Postby KP Presents » Wed Nov 21, 2012 6:02 am
As we watched, I realized we were watching a film of the day I had heard Alicia and Jenny talking about - the one at the end of the summer holidays when their families had a huge gathering of some kind. We saw this empty cellar or something, with three young girls lying on mattresses. Even with the gags, I recognized Alicia and Jenny, and figured the other girl had to be the mysterious Heidi. She had shoulder length blonde hair, and was dressed the same way as the other two.
We watched, fascinated as the rest of the party were brought in. “How come you weren’t there,” Colin said as he looked at Bobby.
“Scout camps,” he said quietly, “but if half of what I have heard about it is true, then I missed one hell of a party.” Given what we had experienced at Jenny’s birthday, I could believe that.
The film continued, as we watched the party freeing themselves, then head to where a breakfast was been served. As we saw them dressed in their gym outfits, but with rope snaking down their arms and around their bodies, I looked at Cathy and said “thsslkkfn,”
“Maybe we should try this on the three of them later on,” Bobby said, and I could see he was taking mental notes as we watched them taking part in the races outside. When the mothers and other older women appeared, however, I could see Bobby’s jaw physically drop as he said “MUM? She didn’t tell me she had been there!”
“Well, I can see this runs in your family,” Colin said with a smile. “Enjoying it so far, girls?”
Actually, I hated to admit it, but I was enjoying it, as the mother and daughter race took place, and then the scene shifted to a big room inside, and we watched them been brought in one by one in their school uniforms, and been tightly bound and hogtied. As we watched Alicia, Bobby stopped the film and looked at us.
“Uoooo,” Cathy said as she looked at me, while Colin handed Bobby a length of rope. We sat still as they wound it round our arms and stomachs, fixing them into place against our sides as we felt the rope rubbing against our bodies. It was tight and firm, but not uncomfortable, as the two boys helped us to kneel on the floor and pulled the chairs out of the way, and then helped us to lie on our stomachs.
“I wonder how far we can bend their legs back,” Bobby said as he pulled my bound legs back, listening to my gasp as he made my heels touch my covered fingers. I am actually fairly supple, given the gymnastics I do, but it was still a surprise when he tied my ankles to the rope around my stomach.
Glancing over at Cathy, I could see the same thing in her eyes as she was hogtied, and then an old white woolen scarf tied over her mouth. I felt the warm fuzzy wool against my own mouth, as I was further gagged, and then they started the film again, sitting next to us as they watched.
We saw the test sequence, then the film of the six girls, sitting or lying with mothers and grandmothers as they rested in the afternoon sun. “They look so peaceful lying there,” Colin said as we saw Alicia and Suzie lying there.
“Yeah, but I know them too well,” Bobby said as the camera shifted to showing Cassie stetting with what I presumed was her aunt, and Jenny with an older girl who had long blonde hair that I did not recognize. “She looks so cute sitting there, though.”
“Yeah - I guess she does,” Colin replied, and I looked at them, wondering who it was they were talking about. The scene shifted then to the staircase, and we watched as each of the six girls was carried down the stairs, in their best dresses but very snugly and securely tied and gagged.
“That reminds me,” Bobby said as he watched, “Sunday night the Craigs are coming here to collect Jenny and Cassie, so we’re having a formal dinner. Want to come?”
“If your grandparents will allow me - but I’ll need to go home and change first. I have to be at church on Sunday morning.”
Bobby nodded as we watched the family groups assemble, and then enter what must have been the dinner hall. We didn’t see the meal, but we did see the speeches, the gifts, the toasts - and then the singing.
It was a revelation to me to hear them singing a song of thanks - at least I thought it was - and then the firework display, before it said “And now - Jenny’s Birthday.” Cathy and I looked at each other, as the scene changed, but before it began we heard Angela calling out “Mary? Cathy? Have you managed to get into the attic?”
Bobby and Colin looked at each other, and as Colin stopped the DVD Bobby knelt between us and covered our mouths with his hands. It’s not as if we needed the extra muffling layer, but it was kind of fun to watch him sweating out of the corner of our eyes as the footsteps echoed on the staircase.
“Girls are you…” Angela stopped at the top of the stairs, looking in at the door and seeing us lying there. Funnily enough, the sight of her standing there, looking much more like the grand Lady Holderness than she may have realized, made Bobby jump more than we wriggled.
“Robert Desmond Holderness,” Angela said as she stood there, her arms folded, “I was under the distinct impression that you and Colin - and he can come out from behind those chairs - were meant to be visiting a site of national historic interest. Care to explain what you are doing here?”
“Well, Angela Bowden,” Bobby said as he stood up and crossed his hands, “I do not believe you have the authority or the right to ask me that question in that manner. After all, I am the one who is in line to be Lord Holderness.”
“True - and in the meantime, I’m the one with the hotline to our grandmother, and to your mother. Shall we discuss the implications if she was to find out before Sunday?”
I had met Lady Holderness, and she was a formidable lady, but I had never net Bobby’s parents. From the look on his face, however, I could see that he had either a helpful amount of respect, or else an equally healthy amount of fear, for her.
“You wouldn’t,” he said as he looked at his cousin, “You would not dare…”
“Want to try me? I came up to see if these two young ladies wanted something to eat, but I can see that might be a little difficult at the moment.” She looked at her watch and sighed. “Look, I have another meeting in half an hour. Why don’t you take these two out for a walk in the grounds - stick their coats over them and they should be fine. You even leave those scarves over their mouths - it looks like they’re keeping the chill out.”
As she turned to leave, she said “Dinner tonight is at six thirty - make sure they are able to eat when you come in.”
