-inch chain and locks in my pack for later. Is that ok?” She glanced at the ground and then up at my face.

“It’s ok. We’ll see how it goes and how rough the trail is.”

“Cool.”

Kim pulled her hands up her back as I fitted the waist belt around her waist and flipped the straps over her shoulders. It was tricky, but I managed to get it on her. She could rest her hands on top of the waist belt.

“Comfortable?”

“Yes, I feel great,” she answered with a smile.

We headed up the trail.

About every two hours, we would take a short break and drink some water. It was clear that Kim wasn’t having any problems and got pissed when I asked how she was doing for the tenth time. After that I just followed her along the trail. Just like the day at Indian Falls I loved watching the play of muscles in her ass and long legs. I watched as her soles became dirty from the dust of the trail and then were cleaned again as we waded a small stream only to pick up even more dust from being wet. We crossed several roads and around five came to the shelter where we had planed to spend the night but it was near a road and there was a crowd sitting around a fire drinking beer. There were several girls there; two, like Kim were nude and bound. Collars indicated they were Chain Girls. We said hi, looked at each other and without speaking, agreed to go on. We found the next shelter around dark. I helped Kim shed her pack.

Kim stretched as well as she could with her wrists still bound. I debated on finding the key, but decided to wait until she asked for her freedom. Setting up camp only took a few minutes. I spread out the blankets in the shelter, got out the stove, and picked out dinner. Kim took a pan and went to a nearby spring for water. She managed very well with her hands behind her. It was dark when we finished diner. We didn’t waste any time rolling into bed – it had been a long day.

The next morning we were up at first light. We ate a quick breakfast and while I read the map Kim managed to pick up the bed, but I had to help her pack it.

“It looks like a fairly easy, rolling hike today. Do you want to try a hobble chain today?”

“Ok, I don’t think it will be a problem. I don’t think we can make as good time as we did yesterday, but I’ll try.”

I fished in the side pocket of her pack and found the chain, lock, and key. A chill went down my spine.

“Where are the keys to lock between you wrists?”

She didn’t answer. Instead, she just dug her toes in the dirt and looked at my feet.

“Kim?”

She glanced up, then quickly down again.

“Home,” she said softly.

“Home?”

“Please don’t be mad. I didn’t think you’d be mad.”

“At least you could have asked me.” I just shook my head. I was pissed, but there wasn’t much I could do except go back. We weren’t going back. “OK we go on, but I think you deserve to be punished. Don’t you?”

“Yes.” She didn’t ask when or what I was going to do to her, just a simple yes.

I didn’t even know what to do with her. Fooling around was one thing, but it could be dangerous out here. I had no problem with putting her in long-term bondage, but it would have been nice to be able to free her if I needed help.

“Let’s go.”

“Are you still mad?” This time she looked me full in the face as she spoke.

“No,” I said with a sigh. “I love you to much to stay mad at you.” There I’d said it. It was the first time I’d ever said I love you to her. I realized that I was long overdue in my pledge.

She just stared at me for a few minutes and then said, “I love you too.” Tears began running down her checks as I stepped up and hugged her.

We kissed and I knew we had better get going before anything else happened. Releasing her from our hug, I knelt down and locked the chain on her ankles. We turned to the trail and began hiking. Kim couldn’t take long strides anymore. Instead, she speeded up her gate and took more, faster steps. I was still, despite my words, a bit pissed at her. About a hundred yards up the trail we passed an old gnarled apple tree. As we passed, I ripped a sprout off it. I pulled most of the leaves off it and slapped my hand a few times to get a feel for how much force I needed to make it sting.

I waited until we started up the next hill and smacked Kim across the butt. She jumped and almost tripped over the hobble chain the let out an un-lady-like comment.

“Oh shit. What was that for?”

“You have the key to understanding.”

“Boo, poor pun. I though you weren’t angry at me.”

“I’m not, but you haven’t been punished yet.”

Chapter 4

About three o’clock we came to a shelter. A man in his late thirties was there with a girl and a dog. She was about our age and looked like the guy. I figured they were father and daughter. They introduced themselves as Dan and Tina. They told us they were out for a long weekend – a father and daughter bonding as he explained it. Like many teenagers, she just rolled her eyes, and then giggled. The dog, a small personable mutt, sat and watched us.

We hadn’t planned on stopping, but a quick look at the sky changed our minds. Clouds were building in the west. Tina was full of questions about Chain Girls and pestered Kim for answers. Kim admitted that we had just started and she didn’t know much. I rolled out the bedroll and heated some water for tea. Dan sat back with the dog, named Bongo, and watched the thunderstorm roll in across the hills. The storm came with a crash that shook the shelter. Kim, near the entrance, cringed as lightning struck a tree somewhere behind the shelter. She started towards me, fear in her eyes. She was halfway to me when I saw a deer bounce out of the woods behind her. A doe, she must have been spooked by the nearness of the strike. Bongo wanted to go after it, but Dan held onto him. Kim squeezed between me and the wall, the safest place she could find.

Tina pulled her attention back from the deer. “What does it feel like having you hands tied behind your back all day?” She held her hands behind her as if tied.

Kim looked at me. I nodded my permission to answer. I had never told her not to speak, but over the last few days, she had become quiet around other people we had met on the trail. I had even asked her if she wanted to end the hike and find a ride back to the Jeep. But she had firmly said she was very happy with the way things were going.

“I think it’s cool, but to be honest I don’t think about it much except when I need to eat or something like that.” As she spoke, I watched her face as she watched the rain. Even in the dark corner, she had a quiet radiance about her. She was a soul at peace with herself and the world around her.

“Do you ask him to cuff you in the morning or does he just do it?”

“No, I don’t ask him. The keys are at home and I’ve been cuffed since the start of the hike. I’ll stay like this until we get home.”

I could see Tina’s eyes go wide. Her father just stared off into the rain, but I knew he was listening. Tina ground the heel of her tennis shoe into the floor of the shelter. I knew she wanted to ask something more, but wasn’t sure how to go about it.

Tina turned her attention to me. “Please, would you tie me up so I can feel what it’s like?”

I didn’t answer, unsure of her father’s reaction. I didn’t need him pissed at me. I already had all I wanted.

Dan spoke first. “I don’t mind. I’ve know for a long time she was interested in this sort of thing. It’s up to you.”

I glanced at Kim for her reaction – no real help there; she just gave an enigmatic smirk.

“If you’re sure.”

“Yes please.” She looked like a kid on Christmas morning.

I couldn’t think of any way to be gentle so I said, “Please take all you clothes off.”

Suddenly her enthusiasm dampened. I would have bet five bucks that it had been at least fifteen years since her father had seen her nude. To my surprise, she stood and nervously began to undress. I didn’t watch her and as far as I could tell her father didn’t either; we both watched the rain drops very carefully. Within a few minutes she was nude. She just stood there between us without trying to hide herself in any way.

“Ok, I’m ready.”

I glanced over at her. I had to admit that she was a pretty girl in classical all American girl next-door way – slim, trim with medium-size breasts and natural blond hair. It was very evident from the tan lines that she didn’t sun herself in the nude. But after the initial shock of stripping she seemed at ease with herself.

I rummage around in my bag and came up with several lengths of rope. I stood up facing her and motioned for her to turn around.

“Hands please.”

She crossed her wrists behind her. I separated them and lashed them together. Before finishing them I included a few loops around her thumbs. Next I had her sit on the front edge of the shelter. Putting on my hat I went outside to tie her ankles together.

“I’m going to pick you up.” She just nodded. I could smell her musk among the earth smells the rain had stirred up. I took her to the other side of the fire ring where there was a nice, dirty, muddy spot. After I set her down, I had her kneel and laid her face down. The mud wasn’t deep, but it was sticky. I pulled out a length of rope and pulled her ankles up and secured them to her wrists in a hog tie. I checked her limbs for circulation. The tie wasn’t too tight, but it was secure.

