Chapter Five: Saving Jill and Lorry

When I woke again, the landscape outside was bright and the air was hot. I was still sleepy, but I was too excited to roll over and go back to sleep. Miss McLaughlin was moving about quietly, and so was Jeannie Elliot. They made quite contrasting sillouhettes, Miss McLaughlin was tall and well developed. Jeannie was medium height, and... well.. egg-shaped.

I went over to them, rubbing sleep from my eyes, "What time is it, Miss McLaughlin?"

"Call me Suzzanne, now." she said, "I'm one of you now, not a councilor."

I looked at her for a moment. As a councilor she had always looked much older than me, and much more mature. Now, in this new light, I could see the difference was not as much as I had been thinking. She was only three or four years older, and, naked like she was, she was not looking that much more mature than the rest of us. As long as this man was dominating our lives, she was just another girl.

"OK..." I finally said, "so... What time is it?"

"Looking at the shadow of the tent, I'd say about ten in the morning."

"Ten O'clock... Did Jill and Lorry come back!" I suddenly remembered them.

"No, I haven't seen them." said Suzzanne.

"They'll die!" I said, "We have to do something!"

"What can we do?"

I looked around. There was still food out, and there where lots of sleeping girls in sleeping bags. There was the pantry that the sleeping bags came from, and another. I didn't know what was in it. I went over and checked; it was locked. That left waking up other girls, or the man, to help find a solution.

"Will he help?" I asked Suzanne. She shrugged.

I walked over to him, and I took some time to look at him. He was big. He didn't look top-heavy, but I didn't doubt his strength was much more than mine, or any girl's here.

"Hey." I said quietly. I couldn't figure out what to say, so that was a place to start.

He woke up fairly quickly from just that, and looked at me.

"Where you talking to me?" I nodded. He looked a bit perplexed, then relaxed a bit.

"Hmm... You haven't learned protocol yet, have you. OK... that comes this afternoon... maybe sooner. Is this an emergency?"

"Yeah... I think it could be."

"In that case, have someone tie your hands behind you, and you can talk to me."

"What?"

"Have someone tie your hands behind you, and you can talk with to me. If this was not an emergency, you'd have wait until I was finished sleeping. Suzanne!" He pointed at me an made a wrapping motion around his wrist.

Suzanne came over and said, "Give me your rope, dear." I had listened earlier, and I had it tied around my waist, like I was told. I took it off, handed it to Suzanne, and turned around with my hands behind me.

She didn't waste any time. "Hold your wrists side-by-side, just a little apart." she said. I could hear the rope swishing in her hands, and feel the wind of it as it passed near my legs. Then I felt the first loop circle my wrists loosely, a second, a third, then some loops up and down in between my wrists which tightened the first loops, and a knot. In five seconds my arms were held firmly behind me. How fast and smooth it was, and I was helpless!

I tingled a bit. Tying is more than just having your hands held behind you. The sense of helplessness is so exciting, and here I was not only helpless, but helpless and naked, in front of a naked man! Somehow, as the loops were circling my wrists, I could feel my breasts protruding more.

I looked at the man. He was smiling.

"Come on up, and let me check your work." he said. I walked up, and turned around so he could see my wrists. He touched them, and felt the ropes, which made me tingle more. When he touched them, I could feel the ropes even more. His hands wandered up my arms, then on to my sides and down my hips. He was feeling my body! His hands held me firmly by the hips, and he turned me around so I was facing him. His hands wandered up and down my sides, outer thighs and tummy. What a creep!... I guess.

It was only one pass, then he said, "OK, sit on my lap."

"What?" I said again, I was sounding like a stuck record.

"You have something to say... sit on my lap and say it." He said, like I was a first grader, or something.

I sighed and sat in his lap. He was clearly taking advantage of this situation, and once I sat down, his hands started moving over me again, but lightly, it didn't feel disgusting or distracting.

"Jill and Lorry left this morning, and they haven't come back." I said.

He looked at the tent shadow, and frowned a bit. "That's not good. Where did they go?"

"They said they would head for where you left the van."

