Vella stood in the doorway, studying the figure of her coach sprawled face down across the cluttered desk. 

Sarah's hair was in a tangled mass fantailed over an open file. She was breathing deeply, obviously asleep. Her mouth was open and her arms were stretched towards the corners.  Her hand still held a pen.  Vella almost hated to wake her.

Almost.

Vella slammed the large trophy on an empty spot of wood, making certain to create as much of a bang as she could.

Sarah's head shot up almost instantly, a sheet of paper clinging to her mouth where her drool had glued it to her lips.

"I'm awake!" she exclaimed, the paper vibrating with her words.  She was sitting upright, but her eyes were still closed.

Vella laughed. "In your office, on your desk!" Vella declared proudly.

Sarah cracked a bloodshot eye and reached for the sticky paper. "I'm awake," she repeated. "What were we talking about?"

Vella pointed to the large, shiny gold and red trophy that now adorned Sarah's desk.

"What'd I win now?"

"You didn't. I did. That's the trophy they give for setting a course record in the Cross-Terras. I got it this morning. They had to make it because they hadn't anticipated anyone breaking the old record. So, it's a little late, but I still got it."

"But you already gave me the First Place Overall Finisher trophy.  This one is for you."

Vella shook her head. "No, it's as much yours as it is mine.  It may have been my body, but it was your soul that got me there.  Without you, I never would've been on that grid, and I certainly wouldn't have crossed that line with a new course record.  My trophy will be having my name on their record books until some other girl bests me; hopefully not for a few years.  So, this ornament is for you."

Sarah reached for the trophy and dragged it towards her. "It's heavy," she said with a smile as Vella looked approvingly at her.  She lifted the award and cradled it in her hands, the light glinting off the nameplate.  "So this is what a record looks like," Sarah muttered. 

Vella nodded.

Sarah studied the decorative brass and wood construction as Vella settled into a guest chair.

"So," the Caribbean girl started, "what's my reward?"

Sarah looked up.  A knowing grin slowly pulled at the corners of her mouth. "Can you give me awhile to recover from last night?  I'm a little tired still."

"Sure." Vella knew Sarah had a long night.  After finishing her regular set to close the Cross-Terra runner's party show, the crowd had wanted an encore, so Sarah had played the theme from "Chariots of Fire".  Then the crowd wanted another encore.  Axe and Flash had come to her rescue with the old concert standard "Freebird", which proved to be very popular with the audience who sang along the entire time, waving their hands in the air as the concert wound down.  And then Sarah had to mingle with the VIPs afterwards as the representative for the training academy and as the goodwill ambassador for Leighton Acres penal farm.

"What time is it?" Sarah asked.

"About eight o'clock."

"Shit!"

"What's the matter?"

"I wanted to say goodbye to Faye and the girls before they left for school." Sarah then crooked an eye at her. "Wait. What are you still doing here?"

Vella laughed. "It's only Sunday, Coach.  We still have another day."

"Oh."  Slowly, Sarah set her head back onto her desk.  Closing her eyes, she began to speak in a low voice. "Do me a favor. Tell Chastity that I've accepted her summer project submission."

"Ok."

"And tell Isparana I have one for her to review."

"Ok," Vella confirmed. "Anything for me?"

"Hmmmm-Hmm," Sarah moaned affirmatively, "You're going to Ascension on Monday instead of track practice at Stalin."

Vella shot her a confused look. "Why?"

"Because you're going to give a lecture on the value of female athletics and how it benefits the individual and society as a whole, and then you're going to announce the candidates for the Bobbi Jo Briggs Training Academy personally, to everyone in the school.  And you're going to do the same thing for all of the other candidates at the other schools, for the rest of the week and possibly next as well."

Vella exhaled. "Couldn't you just send a letter instead?"

"I am.  And you're going to hand-deliver each letter to the individual to whom its addressed.  I want the recipient to know that being tapped for the personal interview portion of the selection process is something to be taken seriously.  That's why we're sending a record holder to do it."

"First class all the way, right?"

"Top notch," Sarah confirmed with a grin. "Remember that when you're composing each girl's letter."

Vella let out a sigh of protest.  "I thought official representatives of the training academy were supposed to do that."

Sarah paused for a moment. "Raise your right hand..."

***

"... and that's why we don't just build better athletes, we build better people. Thank you."

Vella, dressed in a professional suit for the first time in her life, waited for the applause to diminish a bit before continuing.

"And now, I'd like to read off the names of the four individuals who have been selected for a personal interview for the Bobbi Jo Briggs Training Academy summer session."

She looked out into the darkened auditorium, crowded with students and faculty alike, who had come to see the girl who had run bare-assed through two premier racing events and medaled in both of them.  Most of the audience held pictures to be autographed immediately after her presentation, as she had promised.

"Emily Dyson..."

A girl near the back of the auditorium got up from her seat and made her way down the darkened aisle.  As she approached, Vella recognized her as the girl that had been on her left during the race.  Vella waited patiently as Emily made her way to the front.

And when she had reached the stage, Emily simply raised her hand up, waiting for Vella to hand her the envelope.

Vella laughed. "No, you have to come up here.  We don't accept slackers that only go part of the way.  If you want this envelope, you'll have to come up here and get it from the runner that kicked your ass."  The audience burst into laughter as the girl used her hand to cover her face, suitably embarrassed.

As the girl, her head down, approached the well-dressed medalist, Vella opened her arms and gave her a hug. "That's ok. We all make mistakes sometimes."  Vella released her, handed her the envelope, and prepared to read the next name.

Emily turned and started to walk off the stage.

"No!" Vella called out. "Get back here, girl!  Stand right here next to me."

The girl quickly skipped back over towards Vella.  Now Emily was really embarrassed, causing the audience to laugh again.

Vella giggled at her, and read off the next name. "Lynn Johnson..."

A girl in the front row jumped up and screamed.  Vella didn't recognize her, but she did appreciate the enthusiasm so Vella screamed right back at her, causing the audience to laugh once more.  Smiling, Vella waited as the girl charged up the stairs and ran over to accept her hug and the letter.

"Sunil Arora..."

A slender golden-skinned girl quietly got up from the side of the block of seats and made her way to the stage, joining Vella, Emily, and Lynn on the stage without any particular fanfare.

"Now, this next candidate," Vella said, "is not here today, but I'm going to say it anyway because I want everyone to know how special she is.  She is so special, in fact, that we will be delivering her letter to her home ourselves.  And that girl is, Thalia Simi."

***

A sharply-dressed woman, slender and young, walked quickly through the run-down complex, trying to match a unit number with the envelope in her hand. 

The buildings were all the same; typical of the failed attempts at public housing, simple institutional designs with no architectural imagination that grew like concrete monoliths towards the sky.  Alcoves and doorways were the domains for people who had no purpose, and consequently chose to sit uselessly in the shadows, waiting for death to catch up to them.  Street art decorated most of the vertical flat surfaces, and fluid stains decorated the horizontal ones.

It didn't take long for the whistles and catcalls, in a variety of languages, to come.

The woman stopped outside of Building Omega.  Her destination was Unit 530 on the fifth floor.

Four men, lounging on rusty chairs and bits of concrete by the entrance, watched her as she watched them. She'd have to go through them to get into the building.

"I'm here for Thalia Simi," the woman said.

The men whistled.  One of them, wearing a loose shirt and dirty pants with unlaced shoes, took a half-step towards her.

"Thalia?" the man said.  "We want her, too."  The men lining the doorway began to laugh.  The man, emboldened by his friends, took another half-step. "We want her every day, in every way."  More whistles. "But maybe we'll take you instead."

"I don't want to cause any trouble. I just need to deliver this to Thalia Simi."

"Trouble?" The man laughed.  "Oh, there won't be any trouble, if you cooperate."  The man lifted his shirt, flashing the handle of an automatic pistol.

Now all of the men got up out of their seats and began to approach the lone woman, fanning out in a semi-circle around her.  Her eyes danced from man to man, their minds focused on only one thing.  Her.  Quickly, she surveyed her surroundings as the gunman reached for his pistol.

She tucked the envelope in her pocket.

Before the man could finish pulling his gun out, she had crouched into a low squat, rolled sideways, and lifted up half of a rusting shower curtain rod.  She landed on her feet, the rod tucked behind her, both hands grasping one end of the flimsy metal tube.

Now the man had the gun out, pointing it at her.  He laughed. "Oh ho!  This one has some fight in her!"  The men around him started laughing. "Lady," he said, "didn't anyone ever tell you not to bring a piece of shit to a gun fight?"

"I told you, I don't want any trouble."

At the top of her peripheral vision, she saw a curtain moving.  She was being watched.  She guessed it was someone on the fifth floor.  She'd have to keep her badge in her pocket or she'd never talk to the girl up there.

The man wasn't laughing now.  "Lady, fuck you," he said.

She nodded and relaxed, her shoulders slumped in surrender. "Ok. You win. Who's first?"

The man laughed and turned to his friends. "Hey, boys!  She's giving it away!" He laughed again and turned back to face her.

The last thing he saw out of his left eye was the end of the rusty-brown rod just before it impaled itself in his orbital socket.

He screamed and fell backwards, the pistol clattering onto the ground. The woman kicked sideways and put her pointed heel into the neck of the man standing next to him, causing him to grab at his throat and fall over.  The last two men, startled by her sudden attack, stumbled, then turned and ran away, leaving one man on the ground screaming in agony as the other pressed his hand against his neck, trying to breath through a crushed windpipe.

The woman scooped up the gun, then dropped it into her pocket as she charged into the building and up the flights of stairs, her arms pumping as her legs drove her forward and up.  In faded stenciling she saw the number 5 and quickly made her way down the concrete-floored passage.  She stopped at Unit 530 and knocked on the door.

"C'mon, c'mon," she muttered as she glanced down both directions of the hall. "I know you're in there!" she yelled through the door.  "I'm not a cop!  I'm just here to give an envelope to Thalia Simi!"

Soon there was a scratching at the door, followed by the sound of an old metal deadbolt being turned.  The door cracked open, prevented from opening further by two chains, one at the top and one just below the handle.

An older woman peered through the gap.  "Yes?"

"I have a letter for Thalia Simi?  Is she here please?"

"Who?"

"Thalia Simi. I was told she lives here."

"No," the older woman pointed at the stranger in the hall, "who?"

"Oh, I'm with the Bobbi Jo Briggs Training Academy."  She then spun the envelope to reveal the official letterhead.

There was a noise behind the older woman and soon a younger face appeared.

Sarah recognized her instantly.  It was the Ascension girl who had raced on Vella's right side.

"Yes?"

Sarah smiled and showed the envelope to the girl. "Congratulations," she said. "Can we talk?"

The door closed as Sarah heard the sound of chains being unfastened.  Then the door opened again and the young woman held out her hand for the envelope.

***

Dania's phone rang once.

"Go Mom."

"I have her.  Call dispatch and have them send an ambulance to Building Omega.  Two males, one with trauma to his eye and possible cranial hemorrhaging and the other with a crushed trachea.  The ambulance will need police escort.  We're coming out, and we'll be moving fast.  Stay where you are. We'll come to you."

"Okay."  Dania disconnected the call, pressed the code on her phone to scramble the number, and dialed the community hotline to the dispatcher.  "Hello police?  I'd like to report two males, one with possible cranial hemorrhaging and one with a crushed trachea.  I think they were fighting each other. Or something. There's an angry crowd outside. I'm at the Lago Vista Community Apartments, Building Omega.  No, I can't stay on the line. Sorry."

Sarah, with Thalia trailing, came charging around the corner as Dania disconnected the call.  The passenger door flew open and the two women threw themselves into the old pick-up truck; Thalia being squeezed between Dania and Sarah.

"Go! Go! Go!" Sarah shouted as Dania kicked the faded red beast into gear, the engine roaring as gravel flew from the back.

Sarah was laughing.

Dania kept her focus on the road, scanning for obstacles that might appear out of nowhere on either side of her planned escape route as the truck raced down the debris-littered road.

Thalia wasn't really sure what to think about her kidnapping.

"That was fun!" Sarah exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear.  She extended her hand to the frightened girl. "Sarah Leighton.  This is my daughter, Dania."

Dania, not bothering to take her eyes off the road, simply said "Hi."

"Hi," the girl responded, shaking Sarah's hand, "my English not is good..."

"Where are you from?" Dania asked.

"Brazil," the girl replied. "I am here... three months.  I comprehend one little."

Sarah looked at the girl. "Do you know who I am?"

"Yes," she said with a smile, "you are Sarah Leighton. You now say me."

Sarah chuckled. "No," she replied, shaking her head, "do you know what I am?"

"Yes. You say of Bobbi Jo Briggs Training Academy."

Sarah nodded. "Yes. I'm the head coach. I'm also the president."

"And a bad ass," Dania added.

Thalia smiled again. "Yes, I see the bad ass."

"No," Sarah said strongly. "You saw nothing." Sarah pointed at the girl to emphasize her point. "Those men did nothing. I did nothing. They hurt themselves. Ok?"

The girl nodded, confused. "Ok."

Sarah reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She pressed two buttons and held the device to her ear. "Vella?  You speak Portuguese, right?"

***

Vella and Thalia were having a very animated conversation.  Thalia was doing most of the talking and Vella was doing most of the nodding.  Both were waving their hands.

Sarah sat at her desk watching the two girls.  She didn't understand most of it, other than a few simple words that sounded vaguely like the Spanish she had taken in college; pretty much enough to be useless to her now.

Finally there was a break in the conversation.

"Well?" Sarah asked Vella, who was still dressed in her professional business suit.

Vella, her dark hair flowing over her shoulders, looked at the new recruit and said something in Portuguese.

Thalia nodded with a smile, indicating for Vella to speak.

Vella turned back to Sarah and said, "first, she apologized for bruising my arms and I told her it was ok.  And then I apologized for hitting her funny bone. Then she complimented me on my racing and said she liked my outfit and I told her ..."

Sarah waved her hands, stopping Vella's speech.  "Can I get the condensed version?"

"Ok, so she's been here three months and is attending Ascension because her uncle works there at night and she can go for free.  She came to live with her aunt and uncle because she wanted a good education and her family thought she would be safer here, which is how she ended up in public housing.  For the first month or so things were ok, until those men started showing up.  Now she's afraid, but she doesn't want to go back to Brazil because it's just as bad. During the week she sleeps at the school thanks to her uncle, but has to come back to public housing on weekends because the school is closed.  She only started racing for Coach Adolphus last week because she didn't know she was eligible to do sports until he saw her at PE and asked her about joining a team.  He put her on the cross-country squad as a replacement for another girl suspended for grades, and then he told her about your academy, so she applied.  She knew about the presentation today and was really excited about it, but this morning the men were downstairs waiting for her, so she missed school.  And then you showed up and now she's here."

"Yes," the Brazilian girl confirmed with a smile.

Sarah squinted her eyes at Vella. "I'm pretty sure you two covered more than that."

"Well you said you wanted the condensed version."

Sarah nodded. "True.  But, how did she fill out the application so well if she can't speak or write proper English?"

Thalia looked at her. "My uncle.  I say him what write and he write. Coach Johnson see and help. Is ok?"

Sarah leaned forward and placed her elbows on the desk, her hands folded over her face.  She let out a long sigh.

Vella knew what she was thinking. "Sarah, I can be her translator."

"For the rest of her life?" Sarah asked.

Now a look of panic flashed across Thalia's face.  She understood what was happening. "Please! No! I can learn the English!  I smart!  It I learn quick!"

Sarah tapped her fingers together, still weighing her options.  The girl wasn't helping her case any. "Vella..." Sarah started, shaking her head.

"What you speak, I comprehend," Thalia pleaded, "but only it I speak and write not so well!"

Sarah looked at the girl.  "Please understand.  Every girl that comes through these doors will be a representative of this program.  You're a terrific athlete, and I'm sure you're a wonderful girl, but you're going to be in the public eye and people will judge us by how you present yourself.  What will they think of someone from this training academy who has poor English literacy skills?"

Thalia looked at Vella with pleading eyes, then back at Sarah. She started to say something, then stopped and lowered her gaze.  "I comprehend," Thalia answered, her voice starting to waver. "I know I speak bad."  The girl swallowed, then lifted her face towards Sarah, pleading again, "But I quick to learn. I want only to do. It to learn. To run. Please!"

Sarah, in a serious tone, asked the girl "What is the most important quality a person needs to have to succeed at this academy?"

Vella looked at Sarah.  Vella didn't even know the answer to that question.  It certainly wasn't something they learned in training.

"All important the qualities. Quick, smart, good person.  All," Thalia replied.

That was the same answer she'd given on the application, but Sarah still wasn't convinced. "Would you mind taking a test?  We have several that we give to new assignees of Leighton Acres.  I'd like to see how you do on them."

Thalia nodded quickly. "I do it you say, ok?"

Sarah looked at Vella.  "You'll be handcuffed to her.  Are you comfortable with that?"

Vella's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "When you say 'handcuffed', what exactly do you mean?"

Sarah grinned and leaned back. "Not what you're thinking.  You'll be her Official Student Liaison Officer Something during the camp.  Can you handle it?"

A slow grin pulled at Vella's lips. "I'm looking forward to it."

***

Vella, stripped, lay on the network of knotted ropes.  Her feet were lashed to the end of the frame and loops of rope surrounded her wrists, running to a drum above her head.

Sarah circled the bound girl menacingly, a leather riding crop in her hand.  "We have some time while your girl takes her tests," Sarah chirped, "and I intend to put it to good use."

Placing her hand on the axle, she began to rotate the drum, drawing in the length of rope attached to Vella's wrists, pulling the girl's arms up towards the top of the frame.

Soon the drum was slowed by the tension on the ropes as the slack was taken in; Vella's body still resting comfortably on the netting that served as the backing to the frame.  The girl squirmed with the first tingling of fear, her hair cascading through the open squares of rope as her body lay open and vulnerable to the pain she knew was coming.

"This was given to me as a token of appreciation," Sarah said menacingly, "by our friends in the A/V Department at Stalin High.  Even though it was a movie prop, I assure you, it is fully functional."

Vella tugged at the ropes, testing their hold on her wrists.  She could feel her hands being squeezed by the knots that pressed against her skin.

Sarah turned the drum, pulling Vella's wrists higher, lifting her arms above the rope.  The girl, concerned, lifted her head, trying to face her torturer.

"What was your punishment for failure?" Sarah asked.

"I would be whipped," Vella answered.

"And what do you think your reward should be?" Sarah inquired.

Vella squirmed.

"You know the answer," Sarah prodded.

"I will still be whipped," she replied, "but only because it pleases me."

"Good girl," Sarah said approvingly.

Sarah lifted the whip and tapped it menacingly against the crest of the girl's pubis once, twice, then popped the girl's mound in earnest, drawing a startled gasp from the darker girl's lips.  Vella squirmed and tugged at the ropes around her wrists and ankles as Sarah circled her, pondering the next target.

"You've been keeping up with your exercises," Sarah said as she studied the helpless girl's body. "I can tell.  They're serving you well."

Vella smiled at the compliment.

Sarah tapped at the girl's left nipple, the dark oval drawn out tight against her breast by the stretching of her arms.  The tiny nub began to perk in response to the touching of the leather against her flesh as Sarah teased it into arousal.

Sarah now leaned over the rack, her face mere inches from her victim's.  "Now let's see how hard I can work this little body."