I left her and headed back to the shelter, pausing only long enough to rinse my feet off in a handy puddle. I settled down in the shelter to see what she would do. I glanced over my shoulder at Kim and I could sense that she was aroused by the view of the naked woman in the mud. I almost asked her if she wanted to join Tina, but decided that I wanted her next to me. There was one piece of rope left. I turned to Kim and tied her crossed ankles together. She glanced down and smiled.

Tina didn’t move or do anything. I wondered if she was in shock, but in a few seconds she rolling around in the mud laughing her head off. After exploring the limits of her bonds she seemed to settle down and began to hump the mud in a very erotic dance.

Without taking my eyes off her I said, “Hey Dan what do you do when you aren’t hiking?”

He turned and gave me a warm smile. “I’m the new principal of the George Washington High School.”

I choked on my tea and sprayed it all over the floor of the shelter in front of me. I heard Kim gasp behind me and twist in her bonds. We – or I say – I had just tied up and dumped our new principal’s daughter in mud!! Shit man – way to go Jimmy – you have two semesters to live with this guy and this is the way you start things off. I carefully put my mug down and started fishing in my bag for my knife. I glanced up to see what Dan’s reaction had been. He was very stern for a few seconds and then the corners of his mouth twitched a few times and he began to smile. The smile had barely spread across his face before he broke out in hearty laughter with tears coursing down his cheeks.

He managed to control himself just long enough to say, “You should have seen your face!” Then he went off in another fit of laughter.

Kim and I lost it at point and joined in.

After we managed to control ourselves, I got up with the intention of freeing Tina. I figured I was in enough shit. As I started to stand, Dan waved me back to my seat.

“She’ll keep,” he said, reading my thoughts. “Her mother and I knew a long time ago that she was going to be this way. That’s one reason we moved east. We were afraid that she might be driven by her needs to fall in with the wrong crowd. So we moved east to find a simpler, safer place for her to begin her exploring. We weren’t sure if she would be a Chain Girl or if this was just a passing thing. As you can see, I think she is going to be a Chain Girl. That leaves me the problem of who is going to be her master. Tina has never played the dating game and she didn’t have a boyfriend when she left.” He turned to me, our eyes met and he studied me for a few moments. “You’re twice-born and you already have a beautiful girlfriend.”

“Twice-born?” For once Jimmy didn’t have any information on the subject. I could guess, considering my experiences of late, but I wanted Dan to explain.

“We borrowed money from your father’s bank to buy our house. He told me a little about you because he knew you had,” he paused looking for a delicate way to say Jimmy was slow.

“I was slow,” I offer to be helpful.

“I wouldn’t put it that way, but yes that is what he meant. After meeting you, it’s clear that you aren’t slow. Therefore, you must be twice-born. This is a strange world. I’m not twice-born, but I’ve talked to a few who are. And as near as I can tell we – this earth seems to be that is, ah what should I call it,” he thought for a moment and then said, “a recycling center for the earth you were born on. For example, we have Chain Girls. I know you have people who are interested in bondage and S and M, but you don’t do it openly. By that I mean you, at the very least, would be hassled if you took Kim out for a drive like she is now. Here you will never encounter a problem taking Kim or Tina anyplace nude and bound. No one will say a word or look at you twice if you led Kim into the White House on a leash. I think from all that I have been able to gather that we are on a slightly different timeline then the other earth as we call it.”

The silence gathered around us broken only by the sound of dripping rain. I noticed that the rain was easing and unless Tina was going to stay muddy, I’d better get her up. Standing, the rain could wash some of mud off. Turning I untied Kim’s ankles. I then pulled her to her feet.

“How about giving me a hand with Tina?” I could see the puzzlement in her eyes. She just nodded. I smiled and wondered what she would do when I showed her what I wanted to do.

She followed me out of the shelter to where Tina lay. I freed her feet from her hands and then untied her ankles. I helped her to her feet and led her to a nearby tree. Using the rope I’d used to connect her hands and feet I secured her elbows to the tree.

Turning to Kim I said; “I want you to clean her up.”

“But I don’t have any hands.”

I didn’t say anything to her I just stared.

Suddenly the light bulb went off in her head as she realized how I meant for her to help clean Tina. Even with her dusky skin I could see the blush. She glanced at the ground, met my gaze, and then smiled, “Ok.” Tina, still in a euphoric haze, just watched us. At first she was surprised when Kim approached her and began rubbing her body all over hers, but quickly closed her eyes and began helping as much as she could.

I heard Dan get up and leave the shelter. I turned and watched as he began fishing around in the kindling pile. Glancing up he noticed my attention.

“When they get done,” he nodded towards the girls, “I think we’d better have a fire to dry them off.”

Without a word, I went behind the shelter and grabbed an armload of wood. In a few minutes we had a nice fire going.

I went and checked on Kim. She was doing a better job of getting the mud on herself then getting it off Tina. Both girls were doing a great job of turning each other on. Finally I called a halt to the proceeding and got dirty looks for my effort. Tina was cleaner and Kim was dirty. I gave Kim my best “Master” look and to my surprise she left Tina and knelt at my feet. I put my hand on her head.

“Get up and go sit by the fire, you’ll get cold.” She gave me a warm smile and did as I’d told her.

I untied Tina completely. I was even more surprised when she too knelt at my feet.

“Thank you Master. That was peachy keen. Please can you tie my hands again?”

“Not now, maybe later. Go sit by the fire.” She too went to the fire.

“Jimmy,” Kim called my name softly.

“Yes?”

“May I talk to you in the shelter, please?”

“Sure.”

In the shelter she nudged her pack with a very dirty foot. “I heard Tina ask if you would tie her hands. Look in the bottom right pocket.”

I did as she asked. There were two, hard small objects wrapped in old socks in the bottom of the pocket. I pulled one out and unwrapped it. It was a black set of handcuffs with the key tied to the connection. I glanced up at Kim just in time to catch a sly smile. The sock held a second set of much larger cuffs. Even fully locked they would have slid over Tina’s wrists.

Sensing my confusion Kim offered. “Ankles – I figured they would be more restrictive than shackles.”

“Yep you’re right, good idea.” I stood up. “Let’s see what they think.”

We went back to the fire. I untied the keys and slipped them into my pocket. When we got to the fire I stepped behind Tina and held up the cuffs for him to see. I pointed to Tina and he nodded yes.

“Tina.” She turned on the log to look at me. Her eyes went wide at the sight of the cuffs.

“Please,” her eyes sparkled with joy.

Quickly I cuffed her hands behind her back and locked her ankles together. Kim was right, the cuffs fit Tina’s ankles and were certainly more restrictive then shackles. She clearly enjoyed the new restraints.

I sat between the two girls and fed them dinner. Dan sat on the other side of the fire and told stories from when he was a boy in the boundary waters between north Michigan and Canada. Kim and I turned in just as night stole across the glade in front of the shelter.

The next morning found us up early. When we had gone to bed, Tina and her father were still sitting at the fire. This morning I found her next to the fire pit sleeping on the ground with the dog’s blanket tossed over her. I stirred the coals and found some strange objects in the bottom of the pit – metal buttons, bra hooks and a pair of sneaker soles. I felt someone watching me and discovered I’d awakened Tina.

“What’s all this stuff?” I pointed with the stick.

“Dad burned all my clothes and shoes.”

“Wow, you’re kidding,” I grinned, “I guess you’re going home naked.”

“I guess so, but I’m not sure when or with whom.”

A chill shook me. “You said ‘with whom’? I don’t understand.”

“Dad said something about sending me with you and Kim.”

“Well I’ve got my hands full with Kim. We are both new at this and I’m not sure I could handle two Chain Girls.”

“Oh I wouldn’t be much trouble. I can hike fast. . .”

“Barefoot? Kim has been going barefoot since she was born.”

“Well I don’t know about that, but I can try.”

“You have to be able to do more then just try. We’re on a schedule and we lost nearly half a day yesterday. At the same time we have a limited food supply so we need to move along.”

“I can keep up,” she said defiantly.

“Well it’s up to your father and Kim has a say too.”

“But she’s a Chain Girl.”

“It appears you are too, so you will go and do what you are told – correct?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Kim and Dan arrived in time to hear the last of the exchange.