"They will find it, but it won't help them." he said. All the supplies are here, and it's going to turn into an oven, if it's not already."

"Can't you save them?" I wiggled a bit as I tried to get a hand forward to plead. The best I could do was reach sideways until I touched his arm.

"I can't my dear. Part of this test is that each of you must take responsibility for your own actions."

He seemed to like it when I touched his arm. He moved his arm so it was around my back, and easier for me to touch. I kept rubbing it a bit and said, "Are you sure?"

He thought a bit, and rubbed his finger in a circle around the small of my back, while I kept brushing his arm with my fingers. I was tingling a bit more, and feeling like I was a Hollywood movie vamp, when he said, "There's nothing I can do, but you may be able to do something."

"What!" I said; I almost jumped out of his lap.

"Whoa!" he patted my lap a bit to calm me down, then reached up and stroked my hair a bit. "Well, what do those girls need to get back here?"

"Oh great! A quiz!" I thought. Mrs. Roxberry was full those back in school. I put on my thinking cap, while he continued to move his hands around. As I was thinking, I had to admit, he had a nice touch.

"They need shade." I said.

"Very good." he said, "and... How will you get them shade?"

"A sleeping bag!" I said.

"Excellent!" He said, and he tousled my hair. "Jump up now, and I'll untie you."

I did, and he did, but not before he felt my inner thighs a bit. He was going to be a dirty old man, I could see that now. But now was not the time to worry about it.

As my wrists came free I thanked him, and grabbed two sleeping bags, and started across the white flat. Then, I stopped, and thought a moment, and grabbed a full boda bag, and started again. I walked fast using one of the sleeping bags as shade. It worked out better than I thought, actually, because it insulated me from the heat of the sky, too.

It took thirty minutes to walk to the van. As I approached I could see the doors were open. As I got closer, I could see Lorry and Jill lying inside. "Lorrie?.... Jill?" I called. No answer, no motion at all! Where they dead already?

When I got up to the van, it was hot inside already, but the girls were just fast asleep. They woke up slowly and cranky. They weren't real happy to see me, but they were sure happy I brought the boda bag.

"This van was no help." Jill finally said. "No keys, and I don't know how to hot-wire a car. And I climbed on top to look around. There's nothing but the tent!"

"We have to go back." I said.

Jill looked at the tent, and looked around again.

"You can't stay here, you'll roast." I said. She fanned herself.

"Lets go back." Lorrie said.

"Will he beat us up, or something?" Jill asked.

"He didn't seem angry with you, and he let me come... But he may tie you up again. He tied me up before I came out here."

She looked at me with widening eyes. "After he tied you up... did he rape you?"

"No, no, no! He just tied me up... and he did feel me up a little as we talked. But it wasn't that bad. He hasn't raped anyone, as best I know, or hurt anyone. He just went to sleep after you left. Come on! You'll be fine!"

Now I looked around. It was getting hot; I wanted to get back.

After they drank half the boda bag, and I had some, the three of us got under the two sleeping bags and walked quickly back to the tent. The sun was now almost overhead, and the heat was coming up from the ground as well as down. It was getting uncomfortable.

As we came back, it seems most of the girls were up. They cheered us on as we got close, and hugged us when we got in under the tent.

"Bring those three to me!" The man was up, and he bellowed that.

I gave my rope to Alma and turned around.

"You always have to be tied before you approach him." explained Suzanne to Jill and Lorrie, "and in this case, well tied." Alma was trying to tie me like Suzanne had, but she was slower and clumsier. When she finished, it didn't feel as smooth, but she wasn't finished, either! I felt loops around my arms just above my elbows.

"What..." I tried to look around behind me.

"Miss... Suzanne says you need your elbows tied, too." said Alma. I found myself pulling my arms well behind me and arching my back. Now my breasts really did protrude!

As the girls finished with us, Lorrie looked fine, but Jill looked real uncomfortable. She had squirmed and complained all the time she was being tied. In the end her wrists were tied in a sloppy crossover, and her elbows were hardly behind her at all. Held on each arm by a girl, and lead by Suzanne, we approached the man.