The stiff whip cracked again, eliciting a cry of shock from the girl stretched across the frame and leaving a tell-tale red mark on Vella's bare breast.  She pulled at the ropes as the whip now traced a line down her torso, the lattice of her ribs standing out as she followed the leather's trek down her body.   Sarah raised the riding crop, then slapped it hard against the inside of the girl's thigh.  Vella yelped at the impact, and renewed her struggles against the ropes around her wrists and ankles. 

Sarah now moved to the bottom of the device, a smile drawing at her mouth as she gazed at the tender soles of Vella's feet trapped by the ropes binding her to the frame.  Sarah began to tap at the exposed toes and instep, alternating from one to the other as Vella cried out.  The girl's feet danced in the ropes, trying to avoid the stinging blows as Sarah slapped the leather tip against the prisoner's feet.  Vella squirmed and thrashed, trying to pull her feet up towards her and away from the source of the pain.  Finally, as Vella lay gasping on the network of ropes, the blows ceased and Sarah continued her path around the frame, now tapping the leather flap threateningly along the insides of Vella's quivering thigh as she moved up towards the head of the device.

The leather brushed across Vella's blood-infused vulva, her cunt lips parted and ready to receive a man's cock.  But there was no cock; only the soft tapping of the short whip against the helpless girl's pussy.  Vella jumped with each tap, the next blow slightly harder than the last as Sarah increased the intensity of the punishment.  Finally, Vella began to cry out from the blows, the pain loosening her tongue.

Sarah reached for the handle on the windlass and turned it, drawing the rope around the drum as the peg waited to fall into its little hole.  Vella's body was stretched tighter now, barely resting on the ropes across her back.  She opened her mouth as if to speak, but no words came out.

Sarah turned the handle again, the cords creaking from the tension as they tightened around the drum.  Vella's wrists were drawn towards her torturer, lifting her from the network of ropes completely.  The girl, now suspended in the air, gasped from the strain placed on her body, a light sheen of sweat beginning to form in the hollows of her arms and below her breasts.

Sarah cracked the whip repeatedly against the naked body offered before her, eliciting a cry of shock and surprise from the girl stretched across the frame.  Vella squirmed, pulling at the bonds around her wrists and ankles, trying to avoid the punishing blows as Sarah found new targets on the glistening body.  The muscles of Vella's toned legs twisted as she fought the hold of the ropes on her body, her breathing coming in quick gasps as she hung, stretched, in the basement of the main house.

Sarah ran her hand along the girl's torso, feeling the warm slickness of her body as she pushed the girl's blood flow downwards towards her victim's pussy.  "Pretty Vella," she said, "you ran well for me, and now you shall receiver your reward."

Sarah's hand slid down the girl's taut tummy, coming to rest over the clean-shaven mound.  Vella gasped as Sarah teased the engorged tissue, gently stroking the girl's slit before slipping a slender finger into the girl's tunnel.  Gently, Sarah pressed against the wall of her captive's sex, searching for the hidden spot.  A gasp, followed by a twisting of Vella's lean tummy told her when she had found it.

Slowly Sarah massaged the pool of nerves now awakening to her touch, pressing them with her fingers as Vella squirmed on the rack.  Then, she quickened her pace suddenly, drawing a deep breath from the girl suspended in the air, the cheeks of Vella's ass flexing as she struggled against the pain exerted on her joints and ligaments.  Sarah then drew the riding crop up over Vella's breasts and began to tap at the dark ovals floating against the girl's chest.  Sarah smiled at the reactions she was getting.  Vella's body didn't lie.  For all of her suffering, Vella was highly aroused.

Now Sarah pressed her entire hand against Vella's opening, stretching the girl's entrance wide even as she continued to tease and torment her prisoner's nipples.  Vella squirmed and gasped and a light moan drifted from her throat.  Sarah continued to rub the sensitive cunt tissue, stroking the girl lovingly as Vella squirmed with pain and pleasure.

Sarah continued her rhythmic pulse against Vella's tunnel, feeling the girl's pussy tighten against her hand with each stroke.  Vella was working towards her orgasm, oblivious to the pain in her body.  The girl's light brown skin glistened in the light of the room, each stroke of Sarah's hand bringing the girl's juice to the surface of her body.

Vella was breathing harder now, each pulse of Sarah's hand causing the girl's body to vibrate as she hung, taut, above the rack.  Vella shuddered, then choked, as her tummy twisted with effort. Suddenly, Sarah felt the girl's vagina lock onto her hand as every muscle in the girl's body seemed to contract at the same time. A squeak escaped from Vella's throat as her skin rippled with exertion. Then, the girl creamed all over Sarah's hand.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, that's good," the helpless girl gasped.

"Give it to me. Give it all to me," Sarah commanded softly.  "Show me what I can do to you."

"Oh fuck," the girl choked. "Oh fuck. That's intense."

Sarah withdrew her hand from the trembling girl and reached for the ratchet on the handle of the windlass.  Vella winced as Sarah cranked the handle slightly, tightening the girl's body on the rack just enough to release the lock before allowing Vella to settle onto the network of ropes below her back.

"Oh fuck," Vella said as she lay on the ropes, breathing heavily, her wrists still bound to the drum. "That was good.  I... I think I need a moment to myself."

"Take your time," Sarah replied with a grin. "I have to go do some honest work.  If you need anything, you know your way around."

Vella nodded, choked, then gave Sarah the "ok" sign with her hand.

***

Sarah was in her office signing paperwork when Thomas knocked on the doorframe.  She looked up. "Hi," she said with a smile.

"Dearest, you have a problem on your hands."

Her smile faded quickly. "What now?"

"Your concert was a success."

Sarah's smile returned. "That's great!.... right?"

"No," he said, "because Hotchkiss wants a thousand copies of the final mix to distribute with their vehicles, to demonstrate the sound systems installed.  Unfortunately, we only contracted for one thousand with the album manufacturer, which means Hotchkiss will get all of your supply for free and leave you in the red."

Sarah's smile faded again. "Oooh. That's bad."  She tapped her fingers nervously.  "I'll call Bob and tell him I'll send him a master that he can copy to his heart's content, if he'll agree to offer extra copies for sale in his showroom.  See, problem solved." Sarah's smile returned.

"What about Azuma?"

Sarah's face dropped again.  "Azuma?  What about them?"

"They want copies as well.  They're a sponsor, too, remember?"

Sarah grinned. "Same thing. I'll send a master for them to reproduce. They can put copies in the pockets of their jackets."

"With all of these free copies floating around, why would anyone pay for one from you? There goes your revenue stream."

The frown returned. She tapped her fingers. Why would someone want to spend money on something someone else got for free? Then the smile returned. "Because a music file is cheaper than a Hotchkiss vehicle or an Azuma jacket.  See, problem solved again."

"Ok, now just one more problem."

"What's that?"

"You have to fire Stephanie as your personal assistant.  She's terrible at it. People have been contacting me all day because they can't get ahold of her."

Sarah frowned. "Do you know where she is?"

"I know exactly where she is, which is why I'm not going to tell you and why you need to find her and fire her."

***

Priorities.

Sarah had several.  What to do with a girl who spoke limited English. Getting the penal farm paperwork done before the state came down on her for shoddy records management. Keeping her track school sponsors happy.  Filing for extensions on code violations on her father's old barracks buildings. Preparing for personal interviews with athletes. Filing construction permits on the old Anders house that would be the home of her academy and getting the work finished before it opened for the summer terms. Keeping tabs on her sister and her daughter to make sure they were ok.  Answering questions from the media and the coaches and everybody else who wanted to know what the hell was going on at Leighton Acres.

And right now, figuring out where her personal assistant was, who was supposed to be helping her keep track of it all, was at the top of her list.

As soon as she stepped out of the main house, she heard it.

It was a distant drum beating a rhythm, followed soon after by a guitar riff and a background chord laid out by an electronic keyboard.

"Stephanie," Sarah muttered.

She paused, listening to the distant music as the last of the fading sun set over the fields that would yield the penal farm's crops in a few months.  Twilight had always been her favorite time of the day; something magical about it.  The time when everyone put down their tools and stopped their labors and took a big sigh, letting the days frustrations exit their souls.

And that's exactly what Sarah did.

She closed her eyes, exhaled, and let the music enter her spirit.  She began to bob her head, and found a new energy.  She wanted to run. She needed to run.  She kicked off her shoes, peeled down her stockings, and took off running in the direction of the music.

The earth moved easily beneath her feet.  She felt free. She was running from the stress and pressure and problems of being the second in command of a penal institution and the head coach of an elite sports training facility.  Her heart beat faster, her lungs filling with fresh, clean air, as her skin began to glow from her exertion.

A few minutes later, she was approaching the barn that the Leighton Acres Orchestra had seized as their new practice conservatory.  The six women working together to make the music were engrossed in their chords, beats, and melodies and didn't notice her coming.

"Another head aches; another heart breaks! I am so much older than I can take..." Stephanie was singing, "And my affection, well it comes and goes. I need direction to perfection; no no no no! Help me out... yeah-e-ah..."

It was an infectious beat, full of energy and life and harmony.  Sarah gave a little dance as she made her way up the walkway towards the wooden building.  She entered the circle of light that was beginning to glow around the wide door of the barn, illuminating her as the band continued its jam session.

Ashley "Axe" Anderson, on guitar, saw her first and motioned to Stephanie, who had been face-down swaying to the music as she keyed the supporting chords.

"Domina!" the girl cried out as she stopped playing and the rest of the band clumsily died down.

"And they were sounding so good, too!"

Sarah looked towards the sound of the voice.  There was Dania, leaning over an old field motorcycle with a wrench in her hand, the engine in pieces and Thomas on the other side, smiling at her.  "Well, go on," he said, "they stopped on account of you."

Sarah let out a sigh.  "You bastard," she said to her husband, "are you really going to make me do this?"

"Yep," he said smugly.

Another sigh escaped Sarah's lips.  "Stephanie..." she started, then stopped as she tried to collect her thoughts.

"Go on..." Thomas pushed.

"Stephanie, you've been a good assistant, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to fire you."

The girl's mouth dropped with shock. "But, Domina... "

"Yes, yes, you're fired," Thomas said quickly, "and when one door closes another one opens.  Stephanie Wu, I'm sending you on tour with the Leighton Acres Orchestra.  Your next gig is with the Hotchkiss Outdoor Concert series in two weeks, opening for the headliner act, the Johnnie Davis Experience. Better get your set list together."

Sarah whirled and looked at her husband. Now she was the one in shock.  She smiled and shook her head. She'd been played, and played well.  "You bastard," she said with a grin.

"They asked for her right after they asked for copies of the final mix.  Since she was in your employ, I couldn't commit until you fired her," he replied with an evil grin.

"You double bastard," she said.  Then she had a moment of clarity. "You set me up! You had our calls transferred to your line! That's why you kept getting them!"

Thomas facetiously raised his hand like a conductor and said "And-a one, and-a two, and-a three..."

"You triple bastard," Sarah said with a grin.  She couldn't be angry. Stephanie was a musician; not a professional secretary.  Music was where her heart lay, and it would be cruel to deprive her of her dreams.

The band resumed its rehearsal as Sarah turned and walked back out the door. She had work to do, and now she had to find a new assistant.

***

Thalia lay relaxing in the large claw-foot tub, two thin wires trailing out of her ears as bubbles foamed around her.  The wires led to a small device resting on a dry towel.  She raised her arms back over the edge of the tub, lifting her chest out of the water, her two soft ovals rising into the air of the bathroom.

"It is a beautiful morning..." she intoned.  "Its a beautiful morning and there is not... there isn't?... there's not?... a cloud in the sky..."

Isparana sat in the foyer, listening to her protégé practice her English skills with recorded lessons, as she focused on her own school work.  She smiled.  She remembered a time when she was the one trying to learn a difficult language.

Suddenly Isparana heard a hiss from the bathroom.

"Foda!" Thalia exclaimed, "It is hard..."

"You will learn," Isparana said encouragingly. "Already you make good progress... you made good progress... you have made good... foda!"

Thalia started laughing.

"Now you make me think too much!"  Isparana shouted. She exhaled, then started giggling as she shook her head. "I learn one Portuguese word, and it is a bad one."

"Its a beautiful morning and there's not a cloud in the sky..." Thalia repeated.  Suddenly she stiffened up and started howling like she had just been bit by a snake.  Isparana, alarmed, turned to see what was going on. "I get it right! I get it right!" the naked Brazilian girl exclaimed.  She raised her arms and started swaying in the foamy water, sloshing the bubbles against the sides of the tub as she cheered "Bom! Bom! Bom!"

Isparana giggled as the naked girl settled back into the water to listen quietly to the next lesson.

Sarah trudged into the house and closed the front door.  "Honey, I'm home," she said wearily, her bag hanging limply from her hand.

Isparana, not bothering to look up from her homework, simply waved a finger hello.

"Ispy, just shoot me," Sarah muttered.

Isparana, still not bothering to look up, made a gun with her finger and flicked her thumb like a hammer, making a small noise with her mouth.

"Uh!" Sarah grunted playfully, staggering backwards a step as the bag landed with the thump on the floor.  She stumbled like a drunken sailor, spun twice, then fell on the couch, her feet hanging over the armrest.  "I'm beat," she moaned.

"You stay with us tonight?" Isparana asked, her eyes still glued to her lesson.

"Yeah, I think so. I have to get away from my office and out of that house.  I've been trapped in it all day. The only time I got out was to fire Stephanie."

"That is nice," Isparana said, not paying attention to what Sarah was saying. "You bring clothes for Thalia?"

Sarah sat up. Shit!  She forgot all about her. "Is she still here?"

"Yes, Dania took Vella home, but she think she should leave Thalia here for tonight, because of the trouble to get her out."

Sarah laid back down and exhaled deeply.  "Does her aunt and uncle know?"

"I do not know. I do not get involved in your kidnapping business.  Maybe Stephanie would know."

Sarah exhaled again. "I fired Stephanie," she repeated.

"Why you do that?" Isparana said, still not lifting her eyes.

"Thomas tricked me."

"That is too bad. Is Stephanie happy now?"

"Yeah, Thomas put her on a tour with Hotchkiss."

"That is nice."

Sarah exhaled again, and began to stir.  "I need to..."

"Lay down and be quiet," Isparana said, finishing Sarah's sentence. "You are too distracting to me."

Sarah settled back onto the couch.  She kicked off her shoes, each one landing with a thud, as she began to relax.

"There is not eggs in the refrigerator," came a heavily accented voice from the other room.

"I'll get some tomorrow," Sarah replied softly as she started to drift away.

"'There is not any'... 'there are not any'...'there isn't any'... foda!"

Isparana giggled.

Sarah cracked an eye open.  "What's going on in there?"

"She is practicing her English.  She has been working very hard since she took her tests with Mr. Thomas.  I see improvement already.  She is very smart; learns very quickly... for an Ascension girl."

Sarah - the proud Ascension graduate - popped her head above the back of the couch and shot Isparana a dirty look.  Isparana lifted her eyes from her lesson for a moment to glance at her sister and giggled.

"There aren't any eggs in the refrigerator," the accented voice repeated, soon followed by a happy "Bom! Bom! Bom!" and the sound of sloshing water.

Sarah, her curiosity piqued, lifted herself off the couch and padded quietly towards Bobbi Jo's office.  From the doorway, she could see the edge of the tub in the room beyond and a feminine foot resting comfortably on the chromed silver knobs.

"I will not take... I willn't... I won't take..." the girl's voice echoed from the bathroom. "I will take the bus. I'll take the bus. I will not take the bus. I won't take the bus."  There was a pause as Thalia listened to the instructor, followed soon after by "Bom! Bom! Bom!"

During the girl's brief cheers, Sarah quickly scampered across the room, her feet silent against the rug.  She took a quick peek into the bathroom, taking a mental picture of the scene before darting her head back behind the doorway.

Thalia was in the tub, a few dying bubbles clinging to her firm breasts, as one foot rested on the chrome fixtures and the other disappeared beneath her outstretched leg.  Her hands were folded comfortably across her bare hips as two thin wires trailed from her ears to an electronic player resting on a towel by the tub.  Her school uniform was spread across towels on the countertops and her underwear dangled from hooks on the wall.  Her eyes were closed and her mouth was open, waiting for her turn to repeat the instructor's words.

A playful grin pulled at the corner's of Sarah's mouth.  It was time to test the girl's reactions.

Sitting at her desk, Isparana heard a shout, a scream, a crash, and another scream.

She quickly got up and ran into the bathroom.

Sarah was upside down against some cabinets, her legs flopped crazily over her shoulders.  Thalia was standing up in the tub, her hand over her mouth in shock as lines of soap snaked down the glistening cheeks of her tight ass.  Waves of water sloshed in the tub.

Now it was Isparana's turn to scream and cover her mouth at the sight of her pregnant sister upside down on the floor.

"I'm ok!" Sarah said to the two women who stared aghast at her.  She her hand towards them, as if to calm them, and quickly said, "My bad!"

"I'll call Doctor Restropo!" Isparana said.

"No! Not that! Not the hospital! I'm fine!"

"Then I will call Mr. Thomas," she answered.

"No! That's worse!"

Thalia began to jabber in Portuguese, motioning with her arms as she spoke very animatedly, pointing to the door, then to the tub, and then to the heap of well-dressed but shoeless woman lodged against the cabinet.

Isparana placed her hands on the naked girl's shoulders, looking at her as if she understood what Thalia was saying, and then Isparana gave her a hug as the girl continued to speak and wave her arms.  Isparana made cooing noises to the girl, trying to calm her down.

Turning the girl, Isparana looked over Thalia's glistening shoulder at Sarah and narrowed her eyes as she put the pieces of the puzzle together.  "I think maybe you try to play a trick on her, so you pounce at her and frighten her," Isparana said accusingly. "I also think maybe she threw you against the cabinets because she did not know it was you.  Am I right?"

Sarah rolled out of her ball and slowly stood up. "Maybe," she said guiltily as the jabbering ceased. "I didn't know you spoke Portuguese."

"I do not. I speak 'Hysterical'. It is the same in all languages," Isparana answered. "I think now she is afraid that you will send her away, because she does not speak good English and also because she has thrown you, her coach, onto the floor."

The Brazilian girl now stood and stared, cradled in Isparana's arms like a frightened child, as she waited for Sarah's reaction.

Sarah squared her body, affirming her dignity.  She inhaled, raised her chin, then exhaled as she straightened her blouse. "I'm not going to send her away because of this," Sarah said in a low voice.  "Tell her its ok, and to finish her lessons."  Sarah then strode out of the bathroom, her head held high.

The two women watched as Sarah disappeared into the foyer.

"Finish your lessons," Isparana said commandingly, followed by a wink.

A brief laugh escaped Thalia's mouth as Isparana smiled and went back to her work.

***

"Sorry to call you so late, A," Sarah whispered into the phone as she leaned against a wall in a distant bedroom.

"That's ok," a familiar timbre replied, "I was about to call you.  I was just sitting here talking with Thalia's uncle and he said his wife told him a well-dressed woman came with a letter and got her this afternoon.  Something about an angry mob and a fight.  I'm not going to ask too many questions, but she's with you, right?"

"Yeah, she's downstairs taking a bath.  I'll have her at school tomorrow, don't worry."  Sarah exhaled deeply.  "Can we talk in private for a moment?"

"Sure, hold on." Coach Johnson muttered something and Sarah heard a male voice off in the distance.