“I was going to ask you this morning if you wanted to take Tina with you. I think it might be good for her to be with people her own age and who clearly share her interests.”

“As you might have heard, I told her I’m not sure I can handle two Chain Girls. However, we can try it. We’ll be on a road by nightfall and if there’s a problem we can get a ride out.” I watched Kim as I spoke, wondering what she thought of the plan.

“That sounds good to me.”

“What do you think Kim?” I wanted her input. I loved her and didn’t want to lose her. I still wasn’t sure how far this Chain Girl thing went. She had given herself to me as a Chain Girl by letting me bind her. Did that mean I owned her for life regardless of her wishes? I didn’t know enough about Chain Girls, so for the time being I was going to treat her like a girlfriend who enjoyed bondage.

“I think it would be fun. But it’s up to you Master.”

“Ok Dan we’ll do it.”

“Great, I packed her bag last night and it’s a lot lighter then it was,” he said with a wink.

I released Tina’s ankles so she could go take a piss. She was a mess – her hair was matted and her body was caked with mud despite Kim’s efforts to remove it. Sleeping on the ground all night had added its own layer of dirt. Kim was a little better, but not much.

I fixed a breakfast of cereal for the three of us. I put the girls’ in bowls and placed them on the ground. Kim and Tina gave me a questing look. I didn’t respond so they fell to their knees and began to eat.

After breakfast, I packed our bags and helped Kim and Tina put their packs on. By 0730 we had said our good-byes and hit the trail. Tina kept up better then I had expected. I was in heaven; I had two asses and two sets of naked legs to watch.

We stopped every few hours to snack and drink water. By late afternoon Tina was showing signs that her feet hurt and she was getting tired. I decided to slow down so I hobbled Kim again. This worked well and gave Tina time to catch her breath. About dark we hit another shelter for the night. I released Tina so she could stretch and help with supper. She was turning into a good trooper and didn’t complain about being nude or cuffed. I looked her feet over and except for the dirt she didn’t have any dings. Kim was very happy. She told me several times that this was the most fun she had ever had. The only downside she claimed was having the hike end so soon.

The next day passed quickly and late the next morning we turned off the trail. After a mile of dirt road we found Kim’s grandparents’ home. It was a neat little cottage set back off the road in a grove of trees. Surrounding it were several large gardens and behind it was a large vegetable garden.

I was a bit surprised at how well they spoke English and I was even more surprised at how well Jimmy spoke French. They told me that they had only lived in Vietnam five years while they had been stationed at the Embassy – just long enough for Kim’s mother to meet her father and marry him. They had lived in the US more then 30 years – before Vietnam and after. For many reasons they chose to retire here. We spent the night with them and her grandfather drove us back to the Jeep. We had had a good time and missed the hiking.

Chapter 5

We knew something was up when we drove into Kim’s driveway. There were three extra cars there. One, to my great surprise was my folks’. Tina pointed out her parents’ Chevy but none of us knew who owned the panel wagon. I don’t know why I was so apprehensive. I’d gotten permission to take Kim with me and Tina’s father had sent her with me.

Kim’s mother met us on the porch. She seemed genuinely happy to see us and there was no hint of anger. We trooped after her as she led us into the living room. No one said much as we entered – a few “Hi’s” but that was about it. There was a distinct chill in the room. I sensed that it wasn’t directed at us instead it seemed to be directed at the two strange women sitting on the edge of their chairs at the far end of the room. I didn’t have a clue about who they were. They could have been twins dressed in gray nun’s habits.

“Hi girls, Jimmy,” Kim’s Father spoke up. “These are Sister Grace and Sister Charity from the Gray Ladies’ Guild; they need to speak to you. Please sit.”

Kim and Tina crossed their legs and sat on the floor. Both had their hands cuffed behind their backs – this was the sixth day for Kim. I’d cuffed Tina for the ride home. I took an empty chair near my folks.

Sister Grace opened a notebook and began to read. “Kim Yi you have entered into a Chain Girl agreement with Master Jim without asking the Guild’s permission or notifying the Guild. You do or should know that it is your duty to notify us in person; or failing that have your Master notify us. Stand and come here,” she finished in a hard, commanding voice.

Trembling, Kim stood and approached the two women. Sister Charity stood as she approached. She was at least a head taller which meant she was almost as tall as me. Sister Grace put down her notebook and stood too. She was just a bit shorter than Charity. Standing together they made an imposing pair.

“Tina, you come here too.” Sister Grace ordered. She did as she had been told. I could see tears in her eyes. Sister Grace picked up a bag from beside her chair. Without a word the two Sisters took one girl each by the arms and led them out of the room. I jumped up and followed – the others got up, but more slowly. I didn’t like the sense of foreboding they gave off.

I caught up with the foursome in side yard. The Sisters had forced the girls to their knees. They had locked their wrists and ankles together making it impossible for the girls to run. I watched in fascination as the Sisters opened the side of their truck. Sister Grace took some sort of box out and opened it to reveal some sort of medical kit. Charity pulled out several built-in devices that I didn’t understand at first. They appeared to be three parallel bars. One was at least eight feet off the ground. The second was about three feet high and the last was about six inches. All three were mounted on a track system that allowed them to be raised or lower independently.

Grace turned to me. “Where are the keys to her cuffs?”

“I don’t know; Kim?”

“Telephone table.”

I went in, found the keys in the drawer of the table and brought them back. Grace took them without a word and began to remove the cuffs from Kim. As soon as Kim’s ankles were free from my cuffs, Grace took a set of cuffs from her bag and replaced them. The same held true for the wrist cuffs.

“When we are done you may place these on her,” Grace said as she handed Kim’s cuffs to me. “Ours will be on her for some time.”

Together the Sisters stood Kim up and led her to the bars. Working together, they secured her ankles to rings set in the lower bar spreading her legs about three feet apart. Charity lowered the top bar until it was just above Kim’s back. While Grace lifted Kim’s arms, Charity attached them to the bar. Kim groaned as Charity hit a switch and the top moved up and rotated over Kim’s head forcing her to bend over the middle bar. Charity spent several minutes working the controls until Kim was about a foot off the ground and bent in a painful U over the middle bar.

Grace took a syringe from her medical kit and gave Kim an injection in her right butt cheek. Kim squeaked a bit at the indignity. Still not finished she took a second syringe and gabbed in Kim’s right arm.

“For the afore-mentioned crimes against the Guild your punishment will be as follows. You are sentenced to silence for one year. I have injected you with a drug that will render you silent for the specified period. You are sentenced to be bound for one year. Your hands will be cuffed behind your back for one year and will only be released automatically for one hour between six am and seven am. Your cuffs will automatically unlock when you enter the local school building and will relock when you exit. They will shock you if you do not place your hands behind your back. If you resist they will automatically notify the Guild. Your ankles will be shackled with a cable 14 inches apart for one week and will not be released until you sentence is over. You are further sentenced to be caned ten strokes.

“I warn you that from this moment forward that you are a Chain Girl and that you belong to Master Jimmy. You will remain nude for the rest of your life unless Master dresses you to protect you from the elements. If you are found by a member of the Guild clothed or in violation of the any of the rules in the Guild’s Chain Girl Code of Conduct you will be punished according to the Guild’s punishment guidelines. I must make it clear that punishment can range from long-term bondage to death with no appeal. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Yes what, make yourself clear while you can.”

“Yes Sister, I understand.”

“Sister Charity you may begin.”

Whack! Kim screamed as a neat red line appeared across her butt.

“One,” Grace counted.

Whack! Kim screamed again, but with her voice softening. I wondered if the drug was taking effect so quickly. I looked around wondering why someone didn’t do something to stop this. I doubt if she knew she had to notify some God Damn Guild. I caught Kim’s Father’s eye and he just shook his head giving me a clear indication not to interfere.

The beating went on with Charity wielding the cane and Grace counting. I wondered how Kim could stand it. I’m sure I would have passed out. Finally, it was over. They lowered her to the ground and shackled her feet; picking her up the carried her over and dumped her at my feet. She didn’t try to get up or crawl away, she just lay whimpering in the dirt.

