When Men Ruled The World

WHEN MEN RULED THE WORLD

bY

Dorothy Strangelove

Far away  and long ago in a mansion in a green and opulent town, all was not well in the world of Elsbeth Grace. She stood before the full-length mirror and saw a girl of eighteen with a fine, curved figure and jewels about her neck and a dress of fine satin that was decorated with pearls and french embriodery, she looked like the beauty that she was but underneath she was angry. She had a good education, she enjoyed stimulating conversation, had opions and wanted to share them. She also wanted to start learning about running her late father's business but her guardian was having none of it.

"What can a woman bring to the business of running coal mines?"He had said, "It takes a man to lead men. You are much better suited to marriage. I shall find you a husband to keep you busy."

A husband. Those words had brought to mind a handsome, strong man who feared nothing, who would defend her and respect her and encourage her to follow her dreams. Then came the disappointment of the first meeting with Alfred, a dull and boring young man whose main topic of conversation was the style of his latest hat, and where did she get her hats? And did she agree there was nothing better than walking through the park on a sunday morning in the finest of clothes because it drew such envious looks frm those less fortunate? To which Beth had replied, "I think a conversation with the less fortunate might make me thankful for the life I do have, and would certainly be more interesting than talking to you. The poor always have such a captivating story to tell."

Icy looks had shot across the table from her guardian, not that she cared, this man was second husband to her late mother and could only control her life until she was twenty-one, after that she could do as she pleased. But until then, she had to fend off Alfred, who she was to meet again tonight, at home, at a ball held in her honour. There was so much she wanted to be doing, in every area of her life - but not this.

She heaved a heavy sigh and as her breasts rose and fell the light caught on her diamond necklace and it shimmered. She spared a thought for all the men who worked down below ground in the four coal mines that had been owned by her family for three generations, then concluded she was sure there was a worse life, not that she had ever lived a worse life but she could imagine it, just like she wondered about the boy who sold newspapers dressed in rags and the young woman who sold matches all year round. They were always there, in dull and worn clothing, sometimes dirty and often looked tired. Beth looked back at her reflection and saw the opulence of her life.

"I'm grateful."She said quietly to herself, "But I won't marry him."

Her maid knocked on the door.

"Are you ready, Miss Beth?"She asked her, "Because Mr Thomas is getting in one of his moods on account of you keeping Alfred waiting."

At the mention of both her guardian and Alfred, she stopped in her tracks, wishing for all the world she did not have to leave this room tonight.

"I hate my situation."She told her, "I hate it, Nancy, I should be thankful for my security yet I loathe this life. It is so preplanned, so easy yet so unpleasant to me."

"I know,"Nancy replied, "You need more, Miss Beth. More say in things."

Beth blinked, livened up by someone at last empathising with her.

"You agree?"

The young maid nodded.

"It's not just those of your class who have had enough of our way of life. Many women wish for change, for fairer treatment."

She lowered her voice.

"Some of us even protest. Some of us even want the right to vote."

Now she was listening. What she had said had really caught her interest.

"What do you know of Women's Sufferage?"

"I know enough to meet with other women to discuss how things can change."

Their eyes met in mutual understanding and this was something that made Beth's eyes sparkle. Such subjects were never discussed normally in her household.

"You must take me with you, Nancy."

"Tomorrow afternoon..meet me in the town outside the library. I'll take you to a meeting."

This made her feel stronger - strong enough to face going downstairs and forcing herself to be (reasonably) polite.

"I think it's time to face everyone. How foul is Mr Thomas's mood?"

"Very." The maid lowered her voice, "He had a telephone call from up north today. There's been problems at the office..men rioting again."

This was news to Beth, who found it increasingly frustrating that news filtered down to her through the hired staff and never from those who were meant to be close to her. Over the last two years there had been an increase in accidents and trouble over levels of pay.

"Why?"

Nancy stared at her.

"Did you not know about the explosion last week? Fifteen men killed down the pit?"

She shook her head.

"No, that's terrible, I knew nothing. I'm told nothing. This should never have happened, those poor men, their poor families!"

"They say there's a lot of trouble starting up, word has it they have taken up a hired help by the name of Billy Keep..a real troublemaker. He incited the men to riot. They say he was a mercenary and is a dangerous man. And he has this way about him that makes others follow. From what I've heard he is very, very dangerous, a violent man. The police are aware of his activities but they can't catch him, people protect him and make him elusive. I'm surprised Mr Thomas didn't tell you about this."

"I'm told nothing." Beth said.

Although she now didn't feel like forcing herself to endure another pointless social gathering, she had questions that needed answers, so she thanked Nancy and made her way down to the ballroom.

As soon as she walked in heads turned and Alfred called her name, but she headed straight for her guardian who was talking with some of his circle of well-heeled society friends. She spared time and barged in, feeling what she had to say was far more imortant than what ever mindless chatter they were taking part in.

"Why was I not told about the mine?"

Her guardian stared at her, his face flushing slightly. She knew that look. He was uncomfortable now. But not as uncomfortable as the men who had been trapped far underground, she was sure of that.

"I said, "She repeated louder, "Why was I not told about the mine? The explosion?"

His dark eyes clouded with anger and he grabbed her by the arm, pulling her aside and using all his self control not to raise his voice in public.

"Mines are dangerous places, Elsbeth. Men are killed all the time. It's the way of things."

"You have to do more about safety, it seems like standards are falling so low the Trades Council will have something to say about it soon. And what about the families of those men - "

"The families of those men are well aware that it was a hazard that pre-existed, Elsbeth. Men will always have accidents no matter what we do. Mining is a dangerous business and they know that when they go down the pit. Now for heaven's sake behave yourself!"