"Ok, go ahead."

Sarah exhaled again. "Why didn't you tell me she didn't know English?"

"She knows English just fine," the man said with a chuckle, "she's just better at taking it in than getting it back out."

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," her old coach replied, "and I seem to recall someone telling me that she was building a training school that would not just create a better athlete, but a better person.  Is that still true?"

Sarah let out a long sigh.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," the deep, soulful voice said through the phones. "Now, I sent you a girl who is already a very capable athlete; one of the best on my team. That puts her in some pretty elite company, if you don't mind my saying so. I've seen what you can do with criminals and orphans, so I'm curious to see what you can do with someone who isn't either of those, but could be if she stays in that environment.  Let's see if you can live up to the other half of that promise with someone who could really use what you have to offer."

Sarah growled in contemplation.

"Sarah, she's not a bad kid.  Not yet anyway. But in the environment that she's in... who knows how she'll turn out. She could either be a victim or a criminal herself. It'd be a shame if she went the wrong way. I know you can help her."

Sarah sat quietly on the other end of the line.

"Can I cash in a favor as an old coach?" the man asked.

"No," Sarah replied, "but you can cash in a favor as an old friend."

***

Sarah stood at the top of landing, watching her adopted sister interact with the new girl.  Thalia, wrapped in a towel, was seated at the desk Isparana had been using as her study space, except now Isparana was standing behind the girl, gently brushing the tangles out of her dark, damp hair.  They were both quietly singing "She's a runn-ah; doo-doo-dee-doo..."; a catchy addictive refrain from a song the band had played at the Cross-Terra runner's party.

Sarah suddenly felt the urge to play. It had always calmed her down after practice; maybe it would work now.  She turned and went back into the room at the end of the hall, where Stephanie had returned the keyboard Thomas had bought for his wife, and which Stephanie had commandeered for her own use until Thomas had gifted her one of her own.  Sarah turned on the power, checked a few settings, and began to play the introduction to the song.

"Take my soul to the lost and found... 'cause it made me a hand-me-down..." she sang, "Never know when she'll come around... or what I'll say-yay..."

Now she began to play in earnest, her fingers falling naturally on the right chords, the instrument springing to life as she jumped into the melody. "No resistance, it's hardly fair... call my name and I'll be there..."  She smiled.  She was feeling better already.

"She's a runn-ahhh..." she sang, launching into the infectious chorus that the girls had been repeating.  She continued to play as two more voices began to drift up from the foyer below, singing "She's a runn-ah..."

Maybe she'd keep Thalia around after all.

***

There was a knock at the door.  Sarah got up off the couch to answer it as the two girls were upstairs trying to find something for Thalia to wear.  She could see two figures through the glass as the door swung open.

"I caught this one wandering around in the yard. Does she belong to you?" Thomas asked as he stood in the doorway.

"Dad," Dania said, rolling her eyes as she entered the house carrying four chrome-plated covered dinner trays in her arms.  She immediately made a beeline for the incomplete kitchen at the back of the house to deposit the trays as Thomas and Sarah exchanged kisses.

"I wasn't sure if you and the girls had eaten yet, but I did know you had a refrigerator, so I figured we'd bring something out while we were coming," he explained. He gave his wife another quick peck on the lips as she closed the door to keep the bugs out. "Vegetable lasagna, made fresh today, with side salad - no dressing - and black bread, butter on the side," he continued, "It's the same for all of them. That way you can eat it tomorrow if you have to, since its a bit late for dinner tonight.  Hope the new girl likes it."

"We'll find out I guess," Sarah replied as Dania, having finished her assigned chore, dashed past her and charged up the stairs to the bedrooms to find out what the other two girls were doing.

"What else did you find out?" Thomas asked.

"She's a quick study, according to Isparana, a good kid according to A, and has quick reflexes according to me after she threw me into the bathroom cabinets."

Thomas stopped. "Should I ask how that happened?"

"No.  And I'm fine. Thanks for worrying."

"Well, I have a few more things to add to the equation. First, she's brilliant in logic, math, and strategy.  Second, she has a clean record.  So do her aunt and uncle, and their visas are in order. And third, she's healthy psychologically.  I'm not trying to influence your decisions when it comes to who you admit for training, but I thought you might take those into consideration."

Sarah sighed. "But her English..."

"Is better than your Portuguese.  Maybe you should have Vella give you lessons."

Sarah grumbled.

"I had an interesting conversation with a buddy of mine in district seven," Thomas started. "Seems two men got into a fight. One of them lost an eye and the other one can't speak. Crushed larynx. The investigating officer thought they had beaten each other, which is pretty common down there, except..."

Sarah looked at him. "Yes?" she said as she nibbled on a bit of salad.

"Except the rod that was used to gouge out the eye was all rusty, and the guy they think hit him didn't have any rust on his hands."

"Hmm. That's odd. Did anybody see anything?"

"Do they ever?"

"Sounds like gang activity to me. A drive-by beating." Sarah said, chewing on a bit of lettuce.

"Huh. I wasn't aware that was a new gang thing."

"You need to get into the city more often, hayseed. It's the latest thing. Or so I hear. I wouldn't know. I wasn't down there today or anything. But that's what I hear from the kids at public school."  Sarah turned and yelled up to the bedrooms. "Dania! Ispy! Thalia! Dinner!"

"And the victim says it was a woman in a business suit that hit him,"  Thomas continued.

"Probably just a fantasy.  He was probably drunk. Or high."

"He was both."

"Well there you go.  Are we done here?  I want to feed the children and get them to bed."

"Dearest..." Thomas said with a smirk.

"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies," Sarah replied.  "Or force you to lie on a subpoena."

Thomas smiled.  "I never was much of a conversationalist."

***

Sarah woke up on the couch, a copy of Shaw's "Pygmalion" resting on her chest.  Someone had covered her with a blanket.  Sunlight was streaming through the glass of the front door. She checked the multi-function watch on her wrist.

They were going to be late for school.

Shit!

"Isparana! Dania! Thalia!  Wake up and get dressed! You're going to be late for school!"

"We're already up, Mom," Dania said calmly from the desk by the door.  "We're just about to leave."

Sarah glared at her. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Because I don't want to get popped as you come out of some nightmare."

Isparana strode out of the kitchen carrying a banana and her school supplies. "Ok, I am ready."

Sarah looked around. "Where's Thalia?"

Isparana looked at Dania. Dania returned her look.  They both fidgeted nervously.

"Ok bye, Mom! See you tonight!" Dania put her hand on the doorknob.

"Wait," Sarah commanded icily, holding her gaze on the two students.

Her victims froze.

"Where is she."  Sarah stared at them, unblinkingly holding them in place with her eyes. "Tell me."

Isparana looked at Dania, then back to Sarah. "We do not know," she replied. "We wake up and she is gone.  Last night, we fall asleep on the floor, here with you, like we always do.  This morning, we get up and her blankets are folded and put away. We think maybe she goes for a run, because her shoes are gone, so we wait.  But, we can not wait for her any longer because we have school..."

Sarah growled, then tapped her hand against her leg. "Ok, you two go ahead and I'll see if I can find her.  I'll meet you at school for track practice this afternoon."

The duo gave her a quick kiss and a hug before disappearing out the door.

This girl was causing Sarah more trouble than she was worth.

In less than twenty-four hours, Sarah had managed to lose a girl who could barely speak English. She'd have to explain to Adolphus why his best cross-country runner was missing classes and would probably get suspended from school. She'd have to explain to the aunt and uncle that she'd lost their niece overnight, after Sarah had assaulted two men to get her out of their home.  She'd have to explain to Thomas how she had managed to lose one girl, while he was responsible for an entire population of them.  And she would have to identify the girl's body if she didn't come back alive.

That was always a risk, and one that Sarah had never really told her girls because of the unpleasantness around it. She knew she would have to tell them eventually, and start them on their training.  It was part of being a member of her family.  She had only mentioned it once to Dania, but had never really followed through on preparing the girl to become her daughter.  She wondered if Isparana knew what she was getting into when she signed the paperwork to become Sarah's legal sister.

And now Thalia was missing.

She fell back against the door and groaned with frustration. 

Just then, she heard a commotion in the yard outside, followed by footsteps on the porch and an authoritative knocking on the front door.  She turned around and saw the silhouettes of two people on the other side of the glass.  She turned the handle and opened the door.

There was Thomas, his arm around Thalia's shoulders. She was dressed in her school uniform, her hands pressed together and her eyes cast down guiltily. She looked very, very small.

"Does this one belong to you?" Thomas deadpanned, "I found her at the front gate on the old motorcycle."

Thomas started grinning at his wife's frustration, as Dania and Isparana waited in the front yard to see how she would react. 

"You!" Sarah exploded at the girl. "Do you know how worried I was? Do you?!"  She grabbed Thalia by the arm, dragging her into the house as Thomas stood on the front porch. Then she looked at her daughter and sister standing in the front yard.  "You and you!  Go to school!"

Thomas opened his mouth, about to speak.

Sarah glared at him, said a curt "Thank you", and closed the door in his face.

Sarah immediately started screaming at the girl. "Do you know how worried I was?!  I wake up and you're gone!  No notes; no good-bye. Nothing!  If I'd lost you Adolphus would've been all over me!  Not to mention your aunt and uncle!  Do you know how much trouble I could've gotten into?! Do you?!"

"I am sorry," she said in a tiny voice.

"Sorry?!  Sorry?!", she continued to bellow, "I was worried sick about you!  What if you were hurt? Or injured?  What if someone had taken you?  How would I know?!"

The girl stood quietly on the rug.

"What if you were in danger?!" Sarah continued to shout, "How could I protect you?  How could you protect yourself?  How could you even communicate with anybody?  You can't even speak good English!"  Sarah let out a primeval yell of anger. "You haven't even been here a full day, and already you're stressing me out!"

The girl stood in the foyer, her eyes lowered, taking her punishment.

Sarah turned and paced in a circle in front of the door, her hand tapping against her thigh as she contemplated her next step.

She let out a deep sigh, calming herself, and said, "Wait here. I'll take you to school after I get dressed and have something to eat."

Sarah clomped up the stairs angrily.  As she reached the landing, she heard a tiny voice say, "It's a beautiful day outside and there's not a cloud in the sky."

She paused, her hand resting on the rail.  She knew what Thalia was trying to do.  She was trying to show how much her English had improved.

"I would make you breakfast," the girl continued, "but we haven't got any eggs in the refrigerator."

Sarah closed her eyes, exhaled, then took another step.

"I'll take the bus," the girl said.

"Stop it," Sarah said. "Please."  She took another step, then paused.

She turned in time to see Thalia slide an envelope onto the desk by the front door.  It was her letter from the Bobbi Jo Briggs Training Academy.  The girl, her shoulders slumped defeatedly, stepped away from the desk and placed her hand on the doorknob.

Sarah continued towards her closet.  Then she heard the sound of the front door opening.  "I said I'd take you..." she said as she turned again to face the girl.  

Instead she saw Thomas' hand sliding a motorcycle helmet, a set of old work gloves, and a key onto the rug by the door.

Thalia looked up at her with deep brown puppy dog eyes.

Sarah stopped, closed her eyes, then lifted her head as she took another deep breath. "Ok," she said, "You can take the motorcycle.  But be careful.  You've worried me enough as it is.  I'll see you tonight after Coach Johnson's practice.  Be sure to take your letter with you, so you can show the other girls. And don't be late for dinner.  We're having leftover lasagna."

***

The water felt good on Sarah's shoulders as she stood in the warm shower, her brown hair snaking across her shoulder and around her breast as she rinsed the night's oils from her skin.  Unlike the showers at the stables, the old Anders house had a hot water heater that enabled a person to control the temperature of her bath.  It was a luxury that Sarah enjoyed immensely.

And today, she would need a little pampering.  Her day hadn't even started and she'd already exploded at one person; a girl too afraid to fight back.

She heard a click as the bathroom door opened.

"Got room in there for one more?" Thomas asked.

"No.  Leave me alone," Sarah replied tersely.

A masculine arm soon reached into the stall, followed by a muscular leg and the accompanying torso.

"I said leave me alone," she repeated, annoyed at his intrusion.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I must've misunderstood you over the sound of all my hot, steamy water splashing in my shower. I thought you said 'Let's have sex'.  In fact, I seem to recall your agreeing to that very thing in exchange for my letting you use my hot, steamy water, my shower, and my house," he said, gently placing his hand on Sarah's chin preparatory to a kiss. "I also remember an agreement to be a happy wife."

She couldn't argue. He was right. She responded with a pouty lip as he leaned in and gave her that kiss.

"Better?" he asked.

"A little bit," she replied.  He grinned and kissed her again.

She was smiling as he pulled away.

"Thomas," she asked, "am I a bitch?"

"That depends," he replied. "Can I mount you like one?"

She slapped at his shoulder playfully.  "You know what I mean."

"Well, I'm trying really hard not to interfere with how you run your business, but I will say that the way you reacted this morning, although justified, was a bit harsh. I hope that you realize that she meant no malice by what she did.  Did you ask her why she was on the motorcycle or where she was going?"

"No."

"I did.  That's why I gave her the helmet, gloves, and key after your tirade."

Sarah draped her arms over his shoulders. "Are you going to tell me?"

"I could," he hinted.

Sarah looked up at him, waiting, her hands gently caressing the back of his neck.  The only sound she heard was the water falling against the porcelain tub.

"Well?" she finally asked.

"You know, after I take this house back for your failure to perform under our agreement, maybe I'll turn it into a bed and breakfast.  The families of assignees could stay here when they come to visit.  Or maybe I'll turn it into a brothel.  The guards would like that."

Sarah let out a playful gasp.  "You wouldn't."

"I would.  Don't test me, woman," he replied with a grin.  "I just might make you the madam.  Maybe you should consider practicing your skills if you want to remain employed here at Leighton Acres."

Sarah feigned shock.  Then, she smiled as her hands slid down his bare torso, her fingertips gently resting against his hips, then cupping the cheeks of his ass and giving them a firm squeeze before continuing the journey to his crotch.  She collected his flaccid shaft with one hand, and cradled his balls with the other. A pleasured growl came from his throat.  She laughed again.  "How may I service you, Mr. Leighton?" she asked in a dusky voice.

She felt his hardening manhood jump as she continued to fondle his sack.

"You're already off to a good start," he replied. "I'll take the house special."

She giggled and kissed his chest, her hands continuing their ministrations on his genitals as he braced his hand against the wall.  She kissed his chest again, and began to work her way downward with her lips, leaving a trail of tiny kisses down his torso as she lowered herself towards his bare hips.  He knew her intentions. With his free hand, he collected her chin and lifted her gently back up towards him.

"No," he said, "you need to stay up here."

She smiled, then stood up and kissed his mouth as her fingertips traced the length of his shaft, feeling the lump of every vein that coiled around the hardened tissue.  She gently swirled a finger around the purpling head of his manhood, feeling the sensitive skin jump with each orbit.

He growled with pleasure as she leaned against him, pressing her breasts against his chest.

Her hand encircled the engorged head of his tool and gave it a few gentle pumps as her other hand squeezed his balls.  She could feel the two firm orbs draw tight in their little leather sack as she cradled his scrotum.  A few more pumps with her hand and she knew he was fully erect.

"Take me," she whispered.

He smiled as he placed his hands under the smooth cheeks of her ass and lifted her up, gently pinning her against the cool tile as she guided him into her slit.  She moaned as he entered her, her pussy already moist with her juices as he slipped into her, her body settling onto his rock-hard shaft.

She moaned again with each thrust of his hips, his tool driving deeper into her as she locked her arms around his neck.  She turned her face towards the warm spray of the shower head and exhaled deeply, as if to fight back against the tiny jets of water that landed against her skin.  A river of water and spit flowed out of her open mouth, landing on his shoulder before continuing the journey down his back and under the cleft of his ass where Sarah held his balls.

She wrapped her legs around his naked waist, squeezing him with her thighs as he held her against the smooth surface of the wall.  She could feel him throbbing deep within her, and soon she was matching his rhythmic pulse with her own. 

Waves of pleasure now enveloped her body, feeling him deep within her as the steam curled around both of them.  He continued to thrust into her, pressing her back against the tile as she clung to his neck, her legs gripping his bare waist tightly, to keep him from leaving her tunnel as he pulled back and thrust into her again.

He was breathing heavier now, matching his strokes with her vaginal pulses, as she gasped and mewled with exertion.  The warm spray continued to wash their bodies, even as he held her against the wall.

She could feel the waves beginning to crest within her, and she knew he must be close as well.  As she began to reach her climax, she spotted the chrome knobs that controlled the flow of the water.  As she exploded with orgasmic energy, she reached over and spun a pronged knob with her hand, shutting off the hot water.

He groaned as the water temperature dropped, the shock causing every muscle in his body to tense as he exploded within her.  She smiled as her own body was cooled by the drops of water that cascaded off of his shoulders before collecting in the valley of her breasts.  She could feel his thrusts subsiding, his manhood still standing erect in her pussy in his final seconds of glory. 

Then, he was through.  She giggled and playfully nibbled at his ear.

"That water is cold," he said as he continued to hold her. "Maybe you really are a bitch."

She laughed, then reached for the shower curtain and yelled, "Next!"

***

Sarah sat in Coach Johnson's office, waiting.  She had composed her speech a dozen times in her office all day long, and then in the Hotchkiss on the way over, rehearsing it, refining it, and finally settling on exactly what she wanted to say.

Her old coach, Adolphus, sat behind his desk, leaning back in his leather chair with his large, dark hands clasped comfortably behind his head full of graying hair.  They had already exchanged pleasantries, and she had told him why she was there.  She wanted him to hear this, too.  Since it was his athlete, he needed to be aware of it.

There was a soft rapping at the door.

"Come in," Coach Johnson said.  Sarah still bristled at the sound of it, even now that she was no longer his runner.  It usually was a prelude to something bad.

A tiny, frightened girl slowly pushed the old wooden door open and peered around the edge.

"Coach?"  Thalia asked, "You want to see me?"

"Yes, come in Thalia.  You know Coach Sarah, of course."

"Yes. How do you do," the girl said slowly as Sarah stood up and shook her hand.

"Thalia," Sarah started, "please, have a seat."

"I do bad again?" the frightened girl asked as she tenderly sat down in the guest chair.

"No, you didn't. I did," Sarah answered.  "I want to apologize, and I want to do it here in front of your coach."  She paused, and immediately forgot the speech she had so carefully rehearsed.  She'd have to wing it.

Sarah turned to Coach Johnson. "A, this morning I woke up and Thalia was gone.  I didn't know where she was, and neither did Dania or Isparana.  I panicked.  I thought she had run away.  When Thomas brought her to the house after she had stolen his motorcycle, I became outraged and said some things that I now regret."

"Thalia," Sarah continued, turning to the girl, "I apologize for the way I reacted.  I should not have yelled at you like I did.  I was out of line and I promise I'll never act like that again.  You are welcome to use any of our vehicles to get to school, but you have to ask us first.  You also have to tell us where you're going and when you think you'll be back.  It's the same with all of the girls, even Dania and Ispy.  And there's a reason for that. It's not you, it's me."

Sarah looked at the girl, reading her reaction as Sarah spoke to her.  She seemed to be understanding what Sarah was telling her.