Next they moved to Tina. They removed her handcuffs and fastened her to the bars in the same way they had Kim.

“Tina Brown,” Grace read, “you have entered into bondage and taken the first steps toward becoming a Chain Girl without notifying the Guild. You have not entered into an agreement with a Master; however, you do acknowledge Master Jimmy as your temporary Master. The Guild has decided to be lenient with you. You will receive five strokes of the cane.”

Once again, Charity took up her position and they began. I didn’t watch. I sat beside Kim and began stroking her hair. Slowly she turned on her side and I took her head in my lap. Softly, so only she could hear me, I told it was ok and I wasn’t mad at her. I apologized for not knowing the rules. After a few minutes, she managed to control her weeping and began to relax a little. I barely had Kim under control when the Sisters dumped Tina beside me.

“Kim’s punishment has entered phase two. The cuffs will unlock and remove themselves when the sentence is over. Your voice will return within a few weeks after the end of the sentence. Tina’s punishment is finished.”

The Gray Bitches, as I would call them from that moment, turned, packed their torture tools and left. Our folks went back in the house without a word. I can’t fault them; they were in as much shock as we were. In all fairness, they were products of this society – I wasn’t. They had seen this before I’m sure and I think they were just happy they weren’t the targets of the Gray Bitches. It would take a few minutes for the shock to wear off and for the mothers to mobilize to help their daughters.

We sat crying in the dirt until Sharon, Tina’s mother, came out with water for us to drink. She helped me get both girls onto the deck. Odd, this is where it had all started barely two weeks before. She had a tube of salve that we spread on the girls. Yvette brought some sort of pain medication and more water to wash it down.

Kim was already silent. She just cried and cried. I just held her as best I could without hurting her. After about an hour she calmed down and I helped her stand. She could barely walk, but with help we made it to her bedroom. I laid a sheet on the floor and she lay down on her stomach.

Tina was in much better shape. She managed to walk to the bedroom by herself and lay down next to Kim. Dan came to the door and motioned to me to come downstairs. The cold chill of fear coursed through my bones. I was sure there would be hell to pay over this.

To my surprise, my parents had left without a word. I got the impression from Jimmy he thought they considered him a burden because of his slowness. The other parents sat in the same chairs they had been in before the punishment.

When I appeared in the door, Dan noticed me first, “Come in Jimmy. I’m sorry we didn’t talk more that day in the shelter.”

I took the seat my father had been sitting in, perhaps hoping the change in view would change what had happened – it didn’t.

“We – I,” he looked around and it was clear he was on his own, “need to explain a few things. About 300 years ago, a twice-born woman named Thais was born in Spain. Like many twice-borns she was born out of her time. You are one of the few who is very close to your correct time. Thais had been the courtesan of Alexandra the Great in her other life. She had two fetishes: nudity and bondage. She started a cult dedicated to these fetishes. All women who joined would become know as Chain Girls. No one knows the source of her power, but we know it must have been very powerful. We think that a twice-born was reborn before his time and gave Thais certain technology from the future: specifically collars and other bondage gear. Some of her followers managed to become the first settlers of Connecticut and were able to set up laws that permitted them the full expression of their views. Over time the cult spread throughout the United States.

“In an unsuccessful attempt to stop or at least slow down the Chain Girl cult the Catholic church founded the Gray Ladies Guild to oversee the girls. The government abdicated all control over the girls to the Guild. Perhaps the Guild slowed the growth of the cult, but it certainly didn’t stop it. The Guild has very strict rules and once a girl gives herself to a Master she must report to the Guild. If she doesn’t, you saw what happened today. The government has no say in the matter and can’t stop the Guild from carrying out its mission. There is one bright side to the Guild, if a girl loses her Master through illness or death then they will take care of her and try to find her a new Master.

“We think that the Guild stole the bondage gear and the secret of how it works from the Chain Girls. There have been several conflicts between the Chain Girls and the Guild. The Chain Girls lost the last one and now they are little more then slaves. At one time they were women who enjoyed going nude, bondage, and sometimes would give themselves to Masters. For the most part they were artisans. Under the law they weren’t treated any different than free women. After the last conflict, the Guild gained the upper hand and forced laws to be enacted giving them total power over the girls – more than the supposed Masters.

“Grace said something about being able to kill the girls,” I questioned.

“Yes, the Guild has the right to impose the death penalty. Normally it is used when a Chain Girl causes the death of a person either through her actions or inaction. It is a horrible death carried out by slow strangulation. The girl is fitted with a special collar that slowly strangles her to death. I know of one case were it took the girl three weeks to die.”

“Can’t the girl’s Master just cut the collar off?”

“No it can’t be cut, people have tried.” He changed the subject abruptly. “Now that you have two Chain Girls, you will need someplace to live. I talked to your folks and they are going to meet you at your grandmother’s house.”

“I’ll go over and see what they want and then come back here to pick up the girls.”

“Ah, we love Tina,” he glanced at his wife. “Please take care of her. We know you didn’t expect this to go this far. Most of our children have been give the information I just gave you. Jimmy must have been given it at some point, but he might not have been paying attention. We don’t blame you and we will help you any way we can.”

“We feel the same way,” Kim’s father spoke for the first time. “Kim chose wisely. You are strong and smart; you will make her a good Master. We wish you luck and our door will always be open to you and the girls.”

“Thank you both. I’ll do my best, but I’ve got a lot to learn.”

Chapter 6

Gram’s house was just as she had left it the day before she died. We moved in the afternoon the girls had been punished. Both girls slept on the floor on their stomachs for the first few nights. Kim’s voice was completely gone. I quickly realized how cruel the punishment was and I cursed the Gray Bitches every day. She had been a lively, vibrant woman. Now the luster was gone from her eyes and she didn’t do anything without being told.

I had to go to work. A contractor hired me as an apprentice carpenter after a phone call. When he found I was a twice-born and had been a carpenter a good part of my former life I suddenly became a crew foreman. The other members of the crew were my age and were working for gas money over the summer.

Tina put aside her own depression and took on Kim. She mothered her, consoled her and pushed her to do anything she could. Kim responded nicely and brightened up considerably. Before long, she was helping without being asked. During her free time in the morning she started writing. A lot of her writings were questions and answers to conversations Tina and I had had with her. We knew she couldn’t answer, but we did our best to include her. For a few days I left her alone, but I soon saw that she needed more structure. I was worried that if she didn’t exercise her arms she would lose all her muscles. So I limited her writing to 15 minutes, and then forced her to work out for 30 minutes, and then she took a shower. If she ran out of time, I would put her in the shower and wash her myself.

Tina made it clear that she wasn’t ready for sex and she wanted her own space. I didn’t have a problem with that and gave her a room of her own. The one thing she didn’t want to give up was the bondage. We took a trip up to the shop where Kim had bought her cuffs and bought a set for Tina. After that Tina was in some form of bondage every night and spent the day hobbled. I’m not sure what inspired her. The second afternoon after starting work I discovered her room had been stripped of all the furniture. A blanket was neatly folded in the corner, her pillow was on top. I didn’t mind, I was just puzzled.

“Why?”

“I hope you aren’t mad Master, it just felt right.” She knelt with her head on the floor and her hands behind her back.

“You can get up. I’m not mad; I just wondered why you did this.”

Tina got to her feet. After that she slept on the floor.

While Tina wasn’t interested in sex, Kim seemed to crave sex. We made love in the morning before we got up and in the evening before we went to sleep. On weekends, if she’d had her way, we would have spent both days in bed. Her favorite bondage position in bed struck me as odd. Of course her hands were trapped behind her back and there wasn’t anything we could do about that. Nevertheless, she liked to have her legs bound asymmetrically. Kim’s left ankle cuff was secured to the bedpost with a 12-inch chain. Her right ankle she liked secured to her thigh. After sex that was the way I would bind her and that is the way she would sleep. If I didn’t she would get very upset.