She was about to raise her voice even louder when Alfred came up to join them.

"Take her outside." Said Thomas, "I think Elsbeth needs some air. She's got rather hysterical."

As she was led away by the slightly overweight and decidedly sweaty Alfred, he turned back to his friends and sipped from his crystal glass.

"Young girls these days are so emotional." He remarked.

As she walked to the open doorway, looking beyond the wide green lawn and the shady trees did nothing to give her the fresh air she needed.  She stood in the doorway, told Alfred about what she had heard, growing increasinly frustrated that what she was saying was so insignificant to the man who wanted to marry her.  And while Alfred was going on about how she shouldn't worry herself with matters that were nothing to do with her, Elsbeth felt a strange sensation. Her long dark hair was piled high on her head, leaving the back of her neck and shoulders bare and the tiny hairs on the back of her neck began to prickle. She felt eyes burning into her. Someone was watching. She gave a sideways glance and saw a man sitting beside the window across the room. He was wearing a light brown suit and his light brown hair fell to his collar, his steel grey eyes bored into her as he continued to regard her over the rim of his wine glass. Not an unattractive man, but something about him that said he did not belong here. He was tall and powerfully built, looked around forty..a friend of her guardian's? No, she had never seen him before. He flashed her a half smile, raised his glass to her and carried on watching.

She turned her attention back to Alfred.

"Go and tell that fool who is supposed to be running my father's business that he isn't doing a good enough job! He won't listen to me. If you want any chance of marrying me you will behave like a man and defend me in this!"

Alfred paused, thought for a moment. Elsbeth was getting rather over heated again and he decided she was best left alone for a short time.

"I shall leave you to gather your thoughts as I have no real opinion on them. I'll bring you back a lovely glass of wine in a moment."

And to her great relief, he walked away.

She took several deep breaths and tried to clear her mind. She could still feel those eyes boring into her. So she turned and walked over to the stranger, out of pure curiosity, to find out who he was.

As she approached him, he stood up.

"Do I know you, Sir?" She asked him.

"I don't believe so."He replied, "All this," And he cast a glance around the ballroom, "Is new to me. I'm just here on business. You must be Elsbeth Grace."

"Yes, these days I feel I have to apologise for that. My guardian arranged this ball but I feel John Thomas has a lot to answer for."

And he laughed. He threw his head back and laughed loudly.

Elsbeth just stood there.

"Excuse me, did I say something to amuse you?"

"John Thomas?" He repeated, "His name is John Thomas? So he's a proper dick then."

She was unsure if she had missed something.

"No, his name is John, not Richard."

"No, I mean, he's a John Thomas."

As she shook her head and looked confused, he leaned closer, lowered his voice.

"Don't you know what that means?"

"No." She said honestly.

He whispered in her ear. Then she understood.

Beth's cheeks grew scarlet as she backed away from him in shock.

"You disgusting man!"

Then she fled the ballroom, his laughter echoing in her ears.

On leaving the ballroom she almost collided with Alfred, who led her outside and handed her a glass of wine.

"Do calm yourself down," Alfred told her as she leaned against a cherry tree and raised the glass to her lips with a shaking hand,

"You're making quite a show of yourself. People will talk. You'll need to learn how to behave yourself, how to be quiet. You need to be quiet, that's what it is."

Beth swallowed the rest of the wine and it was hitting her quite fast. She had no intention of being quiet now. She had every intention to drink much more and show how loud she really could be, it was time people listened. But Alfred had other ideas.

"As we are going to marry I think now is as good a time as any to get to know you better, Beth. I must say you look very lovely."

His voice darkened.

"Very lovey indeed."

And suddenly, just as she thought things could not get any worse, he had hurled his glass to the floor and he was on her, pinning her against the tree as his hands slid down her dress, beneath her corset, as she stuggled and he pulled, fabric ripped and his clammy hands groped at her soft flesh,  squeezing her breasts painfully. She squealed but they were far into the garden, the guests were inside, no one could hear her cry for help.

He was pinning her harder, raising her skirt to her thighs.

She screamed. She screamed louder than she thought she ever could.

"Shut up!"He hissed, forcing her legs apart.

Then a voice cut in.

"Oi," He said, placing a heavy hand on Alfred's shoulder, "I need a quick word, dandy boy."

Alfred turned around.

The stranger lunged forward, butting him between the eyes and knocking him to the ground as blood poured from a split in the bridge of his nose. Beth found herself looking at the same stranger in the brown suit who had made the filthy remark to her. He was standing over Alfred with a look of contempt.

"The lady said No." He told him, and booted him hard in the ribs.

Beth looked at him, still standing against the tree, trembling with fright, not realising her bodice was completely torn and hanging open.

His eyes wandered down to the torn material, he took in the curve between her breasts, reached forward and lifted the fabric and looked inside.

"Nice tits." He remarked.

Raised voices were approaching.

She grabbed her clothing and pulled it tight about herself, running towards help.

Her guardian had come, bringing the butler and several alarmed guests.

Just behind her, back by the cherry trees, Alfred was still on the ground, whining like a girl because his nose was broken.

"What's happened?" He demanded, "Has someone harmed you, Beth?"

She glared at him, pulling the torn fabric tighter.

"Yes, Alfred harmed me. He tried to force himself on me! And would have done if that man hadn't stepped in and helped me!"

"What man?" Asked Thomas.

Beth turned around.