"Thalia, I'm the daughter of a man who was once the most hated man in the district.  Someone could use me to hurt him.  I'm also the wife of a warden, and someone could use me to hurt Thomas.  And, I'm a warden in my own right, which makes me a high-probability target three times over.  Added to that is the fact that Thomas and I have accumulated a certain degree of wealth, which makes us prime targets for ransom.  I want you to understand that I have to take certain safety and security precautions, including knowing where my girls are and when they'll be returning.  It's possible that someone may try to use you to get to me, and then Thomas or my father, for either vengeance, money, or both."

Sarah sighed and glanced at Coach Johnson.  This part would be tricky.  She didn't want to say too much, in case there was an investigation. "Thalia, yesterday you and I were seen together by individuals with bad intentions.  There's a chance they may recognize me and realize that if they get you, then they could ransom you back to me.  Or worse. Understand?"

Thalia nodded.

"When I woke up and you weren't there, and nobody else knew where you were, I immediately became concerned that something like that might have happened, or could happen if you had run away not knowing the danger.  That's why I was so upset.  I thought I had endangered you, or that you had endangered yourself.  So, I'm sorry for how I reacted."

Sarah looked at the girl. "Thomas told me that you had snuck out because you had been told by the other girls not to wake me if I'm sleeping.  I know why they would tell you that, and to a degree, it's true.  I tend to wake up violently when I'm having nightmares, but I'm trying to get better about it. I hope you'll forgive me, and that you'll want to continue to reside at the Anders house with us," she said sincerely. "The girls enjoy your company, and so do I."

She turned to Coach Johnson. "A, if you don't mind, she's free to train with me any time she wants.  She can still wear Ascension colors to the meets. I'd be proud of her no matter what singlet she was wearing."

Coach Johnson looked at the Ascension girl. "Well?"

Thalia looked at each of the two coaches, then gave Sarah a serious gaze. "Ok, I come to you.  But, I have wants."

Sarah was stunned. She hadn't expected this. "Ok. What?"

"I want vegetable lasagna one time a week; for everybody, with Coach Johnson and his family."

Sarah laughed. Thalia was smiling. "How about once a month?" Sarah replied, "I don't think I can eat that much lasagna."

"Ok," the girl said, "And..."

Sarah looked at her, smiling in anticipation of her next ridiculous demand.

"I want good English lessons. Not the record ones.  I want to learn English correct, so I speak how you want.  They do not..." Thalia caught herself, "... don't... offer here."

Sarah was stunned.  Finding a Portuguese instructor would be a challenge.  There wasn't much of a demand for one in the district.

Then she remembered Vella, the outsider who didn't fit in.  The girl who could speak Portuguese.  But could she teach English in reverse?

"Ok, I'll see what I can do," Sarah replied.

***

Sarah arrived at Stalin a bit later than she had planned, due to the time spent addressing the issue with Thalia.  She opened the door to the Music Room expecting to find her girls sitting around chatting.  Instead, they had done what they always do; strip off their clothing, grab a blanket, and take their pre-practice nap.

Dania was in her usual position, face down like a skydiver, her blossoming breasts compressed beneath her.  Isparana was on her back, her legs spread wide, her pussy slightly inflamed and ready for a man's entry.  Vella, as usual, looked like a nude ascending the stairs.  Chastity was on her side with her blanket draped perfectly over her still form, her golden hair spread across the floor behind her.

Sarah silently slipped off her clothes and, carefully lifting the edge of Chastity's blanket, settled in next to the gently breathing girl.  She stealthily positioned herself perfectly in line with Chastity's body, fitting herself up snugly against the sleeping girl.  Chastity's skin felt warm and smooth against her own. Sarah ruffled the blanket slightly, setting it to cover both of them, as she stretched her arm around the naked girl's waist.

Chastity stirred slightly at the feeling of a strange arm around her.  Sarah knew she was waking, and began to breathe deeply, pretending to be asleep.

Chastity turned her head slightly, to see who was behind her.

Sarah muttered something unintelligible, then mumbled "... No, not the electrodes again... Noooo...." and gently twitched against the naked girl's legs.  Chastity, thinking Sarah was having another nightmare, tried to gently slither out from under Sarah's arm.  Sarah tightened her grip as Chastity continued to struggle, and she heard the girl let out a cry of panic and desperation as she tried to escape.

Sarah mumbled again. "Nooo... Don't take me... Take Chastity instead..."

Chastity realized she was being pranked.  "You shit," she whispered.  "I thought I was about to get popped.  Hate you."

Sarah giggled.

Now the others were stirring.  Dania moaned awake as Vella's arms reached up into the air, trying to shake the sleep out of her body.  Isparana's delicate hands flopped groggily into the dark curls of hair that covered her face and soon moist noises drifted from the girl's still figure.

Sarah, still holding Chastity against her, said, "I might as well tell all of you at the same time, while you're all here together.  If you haven't heard, I got onto Thalia this morning for disappearing without telling anyone where she was going.  I felt bad about it, and went to Ascension to apologize. That's why I'm late to our nap session."

"Take a lap, Mom."

"Yes, such behavior is not to be encouraged," Isparana added, "if you are late, everyone is late. And you should not be yelling at such a nice girl anyway."

"We'll be sure to give you a slacker spanking after practice," Vella warned groggily.

Chastity renewed her effort to free herself, but Sarah simply gripped her tighter and in a child's voice said "Mine!", then plopped her thumb in her mouth and pretended to suck it vigorously while holding Chastity like a human teddy bear.

"Guys," Chastity laughingly begged, "I could use a little help. She won't let go of me."

Sarah closed her eyes and let out a deep, long snore, while still sucking her thumb and gripping the blonde-haired girl.

Now the other three naked girls were up and making their way towards their helpless friend, giggling as they tried to pry Sarah's arm away from Chastity's bare waist.  Sarah continued to snore, the muscles of her arm twisting as she tried to fight the hands that yanked her away from the soft, warm hips of the naked girl.  As Sarah's grip loosened, Chastity renewed her struggle for freedom.

Then Sarah, still feigning sleep, draped her leg over Chastity and pinned her to the floor, pressing her clean-shaven mound against the girl's soft ass.

"Nooo!" Chastity wailed playfully. "I was so close!"

Finally, Sarah could fight the girls no longer and relaxed her body, laughing as the girls tumbled backwards onto the floor, yelps of surprise escaping from their throats. 

Chastity scrambled out of reach of her friend, giggling as she raised her fists in the air, celebrating her freedom.

"Mine! Mine!" Sarah cried out.  She rolled onto her stomach, draped the blanket over her shoulder, and scrambled to her feet, reaching for Chastity while still yelling "Mine! Mine!"

Chastity, realizing a game was afoot, quickly took off running as Sarah chased her in a zig-zag around the room, crying "Mine! Mine!" while reaching for the blonde-haired girl with one hand and sucking her thumb with the other, the blanket trailing like a cape behind her.

And that was the scene that greeted Faye when she snuck a peek in the Music Room to give Sarah the usual pre-practice briefing; her best friend and coach, pretending to be a baby, chasing a naked high school girl.

Faye entered the room and stood there, her hands on her hips, waiting for them to realize she was there.  "Ladies..." she said, "If you don't mind..."

Sarah slowed and dropped the blanket, "Oh. Hi, Faye.  We were just having some fun. What's up?"

"Well, for starters, you're going to have some guests at practice today.  Specifically, some incoming freshmen from Castro Middle School.  The coach there asked me if he could send some of his girls up to get a taste of a high school practice and I said, 'Yes'. So, since Bill has a full team, I have a full team, and you only have 3 girls, tag, you're it. Congratulations."

Sarah pursed her lips. "What exactly am I supposed to do with them?  Are they sprinters, cross-country, or what?"

Faye smiled. "They're nuggets.  You can shape them any way you want.  Who knows, you might have another record holder in the mix."

As the girls lay on the floor gasping, their laughter subsiding, Sarah spoke up. "You guys ready to kick some ass at practice?"

"Sure." "Yeppers."  "Of course!"

***

Sarah stood on the track, bent over, her hands on her knees, her skin glistening with sweat as her heart beat furiously in her chest.  Her breathing sounded like a tornado and her pulse was pounding in her ears.  She felt great.

She looked at the girls scattered around her.  They didn't look quite so great.

The middle schoolers were flat on their backs. The Stalin girls were upright, but bent over.

The young middle schoolers, their faces red with exertion, looked like children compared to her team; the kids' faces still carrying the soft curves of baby fat in their cheeks.  The Stalin varsity team, however, had a certain leanness to their profiles that comes from high cardio exercise and a controlled diet, and their bodies were shaped with healthy curves of muscle on a tight physique.  Even Isparana, who was hobbled with a soft cast on her foot, had the taut musculature of a well-trained athlete.  And, Sarah had noticed, her curves of womanhood were definitely beginning to show; the fullness of her breasts and hips giving her a timeless beauty that matched the glow she had always carried with her.  She wondered if the statuesque Isparana could still fit into the Leighton Acres prison tunic that had been custom-fitted to her body just over a month ago, without spilling out of the top of it.

"Tell me what you are thinking," Isparana said gently to one of the young girls.

The girl just lay on the grass, trying to collect her thoughts.

"Do not think too much, just say what comes to your mind," Isparana suggested.

"I'm thinking I'm not cut out to run track at Stalin."

The Stalin girls laughed, even Sarah. "That's because you're not a Stalin runner yet," Sarah explained. "My girls couldn't handle the stairs, either.  They crashed on the grass just like you are now. You'll get there. Don't worry."

"It's true," Dania added as she paced around the group to keep her legs from stiffening, "we were all dead on our backs a month ago, just like you."

Isparana moved to the next girl. "Tell me what you are thinking."

"I'm thinking I'm about to vomit."  The girl promptly rolled onto her side and heaved, but nothing came out.  Isparana grabbed a water bottle and squirted some of the clear liquid into the girl's mouth. "This will help," she said, comforting the girl.

Now Vella moved to the next prone body. "Tell me," she said, kicking the girl's shoes.

"I'm thinking I'm about to die in the presence of a superhuman, because there's no way you can do those stairs and still look as good as you do."

Vella gave a quick laugh and a smile, embarrassed and flattered at the same time.

Chastity, who was sitting in the grass, her legs spread wide as she bent over and stretched her muscles, tapped the next girl.  "Tell us, slacker, what's on your mind."

The girl stirred, swallowed, then said, "I'm wondering when we're supposed to take off our shorts like you guys do."

Everyone got a laugh out of that, especially Sarah.  "You aren't," she explained. "That's just something I did to them on the first day of practice when I joined the team, then at the races the girls decided to do it on their own to get back at me. I hadn't planned on doing another drill today, but since you seem so anxious to take your shorts off, go ahead.  You can be our hare."

"Your what?"

The Stalin girls smiled.  They knew what was coming.

"Our hare, slacker," Chastity relied. "You get a head start, and the rest of us have to catch you.  Anyone who catches you gets to spank you, and you get to spank anyone you beat."

A look of fear washed over the girl's face.

"You don't seem very confident in your abilities," Vella said to the girl. "Is there a problem?"

"You guys are going to smoke me!  I can't outrace you!"

"Sure you can," Sarah replied. "You're faster than you think you are.  How much of a head start do you want?"

The girl looked at the faces around her.  It would be all of them against her.  She suddenly felt very, very alone. "I don't think I want to do this."

"I'm not giving you a choice," Sarah said coldly. "You can either run and have a fighting chance, or we'll just bend you over a fence and spank your ass right now."  Sarah turned to Chastity. "Am I lying?"

"No," Chastity said to the frightened girl, "she'll really do it. And you won't like it.  I'd race if I were you."

The shocked girl instinctively turned to Isparana for help.

"I would do as Coach Sarah suggests," Isparana said tenderly. "She is strong, but fair."  The Cilician beauty turned to her coach. "I think two minutes would be good."

"Thirty seconds."

"No, she is too young to compete with us. It must be two minutes."

"Thirty seconds for her team and two minutes for Stalin."

Isparana thought about that as the girl cowered on the grass. The girl had run well earlier in practice.  Isparana looked at Sarah. "Ok, but three for you."

"Three?  Why am I so special?"

"Because you are cruel to make her race after running the stairs. A cruel woman does not deserve to run with the rest of us," Isparana said haughtily.

Sarah stuck out her lip in a playful pout.  "Ok," she reluctantly agreed.

Isparana extended her hand and helped the frightened girl up. "It is ok," Isparana whispered, "you will win. I am sure of it. Just remember to do your best, all of the time."

The girl nodded as Isparana escorted her towards the starting line on the track; the other girls following in a gaggle behind her.  Isparana continued to whisper words of encouragement to the girl, who walked like a zombie towards the starting line.  She obviously was not in a happy place in her mind.

"Do you need help with your shorts?" Isparana offered.

The girl shook her head, then hooked her thumbs in the waistband and slid the synthetic material down her young legs.  She braced her arm on Isparana's shoulder as she pulled the elastic over her shoes, then tossed the discarded garment off to the side where it wouldn't get trampled by the herd of runners that would be pursuing her.

She now stood bare-assed on the track, out in the open, her tender vagina marked by a small triangle of dark hair.  Her skin glowed in the afternoon sun as a slight breeze caressed her body.  She looked down the lane to the distant corner and choked back a sob.

"You will be ok," Isparana said softly, "nobody will catch you. You are very fast.  Nobody will hurt you today.  But you must do your best. Do not slow down, no matter how much you suffer.  The pain in your heart and your legs will be nothing compared to what will happen if you lose. So, do not lose!"  Isparana smiled. The girl didn't. "Ok, you do not like my joke. But tell me you will run fast."

The girl nodded, her voice locked with fear.

"Tell me you will run fast!" Isparana commanded.

"I will run fast," the girl replied in a tiny voice.

"Say it again, louder!"

"I will run fast."

"Louder!"

"I will run fast!"

"That is better. Now, what will you do?"

"I will run fast and I will win," the girl said, her fear subsiding.

"Of course you will.  I told you; you are very fast. Ok?"

"Ok," the girl said, nodding as a slight smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. 

Isparana put her arm around the girl's warm shoulder and directed her attention to the far end of the track. "See yourself running down this straight. You are sprinting very fast.  Now into the turn, you are leaning because you are so fast. Around the turn you go, always fast.  Now out of the turn and into that straight you are a blur. Nobody can catch you. They are still in the turn and you are in the straight. Now you are in that turn over there and they are only in the straight. You are very fast, pumping your arms as you lean around the curve.  Do you see yourself?"

The girl nodded, imaging herself racing along the track.

"Ok, now you are coming out of the last turn and lining up for the finish. Woosh! Like a rocket you fly.  I will be here and you will go by me so fast the wind will knock me down!" Isparana smiled.  Now the girl was smiling, too.  "Are you ready to race?"

The girl nodded.  She began to bounce from side to side, loosening up her muscles.

Isparana turned to the crowd behind her. "Ok, we are ready to win!"

Sarah handed her tawny-skinned adopted sister the stopwatch and moved to the back of the pack.  Isparana raised her hand.  "On your mark!  Get set!  Go!"

The young girl took off like a bullet out of a gun, her soft ass twisting with each step as her muscles flexed with her acceleration.  She was nearly at the end of the straight by the time her compatriots were released in pursuit.  With cries of joy and laughter they took off after their friend, trying to catch her.

The Stalin girls watched as the middle schoolers raced around the stadium, five clothed ones chasing a half-naked little girl around a track.  "Do you guys really want to do this?" Sarah asked. "I was thinking we'd just let them race by themselves as their team-building thing."

"Well since there's a good chance I'll be running with a few of them next season," Dania said, "I'd like to see if I can catch any of them."

Sarah nodded. "Alright. Anybody else still want to run?"

Vella and Chastity looked at each other. Vella replied with a smile, "We're runners. This is what we do."

Sarah acknowledged her response as Isparana raised her hand in warning.

"Go!" Isparana called out, her eyes locked on the stopwatch as she dropped her hand.  All three Stalin girls took off, their shoes groaning as the rubber soles gripped the track. 

"Is my sister having second thoughts?" Isparana asked with a grin.

Sarah tilted her head in contemplation. "Can I use my pregnancy as an excuse?"

"No. You are not so far along.  I asked Dr. Restropo.  You can run for three more months at least."

"Can I play the coach card?"

"I do not know what that is, but I am sure you can not."

Sarah laughed, then sighed.  "Then I guess I'll run."

Isparana smiled. "I am sure you will try very hard."  She looked down at the device in her hand and said, "Go!"

Sarah took off, but not quite as fast as the others.  Running the stairs had taken some of her speed from her.

Sarah looked at the moving figures ahead of her.  Dania was leading the Stalin trio and gaining on the middle schoolers quickly.  The middle schoolers, on the other hand, weren't making any progress in their pursuit of the girl in front.  Sarah picked up her pace.  If there was one thing she wanted to accomplish, it was to beat her three best runners.

Dania was separating from Vella and Chastity, who seemed more interested in chatting as they rounded the turn.  Sarah picked up her pace and soon was within earshot of them. She could catch snippets of their conversation.  They were wondering who the new fourth leg of the relay team would be.  They were throwing out names, like team scouts comparing notes.

Shit! Sarah realized that with everything else going on, she hadn't even thought about scouting the other Stalin squads for a replacement.  They had a meet in a week.  Shit!

The half-naked girl was now well into the back straight, with her colleagues maintaining their distance. Dania was gaining and would probably catch the cluster of middle schoolers before they reached the turn.  Vella and Chastity trailed with Sarah just a few yards behind them.

Now the leader was into the turn with her friends still in the straights, but Dania was in their midst and accelerating, making gaps in the traffic in pursuit of the frightened girl in the lead.  Sarah slapped Vella and Chastity on their rumps as she passed them and said "Come on! Don't let a bunch of eighth graders outrace you!"

Suitably admonished, the two Stalin runners picked up their pace and caught the pack of middle schoolers at the top of the turn, then passed them as gaps opened up in the blockade.

Now they were coming out of the turn, the Stalin girls a few yards ahead of the middle school pack.  Their prey was in the final straightaway, sprinting for the finish where Isparana stood holding the stopwatch. Dania was right behind her, separated by only a few steps. Sarah, leading the other two Stalin racers out of the turn, began her kick.

So did Vella and Chastity, both of whom gradually passed her as they sprinted down the final leg.

Dania looked like a rocket as she chased the terrorized girl leading the pack of racers, trying to catch her before the girl reached the line.  Sarah glanced back to check the progress on the other girls running behind her.  Each of their faces was reddened with stress and exertion.  They were working hard, trying to show the older girls what they could do.

And crossing the line ahead of everyone was the little middle school girl, her pale globes of muscle twisting as she gradually bled off her speed.  Isparana called out her time as the girl slowed to a trot.  As the winner turned her head towards the sound of Isparana's voice, Sarah caught the look of shock on the girl's face. 

"Is that time right?" the girl asked, surprised.

"Yes.  I tell you; you run very fast and you will win. And you did."

"I've never run that fast before in my life!"  The girl jumped twice, her pert ass bouncing as she hopped towards Isparana, flailing her arms and letting out a cry of shock and happiness.  Then, with a shout, the girl launched herself up onto Isparana's chest, clutching at her like a monkey as Isparana stumbled backwards from the impact. "I can't believe it!  I can't believe it!"  the girl yelled, her eyes as big as saucers,  "I can't believe it!"

"Congratulations," Sarah gasped as she came up on the two-headed creature staggering on the side of the track. "Now that you know what you can do, you just need to train yourself to do it on race day."