The 4^th of July rolled around and we were invited to a party on the third. The town was planning a two-day bash. On the third, the fire department was celebrating its 100^th anniversary with a parade of fire trucks from dozens of towns and fireworks. On the 4^th there was to be a local parade with floats and fireworks. The girl, Ann, giving the party was a classmate and given her history with Kim at school I had the feeling she was inviting us as a novelty. She had always made fun of Kim because of her ethnic background. After all, Kim and Tina were the only two Chain Girls in town. I called and spoke to Ann’s mother and she reassured me that only a dozen or so of our classmates would be there. She and her husband would be home looking after things. Their back yard overlooked the school athletic fields where the fire works would be set off.

I worked the third and missed most of the parade. The girls weren’t interested and stayed home. We ate an early supper and got ready to go. Getting ready to go, for the girls, was easy. Neither liked makeup and neither had to worry about what to wear. So getting ready meant taking a shower and Tina brushing their hair. Since it was informal I wore jeans and sport shirt. We were ready to go out the door when the phone rang. It was my boss. He had been listening to the weather report it called for rain and wind moving in around 10 pm. We had poured a large slab for a four car garage that day and he was worried about it. I agreed and told him I would go cover it with plastic. I called Ann’s mother Rita and she agreed to watch out for the girls so they wouldn’t miss the party.

By the time I got to the job site the wind had come up. Even when one of the other crew members showed up to help it took us more then two hours to get the tarp spread and secured. Finally, just as the rain started we finished.

I headed up Main Street to pick up the girls. The fireworks were over and the traffic was heavy as everyone went home. Less then a block from where I had to turn up Morse Ave. there was an accident. A car was sitting on the side of the road with its windshield smashed. A yellow tarp behind it covered what looked like a body. A middle age woman leaned against the car crying while two officers tried to talk to her. I wondered if I knew the person who had been killed. We lived in a relatively small town. After a few minutes, the officer directing traffic motioned me to move along. I turned the corner and could see a police cruiser in front of Ann’s house. I pulled around it and found a parking spot a few cars up.

Every light in the house was ablaze. People stood everywhere talking excitedly. I started looking for the girls. As I approached a knot of people the conversation would die and then pick up as I passed. I wondered what the hell was going on. I did catch one name, Kent somebody, but beyond that I could make out what was going on. I was sure it concerned the accident and wondered if the victim was named Kent. When I reached the living room Tina was curled up in the corner of the couch crying. A big cop was watching her. Rita was sitting in an overstuffed arm chair crying. She looked as if she had been beaten and would soon be sporting at least one black eye. The cop turned as I walked in.

“Who the hell are you?”

“I’m Jimmy and that is my Chain Girl Tina. Where is my Chain Girl Kim?” I had been studying the Guild’s regulation manual; one way to know the enemy. I knew that this was the official way of addressing the girls.

Tina looked up and saw me. She jumped up and ran to me, collapsed on the floor and wrapped her arms around my legs.

“Master,” she sobbed.

“The Gray Ladies took the other one from the accident scene,” the cop answered my question.

“Was she hurt?” A wave of fear flooded over me.

“I don’t think so. You’ll have to deal with them to get her back.”

“How do I contact them?”

“You don’t. They’ll contact you when it’s time to pick her up.”

“Can I take my Chain Girl now?”

“Sure, she wasn’t involved.”

“Involved?”

“Yeah, it seems that some kids from Ridgewood High crashed the party and tried to rape your Chain Girl. They beat up Rita and her husband. Rita managed to call the cops, but your Girl got away and ran. Kent chased her and was hit, I guess he’s dead.”

A cold knot of fear formed in my belly. I didn’t want to think about what all this could mean. They had, after all, tried to rape her so she wasn’t at fault for anything.

“Thank you Officer. If you don’t mind I’ll take my Girl and go home.”

“No problem son. She’s a looker.” He gave me a dirty wink.

I turned to Rita.

“I’m sorry this happened.”

“No need to say you’re sorry, you weren’t even here. We’ll be okay. I’m worried about Kim. She’s a nice girl.”

“I’m worried too. I guess time will tell.”

I bent down and took Tina by the arm. “Let’s go home Girl.” She stood and we made our way out of the house.

At home I questioned her about what had happened and she told me the same story the cop had, but filled in a few of the details of how five boys she had never seen just walked into the party. They seemed drunk or high on drugs. Ann announced that they were part of the starting football team at Ridgewood High and she had invited them. One of them, Kent, began hitting on Kim right away. Soon he had her backed in a corner and was groping her. Without hands or a voice, she was helpless to stop him. When Ann’s father tried to stop him, one of the football players punched him in the face knocking him out. Rita tried to help him and was slapped around for her efforts. Tina had tried to help her sister, had they had started to think of each, but was held back by two girls. Kim, seeing what had happened to Rita, kneed Kent in the crotch. Before anyone could stop her, she ran out the door. Somehow, Tina thought, she missed his balls because he recovered very quickly and ran after Kim. Several people ran after them and saw the accident. A cop, standing across the street, caught Kim before she could get away.

Unsure of what to do I sat and held Tina. Around one o’clock I took her to bed. It was the first time we had slept together. We didn’t make love, but she did insist that I lock her hands behind her. I just held her until we fell asleep.

Chapter 7

The phone jarred us awake. I glanced at the alarm clock. It was 8:30. I noticed the rain had stopped and the sun was shining in the window. I picked up the phone.

“Hello.”

“Master Jimmy Clark?”

“Yes.”

“You may pick up your Chain Girl 66123JC-D at our detention facility at 0930.”

“Is she. . .” The bitch cut me off.

“Do you need directions?”

“Yeah.”

She gave them in the same unemotional voice.

I was surprised when we found the place. From the street, it appeared to be a medium size Victorian house set among beautiful gardens. At least two Chain Girls were at work in the flowerbeds.

There were several empty parking spots in front of the house so I took one. I locked Tina’s hands behind her and helped her slide out of the truck on my side. As an after thought I ball gagged her. It was the first time I had ever done this and gave me a questioning look. I just smiled as if this was normal. I wondered if their technology extended to video security cameras.

Inside the ornate doors, we found ourselves in a long hallway that ran toward the back of the house. To our right was a counter with a Gray Lady behind it. I walked up to it. The woman glanced at me and then at Tina. A scowl flashed across her face.

“How may I help you?” Sarcasm dripped from each syllable.

“I’m Master Clark and I’m here to pick up my Chain Girl.”

“What’s her number?”

“66123JC-D”

“I need to see your driver’s license.”

I pulled it out and showed it to her. She handed it back to me.

“The Advocate will be with you in a second.”

She must have pushed a hidden switch because not far down the hall I heard a faint buzz. A woman emerged from one of the offices. She was dressed in a simple dress that barely covered her pussy, there were two holes cut out of the bodice and her breasts protruded through the holes. Around her waist was a chain belt. She was barefoot and wore cuffs on her wrists and ankles.

“Right this way please.”

When she turned I was astonished to find the ‘dress’ was really an apron. Her back was naked. A strap went around her neck and the chain belt was locked behind her back with a small padlock.

She led us to a plain office with a desk and two chairs – one hers.

“Please sit.”

I took the chair and Tina knelt beside it. I’d briefed her on what the Guild would expect of her and kneeling when her Master sat was part of it. I’d installed the gag so she wouldn’t make a mistake and speak without permission.

“I’m released Chain Girl 66123JC-D to Master Jimmy.” By the way she spoke I wondered if there was a recording device hidden in the room. “Chain Girl 66123JC-D was brought here last night and was charged with causing the death of a person.”

“Wait a minute,” I was pissed, “she was trying to get away from a rapist.”

“That isn’t important. Chain Girls don’t have any rights. If he had raped her then the police would have dealt with it. But because she ran and he was killed then it’s her fault.”

“Bullshit!” Somehow, Tina had managed to reach my leg and was tugging on my jeans. I understood her message and managed to calm myself down. I couldn’t fight these fuckin’ people and the best thing I could do was collect Kim, if they let me and get the hell out of here. We would deal with whatever they threw at us as we went along. I wondered if there would be some sort of sham trial or if they simply passed sentence.

The woman continued as if nothing had happened.