"That man.." She fell silent, the stranger was gone.

"He must have left when you came running. Get Alfred out of this house, and never let me lay eyes on him again..the man's an animal!"

Nancy was by her side and wrapped a shawl around her shoulders.

"Take me upstairs." Beth said tearfully, "I've had enough."

She slept badly that night, going to bed only after she had washed away Alfred's touch, for a while she had laid awake in the dark and tried to push all thoughts of him out of her mind, but as she did so, other thoughts came in and she kept seeing the face of the man who had saved her. That strange, rough, coarse man who she had walked away from after their first conversation. She could still feel his eyes boring into her, his image haunted her inner vision like a ghost until finally the wine persuaded sleep to come.

Next day, Thomas was very apologetic about Alfred and promised her he would find her 'a decent man' instead. She somehow doubted there were any decent men left in this world. But the thought of the meeting with Nancy's friends kept her going, and later that day, she waited outside the library.

When Nancy turned up she went with her to a hired hall and listened for an hour about how a movement was forming towards women's liberation.  The speaker was so inspiring she decided to join them on a march to spread local awareness. And it all went very well. All went well until some bystanders started yelling abuse and a supposedly peaceful outig turned into a street fight. Someone threw a stone and it hit Nancy's cheek, grazing her face. Beth threw it back, missed and smashed a shop window. The police came.

And now, an hour later, she found herself sitting in a cell with a tiny barred window. It was cold and damp and stunk of piss. She sat on the hard bed and wondered how she would explain her criminal behaviour, how she had let her anger get the better of her.

Then a policeman opened the cell door.

"You're free to go, Miss Grace." He told her, "It's all sorted out. Your father has paid for the damage. He's come to take you home."

As Beth stood up, her first thought was, But my father is dead... However after several hours in this cell, she was grateful the door was open - but she walked out to a surprise.

Before her stood the man who had falsely claimed to be her father. The stranger who had saved her from Alfred's advances. They exchanged a glance.

"I'm sorry for my behaviour, Father."

He took hold of her arm and led her towards the door.

"These girls get such silly ideas, officer." He said as they left the station, "All this stuff about rights and look where it gets 'em.."

He led her to a horse and carriage, once they were inside the plush and comfortable old carriage, the driver set off quickly.

She settled back on the comfortable seat, thinking, what a fine old carriage, and looked at the man who sat opposite her.

"It seems I must thank you, Sir. Not only for today but for yesterday as well. You seem to have a gift for getting me out of trouble."

He didn't even smile.

"Women's rights?" He asked her, "When will you women learn that men rule the world? They always have and always will. And you girls will always be glad of it."

"I have to remind you, we have a female monarch."

He gave a low chuckle.

"I wouldn't piss on the monarchy if they were on fire."

And there was something in his eyes, a blaze of something she couldn't determine that unsettled her. His coarse language was something she was coming to expect, but there was more and she wasn't sure how to define it. Extreme, fanatical...something. It made her wish the carriage would slow so that she could get out, but at the same time, her unease was coupled with curiosity.

"And why do you feel that way, if I might ask?"

"Because I have seen life how it really is." He told her, "I've watched kids starve and men die and women follow them to the grave, good people who only wanted to make their way but never had the chance. They bang on about laws and changes and reforms but it always comes too late. Better ways are paved at the price of being built upon the bones of men who were left behind."

His words stunned her into silence.

Then she looked out of the window and realised the carriage had turned out of town and was heading for the open road. Panic swelled up inside her.

"Why are we going the wrong way? Let me out! Stop this carriage and let me go!"

He smiled smugly and settled back and lit a rolled ciggarette.

"We will stop soon enough. And I advise you to sit still and behave yourself if you want this journey to be an easy one. Because it can get a lot worse, understand?"

Icy fear ran through her at hearing the tone in his voice. She froze for a moment, met his gaze and nodded.

He inhaled deeply and blew the smoke out the open window.

"Good girl." He replied.

Beth blinked back tears and sat quietly as the carriage rolled on. Finally she gathered the courage to speak up again.

"Why are you abducting me?"

"Because you're Elsbeth Grace. Heiress to certain coal mines that have fallen into troubled times thanks to the management of your guardian the prick John Thomas. He's cutting corners and slashing pay and men are dying. By the time the Trades Council put pressure on to make changes it will be too late. We'll have mass graves and a town of weeping widows and starving kids and the pits will be closed down, it might put him out of business but what does he care, he's lining his pockets so come your twenty frst birthday there's nothing to inherit. I know. My men have been watching him for a long time, since the first explosion last year. So it's like this - he doesn't get you back unless he pays a large sum of money and improves safety and raises pay. And he won't go to the police because he can't. He's in the shit up to his neck and it's getting deeper by the hour. All he can do is comply, or suffer the consequences."

Everything he just said had stunned her. She had never known Thomas was capable of such an evil act. The blood of those men was on his hands.

"I do agree that what he is doing is wrong. If you let me go I will go to the police and report him - "

"You're going nowhere!" He thundered, seeing her flinch with fear as he raised his voice,  "You are in my custody until this matter is resolved. You are kidnapped, get used to it. Consider yourself a political prisoner."

"What does politics have to do with your thuggish ways?"

"Parliament consists of nineteen cabinet ministers, ten non-cabinet ministers and thirty-one junior ministers who make laws to suit themselves that have very little impact upon the common man. They might as well spend their time buggering each other's arses for all the good it does to the people of this great nation. It's always been the way and it always will be, nothing changes for the better and it will still be that way a hundred years from now!"