Dania, Vella, and Chastity walked up to the duo and patted the girl's pale ass cheeks as they gulped oxygen, offering their congratulations to the little girl on her success.

Now the rest of the group was around her, telling her "good job" and "nice run" as they circled stiffly around the winner, the jubilant girl's bare sex pressed against Isparana's lean tummy as she continued to clutch at the statuesque young woman. 

Sarah wondered if the new girls would remember the consequences for losing.

Dania tugged on Vella's arm and started walking towards the waist-high fence in front of the bleachers.  Chastity followed her friends. They knew Sarah wouldn't forget.  Sarah started walking towards the fence as well.

"Where are you guys going?" one of the middle schoolers called out.

"They lost," Isparana explained, as the victorious girl still clung to her, "so now they accept their punishment.  You must, too."

Sarah heard a groan of disappointment from the group of younger runners.  She smiled.  Welcome to track practice, Stalin-style.

Dania, Vella, and Chastity were lined up along the fence, their hands resting on the warm metal bar across the top of the interlinked mesh as they prepared themselves for their spanking, shuffling their feet back and presenting their asses to the winner.  Sarah took her place next to Chastity.  As she stood there, bent over, she nudged Chastity's arm. "This seems familiar," Sarah said.

"I knew you'd say something to remind me about that," the blonde-haired girl replied.

"Maybe I should ask if she'll take you like a dog."

Chastity gave a brief chuckle. "You shit. Hate you."

"Love and kisses," Sarah replied as she puckered her lips and made a smacking sound.

Now the other girls were taking their places along the fence, each of them assuming the same position as the Stalin girls.

The victor stood on the track, surveying the nine asses presented to her for punishment.  She giggled. "I'm going to enjoy this part!"

Isparana stood next to her. "Yes, it is good to win," Isparana said, placing her hands gently on the girl's shoulders. "Ok, now you get one swat for each runner."

"Shouldn't their shorts be down?"

"Yes, if you wish it."

The girl nodded.

Isparana clapped her hands dramatically. "All of you!  Down with your shorts! To the ground!"

A couple of the girls groaned as the group lifted their hands off the fence and tugged their shorts down to their ankles.  Now nine bare asses were presented to the little girl, the victims' sexes peeping out from between their legs, all in a row.

Sarah nudged Chastity's arm again. "Maybe she'll finger you."

"Don't give her any ideas," Chastity warned.

Sarah turned to the victorious girl behind her and started to speak, prompting Chastity to nudge her arm. "Shhh!" she hissed, drawing a smirk from Sarah.

Isparana clapped her hands again. "Quiet!  The punishment is about to begin!"  With a flourish, Isparana bowed to the little girl and waved her hand at the bare asses presented for spanking.  Four of them were tanned while five of them were as pale as the day they came out of the womb.

The girl moved towards Dania.  She would be the first to feel the girl's hand against her body.  The girl giggled in anticipation of her spanking Dania's firm bottom.  She then raised her hand back and slapped it against Dania's muscular ass cheek, the skin reverberating from the blow.  A loud smack rang through the air.

"Ow!"

Dania stood up and reached back with her hand, rubbing at the tenderized spot.

"Hold your position!" Isparana commanded. "You have not yet been dismissed by the princess!"

The winning girl turned and smiled at Isparana's dramatic proclamation. Isparana bowed again. "You may continue, your majesty," she said to the girl, as Dania resumed her position against the fence.

Now it was Vella's turn.  The darker girl inhaled, preparing herself for the pain.  She tensed her muscles as the victor took her place behind Vella's upturned ass.  Another loud smack rang through the air.  A stifled grunt escaped from Vella's throat as she held her rump in the air.  Then, she exhaled audibly and relaxed her grip on the metal fencing.

The girl moved behind Chastity.  Sarah looked over at her blonde-haired friend who now tightened her grip on the fence. Chastity's eyes were closed and her mouth was tightly set.  Sarah smiled evilly.  She could barely contain her joy at seeing Chastity getting a taste of what she had threatened to do to Sarah when they first met.  There was a loud slap as Chastity jumped from the stinging blow.  A gasp escaped from her lips and she opened her mouth to cry out.  She squirmed, trying to absorb the pain.

Sarah fought to avoid laughing.

She dropped her head, trying to hide the huge grin on her face.  Then, she saw the shadows move across her outstretched arm.  The victorious girl now stood behind her.

Sarah wondered if her status as a coach would give her a reprieve of any sort, or simply make it worse.  "You wouldn't hit your coach would you?" she asked.  "After all, I'm sure you want to stay on my good side."

The girl paused.  Sarah's attempt at mercy was working.  Isparana now stepped next to the girl, as if to offer advice.  The dark-haired beauty placed her hand gently on Sarah's naked backside to settle her, then cupped her other hand over Sarah's exposed sex.  "Perhaps this one is a little tender from recent copulation," Isparana cooed as she gently traced a line around the opening to Sarah's vagina. 

Sarah squirmed at the sensation of the slender finger expertly stroking her labia.  Thomas was a gentle lover, but he still left bruises.  She wondered if perhaps Isparana had seen some sort of discoloration around her rim; evidence of her adventure in the shower that morning. Sarah closed her eyes, remembering how it had felt to have a man's cock inside her.  A long sigh passed over her lips as Isparana's delicate touch circled her pussy. 

Sarah shivered with pleasure.  She could feel the first tinglings between her spread thighs as her body instinctively prepared itself to be taken by a man.  Then, she gasped as Isparana inserted her finger between the sensitive folds of skin, drawing a shudder from the helpless Sarah who struggled to stay bent along the fence beside her students.

Isparana continued to slide her finger around the entrance to Sarah's hole, as if searching inquisitively for something. Sarah could feel her sex screaming with arousal now.  Her sister had a gift, and Sarah surrendered to her touch, begging for more. She curled her hips, trying to stroke herself against Isparana's hand.

Suddenly a loud smack echoed off the aluminum bleachers. Sarah cried out loudly in pain and surprise.

"Quiet!" Isparana shouted with authority.  She then turned to the winning girl and said, "I have punished this one for her insolence, your majesty.  Now you may punish her yourself."

Sarah's head whipped around.  She hissed at Isparana angrily. Isparana ignored her. Chastity, seeing the interaction between the two women, started giggling. Sarah flashed the blonde-haired runner a dirty look, causing Chastity to giggle even more.

Sarah braced herself against the fence, waiting for the young girl's hand to hit her exposed ass cheek.  It wasn't long before another loud smack came from Sarah's posterior.  She grunted through clenched teeth, and wondered how red the handprints were on her skin.  She wondered if the mark would be as red as her swollen pussy.

And now the middle schoolers were about to get their first taste of Stalin Stallion discipline.  The girls looked at each other nervously as they prepared themselves for their punishment for losing.  They had heard the older girls cry out and knew it would hurt them even more.

The first girl let out a small whimper of fear before Isparana's princess was even in position to strike.  Soon, there was another loud smack and the whimper turned into a yelp.  Her knees buckled, but she soon corrected herself and resumed her position against the fence, her pale cheeks thrust out towards the setting sun.

Sarah couldn't see the next girl, but judging by the sound of the smack and the cry of anguish that ensued, Sarah knew the victim had felt the sting against her ass deeply.  The next girl cried out almost as loud, more from fear than from the actual impact.  Her cry was followed soon after by the fourth middle schooler's shout of pain.  The fifth and final girl cried the loudest, receiving a much harsher blow than the others as the princess tried to cap off her victory celebration with a flourish.

The winning girl stood back and surveyed the nine asses presented to her, all of them now bearing the mark of her hand against their flesh.  In Sarah's case, she bore two, bookending her inflamed pussy.

"Shall I dismiss them, your majesty?" Isparana asked the girl.

"Yeah," she answered, "I'm through."

"The princess has finished her punishments!" Isparana proclaimed. "Let that be a lesson to you all!"  She clapped her hands again and the row of half-naked girls stood up and checked the redness of each other's bare bottoms before sliding their shorts back up their toned legs.

Sarah gave her sister a dirty look as she felt the painful sting from her double spanking, even as her pussy still screamed for attention.  "Was that really necessary?" Sarah asked accusingly.

Isparana laughed. "You are cruel to make them race so soon after the stairs, and then you try to avoid your punishment. So, you deserve something extra for your scheming. And I think maybe you enjoy it a little bit,"  Isparana said, flashing a knowing smile. She snickered. "I am sorry.  Maybe now I am being cruel. But, maybe you should not have tried to talk your way out of your punishment," Isparana advised her.

"You can't blame me for trying," Sarah replied.

"Next time, run faster and you will not need to talk," Isparana answered.

Sarah could see she wasn't going to win that argument.  She growled in frustration, then turned to the rest of the girls milling along the fence.  "Ok, team, good practice," Sarah said to the group, "I hope our guests learned something today."

The middle schoolers replied that they had, and that they would practice harder so they would be ready for Stalin next season, including the girl who had questioned whether she would ever be ready to wear a Stallion singlet on race day.  Sarah had them all gather in a circle, and had the winner tell the group what she had learned, and what she would do at her middle school team's next practice.  Afterwards, they gave a little celebratory cheer and split up.

The troupe began to walk back towards the locker room, to clean the rigors of their training from their bodies.  From somewhere behind them came the whine of a high-compression engine screaming with furious energy.  The source was hidden by the tall structure of the bleachers, but its path of travel would lead it towards the parking lot next to the stadium.

Isparana saw it first; a new Joerg Cyclone 250cc turbocharged high performance motorcycle in the factory racing colors of canary yellow and reflective silver.  Sitting atop it was a lone figure dressed in an armor-reinforced riding suit trimmed in matching silver and yellow accents and topped by a full-face ventilated helmet with darkened visor.  The rider pulled the bike up to the entrance to the stadium, kicked the V-shaped stand down, and dismounted the machine.

"Sister," Isparana called out, "we have a guest."

"So we have," Sarah replied, studying the slender feminine shape dismounting the street racing motorcycle, "and I'm glad to see she took me up on my offer."

"You know who that is?" Isparana asked.

"Yep," Sarah replied, "it's my new assistant."

Now another sound of a high performance motor came from behind the bleachers, slightly deeper in tone, speaking of a raw power in its rumble.  Soon a vintage MGC Warspite appeared from behind the bleachers and pulled into the parking lot.  Sarah recognized it instantly.

"And here comes my husband," Sarah said with concern. "Something must be wrong."  Alarmed, Sarah began to run towards the entrance to the stadium.  As she drew up towards the young woman, now unfastening her helmet, Sarah dropped her hands as if to question the girl's appearance.  "What's going on?" Sarah asked.

The young woman reached up and lifted her helmet; her long, dark hair tumbling out from under the hard shell.  A familiar face peered back at her.

"Thalia!" Isparana called out as she quickly hobbled over to towards the two women.

Thalia ran her fingers through her dark hair, sorting out the strands with her nails. "There are some things..."

Thomas now pulled up next to them.  "Dearest," he called out from the driver's seat, "is there someplace we can talk?"

***

"These were sent to me by a friend of mine."  Thomas set a large photo on top of the piano in the music room.  "Look familiar?"

It was a well-dressed woman walking towards the public housing complex.  Oversized sunglasses obscured her face.

"No, but she has good taste in clothes," Sarah responded.

"Huh," Thomas grunted.

He set another photo on the piano's lid.  It was the same woman, now running at full stride, a young girl dressed in a school uniform following behind her.  Their back was to the camera. "How about either of them?"

"Looks like a school uniform of some sort.  I guess the girl is in trouble with her mother for being late to class."

Thomas looked at her and grunted again.  "Well, I guess its a good thing you don't know who that is, because Thalia didn't either, even though those pictures were taken not far from Building Omega.  The police have identified them as persons of interest in the assault yesterday, but of course nobody in the area is talking. Those are the only pictures they have. Seems the residents disabled the other cameras in the area.  My friend thought you might recognize her or the uniform, since she's about the same age as your students. Of course, I have my suspicions, but nobody has asked me for my opinion and I'm not much of a conversationalist anyway."

Sarah looked at him and smiled. "You know I have my suspicions, too.  But it might compromise you if there was a subpoena."

"And since I'm not really in the mood to talk," Thomas continued, as if he hadn't heard her, "I'm not going to tell you that her aunt is now the live-in housemother at the old Anders house.  She'll be responsible for cooking and cleaning and generally keeping the snakes and insects out of the floors and cupboards.  I figured somebody had to live there full time to keep it orderly, since I'm moving Dania and Isparana up to the main house. Plus, Dr. Restropo is moving her practice into the Anders basement and the embalming room and will need someone to provide janitorial services while she's working."

Sarah looked at him. "Moving the girls?  Why are you doing that?"

"Well, I'd prefer to have my family in the same house as my wife and I, at least until the girls go off to college.  I also figured with Dania and Ispy already living at Leighton Acres, that would free up some more bedroom space for your academy this Summer."

Sarah crooked an eye at him.  "And where in the main house are the girls going to be staying?"

"My old study.  The room is big enough for three bedrooms if I enclose part of the hallway.  That way, each of the girls will have her own room."

Now Sarah looked at him suspiciously. "You said three rooms.  What three girls are you talking about?"

"Your sister, our daughter, and our other daughter."

"Thalia?"

Thomas laughed. "No, the one you're carrying.  Besides, we can't keep adopting every stray girl you bring home."

"Hey," Sarah said defensively, "I'll have you know that adopting Isparana was my father's idea; which you endorsed by the way.  And, I'll also have you know that adopting Dania was totally your idea.  I haven't had anything to do with bringing any new women into the family.  Well, except for this one ..." Sarah patted her belly.

Thomas now wrapped his arms around his wife. "Well, until we manage to get a few of them off to college, I think we're at about our capacity."  He flashed a loving smile, then gave her a quick peck on the lips. "How much time do we have before the girls are done with their showers?"

Sarah smiled and embraced him around his waist. "Not much.  We may have to wait until tonight.  How soundproof are the upstairs walls in the main house?"

"Huh," Thomas grunted, "They're pretty good.  But if you really want privacy we can use my office."

Sarah grinned and gave him a wink. "Play your cards right, Mr. Leighton, and I'll let you bend me over your desk."

Thomas kissed her again. "I don't need to play my cards right, darlin'," he said in a faux gambler's accent, "I have a contract."

***

Isparana was exiting the locker room as Thomas and Sarah entered the small courtyard.  She was dressed in a form-fitting blouse, skirt, and one high-heeled shoe; her boot still covering her injured foot. Fashionable earrings dangled from her ears, and the long dark curls of her hair fell sexily across her shoulders and back.  Her make-up was subtle, bringing out the natural beauty of her golden skin tone.

"Whoa," Thomas said reflexively, "where have you been all my life?"

Isparana smiled at the compliment as Sarah nudged him in the ribs. "Stop looking at my sister that way!" Sarah said in jest.

Isparana giggled as she adjusted the bracelet on her wrist.  "I have a date tonight," she explained.

"And do I know this boy?" Sarah asked.

"Perhaps," she replied, feigning mystique.

"Ispy..." Sarah asked in a serious tone, "who is it?"

The dark-haired beauty flashed a devilish grin. "It is Bernard.  You know him."

"Barney?" Sarah exclaimed, "You're going out with Barney?"

"Yes," Isparana confirmed. "Do not worry. It is just our first date, so I do not expect much to happen... maybe."  She giggled. "I will confess. I am nervous. I hope I do not frighten him. Do you think this is too much?"  She dropped her hands and gave a quick spin, then stopped and gave her sister and brother-in-law a questioning look.

"Anything I say," Thomas said, "can and will be used against me."

Sarah looked at him. "Smart man," she replied. "Ispy, you look wonderful.  Any boy would be pleased to date you. I'm just surprised you didn't aim a little higher."

"What?" Isparana said, a hint of surprise in her tone. "He is a nice boy.  And he was the first boy you met at this school, remember?  He was also in your wedding."  Isparana raised her eyebrows in accusation at her sister, "so who better to go with on my first date?"

Thomas nodded. "I can see your point.  He's a safe play.  I've already run his background checks."

Sarah nudged him again.

"What?" Thomas replied. "Like she said, he's a nice boy.  And if he isn't, Reynier can swoop in with the tactical squad and extract her.  He would love the opportunity to use his new riot shotguns."

A look of horror swept over Isparana's face. "No!"

"What?" Thomas replied again. "Do you think Dania is the only girl who has to run the gauntlet of security?"

Just then, Dania came out of the locker room.  She was dressed sharply in an empire-waisted dress, pearl necklace, and light make-up. "Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad," she said.

"Are you going out on a date, too?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, I'm going with that boy from the water polo team I told you about.  I got tired of waiting for him to ask me out, so I asked him out."

"You mean that one your mother was going to interrogate?" Thomas asked.

Dania rolled her eyes.  "Yeah, him.  All three of us are going out."

"Three?" Sarah asked.  Just then, Thalia came out.  She was wearing one of Isparana's tops paired with one of Dania's skirts. 

"Is ok?  Not too big?" she asked, tugging at the darting just under her breasts.  Her soft brown hair was pulled back and clasped with a tortoise-shell clip accented with silver and jade.  Stylish pumps adorned her feet, bringing out the definition in her calves.

Thomas let out a sigh.  He looked at Sarah. "I'll handle the first two. This one can be yours."

Thalia looked questioningly at them. "What?"

Sarah gave him a sideways glance, then turned her attention to the three high school girls. "Ok, some ground rules, you three.  Holding hands - ok. Hugging - ok. Kissing - ok.  Removal of any clothing - not ok.  And no unbuttoning anything to reach inside, either."

"Mom..." Dania said, rolling her eyes again and adding a sigh at the end for emphasis, "we're not like you..."

Thomas turned his eyes downward and rolled his lips under his teeth, trying to stifle his laughter.  Sarah looked at him. "You're no help," she said. "A little support please?"

"Ok," he said, raising his eyes towards the three girls as his laughter subsided. "Ok, seriously now.  All other things aside, never forget that all three of you are inviting targets, not just for boys with lust on their minds, but for others who may see an opportunity for vengeance against Sarah, her father, or myself.  I want all three of you to look out for each other.  If something doesn't seem right, call us and we'll come get you... in a totally non-overly protective parent sort of way. Maybe. Or at least with as little commotion as we can manage. No dogs or helicopters.  Agreed?"

The girls nodded.

"Ok," Thomas continued, "so a few things we have to go over before you leave. First, where are you going?"

"We have not decided yet," Isparana said.

"Then you'll have to call me when you know.  Otherwise, I'll dispatch a security team."

"No!" all three girls shouted.

"Second," Thomas continued, ignoring their pleas, "who will be with you?"

Isparana looked at Dania and Thalia. "Well, there is Bernard, and Reginald, and Oscar."

"Ok," Thomas replied, "Barney and Oscar have passed the background checks.  If I turn up anything on this Reginald fellow, I'm dispatching a security team."

"No!" Dania exclaimed.

"Third, what time will you be home?"

Again, Isparana looked at her two compatriots. "We do not know."

"Then I expect you home by nine, or ... guess what."

"Nine?" Dania whined. The other two girls looked down at the ground. This wasn't going the way they had planned.