Suzanne may have been just another girl, but she was some girl! She got real slinky as she walked up to the man, and almost like she was on ball bearings, she knelt in front of him, lowered her face into her knees and held her arms high behind her. If the man desired to tie her, she was ready. Instead he chose to grab her by her long, wavy red hair, and lift her head.

"The women are ready to be presented." she said.

"Presented?" I thought, "What are we now, presents?"

He let go of her hair and motioned to his left. Suzanne got up just as sinuously and moved to his left side, there she put an arm on his neck and stroked it lightly.

The girls brought the three of us forward and knelt us in front of the man. I was on the right, and got down right away -- this wasn't so different from the last time I'd approached the man. Lorrie was on the left, and only a little slower, but neither of us were as catlike as Suzanne had been. Jill fought with her girls a bit, and whined, but finally clunked down.

The man reached out to Lorrie and I and pushed our heads down to our knees, like Suzanne had been. This was, apparently, our proper starting position. I could see that Jill was still kneeling tall, she apparently hadn't got the message.

I felt the man's hand move quickly from my neck, and at the same time I heard Jill choke. The man said, "You're a slow learner, aren't you." He held her for about two seconds, and when he released her, her head came down with the rest of ours.

Once again I felt his hand move over my bonds. Without thinking I raised my arms high behind me so that they were easier to reach. Soon he pulled my chin up; as I rose I saw Lorrie was rising, too, but Jill was still down.

His hands moved over Jill's bonds, and he scowled, "What a mess!"

He stood up and leaned over Jill, "Keep your head down." he ordered, and then he untied Jill's wrists, pulled her arms up to her bra line, and retied her wrists there. As he finished, he added a loop from her wrists around her neck, and back. "What are you doing? I'm choking!" she whined.

"I can hear that." said the man sarcastically. "Now you may raise your head." he said when he finished.

The three of us were kneeling in front of him -- Lorrie and I with elbows held back; Jill with elbows wide and wrists high up her back.

He turned to me, and put his hand on my chin. "Rise." he commanded. I came up smoothly, and I found I was standing tall with my back arched. His left hand held my chin while the right moved about my side, belly and up across my breast to my shoulder.

"You did a very brave and selfless thing." he said, and he leaned forward to kiss my forehead, then my nose, then my lips. He lingered a while on my lips while his hands moved to my waist and pulled me towards him. Soon my belly was touching his belly, and I was getting kind of tingly. His lips moved from my lips to my neck; it was nice...

Then be backed off, spun me around, and undid my ropes. As the last coil fell, he handed them to me and patted me on the rump. I hustled off the stage. It was only as I was leaving his little platform that I noticed how the girls were staring at me, and I realized, "My god, I was just making out with a man in front of an audience!"

He turned to Jill. Her eyes had a wild look about her. His first move was to grab her by the hair at the nape of her neck. Now she couldn't bolt. His second move was to drill a finger into her forehead just above the eyebrows. Jill was kind of gasping.

"You nearly got yourself killed! And you nearly killed your friend along with you." he pointed at Lorrie.

"You!" he said staring at Jill, "And all of you!" he looked up at all of us. "This is not a harmless game. You can't go back, and if you don't make it through to the end, you die. It's as simple as that."

"You can't go back!" At each word he poked Jill's forehead with his finger, and after the last word he gave her a quick slap. "Get out of here." He lifted her to standing with her hair, spun her around, and slapped her hard on the rump. She stumbled off the platform, still tied. He looked disgusted.

He looked at Lorrie. There was still fire in his eyes as he grabbed her by the nape of the neck. Her eyes widened, and she tried to pull back. He held her steady, then stroked her head. She settled down a bit.

"You," he said, "need to pick your friends with more care.

"In your new world, if someone looks like they are doing something stupid, it's likely that they are. Use your tongue, as well as your head, and let them know."

"Rise." He said, and she did. He spun her around, but only took off the rope around her elbows, not around her wrists, and before he slapped her rump to tell her to leave, he flicked her ear, hard. "OW!" she said, but she couldn't reach up to rub it.