Beth fell silent again. Finally, she said in a hushed voice :

"Your views are extreme but not without foundation.... I think however we could keep the word 'buggering' out of the conversation."

"Oh no," He said with a smile, "I think there's a place for buggering in this conversation. And fucking, amongst other things. Do you like to fuck? Have you ever been fucked?"

Beth swallowed down her disgust and turned her head, averting her gaze and watching as rolling fields went by.

"You are a filthy man." She remarked, "I thought it when we first met. Now I know it for certain. You make me feel quite ill."

And she kept her gaze on the passing scenery.

He laughed at that remark, rolled another ciggarette and smoked it.

"We still haven't been introduced properly." He remarked, "Are you not the least bit curious who I am?"

Now she looked at him. A wild guess was making sense to her.

"Based on what I have heard I would say you are probably Billy Keep, rioter and trouble maker, a former soldier of fortune. Your troublesome repuation arrives before you and hopefully warns others of your impending presence."

"I think you just insulted me." Billy said, and leaned forward, closed his fist around her dress and pulled her closer, as her bodice started to rip for the second time in two days she gasped. He was barely an inch from her face.

"Be nice." He stated, "I can't advise that strongly enough. Because I AM BIlly Keep and what you've heard is all true. And I can get very nasty when I'm in a mood for it, understand?"

She was staring into his eyes frozen with fright at his roughness. He shook her hard, her slight frame jolted like a rag doll and her long hair came tumbling down her shoulders as her comb and a hairpin clattered to the floor.

"Do you understand?"He repeated sharply.

Her face had paled and her eyes had reddened. Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Yes." Was all she said. He let go of her.

Then he picked up the hairpin and comb and threw them out of the window.

"Can't take any chances with you, " He told her, "I can see you sticking me with something when I'm not looking and we can't have that, can we?"

Beth said nothing, feeling it was safer to stay silent for the rest of the journey.

After several hours the carriage came to a halt. They had reached a town, a large town, with dingy houses and dirty streets and in the distance smoke curled from fatory chimneys.  They had stopped outside a tall, narrow row of terraced houses in the middle of a long, winding street. It was late and the street was deserted. He clamped his hand on her wrist like a vice as the driver opened the door.

"If you struggle or fight me or try and get away," He said in a low, calm voice, "I'll beat the shit out of you, Beth."

His wrds made her go weak and she siently stepped out of the carriage and allowed him to ead her into the house. The door was bolted heavily behind her and as he led her past the parlour she glanced in and saw men sitting in there. One was cleaning a gun.  He got up and handed it to Billy.

"Thank you, Mr Smith." He replied, and holstered the loaded weapon beneath his jacket.

Then he led Beth into the parlour. She had come to stop caring that her bodice was partly ripped.

"These are some of my associates. You will never know their real names. They use names of trades. This is Mr. Miller, Mr Butcher, Mr. Cartwright, Mr.Smith...and if you make any attempt to get out of here, or do something stupid like open a window and call for help, you will be getting to know all of them a lot better than you ever imagined."

All of them? That thought sent another shockwave of fear through Beth. The day had been traumatic enough without being in a room with several rough looking working class types who would rape her if she tried to escape. As she looked around the room she realised a trunk was standing in the corner, filled with more guns than she had ever seen in her life. Now she stayed silent, knowing the people who held her were not ordinary men, they were dangerous fanatics who would use any means to get their own way. Then Billy dragged her away towards the stairs.

"I'm locking you away up here." He told her, "In my bedroom, For your own safety, of course."

And from the open doorway to the parlour, she heard sniggers of dirty laughter. But she let hi lead her. She had seen the men, seen the guns, felt a hint of Billy's brutality and wished to suffer no more.

He led her up the stairs, turned down a narrow hallway and took her to the master bedroom. He locked the door behind them.

Beth stood in the middle of the room, the floor was carpeted, the bed was high off the floor and made of brass with a good matress and warm covers. The furniture was polished oak and everything in here was remarkably comfortable for a man like Billy Keep.

"Not so bad, is it." He remarked, "This is just one of several properties I have at my disposal. I live well, but not to the extent that you. I could if I wanted to, I've done well out of my life but I'm not a man to live above others, I don't forget where I came from. You can have the bed. Get on it, then."

Those words made her startle and she backed away.

He grabbed her by the wrists and forced her down onto the bed, she tried to kick but he pinned her with his weight and it crushed the breath out of her so she stopped struggling, but the fear stayed tight in her chest as he took some rope and tied her hands above her, winding the cord around the bed posts.

"I'm just making sure you don't try anything stupid." He told her, then his eyes wandered down her body.

"You would look even better naked."

She did not say a word, fearing any kind of reaction would be read as encouragement. But he didn't need a reaction from her, this was something he had been thinking about for a long time. He raised her skirt to her waist, reached up and tore off her underwear. Now she was naked from the waist down, legs open as he sat between them, looking at her short pubic hair and getting a glimpse of soft pinkness that lie beneath. She tensed as he placed his hand on her down there, pressing her pubic mound with the palm of his hand.

He took his hand away and smelled the scent that lingered.

"You smell so pure." He said, "So clean and pure."

He slid his hand back down, further down this time and she gasped as he poked a finger inside her. She wanted to scream but knew if she did, the others might come. And if the others knew what their leader was doing, they would want some, too. So she stayed quiet, hating it, not wanting to find any pleasure in the sensation of his roaming hand, yet some how she did and her body betrayed her by leaking wetness as he moved his finger in and out of her tightness.

"You've never had a cock inside you, have you?"