Sarah smiled.  Thomas thought he had things under control.  "Girls, look at me" she said.  The three young women directed their attention to her. "I want you to have fun.  So, to make sure you do, I have pre-paid cash cards that I've been holding for just this occasion. Take the boys and enjoy yourselves.  You can pay for everything with these."  She reached into her bag and handed each of them a small, neatly-folded cardboard square.  "I suggest La Natural for dinner, then a stroll along the riverfront.  There's an ice cream shop at one end and The Veranda usually has a live outdoor band for dancing." She moved closer to them and whispered, "there's also a condom and a pill in there, just in case." 

Each of the girls smiled as they accepted the little envelopes.

Sarah glanced at her husband, then back to the girls. "We'll expect you home no later than ten," she said, looking directly at Thomas as she emphasized the new curfew, "or I'll be there to extract you myself.  And I won't play nice. Understand?"

The girls, suitably frightened, mumbled their acknowledgements.

"Who's driving?" Thomas asked.

The girls looked at each other. Thalia only had a motorcycle. Dania just had a truck. Isparana didn't have anything.  Dania spoke up. "Mom, can I have the keys to the car?"

***

Sarah, naked, was bent over Thomas' desk.

Thomas, however, was on the other side, ignoring her, distracted by what his computer monitor was telling him.

"Well, they ate at La Natural, just like you suggested," he told her, "but they haven't made it to the ice cream shop yet, and that was over two hours ago."

"Thomas," she replied, "they have plenty of time.  Maybe they were too full from dinner. They're track athletes, you know. And they're women.  Maybe they had an attack of a guilty caloric conscience. For all you know, they could be dancing at The Veranda or sitting on the docks watching the stars sparkle across the river."

"Or be face-down floating in it," he replied tersely.  "Three well-dressed young women with a high-performance vehicle can make a tempting target."

Sarah stretched her arms across the desktop and banged her head frustratingly against the antique wood.  She let out an agitated sigh. "I know a man who may be joining them in that watery grave if he doesn't come over here and take care of business."

Thomas looked over at his wife.  She had a pen in her hand and was balancing it like a throwing knife.  He smiled. "Ok, maybe I'm being a little over-protective," he said as he got up and moved around the edge of the desk. "Now where was I?"

"You were behind me, trying to make me a happy wife.  And, might I add, not doing a very good job of it."

Thomas smiled guiltily. "Ok, ok. I'm sorry. I'll try harder."

"You better.  I've had to jump start you twice now."  She looked back at him, focusing on his flaccid member. She let out another sigh of frustration. She might have to do it again. "Hopefully the girls are having better luck tonight than I am," she commented.

"I can't help that I'm responsible for three teen-aged girls.  It weighs heavily on my mind."

"All I ask for is fifteen minutes.  That's all I need.  Then you can go back to stalking your daughter and her partners in crime."

"Crime? That's what I'm afraid of.  Thanks for reminding me."

"Oh, shit. I give up," Sarah said angrily, "Forget it. I'll just march out that door naked and go down to the security office and see if I can find a volunteer to scratch my itch.  Anthony has always seemed friendly to me.  And he's younger than you.  He could probably cum at least three times before I eat him like a praying mantis."

Thomas chuckled. "Ok, my love," he replied, leaning over her warm body as he stretched his hands along her arms, pinning her against the desk. "I think Operation Backdoor is a go."

"All lights are green?" she asked.

"The launch sequence has started and we have ignition."

Sarah felt him pressing against the entrance to her pussy.  She started to reach back to help guide him in, but Thomas grabbed her wrist and slammed it forcefully against the desktop.  "Keep your hands where I can see them," he growled authoritatively.

She smiled.  She had almost forgotten how much she enjoyed being forced.  She relaxed her body and surrendered to him.

She felt him slide in, his member still pumping itself to its full girth even as she accepted him into her body.  She squeezed against his tool, stimulating the nerves in the little head, trying to encourage it to its full glory.  She moaned with satisfaction as she felt it growing inside her.

She lifted her head and turned to smile at him as she lay trapped underneath his body.  He responded by placing his hand behind her neck and pushing her down onto the desk, her cheek pressed firmly against the hard wood.  She felt him shifting his position, even as his member grew inside her.  He was reaching for something; a box next to the green blotter.  He lifted the lid and pulled something out.

She caught the glint of silver metal just before he snapped the cuff around her wrist.  She heard the familiar ratchet as the teeth tightened against the metal peg inside the mechanical restraint.  He jerked her cuffed hand down behind her back, then reached for her other hand and pulled it down as well. Soon both wrists were cuffed behind her, the metal rings locked around her skin.

Now he began to pump in earnest, one hand holding her head against the table as the other gripped the chrome handcuffs that pinned her hands helplessly against her back.

She gasped as he thrust into her, driving himself deeply into her tunnel.  She was still tender from her morning tryst, but the pain simply added to the stimulation of having herself plowed from behind by the man she loved.  She gasped again and a wide grin formed in the corners of her mouth as he continued to pump his organ into her body.  She was a convict again, naked and bent over the warden's desk, being taken like an animal.

She closed her eyes and a low moan of pleasure purred in her throat as he pulled back slightly, then thrust himself into her again.  He growled as she lay beneath him, pressed against his desk, subdued by his weight and the handcuffs around her wrists.  He felt her stirring against him and knew she was building towards her orgasm.

Now he was driving into her, each thrust becoming more urgent as she matched his rhythm with the grind of her hips against his organ.  The muscles of her back stood out in the dim lighting of the office, the glow of the lamp glistening against her skin as a light sheen of perspiration formed on her body.  She bore down onto him, squeezing his cock tightly with each movement of her hips.  He responded by pumping harder, ramming his manhood as deeply into her as he could. 

Then, he felt her tighten against him and knew that she was exploding with orgasmic energy.  He thrust again, and then he also exploded.  He injected his cum into her body as his cock twitched in its final throes of glory, his body warm with exertion as she lifted her head and brought it back, her hair clinging to the moisture on her neck and shoulders.  She grunted with pain and pleasure as he pumped one last time, his cock still ramrod stiff as his cum filled her belly.  She dipped her head and smiled as he held her on the end of his cock, his shaft twitching inside her. 

Exhaling deeply, he began to soften.  Its work done, his cock began to shrivel as the blood drained back into his body to aid with the recovery of his muscles from his sexual labors. 

Sarah, weakened by his taking of her body, lay her head back down onto the desk and closed her eyes, the flashing white of her teeth partly obscured by the tangled mass of her hair.  She took a deep breath, held it, then let the air escape in a long sigh through her parted mouth.  She shifted her body slightly, her breasts sticking to the flat surface of the desk.

Now he withdrew from her, his flaccid shaft sliding effortlessly out of her.  She moaned and turned her head, smiling at him as she lay resting on the wood.  He returned her smile, and reached for the box again.

She caught the glint of metal and recognized the curve of chromed steel that he pulled out of the box.  "What are you ...?"

Then she heard the familiar click as the ratchet tightened around something.  He tugged on her leg, spreading her wider, and soon there was another click as a cuff was cinched around her ankle.  Quickly he moved to her other foot and kicked her legs further apart, then cuffed that ankle to the other corner of the desk, leaving her spread impossibly wide across the front of the furniture, her sex open and vulnerable to whomever happened to enter the office.

She laughed. "You bastard..." she said, followed by a giggle.

"Like you said, we have some time before the girls come home.  I should be recovered and ready to climb back into the saddle well before then."

Now he was moving around the desk, wrapping his organ in a damp rag to cleanse her juices from his skin.  Next, he spread a towel over his leather chair, sat down, and turned to face his computer monitor.

She sighed. "You're going to leave me here like this until you're ready again, aren't you."

"Yep."

She sighed again.  "Well can you at least tell me what's going on with our girls?"

"Well," he replied, "the vehicle hasn't moved, and they haven't bought anything new with any of the cards since I last checked.  According to the GPS in their phones, they're still at the landing.  Looks like no new activity."

Sarah lay her head back down on the desk and closed her eyes.  She heard him tap some keys, then a few clicks.

"You're tying into the security cameras, aren't you," she said.

"Working on it."

She heard a few more taps.  "They'd hate you if they knew."

"Then I guess we better not tell them."

She heard him sigh, a few more clicks, then a grunt of victory.

"Target acquired," he announced victoriously.

Sarah lifted her head, trying to see over his shoulder; a difficult thing to do with her hands cuffed behind her back.  "Well?  I can't see past you."

"Well," he said, "I have Isparana and Thalia, but I wasn't worried about them anyway.  They can take care of themselves, and those boys aren't a threat.  I was more concerned about Dania, and I don't see her on the screen.  Checking reverse angle now."

"Thomas," Sarah said, "if there was a problem, don't you think Ispy and Thalia would be calling us?"

"Their minds are probably focused on other things.  Your's was at that age."

Sarah put her head back on the desk and sighed. "You double bastard."

"That's my daughter out there.  I'm a little concerned."

Sarah giggled.  "I'm glad you aren't my father. I'd still be a virgin."

Thomas snorted. "Well, I'm just a little concerned, that's all.  She's too young to be dating older boys."

"Really," Sarah said incredulously, "and how old was I when you took my virginity?"

Thomas shifted in his chair. "That was different.  Our parents knew each other, and we knew each other.  I don't even know this boy she's with; who his parents are, where he's from.  For all I know he could be straight out of Compton Correctional and his dad doing hard time up in Wakahatchee."

"Well let's look at it from the other perspective, shall we?" Sarah retorted. "If his dad did a background check on our daughter, what would he see?  An orphan adopted by a convict who pranced around naked at school for nearly a week, with an ex-con aunt and a friend from the projects who can barely speak English."

Thomas sighed. "You left out the part about her adopted mom whoring herself out to the warden in exchange for special privileges."

Sarah laughed.  "And what special privileges would those be?"

"Hold on," he answered, "I think I found our girl."

Sarah's ears perked up.  She waited impatiently for Thomas to say something.  "Well?"

"She's sitting on a bench in the shadows.  She's kissing that boy. I think he's trying to put a move on her."

Sarah heard Thomas' chair squeak as he shifted nervously in it.  "Thomas," she said, "whatever you're thinking of doing, don't do it."

He shifted again, torn between two options.

"Thomas," Sarah repeated. "Don't.  I know you mean well, but she'll hate you."

He mumbled something in a low voice.  She heard his finger tapping anxiously on the keys.  "Thomas..." she warned, "don't. "

He sat in front of the monitor, conflicted.

Sarah decided to try a different tactic. "Thomas," she cooed, "why don't you come over here and show me how much of a whore I really am?  I could use some special privileges..."

"In a minute." 

She heard him tap at some keys. "In a minute?" she replied angrily. "In a minute? If I wasn't cuffed to this desk I'd be over there throttling you right now!"

"Don't worry. I'm not interfering. I'm just ... recording this for evidence, in case there's a trial later.  I want to make sure we have something to contribute to the investigation."

She growled furiously at him. "You shit! You're really starting to piss me off!"

"Good," he answered, getting up from his chair, "because I've always wanted to try angry sex."

As he moved around the desk, Sarah realized she now had an unobstructed view of the potential future crime scene as it unfolded on the security camera.  They could both watch their daughter make out with a boy on the riverfront as Thomas plowed Sarah from behind like an animal in his office.

And that's exactly what he proceeded to do.

She felt his hand cup her sex, as if feeling the warm skin for contraband.  He pushed against her proffered vulva, the pressure of his hand forcing her pubis against the edge of the desk.  She grunted from the strain on her belly.

His finger pinched and tugged at the swollen skin marking the entrance to her tunnel, drawing a sharp gasp of pain from her as the clumsy teen-age sex drama played out on the monitor in front of her face.  She closed her eyes. She didn't need to see her adopted daughter being pawed at by a boy on a park bench.

He slapped the side of her ass, then did it again on the other side.  She winced but did not cry out, so he slapped her ass again, harder.  Then he began spanking her in earnest,  the palm of his hand drawing the blood to the surface as her skin pinked from the blows.  Gradually she began to cry out with increasing intensity as he slapped at her sensitive skin, and when she lifted her head to protest, he wrapped his hand over her mouth and nose, muffling her cries and preventing her from catching her breath.

She tried to speak, her words blocked by his palm.

He briefly removed his hand from her face.

"Thomas, turn it..." she blurted out angrily before he covered her nose and mouth again.  He moved his hand sideways, taking her head with it, demonstrating to her his control over her body.  He briefly removed his hand again.

She inhaled deeply before having her nose and mouth blocked by his palm.  She was learning the rules.

Now she felt his cock pressing against her entrance again, still slightly soft but nonetheless attempting to penetrate her guardians at the gate.  He pushed, but he failed to conquer her defenders.  Now his free hand was against her pussy, teasing it as he stalled for time, waiting for his cock to harden sufficiently.

He lifted his hand from her mouth and she exhaled, then quickly inhaled as his hand slammed shut over her face.

Now he was pressing against her again, his cock hard enough to withstand the pressure of entering her body.  She squeezed against the intruding tissue, testing to see if he had indeed reached sufficient engorgement.  He grunted and lifted his hand from her mouth.

She quickly exhaled, then inhaled before his hand clamped down over her face again.

She relaxed her grip on his cock and let him enter her body.

He began to grind against her hips, his tool shifting inside her tunnel as she let him slide deeper into her.  She moaned as he became fully erect inside her.  He pressed his hips against her upturned ass and released his hand from her face.

With a loud woosh, she exhaled and inhaled before her passages were blocked again.

Now he was thrusting against her body, pressing her against the dark wood of the desk as he labored to bring himself to another orgasm.  He felt her vagina tighten against his shaft and he released his hand from her mouth.

She gasped and panted and started to speak, but his hand was back over her face before any words could come out.

Now she was moaning with pleasure as his rock hard shaft slid up and down her pussy.  He slowly released his grip on her face, testing to see if she would speak.  She didn't. Instead, she simply moaned as waves of pleasure crested between her thighs. 

Now they were once again grinding their hips together in a rhythmic dance of sexual energy; she trapped beneath him, pinned against the desk.  Her legs were spread wide and shackled to the corners of the desk by the chrome rings around her ankles, but, even so, she managed to raise herself up on her tiptoes as a supernova exploded in her belly.  She felt him surge as well and once again she was held in place by his triumphant cock.  She lifted her head and a small squeal escaped from her throat as she tightened around his shaft.  She could feel the purple head twitching deep within her as he pumped the last of his cum into her tunnel.

Then they both collapsed, she onto the desk and he onto her.  Their bodies glowed from their exertions as they both panted and heaved.  Her hair clung to her shoulders and face as fresh sweat began to coat her skin. Tears blurred her vision.

She turned and smiled to him.  "That was fantastic," she said dreamily.

"I told you I was something of a stud," was his reply.

Sarah lay her head on the desk and moaned pleasantly.

Then, as his cock softened, he pulled out of her and once again used the damp cloth to cleanse his member.  Thomas then walked around the corner of the desk and sat in his leather chair to study the activities of the girls and their dates.

"Uh oh," he mumbled.

"Hmm?" Sarah grunted questioningly.

"I've lost them."  Thomas opened a new screen and replayed the recording of the camera's image.  "There," he said.  "It looks like things got a little heated on that bench."

"Let me see," Sarah said, still cuffed to the desk.  Thomas slid his chair aside, offering her a view of the monitor.

Dania and Reginald were sitting on the bench, kissing.  His arm was behind her, his hand resting on her opposite shoulder.  Meanwhile, his other hand was cupping her breast.  Dania raised her hand, trying to brush him away, as they remained locked in their kiss.

"Well at least she has some morals," Thomas said. "She must get that from me."

Sarah flashed him a dirty look, then went back to studying the monitor.

Reginald was trying again, and again Dania pushed him away.  Now they were breaking their kiss and Dania was saying something.  The boy had his hand open, confused, and now he was saying something back to her.  Dania sat up and was obviously annoyed with him.  Reginald backed up, said something angrily, and quickly walked away.  Dania yelled towards him, then got up and chased after him.

"Uh oh," Thomas said.  "Our first heartbreak."

"Can you get audio?"

"Don't need it," Thomas replied. "Not only was Dania defending her honor, she was defending yours, too."

Sarah gave a confused hum.

Thomas glanced back at his wife, her body stretched across the front of his desk, naked and cuffed.  "I've learned a few tricks about reading lips on security cameras.  I monitor all of the rooms here but two, remember?"

"So what'd he say?"

"You told me not to interfere, so I won't tell you what he said because you won't like it and you'll act on it.  You can ask Dania if you really want to know," he said. 

Thomas switched to another camera, hoping to pick up the three girls.  They were nowhere to be found.

"Tell me what he said," Sarah said icily, her words thick with venom.

"We weren't supposed to be spying on them, remember?"

Sarah growled and angrily pulled at the cuffs.

Thomas just smiled and switched to a different screen. "They're in the parking garage.  Looks like Reginald is begging for a ride home.  ETA Stalin in twenty minutes, ETA here thirty minutes after that."

"They'll miss my curfew," Sarah said, exhaling her frustration. "How do you want to play it?"

"You'll have to back up your threat or they'll never believe you again.  We'll intercept them at Stalin."

"No," Sarah asserted, "I'll intercept them.  If you go, you'll want to bring an infantry division with you.  I'll go alone."

Thomas grumbled, but didn't argue. He got up and walked around the desk, standing behind Sarah as he unlocked her handcuffs. "As much as it pains me, you'll have to take my car," he said. "Dania's truck still has Thalia's motorcycle in the back of it."

***

The Hotchkiss sat in the parking lot of the high school, all four doors open as shadowy figures milled slowly around it.

Suddenly, the angry roar of a powerful engine pierced the night-time air as a car sped quickly towards the group, its headlights tinged with yellow.  As it passed under the glare of a street lamp, the girls could see it was Thomas' vintage MGC, but it wasn't Thomas behind the wheel.

It was Sarah.

She swung the car sideways as she downshifted, the rear tires skidding as they kicked loose gravel out the back.  A cloud of dust and smoke billowed from under the fenders as the car slid to a stop next to the Hotchkiss.

Sarah didn't bother to turn off the engine.  She simply sat in the driver's seat and glared at the girls.

"Mom!" Dania said with surprise.

"What did I say before you left?" Sarah barked.

The girls stood in the parking lot, petrified.

The boys looked at the girls. Barney and Gap-tooth knew something bad was about to happen.  They'd seen that look on Sarah's face before.  They backed away slowly.

Now Sarah was getting out of the car, the engine throbbing with power like a lion waiting to roar.

"What did you do to my daughter?" she said demandingly to Reginald.

"Nothing," he answered.

"Liar!" Sarah challenged.  "Tell me the truth, or I'll beat it out of you."

"I didn't do anything!  I swear!"

"I can tell when people are lying, and you're lying," she growled. "Final warning!"

Reginald looked at the two boys backing away behind him. "What are you guys...?" was all he was able to say before he turned and saw Sarah's fist heading for his face.  Then next thing he knew, he was on his belly in the parking lot, Sarah's knee in his back and his arm twisted painfully behind his head.  His legs kicked uselessly against the asphalt.

"What did you do!" Sarah yelled.

"Mom! Please!" Dania cried.

Sarah turned her head and barked, "I told you if I had to come for you I wouldn't play nice!"

Isparana slowly moved towards the grappling woman and gently placed her hand on Sarah's shoulder.  "Sister, please, it is not his fault.  It is mine," she whispered. "He is not to blame.  If you need to punish somebody, punish me.  I am the oldest. I should be more responsible."