We looked at each other as Colin turned off the film. “So we’re going to walk the grounds? We’d better make sure they are nice and warm.” I relaxed a little as they untied my legs from my chest, and started to remove the rope around them.
“Did you see the way she looked at you,” Colin said as he helped Cathy to her feet. “I swear she looked just like your Grandmother.”
“Do not go there,” Bobby said as the two of them walked us down to our rooms, “I noticed that as well, and it scared the bejesus out of me. Mary, let’s go to your room and get your coat, Colin will get Cathy’s, and we’ll see if the path to the lake is not too leaf covered.”
I stood there, mutely watching as he opened the wardrobe and brought out my green padded coat with a fur lined hood. Putting it over me, he fastened it up and tucked the arms into the coat pockets before helping me to sit on the bed while he helped me pull a pair of wellies on.
As we walked out, I saw Cathy coming with her duffle coat on and her Ugg boots on her feet. “Come on,” Bobby said as we walked down the stairs, Colin grabbing two coats from the stand as we headed out of the door, passing Mr. Bridges as he was washing the car, and walked round and down the lawn.
The last time Cathy and I had done this, we had a pleasant enough time, but as the wind was blowing this time across the ground I was actually glad of the extra muffling around my face. Through the large windows, I could see Angela talking to a group of older people, and very much acting the lady of the manor. It actually made me laugh, even if it came out as a muffled “mmm” as we walked down the lawn tot eh gap in the tree lien that led to the lake.
The leaves had all turned brown and gold, dropping from the trees even as we walked past them, and they crunched under our feet as we walked down the path. As we passed the simple wooden cross, we stopped for a moment, looking at the red poppies that had started to bloom nearby.
“That’s funny,” Booby said as he knelt down and looked at them, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen poppies growing around here. I wonder why they grew here.” Standing up, he took another look at them before we walked on, but it was obvious he was thinking about something.
The clearing was still as beautiful as I remembered it, but the low mist that seemed to be hanging over the surface of the water on the lake made it look almost like a scene from a Jane Austen novel. We had been reading Pride and Prejudice in class before the holidays, and we had watched the old TV version, and somehow I could see Colin Firth rising from the lake in his wet shirt, striding over the field.
“Ulrrt,” Cathy said as she nudged me, and I could see the mist covering the lenses of her glasses as she looked at me. I nodded and sat on an old log, watching with her as Bobby and Colin started to throw stones across the water, the flat missiles bouncing over the surface as they did so.
“Hssqud,” Cathy said as she nudged my side. I looked at the two of them, and I had to admit, she was right in some respects. He was the next but one Lord Holderness after all, and some day all of this was going to be his. Having said that, though, I wasn’t interested in him. Colin, on the other hand…
Looking up, I could see the sun starting to set over the tree line, and heard Bobby say “We’d better get back” as the two boys walked back up towards us. We both nodded and started to walk back towards the house, with the boys walking behind us.
As we crossed the lawn, we could see Angela walking up and down the lawn with one of the local store owners. “We’ll set up the refreshments tent over there,” we heard her say as we approached, “and have the hot chestnuts over there. Ah, there you are - you’d better get inside and wash up for dinner. I’ll change and join you shortly.”
We headed into the house and up the stairs, stopping in my room as Bobby untied me and Colin untied Cathy. As the gags were eased from our mouths, I breathed a sigh of relief and said “Thanks - that was actually quite fun. We don’t have to dress up for dinner, do we?”
“Nah - I think Angela actually wants to dress down. Anyway, get cleaned up - we’re eating in the main dining room tonight, and I think Mrs. Bridges might have a little treat planned for us. Colin, I need to talk to you outside.”
As we entered the dining room, we could see the table had been laid out, and Angela was already sitting down, with Bobby and Colin sat next to her at the table.
“There you are,” Angela said with a smile. She had changed into a t-shirt, but for some reason she did not get out of the chair. “Have a seat and Mr. Ridges will take care of you.”
As I sat down, I saw some lengths of rope on the table, and realized what was going to happen. Mr. Bridges took the rope and wrapped one length around my waist, holding me against the back of the chair, before tying my ankles to the front legs and pushing me in to the table. Once Cathy had been bound to the chair in the same way, Mrs. Bridges started to serve the first course.
“So you watched the DVD of the summer event,” Angela said as she picked up a knife and fork and started to eat her smoked salmon, “even if it wasn’t exactly what I thought you were going to do. What did you think?”
“It looked like an amazing day,” Cathy said as she looked down the table, “Was it?”
“It certainly was an event - did you recognize everyone?”
“Most of them - I knew Heidi of course,” Bobby said as he looked at his cousin, “but who was the other American girl. “That’s Natalie, her cousin - she came with Heidi’s mother and aunt for a short visit. They got - forgive the phrase - roped in to the events.”
“I recognized Jenny’s parents,” I said as I ate my own starter, “but who was the other girl Jenny was tied with in the afternoon?”
“That would be April, their babysitter - she was with them when they spent the night as hostages in their own homes before the summer recess.” I recognized the name, and had heard what had happened, but now I could put a face to the name. “She looks like a nice girl,” I finally said, “do you know her?”
“I met her for the first time that day,” Angela said, “but that day affected her a lot. It still hurts her a little to think of it.” She watched as Mrs. Bridges cleared the plates away and brought the main course.
“Those games looked like fun,” Colin said as he cut into the chicken, “It’s a pity we can’t do this ourselves.”
“Who says?”
We all looked at Angela as she said this. “Why not? I’ll guarantee that tomorrow I have no meetings, and we can educate these two ladies in some skills, give them a chance to practice their skills.”
Bobby looked at her cousin, and asked a question that was certainly in my mind.
“Why?”
“So we can surprise them,” Angela said with a smile. “We start tomorrow after breakfast…”