“The girl went before the Guild Council this morning. Officer Tidbits testified he saw the incident and the girl was the one he detained at the incident. The Council found her at fault and sentenced her to death in three weeks.”

Tina collapsed at my feet, even with the gag we could hear her sobbing loudly. I was so angry, that if I’d had a gun would have started shooting everyone I could find – starting with the bitch on the front counter. I reached down and grabbed Tina by the hair and shook her.

“Shut up!” I hissed at her. This was the first time I’d touched her in anger or raised my voice to her. She struggled to control herself. The sobbing stopped. “What next?”

“I’ll take you down the hall and you can take her home.”

“I understand that she will be fitted with a collar that will slowly choke her.”

“Yes, she has already been fitted with the collar. You cannot remove it. She must report back here on the 25^th to conclude her sentence.”

“What if I don’t bring her back?”

“Then she will die wherever she is at the time. We ask you bring her back so we can confirm that the sentence has been carried out.”

I couldn’t believe this. This friggin’ woman was sitting here discussing the death of a beautiful young woman as if we were talking about bring in a new car for a 500 mile checkup. I though this place was heaven when I woke up in Jimmy’s body and met Kim. Now I knew it was really hell – hell in heaven.

“I want to take her home.” I didn’t dare to say more then that. I was struggling to hold myself together. No one, age eighteen, should have to deal with this.

“Please come this way,” she had the balls to smile, ‘right this way your new car is waiting. Be sure to bring it back,’ yeah right Miss Congeniality. She took a small key ring from her desk drawer and something else she slipped into the pocket of her apron dress.

I must admit that her naked ass proved distracting as she led us down the hall. I sized it up and fantasized how it would feel to plant a steel-toed boot between her butt cheeks. To be fair she might have been human once, but the Gray Bitches had ripped any sense of compassion from her.

She stopped at the end of the hall and opened a door. The stench hit us like a hammer. The room was institutional puke green. About five feet inside the door was a bared wall that divided the room in half. A door provided access to the other half of the room. Across the back wall were six small cages. Four of the cages held women. Under the cages were piles of shit and piss. Kim was all the way on the right; her number was plainly visible on the front of the cage. I’d say the cages were two feet square and maybe three feet tall. Kim is a tall girl and she was jammed in the cage. She couldn’t raise her head or alter her position. The cage was made out of quarter-inch square stock welded in one-inch squares. Only her big toes stuck through the bars.

I managed to keep my emotions under control, but just barely. Tina knelt at my feet.

“Wait here.” She instructed us over her shoulder as she opened the barred door. She went to Kim’s cage and unlocked the door. “Get out Girl!” She commanded harshly. When she pulled the object from her pocket, I realized that it was some sort of cattle prod.

“Don’t you dare use that on her or I’ll use it on you bitch.”

That stopped her in her tracks. She glanced at us – real fear in her eyes. I’d stepped forward and blocked the open door with my boot.

“Tina, stand up.” She did as I requested. “Turn around.” I unlocked her wrists. “Go help Kim.” Unable to speak Tina nodded.

Kim couldn’t stretch her legs by herself so Tina helped her. Then she helped her stand. At first, she had trouble with her balance, but after a few seconds, she managed to walk with Tina’s help. I have trouble describing how she looked. All I can say is go back and look at the photos from Germany at the end of the Second World War. Check out the photos of the concentration camp survivors. She had aged ten years; her eyes had no spark in them. She had shit caked to her ass and legs, a fresh trail of piss ran down her leg. If someone had treated a dog like this they would have been tossed into jail. I stepped back out of the doorway and let them through.

Kim immediately collapsed on the floor and put her head on my feet. I stepped back again and she misinterpreted my action thinking I was rejecting her. Instead, I stooped down, slid my arms under and picked her up.

“It’s ok, baby, we’re going home. Tina, get the doors please.”

I put Kim in the truck and we went home. Once home I ran a bath for Kim. I had Tina get in with her and together we gently washed her. We dried her and took her to bed. Tina crawled in with her while I went to take a shower.

After Kim cried herself to sleep, I got up and tried to figure out what to do next. I began by checking our resources. I had nearly a thousand dollars on hand. My Father had slipped most of it to me the last time I’d seen him. I figured if I worked until school started, that I’d have enough to see us through the winter. As I sat and pondered the future a faded memory came to mind of a conversation between Jimmy and Kim. They had been researching a project for school and were looking at a magazine. It had a story about a tunnel in Colorado. Kim had said she wanted to go see those mountains someday. I decided that I would take her to see the mountains before she died. With tears in my eyes, I started planning the trip.

Before we left I checked Kim’s collar and cuffs. I just wanted to insure there wasn’t a weak spot I’d missed when I looked at the cuffs the first time. The collar and cuffs appeared to be fine stainless steel thread woven into a band. The collar was two and a half inches wide and fit tightly around her neck, so snugly that I couldn’t slip it around her neck. It joined at the back by a thick strip that straddled her neck vertebrae. The shape of the connecting strip prevented the collar from slipping. It was clear that the strip contained the power source and the controls. The cuffs connected the same way.

Chapter 8

Two days later, we were on the road. Kim was doing better, but understandably, she was very depressed. Hell all three of us were depressed, but at least we were doing something.

We didn’t take much. Of course, the girls were nude and didn’t have any clothes to take. I did take Kim’s cuffs and collar she had bought for herself – she would wear them in her grave as a mark that she was mine, not theirs. Of course Tina wore hers – I hadn’t taken them off her since we’d put them on in the shop. With Tina’s help we gathered up all the food in the house, the camp stove, sleeping bags, pads, and whatever else we though we might need. In all it fit in two backpacks and one box for the food.

I polled the girls and they agreed with me not to say anything to our parents. Clearly, they had tossed us out on our own. I was still pissed at them for the way they had largely turned their backs on us. Later, much later when I had sometime to think about it, I realized that the only way they could deal with the emotional trauma was to remove themselves from the situation. In short, it was as if we had died.

I figured it was about 1,900 miles. If we took the interstates and drove like crazy, it would take about three days. However, that wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted a slow, scenic trip so we could savor each other and the beautiful countryside. So we headed west sticking the roads marked in blue on my map – the ‘Blue Highways’ as another writer called them.

We stayed in campgrounds or on the side of the road depending where night found us. Rarely were we hassled, but occasionally a cop would tell us to move on.

We were somewhere in the Midwest looking for a campground. All we could find was a dirty road that went down to a river. It seemed strange in this rolling land that we couldn’t find something that should have been in plain sight. It was early for us to stop, but it just felt right. I found a level spot and stopped the truck. The girls climbed out and walked down to the river while I pulled out the stove. I tensed as I heard a car on the dirty road. A few minutes later a State Cop pulled into the parking area. He stopped the car and got out.

“Evening son,” he glanced at the girls as he spoke.

A chill went down my back.

“Evening sir, is something wrong?”

“No, I check this spot every time I go by. Are you thinking of spending the night?”

“Yeah, if it’s ok.”

“Sure, I don’t have a problem with you staying, but two miles up the road is a hippie commune. They welcome travelers and seem to be good people.”

He noticed my expression and smiled. “I know, a cop saying that hippies are ‘good people’. Well I used to wonder about them. One day my daughter went down to see them and has been there ever since.” He glanced at the girls who were kicking water at each other. “Why isn’t the tall one yelling?”

“She was silenced by the Gray Bi…Ladies.” As soon as I’d spoken I thought we were in trouble. I wondered if there was some kind of bulletin out on us.

“Bitches is about right – you didn’t hear me say that. How long?”

“A year. You were talking about the hippies.”

“Oh yeah. When my wife told me that our daughter had gone down there, I went down to drag her home. They invited me in and gave me dinner. Some of them are ‘Nam vets and really nice guys. I was over there for a while and it really changes you. Five years ago, I would have handcuffed you and had you in the back of the car. In ‘Nam I discovered life was too short, now I only arrest those who really need it.”