Sarah continued to hold the struggling boy.  Isparana whispered "Please."  Sarah began to relax.  She couldn't bring herself to punish Isparana, and Isparana knew it.  Sarah gave the boy a final twist of his arm, drawing a yelp of pain before she got off of him.

She backed away from the prone body that looked at her with frightened eyes.  "Barney, Oscar, do you guys need a ride home?" Sarah asked, regaining her composure.

"No, ma'am. We'll manage.  Thanks anyway."

"Where do you live?" she questioned.

"Cherry Hill Travel Park, ma'am," Barney replied.

"Get in the Hotchkiss. Thalia will drive you home."

"Um, Miss Sarah?" Thalia said, "I do not know how to drive a car. Only a motorcycle."

Sarah let out a sigh.  "Do either of you know how to drive?" she asked the two boys.

Barney and Oscar both nodded. "We passed the Driver's Ed class together; perfect marks."

"Ok, good. Barney, drive Mr. Octopus home, then take the girls to the Anders house."  Sarah stopped, sighed, then said resignedly, "It's getting late. You both might as well stop by your trailers and pick up a change of clothes for yourselves, too; just plan on staying overnight with the girls in their rooms since those are the only ones with beds.  We can get you to school in the morning.  Dania, get in the car." Dania started for the Hotchkiss. "No," Sarah said sternly, "get in the MGC."

A low moan came from somewhere in the group.  They knew Dania had just been given a death sentence.

The girl reluctantly got into the passenger seat.

"And you!" Sarah shouted, pointing at the figure still sprawled on the ground, "if I find out you've hurt my daughter, I will shove my fist up your ass and turn you into a hand puppet!"

Sarah turned and walked over to the rumbling car.  She gave a final glare to the group, then dropped into the driver's seat and slammed the door.  The engine growled as she spun the tires and backed away, then turned the wheel and sped the car towards the exit, more dust and smoke blowing out from under the fenders.  Through the red haze in her rearview mirror, she could see the kids climbing into the Hotchkiss.

Dania sat in the passenger seat, silent.

"Relax," Sarah said, "you're not in any trouble.  I'm not mad at you."

Dania didn't respond.

"If it matters, your father is proud of you.  I am, too."

"I just don't get you!" Dania exploded, "I mean, you're my mom!  You're supposed to help me!  Instead, you embarrass me in front of everybody!  Everybody!"

Sarah cast a quick glance towards her.  She was slumped in the seat, her arms folded across her chest.

"Dania?" Sarah said softly. "I love you."

"So!" Dania shouted, "Its like I never know with you!  You're all loving mother one minute and the next you've got my boyfriend pinned to the ground like some sort of psycho crazy lady!"

Sarah pursed her lips. How could she tell her daughter that she and Thomas had seen the whole thing on a security camera?  Dania would never tell them anything ever again.  "Dania? Would it help if I told you I'm proud of you for asking a boy out on a date?"

"For what good it did me!  I'll never go out again!  No boy will want to touch me!  I'll be like a total social outcast!  I'll die an old maid!"

Sarah tried to stifle her giggle.

"Don't laugh at me!" the girl wailed.

Sarah wanted to giggle even more.  A soft titter drifted through the darkened cockpit.

"Mom! Stop it!"

Now Sarah was fighting the giggles.  She couldn't help it.  A brief chuckle escaped from her throat.  "I'm sorry," she started to say.

"No you aren't!"

"You're right," Sarah admitted.  She coughed, cleared her throat, and straightened her posture. "Ok, let's get serious now," she muttered to herself.  She exhaled, trying to regain her composure.  "So tell me how your date went.  Did you eat at a nice restaurant?"

"Yeah," Dania replied, calming in the darkened cockpit of the sports car, "we ate at that place you suggested."

"How was it?"

"It was ok, I guess.  I got the tilapia. Gramps' is better though."

There was an uncomfortable silence in the car.

"Did you do any dancing?"

"A little.  I'm not very good at it.  Isparana is better, except her boot made it a little awkward. But Thalia - oh my god, Mom - Thalia is a dancer!  She was out there - woo, woo! - the whole time.  I'm so jealous of her."

"You should ask her to give you lessons.  She'll be living in the Anders house soon."

Dania spun her head. "Really? With Ispy and I?"

"No, you two are moving into the main house with us.  We need your bedrooms for her and her aunt and uncle."

"Oh. Well that's cool."

Dania settled back into her seat and looked straight ahead.  The engine throbbed expectantly.

"Soooo..." Sarah prompted, "did he kiss you?"

"Yeah."

"And...." Sarah quizzed.

"I don't want to talk about it."

There was another uncomfortable silence in the car.  Sarah needed to come up with a cover story for her attack on the boy. Quickly.

"You remember that I can tell when someone's lying to me just by the way they're breathing?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah," Dania replied suspiciously.

"Well I could tell by the way you were standing that he had done something to my daughter that she didn't want him to do."

Dania froze. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I think he tried to go farther with you than you wanted him to go."

Dania exhaled. She couldn't deny it. "You're right."

Sarah smiled. "I know I'm right. That's why I put him on the ground and you're not in trouble.  You did the right thing.  He should've admitted it."

Dania exhaled again and looked at her mother. "Am I a prude?"

"No," Sarah said, "you're a teen-aged girl.  You're right where you need to be.  Don't let a boy take advantage of you.  You'll know when the time is right."  Sarah winked at her. "Trust me on that."

Dania smiled. "Thanks, Mom."

"Am I still the crazy psycho lady?"

"Yeah, but I don't mind so much now,"  Dania replied.

Sarah chuckled.  "Sooo.... can you tell me what happened that made you uncomfortable?"

"Well," Dania started, "we were sitting on a bench, just sort of kissing and stuff, and he..."

There was a pause.

"Go on," Sarah prompted.

"He tried to touch my boob, but I wasn't ready for that.  It seemed too soon. I mean, it's just our first date, right?"

"Right."

"So, I like, pushed him away, but he tried again, so I pushed him away again, and then he got all angry and stuff and didn't know why I was being such a prude when my mom is ..."

Dania stopped.

Sarah's eyes narrowed.  "Go on.  When your mom is ..."

In a low voice, Dania continued her sentence. "When my mom is such a whore."

Sarah stomped on the clutch and the brake while simultaneously downshifting the car and sending it into a skid sideways down the road, the tires screaming as the motor roared with power.  As the car spun into the opposite direction, Sarah popped the clutch and sent the car speeding back towards Stalin.

"Mom! NO!" Dania screamed. "I knew I shouldn't have told you!"

That was the secret Thomas had kept from her.  Sarah realized she would lose her daughter's confidence forever if she acted on what Dania had said.  She eased her foot off the throttle and made a gentle turn back towards Leighton Acres.  "Ok," Sarah said, "but only because I love you."

Dania sat in the passenger seat in silence.

"If someone called you a whore, I'd be all over them," Sarah said, "and nothing would stop me.  I hope you know that."

"I know."

"You're not a prude and you're not a whore," Sarah continued. 

"I know."

Sarah glanced at the girl in the passenger seat. "Do you think I'm a whore?" she asked Dania.

"No," Dania said in a small voice.

"I promise I won't get angry if you tell the truth," Sarah said, "but I'll go apeshit if you're lying.  And you know I can tell if your lying. So I'll ask you again.  Do you think I'm a whore?"

"No," Dania repeated, "but you're just so confident in yourself.  Like you can do anything and just not care."

"I care," Sarah replied. "I really do.  But the only man I've whored myself out to is the one I married.  The rules are different when you're married."

"But everyone at school has seen you naked..."

"But not everyone has had sex with me, and absolutely none of them are students or faculty at Stalin or any other high school.  Besides, it wasn't like I had much choice.  You believe me, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"You can ask Barney and Oscar if you want.  They're the only ones I've let touch..."

And then Sarah remembered the water polo team in the swimming pool.

"Shit!" she shouted, banging her hand on the steering wheel.  "I knew I should've interrogated him!"  She exhaled.  She knew she'd have to tell Dania about her experience in the swimming pool.  "Ok," Sarah said, "here's what happened."

She proceeded to tell her daughter about how she had been swimming in the pool during mandatory P.E. class when the water polo team had shown up and surrounded her, trapping her on the pool deck.  She told Dania about how they had requested to tie her up and fondle her, and how she wasn't allowed to refuse a legitimate request because of the Program's rules, so she had agreed to do it.  She told her how the entire team had made her cum just before the bell rang for the next period.  And how she had suffered the ramifications of that event for the rest of her term as the school's nude model.  She thought she had squelched all of the noise, but now it seemed her daughter was suffering for it as well.

"I'm sorry if that hurt you.  I really am.  The next time someone tries to use that against you, I want you to hit them as hard as you can.  I don't care if you get suspended or not.  You can even punch the dean if you want," Sarah said.  "I'll give you a free pass on that one."

"Can I cash in that free pass tonight?"

"Why?" Sarah asked. "You're not in any trouble."

"Well," Dania said reluctantly, "I know I'm not supposed to fight, but when he said that, I kind of lost it."

Sarah looked at her suspiciously.  "What did you do?"

"I punched him in the nose.  It bled pretty bad.  I think I might've broken it."  Dania spun in her chair and said quickly, "But I felt really terrible about it! Honest!"

Sarah started giggling. "So not only did he get his ass kicked by the daughter, but he'll have a nice shiner courtesy of the mother, too."

Dania also started giggling. "Yeah, I guess it is pretty funny."  Dania laughed some more, then said, "Hand puppet? Really?"

Sarah shrugged her shoulders. "It was all I could come up with on the spur of the moment.  I'll think of something better next time.  Any suggestions?"

***

"You sure Sarah... I mean Mrs. Leighton... doesn't mind?" Oscar asked.

"Yes," Isparana replied as she opened the front door and flipped a switch on the wall, bathing the foyer in gentle lighting. "It is her suggestion, remember?  It is ok for you both to come here tonight."

Barney now entered the foyer and looked around. "Nice place.  I'd love to film a movie here.  That exterior would be great for a horror film, and the interior would be a cool period set.  Hey Ossy; Hitchcock meets Poirot."

Gap-tooth nodded. "Score that."

"Could I be in your movie?" Isparana asked.

"Of course," Barney replied with a smile. "Every mystery needs a femme fatale."

"Can there be two?" Thalia asked, sliding up to Gap-tooth.

"We can make room," he replied.

"Come," Isparana said taking Barney's hand, "I will show you the bedrooms."

***

Dania was face down in her usual sleeping position.  Sarah was next to her, on her side, her hand on the girl's bare back, gently massaging her daughter's skin.  Moonlight drifted through the large bedroom window as Dania softly stirred in the spot where Thomas normally slept.

"Dania?" Sarah whispered.

"Hmmm?" the girl moaned in response.

"Do you regret being our daughter?"

"Sometimes."

Sarah continued to stroke the girl's back.

A soft breath escaped through Dania's mouth.  The girl was asleep.

Sometimes?  Sometimes her daughter regretted having her as a mother?  That wasn't the answer Sarah was hoping for, but she didn't want to wake her daughter to question her further.

Sarah rolled back the covers and slipped quietly out of the bed, then padded over to the overstuffed chair facing the window.  It was her favorite place to sit when she wanted to just think about things.  She sat there, watching her estate sleep through the night, as she pondered what to do next.

Dania stirred. "Mom?" she said, reaching for the emptied spot on the bed.

"I'm over here," Sarah replied.

"Come to bed."

"I can't.  I'm too keyed up."

An exasperated sigh came from the form under the sheets.  "Come back to bed," Dania croaked, patting the linens.  "Please?"

"I can't. My daughter just told me she regrets having me for her mother."

"Mom, I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about. You were honest, and you're probably right.  I overreacted.  I need to do a better job controlling myself before I become a danger to society."

"It's not that."

Sarah turned and faced the lump under the covers. "Am I doing a bad job?" she asked. "Of being your mother, I mean.  Honestly.  Am I doing a bad job?"

"No," Dania replied.  "It's just... I don't know. Come back to bed and we'll talk about it in the morning."

Sarah continued to sit in the chair.  She sighed. "So which parts do you regret about me?"

Dania rolled onto her side to face the silhouetted figure sitting in the chair. "The parts where you keep me up all night with your questions instead of coming to bed."

Sarah laughed softly. "Ok, but I need to know first. Seriously.  Ok?"

Dania sighed. "Ok, if you must know, I regret the parts where you're just... you're too much 'you'.  It's like you can't be normal.  Sometimes, I just want a normal mom.  Ok?  It's not easy being the daughter of a bad ass sometimes.  Particularly when she's angry."

Sarah smiled.  She remembered saying something similar to her own mother about being the daughter of a celebrity after Shannon Siobhan had won her first Grammy.  "Fair enough."  She got up from the chair and padded back across the room.  She slipped quietly under the covers as her daughter closed her eyes.  As Sarah settled into the bed, Dania rested her hand against Sarah's shoulder.

Sarah placed her hand over Dania's.  "I promise I'll try to be more of a typical mom," Sarah whispered.

"Thanks."

"I said I'll try, but I may not always be able to.  You girls test me sometimes."

Dania snickered. "Night, Mom."

"Good night, darling."

***

Thomas stood in the garage, dressed in a pair of old jeans, a plain white t-shirt, and his field jacket.  A pair of hastily-laced boots covered his feet as crickets chirped in the midnight dew.  He was staring at his prized sports car.

"My baby," he lamented, "what did she do to you?"

Thomas had spotted the nicks at the back of the car first, where the tires had violently thrown gravel against the fenders.  He reached his hand inside the wheel well, feeling along the surface of the tire and finding one, then two, distinct flat spots where Sarah had locked up the brakes.

"Oh, my poor baby..."

Thomas then moved to the front of the car and lifted the hood to examine the motor.  Flecks of breather oil spattered the underside of the sheet metal. She'd definitely turned the motor loose at some point, probably at the same time she'd ripped up pieces of the road with the tires.  He sighed.  He'd have to do a more thorough examination, probably even pull the headers off to check the rings, to determine the full extent of the damage.  He picked up a rag and began to wipe the oil off of the paint, cleaning it before it ate through the polish and stained the clearcoat.  He sighed.  He couldn't prohibit her from driving the MGC.  There would be times, like tonight, when she would need a car, no matter what he said.  He sighed again.  There was only one thing to do.

He picked up his phone and dialed Reynier's message system.

"Rey?" he said, "It's Thomas.  I need you to do me a favor first thing in the morning after you've reported for duty.  I'd do it myself but it looks like I'll be pulling an all-nighter."

It wasn't easy being married to a bad ass sometimes.  Particularly an angry one.

***

Barney sat in the tub, his arms hanging lazily over the edge.  His head was tilted back and he looked like he was dead.  Fresh bubbles formed a cloud against his chest.  "This feels so good," he mumbled.

"I am glad you like it," Isparana said as she unbuttoned her skirt, then slid the material down her toned legs.  She unclipped her stockings, and soon they were sliding down her legs as well, joining her skirt in a neatly-folded stack on the counter.  The lingerie belt around her waist soon found its way onto the stack, forming a little crown of lace.

Barney's clothes lay in a heap on the floor.

Isparana, clad in only her blouse and scant underwear, reached up and carefully unclipped her earrings.

"Tell me again about your movie," Isparana said.

"Well," Barnie said, lifting his head and seeing the statuesque girl undressing in front of him, "Whoa!"

Isparana giggled at his reaction.  "That is a short movie," she teased.

"Um, yeah."

Isparana began to loosen the button at the bottom of her blouse. "Maybe you should make it longer.  You could have a femme fatale that is exotic and beautiful..."

"Ok."

Isparana slipped the next button through its little slot, the material parting to reveal the small triangle of sheer lavender fabric covering her mound.  "Maybe she should be very kind...and very gentle..."

The boy coughed nervously. "Ok. Sure."

Another button slipped through its hole. Two more to go.  "But maybe she should be a little naughty, too..."

"Yeah, naughty."

Another button fell away, revealing the lean tummy rising from her scantily-clad hips. "And maybe she should be comfortable with her own body..."

"Yeah, that's always good."

The last button slipped through its hole.  Isparana dipped her shoulders and the blouse slid down her arms, revealing the curves of her breasts as they rolled out of the top of her lavender bra.  She cocked her hips and let her hands drop naturally along her legs, accentuating her taut belly and firm thighs, one knee demurely bent.  She smiled at the boy sitting erect in the tub. "You like?" she asked, paused, then added, "My ideas?"

"Yes," he replied, "It's ... very nice. Your ideas. Please, tell me more."

"Ok," she said with a slight grin, reaching to the clasp centered between the cups of her bra. Her fingers delicately worked the little piece of metal. "I think maybe she should be very intelligent and artistic..."  The cups fell away, revealing her full breasts, each of the tawny mounds capped by a dark nipple that had begun to contract with arousal.

"I agree," the boy replied as the Cilician beauty set the garment on the counter.  "She should be," he gasped, "intelligent and artistic."

Now Isparana was hooking her thumbs in the thin waistline of her panties.  "And maybe she should be skilled in the art of seduction."  The tiny strip of elastic material slid effortless down her smooth legs, revealing her clean-shaven snatch to the boy.

"Yes," Barney replied, "she should be very skilled.  Definitely. Very skilled."

Now Isparana strode slowly over to the boy, her skin twisting sensually with each step, his eyes following the movement of her body.  She stood next to him and lifted her boot, placing it on the side of the tub.  "Would you be kind to help a lady who cannot help herself?  For truly, I cannot help myself."

Barney flashed a nervous smile, then reached for the fastener on her boot.

***

Oscar sat on the edge of the bed, his back ramrod straight as Thalia slipped off her shoes.  "You do not want to get comfortable?" she asked.

"No," he said quickly, "I'm fine."

"You can remove your shoes. It is ok."

"That's ok. I'm fine just like this."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Oh," she replied. "Is ok if I get comfortable?"

"Sure," he answered nervously, "feel free. It's a free country. Freedom!" he said, raising his fists in a mock cheer. 

She smiled politely. The joke was lost on her.

Oscar realized his failure. He was about to crash and burn.

"These are not my clothes," Thalia explained, "and I do not want to ruin them. Ok?"

"Sure," Oscar replied nervously. "Do whatever you want to do. Freedom!" he said again, then mentally kicked himself for repeating his mistake.

Thalia flashed another polite grin.

She reached for the subtle zipper on Dania's skirt and slid it down the little track, then carefully stepped out of it.  The hem of the borrowed blouse fell to just below her hips, barely concealing her modesty.  As she bent over to lift the skirt and fold it, Oscar got a tantalizing peek at the shapely curve of her ass.

Thalia set the skirt on a small table and turned towards the boy.  She began to unbutton the blouse, starting with the top button.

"You have see a woman no clothes, yes?" she asked him.

"Sure," he replied. "I've seen Sarah naked a bunch of times.  She even starred in one of our movies naked."

Thalia paused. "Sarah? She was in your movies?"

"Yeah, but only once.  We asked her to do it and she agreed. It was a hot scene; one of the best we've shot."

"Hot scene?  Was it... bad?"

Oscar started to jump up, then quickly changed his mind. "No! Oh no! Nothing like that.  She was a prisoner and she was being tortured, so she was naked on a rack and being forced to reveal some secrets.  It was all pretend; just part of the story."  He laughed nervously.

"Oh," Thalia said, dipping her head as she played with the third button on her blouse, "so, how many girls you see naked?"