"No, I am a virgin."

"WAS." He corrected her, loosening his clothing and taking out his erection. He guided his cock firmly towards her pure virginity and let it rest there for a moment as she looked into his eyes terrified.

"Sorry," He said, "But when I saved you yesterday, I was saving you for me. In every way."

And he rammed it in, all the way up.

She gasped aloud as something tore and pain burnt at her entrance, then he was pumping it in and out of her and as she looked down she saw her juice was coming out so much that his cock glistened with it, with her wetness and it was streaked with blood. The pain wore off quickly. Billy had a big cock and it filled her up to such a point she thought that she would burst, but each time she took his fullness he drew bak and thrust into her again, till the pleasure hit her every time he rammed it in and although tears ran hot down her face and she refused to touch him, there was a bliss about it that made her only care about the next thrust. The bed creaked and the back of it hit the wall, thump, thump, thump as he took his pleasure, then his thrusting got faster, harder as if he no longer cared she was human. Finally he buried it deep in her and warm, wet come filled her up, dripped out and was still dripping from his cock as he pulled out of her.

He wiped his cock on the edge of the bedspread and put it away.

"That was a good fuck and I know you say you didn't want it but I could tell you did really. And don't deny it because you wanted it as much as me."

He got up and went over to the door. Hearing her sob, he turned around again.

"Don't start feeling sorry for yourself. You enjoyed it."

"It's not fair." She said tearfully.

"Welcome to the real world." Billy stated, closing the door behind him, leaving her tied and alone with his come still running out of her.

He locked the door behind him.

From the bedroom, Beth watched the moon come up. Then she slept uncomfortably, when she awoke her hands felt numb and her arms ached. It was sunrise and Billy was sitting on the edge of the bed buttoning up a clean shirt. 

"I slept beside you all night and you didn't wake." He told her.

"I can't feel my hands, my arms hurt."

"I'll untie you if you promise to be good."

She nodded, watching him warily as he leaned over her and loosened her bonds. As her arms fell free and blood began to flow once more pins and needles burned through to her fingertips.

Billy stayed beside her and rubbed her hands.

"It won't hurt for long, I wanted to untie you last night but I couldn't take the chance. I'm going to get you downstairs soon, I have a hot bath waiting for you and a change of clothes. You see, I'm not a total bastard, am I?"

She shook her head.

"Thank you." She said quietly, although she was not quite sure why. It seemed as if after everything that had happened, every little kindness he showed her seemed so much more than a minor detail.

He took her downstairs and left her in the bathroom, where she had a hot bath and changed into another dress, although it was plain and more the kind of clothing her maid would wear, she appreciated the fact that it was clean and warm and so was she. He gave her breakfast in the kitchen then took her back upstairs.

"I'll not tie you up this time." He told her, "You may sleep on the bed and have some proper rest. But you won't be alone, because I'll be here, sitting in that chair by the window. I'm waiting for one of my men to come back and let me now how the ransom demand went."

"Do not underestimate Mr Thomas." She said seriously, "He has contacts, too. He may well find this place and take you by surprise. I have suspected he is not be trusted for a long time, and I know he has criminal contacts."

He shrugged.

"I know these things too and I don't care. If he comes round here waving a pistol he will get a bullet between the eyes. Then I'll have the problem of what to do with you."

"Would you kill me?"

"No, I'd have to keep you I think. I did enjoy last night."

Again she fell silent. It was hard to know when he was seriously considering something or if it was a casual remark.

Then he got up and came over to the bed. Part of her froze and thought, not again, yet there was this other part of her that seemed to fight against her reluctance and she shocked herself by sliding over to make room for him as he sat down.

"You are pretty." He said as he stroked her cheek.

"Why do you do the things you do?" She asked him, "What made you like this?"

"I told you," He replied, "Life, it does funny things to a man sometimes. I wasn't born privileged like you. I doubt if you could understand."

And his gaze wandered from her to the window and the view beyond, but Beth could tell his thoughts were far, far from this room and what lie just beyond it. She drew in a deep breath.

"Tell me. I want to know why."

And as the words came out of her mouth, she wondered to herself: Why did she want to know about him? Why did she want to understand him? He had abducted her, threatened her, raped her. Yet she was sliding into some sort of...what was it? Some kind of bond with him? She tried not to think too hard about it and decided that she was a reasonable and intelligent person, therefore if she was seeing this situation in a different light it was because there was a different perspective to see, so she wanted to descover it.

"Tell me about your convictions."

He was still looking over the horizon.

"Oh I got a list of them." He murmured, "Longer than your arm. I'll have a lot more hanging over me after this job's finished.."

"No, I mean your beliefs, why you do the things you do."

He looked at her sharply but saw no malice in her eyes as she corrected him.

"I grew up near one of your family's pits." He said, "My father was a miner, like his father before him and going back down the line. In those days there were plenty of accidents, less supposed safety than there is now and the men would work for a pittance. But my father worked every day to put food on the table. I had two sisters and a brother. He worked the mines but my mother wanted to keep me above ground she had this fear that if anything happened she could lose a husband and two sons, so she sent me to work an errand boy but it didn't pay much, then mother got ill and so did my youngest sister and I had to get down there and start earning. Then there was an explosion and a lot of men died, including my father and my brother. I was one of the survivors. I tried to keep my family going but I was just a boy. Mother died then my sister and finally it was just me and my elder sister. She married and I joined the army for a few years. Then I left when I realised I would earn far more hiring myself out to parties other than queen and country. Till I had enough one day, then I wanted to come home. On the day I did I saw bodies piled in the street from that bloody pit again. People called on me to sort it out, so I'm here now and trying to get things put right. I'd do it a thousand times over for those men. For every man who ever went into that backness and never came out again."