“Thanks for not hassling us. Kim, the tall girl was sentenced to death in three weeks by choking. I’m taking her west to see the mountains before she dies.” I choked up and tears came to my eyes. The cop’s face turned from friendly to horror in an instant.

“Oh my God! The Guild is going to kill her. Shit, I though Vietnam was bad, that is unbelievable. Can’t something be done?”

“No, they are above the law.”

“Well,” he just stared at Kim and Tina.

“Kim, Tina, please come here,” I called. They stopped splashing in the water and came running towards us. When Kim spotted the car and the cop, she stopped running and stood looking at us. “It’s ok Kim; he just wants to meet you.”

Reluctantly she came forward. Tina reached me first and knelt at my feet. When we were alone I didn’t demand they kneel at my feet, but when there were cops or Gray Bitches around they knelt without question.

When Kim reached us I indicated she could remain standing.

“Kim this is Officer Peter Brown.” I had read his name off his uniform. Of course she couldn’t speak, so she just nodded.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Tina please stand up.” She did as I requested. “Tina this is Officer Peter Brown.”

“It’s a pleasure Sir,” she bowed slightly.

“The pleasure is mine.” Suddenly his radio crackled to life and he had to go back to work.

I explained to the girls about the commune. They had mixed emotions and I think they were a little afraid of how they would be received by the hippies. I told them it was worth a try and put the stove back in its place. A few minutes later we were headed down the road. The commune was easy to find. A small sign announced the direction to turn and the junction of a small dirty road. Half a mile of bumpy road brought us to a collection of farmhouses. A dozen people stood around in a sort of courtyard watching the sunset. As soon as I stopped the truck a young woman and an older woman left the group and came towards us. The older woman was wearing jeans and a faded T-shirt. The girl wore a green sack dress. Both were barefoot.

“Hi, can we help you?” the older woman called as I stepped from the truck.

“Peter Brown said we might find a place to stay for the night.”

“Sure, would you like dinner too? We wait until after the sun goes down to eat.”

“That would be great.” I opened the door so the girls could get out. I was very worried about the reaction the girls would get from these women.

Tina and Kim slid out of the truck.

“Hi, I’m Tina and this is Jimmy and Kim.” I had told Tina as we drove up that she could introduce us. I felt it might go over better if she didn’t seem submissive. I stepped behind her and unlocked her wrists.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” The younger girl spoke first this time. “I’m Flower and this is Janice.” She giggled.

I suspected that Flower wasn’t her real name and she was still trying it out.

“Come on over and meet everyone.” Janice had taken back the conversation.

We were introduced to everyone and there didn’t seem to be any negative reactions. As the introductions finished the sun set and we were led into a large room with two large tables. A couple of people went into the kitchen and started bringing out plates of food.

Flower, who seemed assigned to shepherd the incomers, sat with us and explained the history of the farm. The family of the founder, Mike, owned the farm until they got tired of farming and moved out. Somehow, Mike had come up with the money to buy the farm. A stranger stopped by one day and taught Mike a strange new religion. After a week, the stranger left and no one had seen him since. Even before the stranger left people began to drop in on the farm. A core group stayed, the rest moved on. Several of the newcomers shared a vision with Mike that the farm should be self-sufficient. Together they started to build the place. Janice was one of the first to arrive. When Mike was killed two years earlier, in a motorcycle accident, she was elected leader.

We were nearly finished eating when a woman came over and sat across from us. She was a striking woman and was completely nude. There were several other nude women in the group. She listened for a while; then when Flower stopped to eat the woman introduced herself.

“Hi, I’m Ruth. I hope you don’t mind me joining you.”

We introduced ourselves.

“I couldn’t help noticing before I came over that Kim can’t speak. Has she been silenced?”

“Yes, and sentenced to death.” I can’t get over sitting around talking about how my beloved Kim was going to die in less then a week as if we were discussing when to harvest the peas.

“I was afraid of that. I had a friend who was murdered by the Guild. It is too painful to tell her story.” I could see the tears in her eyes. “I’ve heard that there is a place out in Colorado where there is something that can remove the collar, but I’ve never heard of anyone finding it.”

I was too stunned to say anything. Finally, I manage to choke out,

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, but I’m not sure where it is.” My heart sank. “I do know that it is in the mountains about a hundred miles west of Denver.”

“Can you give us the name of the place?”

“I think it’s called Judy’s cabin. Mike used to know, he sent several Chain Girls there.”

“Thanks. We are heading that direction and maybe we’ll get lucky.”

“If you are looking for luck you came to the right place. Since Mike died, it’s like he’s watching over us. When the other farmers get frosted, we are always a degree or two warmer. When we need something it just seems to show up.”

“Like,” Flower spoke up, “the time the tractor broke and a guy came by looking for supper. He welded it back together in nothing flat.”

Tina helped with the dishes. Flower told her she didn’t have to, but she did anyway. Afterward we sat around and talked. Around ten, everyone turned in. We had the guest room to ourselves.

We were up early the next morning anxious to hit the road. Flower insisted that we break fast; as she put it, with them and they had been so kind to us I couldn’t refuse. By eight, we were headed west again.

It took us two days to make Denver. About a hundred miles out we hit a blinding dust storm and had to find a place to wait it out. A kind farmer took us in and he let us park our truck in the barn with his truck.

Kim was beginning to fade. She was having difficulty swallowing and her breathing was labored. We drove through Denver at two in the morning. After the delay, I couldn’t afford to stop. So, we pushed on. When I couldn’t drive anymore Tina took over. We only stopped for gas and to piss, we even ate as we drove.

Around five in the afternoon, we stopped in a small town to buy gas. Kim was having more difficulty breathing. The altitude was really bothering her. When I stopped to figure it out, I realized that I had made a mistake earlier. Math man Jimmy had lost two days somewhere. I was shocked to learn we were down to less then 24 hours. I hoped we didn’t have much further to go.

I asked the attendant if he knew anything about Judy’s cabin. He gave me a funny look and pointed to a storefront down the road, a sign outside that read “The Bar”. Gee, that was easy to remember. I drove down and parked. Both girls were asleep. I went in. There were only two people in the place – the bartender and an old lady. I guessed she was Indian.

“Excuse me,” they turned and looked at me. “Has either of you heard of Judy’s cabin.”

The bartender shook his head. I wasn’t sure if he meant ‘No I haven’t heard of it’ or ‘Yes I’ve heard of it, but I’m not going to tell you.’

The woman looked me up and down and said; “You got a Chain Girl needs fixin’?” What an odd what to put it – like I wanted my Chevy fixed.

“Yes.”

“Go west on the road out front. About five miles down there’ll be a road on your right. Turn there and go over the bridge. You’ll go past two farms and then the road ends. Leave your car and start walking. From there it’s about two miles. The cabin is across a stream to your right.” She paused for a second, “watch out for the old woman in the second farm, she can be downright unfriendly sometimes.”

“Thank you. Can I buy you a drink?”

“No, but you can give this young man some money so he can fix supper for me.”

I handed the guy a ten and headed out the door.

“Good luck!” followed me out the door. I hoped.

We followed the woman’s instruction and sure enough, they were correct. I parked the truck and pulled out my pack. Tina had to help Kim out of the truck. She could hardly stand. I took her in my arms.

“We’re almost there. You have to be strong and help us help you. Do you understand?”

Kim nodded yes, tears streaming down her face. I almost lost it right there, but I knew if there was any hope I had to push on.

Tina took her left arm and I her right. I set a slow, but steady pace. The altitude affected all of us. About a mile up the trail, we hit a band of snow. I looked at Tina and she just shrugged and stepped into the snow. I don’t think Kim even noticed. Fortunately, the snow band was only about a hundred yards wide. There were several sets of tracks in it, going both up and down the trail. I couldn’t tell if the freshest ones were going in or going out. I still didn’t have a clue what I was going to do when or if I found the cabin. I didn’t know what to look for.

“How are your feet?” I asked Tina as we left the snow behind.

“I couldn’t have done this two months ago. I can’t imagine wearing shoes again. Even if I could wear them, I wouldn’t. I love the feel of the earth too much.”