And he was still avoidig her gaze.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

Now he looked at her. And he replied in a calm, steady way.

"You know shit about my loss, you're a stuck up little miss who grew up on other people's misfortune. That's why I forced myself on you. I wanted to take something you could never replace. I took your innocence."

"But what I gain instead is an insight that has changed my perspective, Mr. Keep."She had said it so openly and yet her own words surprised her. She knew she should despise this man but changes were creeping into her way of thinking that altered  everything about and it seemed all she could do was allow it to happen as she had no control over it.

"It will change a lot more by the time I've finished with you." He told her, "You'll find out what real life is. You'll find out how hard things can really be. I'm not sending you back until you know that."

"The more I speak to you, the more I see your reasons." She told him, "I think others see too because they follow you without question."

That sharply suspicious look was back in his eyes.

"If you mock me I'll show you the back of my hand."

"I speak with sincerity."

"Well," He replied, "Sincere or otherwise, it won't get you home. Only money will do that."

Then, just as she was starting to slide into a new kind of sanity, he gave her an order.

"Get on your knees in front of me."

This pushed aside everything that she had been trying to clumsily glue back together to form sense of a new shape in which her world now turned.

"Why..I have never done that..why should I - "

He siezed her and pushed her on the floor. She fell hard on the soft carpet and the jarring of her bones shook her with a joly that brought back the harshness of the situation - or would that be how old Beth would have seen it? She was new Beth now, old Beth had her hymen intact and would be sitting at home hating the dullness and safety of her life, this was new Beth. She said it to herself, I am the New Beth. It made sense in this room, with him, in a life where everything was strange and alien and so unbearable the virgin Beth would have died screaming, probably thrown herself out of a window, but No..New Beth was taking over.

She tossed her hair off her face and straightened herself up, on her knees in front of Billy.

"Look at me." He commanded.

Beth looked up.

She was so far down and he was so high above her, just like he was above those men who followed him and carried out his orders. Billy Keep was a powerful man.

As if reading her mind, he stated:

"You are nothing. You are here for my pleasure and amusement and nothing more. You are a worthless little cock sucking slut who gives her virginity away to the first man who wants to take it. You couldn't even fight me because you wanted Cock. Say it, tell me what you wanted."

The words flowed from her mouth.

"I wanted cock."

"You want mine now and you want to suck it and you are going to suck it nicely, or I will put my fist in your face, understand me?"

Beth nodded. He took his erect cock out and slid it into her mouth. At first she stayed still, mouth open while he fucked her face, then he told her to suck and as she obeyed she found it was so much more pleasant than she had expected. It slid in and out, faster, harder, while she sucked as she was told to. He suddenly grabbed her by a handful of her hair and jerked her backwards, then white semen was spurting from his cock, gushing out in a stream, hitting her face, stinging her eyes and tasting like salt on her lips.

She looked up at him, her face a mass of white ooze, and he smiled down at her.

"It suits you nicely." He told her, and put his cock away.

"Wash your face." Billy ordered. Then he got up and left the room.

After she cleaned herself, she sat on the bed and thought of home. There was little she missed in the way of family, it was just the thought of home and needing to be there that gave her such great pain. She started to cry, but when she fell back on the bed and pressed her face into the pillow, it only smelled of her abductor, of his musky scent, the smell of his skin, his hair, a reminder of him in her lonliness. And it was him she thought of as she hugged the pillow and slept, hoping to sleep for a long time, to cut out some of the misery.

Much later he came upstairs and unlocked the door. He let her use the bathroom and eat again. Then he took her to the scullery and showed her a water tub and a long wooden device with a handle and a round base which had smaller spokes pointing downwards.

"Wash the laundry in the tub and turn it with the dolly." He told her, "Clean all my shirts and when you've hung them out to dry I will see how clean they are. Impress me."

Beth had never done laundry in her life, but she obeyed him simply because it gave her something to do and strangely his request to be impressed motivated her somehow. She had seen Nancy helping the housekeeper wash clothes once and managed to follow her steps, it took a while but she got there, and when the shirts were hung out to dry she stood back and watched them blowing in the breeze.

A young woman was passing the back gate, a laden basket of shopping on her arm. She paused and looked at Beth and Beth looked back at her.

The woman continued to stare.

Beth walked over to the back gate.

"Can I help you?"

It ran through her mind that although his men were out during most of the day she was sure Billy would be watching her. And he had a gun, and this woman had done nothing to deseverve paying the penalty for becoming entangled in this mess.

The woman was still staring at her.

"Is your name Elsbeth?"She said quietly.

This was her chance. Freedom was a simple step away. In fact, looking around her, she saw the street beyond. A boy rode past on a bicycle. A couple strolled arm-in-arm. A motor car chugged past and a horse and cart clattered up the road, it's clip-clop echoing around the street. There were chances everywhere, all she needed to do was take it, speak up and it would be over. It was as easy as that! She could see it now! Back home to all that was familiar. Safety again. No more Billy Keep, ever again. Her life back in it's place.

The woman spoke again.

" I said, are you Elsbeth? Because you look like a lady who was in the paper..she went missing and no one seems to know where she is.."

"No."

It had slid out of her mouth with such ease that the word had bypassed all her planned thoughts and come out on it's own. Beth felt a shudder of alarm at her own actions.

The woman was laughing.

"NO, of course not, silly me. She's a rich heiress, and you, you're just like me, a housewife. Oh I am a silly one sometimes!"

Beth smiled and felt a massive surge of relief as she walked away.

She turned back to the house and saw Billy standing by the door.

She walked over to him.

"Just a neighbour saying hello. She thinks I'm your wife!"

Billy did not smile. He glanced at the row of washing.

"That'll do nicely." He told her, "There's a bird needs plucking and a dinner to cook. Get on with it."

This time Beth did not hesitate. She had often watched cook at home and knew how to roast a chicken. She cooked vegetables and let the bird simmer in its own stock in the big cooking range and the heat from the thing spread through the house, as did the smell of the food. When it was time to eat Beth sat across the table from Billy and they ate together. It felt strange yet comfortable.

"Thomas tells my contact the ransom will be in our hands by  tomorrow at noon."

Beth fell silent.

Billy looked at her.

"Nothing to say?"

"I have never known a man like you and never will again." She stated, "But I will see to it that he up holds his promise to raise safety standards and rates of pay. You do not need to doubt my word, I was your captive against my will but I find my will bending to your's somewhat easily. I can not question this as I feel I must be making choices that are right for me. I do not wish to return to my former life."

Billy put down his fork and stared at her.

"You're playing a fucking game here."

She shook her head.

"I do not believe you are a brutal man, Mr Keep. I find you to be kind and motivated for the deepest of reasons."

His voice dropped to a whisper even though rage burned in his eyes.

"Are you speaking of love?"

"Of some kind, I think I am."

He stood up with such force the chair clattered back behind him. He dragged her from her chair and threw her onto the floor.

He was on top of her, leaning over her, his breath in her face as he gripped her roughly by the cheeks and looked into her eyes. Beth felt numb, jarred and jolted like the first time he shook her bones.

"If I feel, the gates of Hell open up and I'm in pain forever." He stated, "I'll show you what I feel for you, and believe me you will never speak of Billy Keep and love in the same sentance again!"

Then he dragged her to her feet, and headed for the stairs.

Pain and fear rattled around somewhere inside Elsbeth Grace but only in her core, in the centre of her being, the rest consisting of the  shell she had grown as New Beth. She knew this as he stripped off all her clothes and tied her hands to the bedpost again.

He jammed the poker in the fire and watched as flames rose and licked the embers, sending sparks flurrying into the air.

"There is no place for love in my lifetime." He stated, "You will hate me by the time you leave - I will make sure of it."

Beth struggled against her bonds. He cracked the back of his hand across her face and she yelped in pain and froze, a look of terror in her eyes. Then he was on her again, this time as he took position between her legs he lowered his cock, sliding down to her arse. He pressed and pressed, found too much resistance then just rammed it in.

It felt like she was breaking and tearing as a dry, sharp pain spread through her body. He continued to bugger her, oblivious to her screams as he neared orgasm. He came hard and withdrew from her, then ignored her sobs as he washed himself clean at the dresser, then wiped his cock dry on her discarded dress.

He returned and sat down on the bed and firmly spread her thighs.

"I might as well taste you before I finish off." He told her, and licked the length of her slit, over and over, his tongue running over her in such a way that she found the pain was fading and although it still hurt inside, all she could focus on was the mounting pleasure that was building up in a way she had never felt before.

"No," She whimpered, "No, no, stop.."

His tongue flickered over her swollen clitoris and she screamed with the intensity of it all. He let go of her, went over to the fireplace and drew out the poker, it's tip glowing orange. He studied the glowing tip, then approached the bed. His eyes roamed over her bare flesh.

"I'm trying to think of the best place to put this so you hate me forever." He told her.

Beth was sobbing and looking at him as if silently pleading for him to stop.

"Where do you want it?" He asked her coldly.

She continued to sob.

Billy touched the glowing tip to the soft flesh just above her hip.

Beth screamed loudly, her whole body going rigid as the pain washed over her and overtook her senses. He drew the poker away and saw the livid red burn mark, it was weeping clear fluid and he had certainly melted enough flesh to leave a small scar.

"Remember me as the bastard who marked you." He snapped, and tossed the poker into the hearth.

As the pain dulled, she blinked away tears and looked at Billy.

"Tell me you hate me." He demanded.

"I hate you." She sobbed.

"Good." Billy said, "Because that is the only way it can ever be."

And as he closed the door and left her bound and broken, Beth cried again. Not only for her pain but for his, because as he had walked away, she had noticed tears were streaming down Billy's face as well. He had said, Hate me. Because he hated her legacy, her father's mine and the deaths caused by it. The deaths that had left him as he was today, a man who could feel nothing.

Billy untied her by nightfall. She bathed and went back to bed. He left her alone upstairs and she remained alone until daybreak. When he brought her food she avoided his gaze knowing to show emotion would mean more torture. He thought she hated him. She ought to hate him, but had somehow forgotten how. He fed her, kept her clean and warm, some of the things he had done to her had been pleasurable. Everything was a lifetime away from how they used to be. She was forgetting Old Beth and New Beth was emerging even though she knew she had to hide it from the man who had created her.

Billy was downstairs in the parlour and his men were out running his errands, tying up loose ends and waiting for the ransom drop off.

Beth wandered to the back of the house, to the spare bedroom and looked out of the window.

Two men darted down the alley with guns, followed at a distance by John Thomas.

Beth wanted to shout, but fear made the sound stick in her throat. Thomas, the cause of all this, had brought two hired thugs to kill Billy Keep and take her home. Take her back to the life she hated, where she would be forced to sit back and wait for her inheritance, while Thomas lined his own pockets and men died, men like Billy's father...