It was getting dark and cold when we found the cabin. The girls were shivering as I pushed the door open. The cabin was small, but it had everything we needed. I let Tina guide Kim to the bunk while I started a fire in the fireplace. Once the fire was going, I spread the blanket by the floor and had Kim lay there. She was gasping for breath and her face was turning blue. Tina stood a few feet away as if in a trance. She couldn’t tear her eyes from the scene in front of her, nor could she help her friend or walk away.

Suddenly the door opened. An old woman dressed in a purple cloak stepped into the room. The whole cabin seemed to light up. Without a word, she crossed the room to where Kim lay in front of the fireplace. Reaching up on the mantel, she took something out of the wood box that was there. Kim was in great distress, she was on her back and every few minutes she would arch up so that only her head and her heels were on the floor. It was horrible to watch. The strange woman knelt beside Kim and did something with the object she had taken from the box. I knew it was some sort of stone. I’d looked in the box earlier for matches. Instantly the collar released its hold and slid to the floor. The woman snatched it up and tossed it into the fire where it seemed to evaporate in a blue flame.

Kim took her first, full deep breath in days. The color quickly returned to her face and she relaxed. Still unable to speak she gazed up at the woman with a mixture of awe and gratitude. The woman took her by the shoulder and gently turned her towards the fire. A second pass of the mysteries stone and Kim’s hands were free – not just free of each other, but the cuffs like the collar fell away. Slowly she brought her hands in front of her. She looked at her hands as if seeing them for the first time in a long time even though she had had her hour of freedom that morning.

Looking up at the woman, she mouthed the words, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome my dear.” The woman glanced around at us; first she studied Tina for a few seconds and then looked at me. “I’m Judy and welcome to my cabin.”

I walked over to her and squatted down. “Thank you Judy for saving the life of my love.” Tears coursed down my cheeks.

Tina, freed from her trance by words, rushed to Kim’s side sobbing. “Thank you, thank you,” she kept repeating as a mantra.

I lifted Kim into my arms and we held each other. Behind me I heard a soft, “You are welcome.”

After a few minutes, I shook myself. Kim hadn’t eaten a good meal in days and I was hungry.

“Judy,” I waited until she looked at me. She had been studying Tina again. “We don’t have much, but please have supper with us.”

“I’d love that. I don’t get company up here that often.”

Up close I could see she was very old – well over 90 would be my guess. I reluctantly released Kim and got up. I started supper. Kim followed me to the kitchen area. The cabin was one large room. One end held a wood fired old fashioned cook stove and a tin sink. A counter ran long the wall. We had trouble keeping our hands off each other as we made supper.

Tina and Judy sat by the fireplace deep in conversation. When supper was ready, Kim set the table and we ate.

After supper we burned the paper plates in the fireplace. Judy told us about the cabin and her life. She had grown up on the farm where she now lived and had gone away to marry. Something had happened, she wouldn’t tell us, the Gray Ladies sentenced her to death, and her husband had brought her back to die. Her husband and Master was a geologist. He was exploring the surrounding formations when her time came. As she collapsed, he caught her. He was holding a sample he had just collected in his hand and it came in contact with her collar. To their surprise and great joy, the collar had fallen apart. She took the stone from the box.

“Master figured out that the stone is both magnetic and slightly radioactive. We never figured out why it works, but it does. Over the years we have freed many Chain Girls.”

“Why don’t you let others know about it?” Tina asked. “We found out by accident.”

“I think it is better this way. You had to work to find me. I hope that you will appreciate you freedom more now. Oh I don’t mean you’ll stop being a Chain Girl, but maybe you’ll think twice before putting yourself in a position where the Guild can hurt you.”

I had to agree with her there. Exhausted by the day’s events Kim and I excused ourselves and bedded down in a corner. The last thing I remembered was Tina and Judy talking by the fire. I smiled; there would be time, lots of time, to tell stories in the morning.

The sun was shining when I woke. Life was great – Kim was alive and free. Kim was lying on her side facing me. I reached out and touched her. At my touch, she opened her eyes and smiled. We looked around and the others were still asleep. I slid my hand between her thighs and found that she was wet. I pushed her over on her back, but she stopped me. She quickly reached up and pulled a length of cord from the pack leaning against the wall near our heads. She handed it to me and crossed her wrists. I lashed them together. Slowly, as if for the first time, we made love.

Finally, we got up. Tina was already awake. She went over to wake Judy and found that she had passed away in the night. Shocked we stood and stared at the still form. It some sad way I felt that we had exchanged Judy’s life for Kim’s.

“Judy knew her time was near. She told me last night that the hike up here had taken a lot out of her.” Tina looked up at me. “She asked me to take over the farm. I hope you aren’t mad at me Master, but I said I would.”

“I’m not mad Tina. I think you have found your place on earth. You are very lucky; not many people do.”

"Thank you Sir. She asked that we bury her behind the cabin next to her husband.”

Together we wrapped her in her cloak and laid her beside her Master, lover, friend, and husband.

We ate a somber breakfast. Kim and Tina cleaned the cabin and repacked the pack. Around 9 we started down to the truck. When we came to the snowfield, the girls played in the snow like kids, despite being nude. After a short drive, we reached Judy’s farm. It was a lovely place. The house had three bedrooms and a shed out back. While Kim and Tina explored the house, I looked in the shed. I found a truck only a year or two older then mine. I wondered where she had gotten the money. It suddenly occurred to me that maybe her husband had found gold in the hills. In a corner was a pen with a dozen or so chickens.

In a fit of spring fever, the girls cleaned the house and then our truck. I found a case of oil in the shed and changed the oil. After a late lunch I found a chair on the porch and made myself comfortable. The mountains were beautiful. I loved the way the light washed across them. Kim came out and knelt beside me. In her hands were her cuffs. She handed them to me. I could see the hunger in her eyes. I locked them on her wrists and then her ankles as she presented them to me. Finally I locked her hands behind her back. With a sigh, she leaned against my leg and watched the show with me.

We spent two days with Tina as she settled in. Kim made it clear that she wanted to pick up her bondage where we’d left off. Finally, we knew it was time to go. Tina had found her place and was very happy. I pulled out the atlas that had served us so well. Kim pointed to Puget Sound. Picking up her pad and pencil, she wrote that she had heard at the commune that there were several islands there with farms and communes on them and that the Gray Bitches had no control over them. That was good enough for me.

Epilog

Kim and I found a neat island with several small communities and farms on it. There was even a commune of Masters and their Chain Girls. With the last of our funds, we bought a small farm. Kim fell in love with farming and has a green thumb. She sells her produce to local families and at a weekly farmers market. No one thinks it odd that the woman who brings their vegetables is nude, has her hands cuffed a few inches apart, and is hobbled. I have become the island handy man. If it needs fixing someone hunts me up and I go fix it. If I can’t fix it I order the parts from the mainland.

We have had only one problem with the Gray Bitches. About a year ago a visitor went back and reported to the Seattle Guild that there were escaped Chain Girls on the island. In an unusual move for them, the Guild sent two members to investigate. Chad, the ferry captain noticed them and radioed the island. By the time they arrived at the island pier, all of the Master’s, some of the Chain Girls, and many of the other residents were waiting for them.

Kim is the only Chain Girl on the island to have been sentenced to death. To keep her safe I hogtied her and locked her in the potting shed before I went down to the pier. She was pissed, but understood.

We wouldn’t let the Gray Bitches off the ferry and when one of them tried to use her stun gun we tossed her into the Sound. The gun shorted out and gave her a good shock. We had a good laugh at her expense. They gave up and returned to the mainland and none of them has ever tried to set foot on the island again. When we found out who the snitch was, he was banned for life from the island. Shortly after that his island friends left the island too.

It took over a year for Kim’s voice to come back. She had been silent so long that even today, she rarely speaks, but when she does I love to listen to her. As soon as she was able to speak for herself we held a hand fasting ceremony with a local Shaman, who was also a Justice of the Peace. After the hand fasting Kim knelt before me and our friends and accepted my collar. Later we tossed the keys to her collar and her cuffs into Puget Sound.

All in all life is great.

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