She reached the top of the stairs. Heard a door burst open. A struggle, an exchange of gunfire. She came halfway down the stairs and saw a spray of blood shining bright on the brown leaf-patterned wallpaper. In the hallway, one of Thomas's men lay dead. She ran to the parlour. The other man was struggling with Billy. A gun went off with a deadened pop and the second man fell to the ground, a gaping wound in his chest.

And Billy dropped the gun, fell to the floor and grasped at his side as blood ran over his fingers and began to leave a deep, crimson stain pooling on the carpet.

As pain and pallor took over his features, he drew in a ragged breath.

"Beth, I'm sorry. For all of it..this is all I'm good for, it's been waiting for me all my life. I've been a dead man since the mine caved in. I've never been out of darkness. Let me die."

Thomas came in through the door and stared in horror at the bloodbath before his eyes. Then he saw Beth, bruised and beaten, wearing a dress that looked like it belonged on a servant instead of a lady.

"I'm so sorry this happened, my dear. Let us leave now, before the police arrive! He's wanted anyway, if he lives they'll hang him, come, let's leave."

Beth stopped.

She looked to Billy, then to her guardian.

Then to the gun on the floor.

As the final piece slid in place inside her, she knew what had to be done. As Thomas turned his back, she closed her slender hands around the heavy gun, turned around and took aim.

Thomas glanced back to see what was keeping her and he froze, staring down the barrel in terror. There was a look in Beth's eyes he had never seen before, cold, as if she was a stranger.

She spoke in a calm, measured way as she laid out the facts, strangely reminding the bleeding man on the floor of himself.

"No, Thomas." She stated, "You married my mother for her money. You embezzled my father's business and men are dead because of you. And more will die if you live."

She squeezed the trigger. The bullet hit him square in the chest and threw him back against the wall, the body rolled to the floor. The gun was still smoking.

"How's that?" She demanded, facing her wounded abductor, "Three people are dead. One for your brother, one for your father, one for your mother..how about another one for all the men who died in the mine?"

And she pressed the gun to her own temple.

"Come on, you hated bastard, how about me as well? My father owned the mine. I'm the only living relative. How about me?"

Too weak to stand, he raised his hand up.

"Beth, no, for God's sake..get out of here and save yourself, I'll be doing the worst injustice of all if you suffer for any of this."

And Beth, whose finger had been nowhere near the trigger, lowered the gun and placed it on the table.

"Leave!" Begged Billy, "While you still can!"

"Not without you." She stated.

Then she saw movement outside and realised she had a way out for both of them.  The horse and carriage had just come to a stop outside the house. She threw open the door.

"Mr Smith!" She yelled, "Come quickly!"

Later, witnesses told the police they had seen nothing before the gunshots. Then a man and a woman had dragged another man who was heavily bleeding into a carriage and driven off at top speed. One of the dead men had been identified as a Mr John Thomas, guardian of the missing heiress Elsbeth Grace. The other two men were described in the paper as 'local known criminals'. 

A week later, the missing girl turned up alive, and seemingly unharmed, with a strange tale of being abducted by two gypsy types who had demanded money from her family, but she claimed she had been fortunate  enough to escape. The story soon faded away and Elsbeth took an active role in making improvements to the mines and saw to it that the men got a better rate of pay. She took care of the families of those who had lost husbands and fathers in the disaster and fell in love so much with the little town where Billy had lived that she saw to it that not only was the town improved upon, but she had a house built and moved there, on a large piece of land, big enough for her son to ride horses and every time she saw him happy and free she knew that Billy would be happy to think that his child concieved during such a turbulent time would never face poverty and never have to go down the pit in his life.

One Sunday afternoon she laid some flowers on the family grave marked Keep. She had laid them there every Sunday, and always would.  Time had passed but she could never forget how she had met her son's father, how even through his brutality she had seen something else. At first she had wondered if the trauma of the kidnap had made her lose her mind, seeing Billy as someone she could love. But then she had realised why he was so closed up, so afraid to let anyone in. He had seen himself as a cold hearted bastard who was good for nothing but being a hired gun, all fuelled by his hatred for the past sins against himself and his family and those around him. But he had loved her in the end, when he was bleeding on the floor and thought only of making her save herself. She had done all she could, dragging him into that carriage that had ended up soaked in blood. He had been ready to die, he told her so. Lying in her arms, he had whispered: "It's over, let me go."

He had lived long enough for the bullet to be taken out, long enough for Beth to tell him she loved him, she knew he loved her, but she would tell him she hated him if he still wished..and he had finally said it, whispered it before he closed his eyes, "Yes, I love you."

Beth arranged the flowers and stood up, stepped back, blinked back tears as she thought of her own child safe and sound who would never have to die like Billy's brother did.

Then she heard a footstep behind her.

An arm wrapped around her shoulder.

"My mother would have loved you."Said Billy.

Beth turned around and looked at him. She smiled. Billy hadn't been expected to live after losing all that blood, but he was strong and never liked to do as he was told. He had recovered well and over time, his bitterness had mellowed, changed by his love for her and the coming of their child.

"Yes, my hated husband, I rather think she would." She replied, and their lips touched, then touched some more, and Billy kissed his wife deeply, before taking her by the hand and leading her back towards the gates of the churchyard and then home. As they walked the sun shone down sending rays of golden light that seemed to make sunbeams dance off the graves, as if even the bones of the men left behind were nodding in approval.

The End