"Not including my mom?  Just Sarah."  The boy looked away quickly.  "I'm sorry," he said apologetically, "I'm not really as cool as you think I am. I know a girl like you probably has lots of guys asking her out; guys with more experience.  I'll just, um, I'll just wait here quietly until its time to go."

Thalia slowly shook her head and smiled. "You're not go.  You stay.  Here.  All night."  Thalia released the third button, followed quickly by the fourth.  The blouse fell to the floor, revealing her compact musculature accented by the two soft curves of her breasts, capped by brownish-pink nipples.  Thalia stepped out of the blouse and set it across the table.  She was naked; her body lean and tight with a narrow strip highlighting the gentle curve of her mound of Venus.

Oscar was definitely agitated.

Thalia looked at him, her head lowered with determination. "Come," she commanded, "and touch me."

"I, uh," he stammered, "you're not going to hit me or anything are ya?"

She tilted her head. "No," she questioned, "why I do that?"

"Because Sarah did.  She has a mean left hook."

"I don't know what 'left hook' is, but yes, she is mean sometimes.  But I am not.  Come," the girl said invitingly, "touch me. I will not hit."

The boy stood up slowly, his cock sticking out like a tent pole.  He was clearly embarrassed.

Thalia looked at it and smiled. "I see why you no want to remove your clothes," she said sweetly.  "But it is ok. Come. Touch me."

Oscar slowly took a step towards her and raised his right hand towards her breast.  He touched it, gently, his palm surrounding the curve of warm, smooth flesh.  He remembered what Sarah had told him when he had groped her clumsily in the hallway on her first day at Stalin, so now he was being extra careful with Thalia.

He lightly brushed her nipple with his hand, his finger tracing a delicate line around the hardening cap as she swayed slightly from the stimulation.  She lifted her arms, inviting him to touch her body more as he studied her nipple intensely.  Then, he slid both of his hands around her waist and down her flanks, wrapping his arm around her torso and drawing her closer to him as his fingers descended down her back and under the soft curvature of her ass.  He squeezed her twin globes of muscle gently, and she shivered with pleasure.  She could feel him trembling as he pressed himself against her.

She leaned in and kissed him as her hands reached for the button on his jeans.

***

Barney was pinned against the back of the tub as Isparana, kneeling in the foam, leaned over him, smiling at him. "Do not be afraid," she said softly, "I will be gentle."

"I, uh..."

"And I will be a little naughty," she added.

Isparana now reached under the suds that drifted across the top of the water, searching for his organ that hid, somewhere, under the mountains of white foam.  He jumped as soon as her fingertips made contact with the tightly-drawn flesh of his balls.  She giggled at his reaction.  His face began to redden with embarrassment.  "I am sorry," she said apologetically, "I should not laugh."

"That's ok," he said nervously, "I just, um..."

Now she was gently probing around his crotch, orienting herself on where certain parts of his anatomy were.  She smiled and gently traced her fingers along the inflamed ridges of his cock, tickling the engorged head with her hand.  Her other hand gently cupped his balls, lightly surrounding and supporting them, preventing them from retracting up into his body.  Then, she gave him a slow, deliberate pump, drawing a gasp of pleasure from the boy.

"Are you sure the others...?" he started to ask.

"They are occupied.  We will not be disturbed," she answered as she reached for the tiny cellophane package Sarah had given her.  Holding the edge with her teeth, she tore the little square open, then reached under the suds and gentle unrolled the condom over his tool.  When she had reached the base of his shaft, she gave him a slight pump, to make sure it would stay secure.

Isparana tossed her hair and gave him a wide smile as she continued to pump his cock.  He leaned back against the smooth porcelain and a groan drifted from his throat.  He closed his eyes and soon he felt her lips pressing against his in a gentle kiss as she held his cock and balls.

He smiled. She tasted like a mix of fish and fruit, no doubt a blend of her dinner and her cosmetics.  But instead of being repulsed, he found it intoxicating.  He opened his mouth and returned her kiss, long and deep.  He felt her lips tighten into a smile as he probed her mouth with his tongue.

She leaned against him, pressing her breasts against his torso as she positioned herself over his enraged cock.  Using her hand, she guided herself onto him, taking him into her body even as he probed her mouth with his tongue. She gasped slightly at the pressure, then placed her hand against his chest and began to grind against his hips, the muscles of her body twisting with each undulation as she flexed against his cock.

She broke their kiss and leaned back, lifting her two golden breasts towards the damp night air as she braced her hand against his body.  She gasped once, twice, then shivered as his cock throbbed in her tunnel. Her hair fell across her shoulder, draping itself over one upturned breast as Barney lifted his hand to cup her other trembling mound, his thumb toying with the dark, tight nipple.

She swayed in the foamy water, her hips grinding against his as he lay trapped against the smooth ceramic of the vintage bathtub, their bodies creating waves that sloshed inside the clawed foot tub like a small typhoon.  Then, she released his balls, the two orbs pulsing with energy beneath her as she began to feel her own typhoon deep in her belly.  She gasped and a tiny squeal chirped from her throat as she felt him throbbing inside her. 

Now he rose up, his back arching as he climaxed, his cock shooting his sperm into the tiny protective shell she had gingerly wrapped around his manhood.  She squealed again and thrust her head back, her mouth opened with pleasure as she exploded with sexual energy.  They both held their positions, every muscle in their bodies twisting as they each rode their climax.

Then, slowly, he settled back against the porcelain as Isparana lowered her head to face him.  She smiled at him dreamily, her long eyelashes fluttering as she came down from her orgasmic high.

She placed both of her hands on his chest, bracing herself as she mumbled something in Farsi, then said "Foda... that was good."

"Yeah," he breathed.  He moaned pleasantly as Isparana leaned forward and kissed him again.  She ran her hands along his torso, feeling the leanness of his body as his heart beat strongly in his chest.  She sighed, then lifted herself off of him.  She moaned and smiled as his softening member slid out of her.

***

Thalia stood like a living statue, naked, her arms raised and her elbows slightly bent, like a dancer caught in mid-movement.  Oscar slowly circled her, studying every curve of her body, his hands not quite touching her skin as his eyes poured over her flesh.  She smiled, waiting patiently for him to complete his examination.  As he wound his way downward from her shoulders, crossing her back, she shuffled her feet apart, spreading her legs to invite him to continue his explorations in her most sensitive region.

The message was not lost on the boy.

He continued to circle her body, his thumbs and forefingers forming a small square through which he studied her contours of muscle and skin, like an astronaut orbiting a strange new world.  His little capsule spun slower as he neared her hips, absorbing every miniscule detail of her body.  She inhaled softly, patiently, watching his descent towards her nether regions.

Now he was underneath her, his little window peering upwards between her thighs, studying the details of her blossoming sex.  He was so close that she could feel his breath against her thighs, yet he was not physically touching her.  She wondered how much longer he would continue to keep her in suspense, tormenting her with his little adventure.

Then she felt a slight pressure against her vulva, just above her slit.  His little spacecraft had touched down.

She smiled. She wanted to grab his hands and shove them against her clit; to use them to finish the job her vagina so desperately wanted him to do.  But she would have to wait.  He was in no rush.

She flinched slightly as his finger softly traced a line along her cleft, delicately teasing the aroused tissue there, tickling it with the tip of his forefinger as she stood, naked and exposed to him.  Her arms began to fatigue from being held upright for so long, but he had not yet finished his task.

Cautiously, he slipped his finger inside the folds of her slit, as if probing for danger.  Thalia shivered and let out a pleasured moan.  He stopped and looked up at her. She smiled and gave him a gentle nod.

His finger continued its journey along her slit, then circling around the opening to her pussy.  She shivered and moaned again, and again he paused and looked at her.  Her eyes were closed but her arms were still upright.  He circled her opening again, and then gently inserted his fingers into her tunnel.

"Foda... bastante," she mumbled, "Enough."  She then grabbed the boy's shoulders and pushed him to the floor; his back landing awkwardly with a loud thump.  She quickly knelt and straddled his waist before he could react; his prophylactic-encased cock throbbing expectantly against her pussy.  She kept her hands on his shoulders as she leaned forward and kissed him deeply.  He let out a quick grunt of surprise as she attacked him with her tongue but then he calmed as he realized that he was enjoying the experience.

She broke their kiss and sat up, flashed him a mischievous smile, then reached back and guided him into her tunnel.  She moaned as he entered her; her pussy expanding to accept his organ.  When she was satisfied that he was fully seated inside her, she began to grind her hips against his body, one hand gently cradling his balls.

The boy looked up at her and smiled, then settled into her rhythm, meeting her thrusts with his own.

***

"I'll take your arm and shove it so far up your ass your fingernails will scratch out your eyeballs!"

Sarah snickered.  "Is that the best you can do?"

Dania was standing in the kitchen of the main house as Sarah packed two baskets of food; the morning sun streaming through the lace-curtained windows.

"Ok, how about 'You hurt my daughter and you'll be taking your meals up your ass!'"

Sarah laughed. "That sounds good, but it doesn't make much sense."

"No, but if there's two things I've learned about boys, it's that they like to eat, and they have a fascination with weird objects being shoved up their ass.  That combines two of their favorites."

Sarah giggled as she wrapped some bread in wax paper, set it inside each of the old-fashioned picnic baskets and then added a plastic container of food in each one as well.  Next came silver cylinders of juice and milk followed by bananas and oranges.  "Here, take these up to our friends at the Anders house.  I want them to have a good breakfast before they leave for school."

"Ok, Mom," Dania said cheerily as she collected the baskets and headed for the door.

"Kiss," Sarah reminded her daughter.

The girl spun and gave her mom a quick peck before scampering out the door.

Sarah waited a few minutes to make sure Dania was out of earshot.  She knew she'd have to address the Reginald problem as soon as possible, before he had a chance to spread any rumors around school like a cancer.  She had promised Dania she wouldn't do anything "un-Mom-like" to the boy, which had pretty much tied her hands.

But that didn't mean she couldn't call in a few favors.

***

Reginald had just finished his morning laps in the pool and was in the boys' locker room getting ready to shower up for school.  Standing naked on the cold floor, he opened his locker door and prepared to reach inside.

A fist punched against the metal door violently, slamming it shut with a loud bang.

Reginald spun to challenge his assailant.

"Hi, Rege," James said menacingly.  "Nice shiner.  Got a minute to talk about it?" 

Chastity came strolling up behind James, her eyes fixated on the naked swimmer pressed against the lockers. 

"Hello, champ," Chastity said to the startled boy, "I understand you had a date last night with some of my teammates."

Reginald's eyes darted from Chastity to James, and back to Chastity. "Yeah..." he said warily.

"Did you have a good time?" she asked.

"Yeah..."

"Good, good," Chastity said. "And how about your date?  Did she enjoy herself?"

Reginald looked at James, then back to Chastity. "Um... I guess so."

"Ooohh," Chastity said, feigning a mortal wound, "wrong answer, champ."

James slammed Reginald back against the locker, the boy's body making a loud bang as it smashed against the cold metal box.

"We like you, Rege, we really do," Chastity said, "We thought you were a pretty cool guy, but when I found out that you hurt my girl's feelings, well, you hurt me, too."

"And I don't like it when people hurt my girlfriend," James added.

Reginald's eyes darted back and forth, trying to anticipate where this conversation was going.

"And then," Chastity said, "I find out that, not only did you hurt my teammate's feelings, you insulted my coach at the same time.  That wasn't smart."

James slammed Reginald into the locker again.

"Ok, look," Reginald stammered, "Maybe I... I acted in haste, ok?  I didn't mean anything.  I was just seeing how far I could go. That's all."

"Oh?" Chastity said, disbelievingly, "And do you know your limits now?"

Reginald looked at the two of them and said, "Yeah, yeah I do."

"Good," Chastity answered, "because this morning you're going to apologize to Dania and ask her out on a date.  A nice, friendly date where you know your limits like a gentleman.  Understand?"

"What?  Are you kidding me?  No way!  Her mom will kill me!"

Chastity smiled. "Then maybe you should apologize to her, too.  I hear she can be reasonable at times.  Provided you're sincere.  She has an ability to detect lies just by looking at you.  And trust me, you really don't want to lie to her."

"What?!" Reginald pointed to his bruised eye, "Do you see this?  Do you think I want a twin on the other eye?  No way! I'm not going anywhere near her or her daughter!"

"Oooooh," Chastity answered, feigning a mortal wound again, "there you go with another wrong answer, Rege.  I think you really need... no.... you really WANT to apologize to her.  I tell you what; because we like you so much, we'll help you with your sincerity."

The next thing he knew, he was face down on the floor of the locker room, Chastity's knee in his back and James holding his arms.  "Hey!  What the..."  He heard the sound of cloth ripping and then he was being picked up by his elbows.  As he collected his feet underneath him, he realized that James had taped his wrists together behind his back with cloth athletic tape.

"How does it feel to be stripped naked and helpless?" Chastity asked.  "Kinda sucks, doesn't it?  What do you suppose you would do to preserve your dignity?  Would you do anything someone told you to do, just to survive?  Think about that for a second."

Just then, Vella poked her head around the corner and nodded.

"Let's go for a walk, champ," Chastity said cheerily.

"No!  Oh, no!" Reginald said, planting his feet as Chastity tugged him and James pushed him. His resistance was futile. His water-slicked bare feet slid on the hard locker room floor as his naked body approached the morning sunshine beaming through the open door. Reginald could hear the sound of the school bus unloading its full capacity of students right outside the entrance to the room.  "Ok, ok, ok," Reginald said quickly, "I'll do it!"

The group stopped, but James did not let go of Reginald.

"Now, suppose for a second," Chastity said, "that you were forced to parade around school like that?  What do you suppose people would think?  What do you suppose they would do?  Would they laugh at your shrinkage, or do you think they'd try to grab ahold of your cock and give it a spin to see if it got any bigger?  Do you think someone might even try to get you off?"

Chastity grabbed the boy's cock and began to tease it, encouraging it to fill and rise.  It slowly stretched itself out like a snake, the small head twisting in the air of the room as the shaft dangled above his scrotum.

Reginald stood trembling just inside the open door.  Chastity had certainly developed a familiarity with the male anatomy and how to stimulate it.  He swallowed nervously as she brought him to a full erection.

"Now suppose an entire group of girls were to walk through that door right now and see you like that, your dick sticking out in full glory, ready to give a girl a poke."  Chastity grabbed his balls and squeezed them sensually. "They might think you were some sort of flasher, out to assault little girls.  Is that how you want to be known?  Reggie the Flasher, the Molester of Innocent Children?  That's a three-year minimum in Pound-You-In-The-Ass prison and a life-time sentence as a sexual predator.  Hope you weren't planning on going to any schools, playgrounds, churches, fairs, public parks, or theaters..."

"Or libraries, malls, parades, or games," James chimed in.

"Or festivals, restaurants, or swimming pools anytime soon. Or for the rest of your life," Chastity added, "I mean, look at you, you're literally throbbing right now just thinking of those little girls grabbing your thing and playing with it.  It'd be an easy conviction."

"No, oh God, please..." Reginald begged as Chastity squeezed his balls tighter.

"Then why did you think a woman, trapped in a helpless moment and surrounded by a group of boys who tied her up and masturbated her, would want to be thought of as a prostitute as she tried to build a professional career?  It's not like she had much say in the matter. Doesn't seem fair, does it?"

Reginald grunted, and shook his head.

"Good. I'm glad we agree on that.  Let me offer you a little advice, champ," Chastity said in a sinister voice as she released his testicles. "Take my friend Dania out on a nice date and play nice, or don't play at all.  You don't want to piss off the wrong people again."  She reached up and gently placed her hand on his cheek.  "I'm glad we had this little conversation."

Chastity looked at James and nodded. James spun the helpless swimmer around and pushed him towards the middle of the room.

"Remember, Rege, We like you.  That's why we only taped your wrists together," Chastity said as she turned towards the exit. "Be thankful you can still make a noise when you fart."

***

At the front of the school, Barney and Oscar were making an entrance.

They had each received a new hair-do compliments of their girls; a mix of retro-50's sidewalls with razor-cut ends that gave them a suggested bad-boy edginess.  They had also received some wardrobe advice; also courtesy of the girls.  Barney, dressed in a plain white Oxford under a 5-button vest, with a pair of rolled-up blue jeans, a thick leather belt and leather boots, was taking his hero walk down the crowded aisle.  Oscar, his right-hand man, was wearing khaki twill pants with a button-down seersucker shirt, leather wing-tip shoes, and a pair of silver-rimmed mirrored aviator sunglasses.  As they passed along the walls of lockers, they slapped hands with anyone wearing a letterman jacket and smiled at any girl they deemed pretty enough to be worth their effort to notice.  The retro rebels were holding court.

At the other end of the hall, a similar scene was playing out.

A trim, tightly-muscled young woman in a form-fitting custom motorcycle suit was entering the school, her fine brown hair loosely styled in a tortoise-shell clasp trimmed in silver and jade, with jet-black sunglasses resting neatly over her face.  A designer hip-purse was slung like a holster around her waist; the well-heeled bad girl.  Next to her was a statuesque exotic beauty in a tailored blouse and skirt; a pair of oversized dark sunglasses covering her eyes and a stylish handbag hanging from her elbow.  One foot was adorned with a designer pump, the other by a plastic custom-fitted rehab boot; the glamorous starlet, or close to it.

All eyes followed the two pairs as they passed down the hall, coming together at the axis of the school.  They stopped, looked at each other, and smiled.

"Isparana," Barney said confidently with a nod, extending his arm.

She smiled and slid her arm along his, grabbing his hand as they proceeded towards Isparana's first class.

Oscar simply offered his elbow.  Thalia leaned in and wrapped her arms around his waist, her hands sliding down his backside to squeeze his ass as she gave him a deep kiss, drawing a few victory whoops from curious onlookers.  She released her lip-lock, turned, gave him a playful spank, and said, "Tonight".  She then left the way she had come, all eyes watching as her ass swayed seductively with each step back down the hall.

Oscar then turned to the voyeuristic crowd around him and nodded, saying with a wide smile, "That's right, that's right..." as the kids around him clapped and cheered.

Dania, Vella, Chastity, and James watched from the corner.  "They're terrible," Vella said with a devilish grin, "but I like the new look."  The others laughed and grunted their concurrence.

Just then, Reginald appeared. "Hi, Dania.  About last night..."

Chastity, James, and Vella took their cue and melded seamlessly into the crowd.

Reginald looked at Dania, his eye sporting a dark bruise and his nose slightly out of alignment. "Listen, I'm sorry about what I did last night.  I shouldn't have done that so soon, and I shouldn't have insulted your mom like that.  I'm sorry, and I promise I won't do it again."

"Hmmm," Dania replied. "Well, you're a little late. I've moved on.  But I'll be sure to tell my Mom when I see her this afternoon."

Reginald stood there, shocked.  After all that he had endured, he was being rejected!

Just then, a smallish boy with glasses and dirty blonde hair walked up to Dania.  "Hi," he said, "Can I carry your books?"

"Sure!" Dania beamed, handing him her book bag. "I hope it's not too heavy."

"No," he said, trying to suppress a grunt as he slung the bag over his shoulder, "not a problem."

The pair then turned and started walking down the hall.

"Bye, Reggie," Dania called over her shoulder as she merged into the flow of students.

***

"Mrs. Leighton?  I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to put your hands behind your back, please ma'am."

Reynier was standing in the entrance to the main house's kitchen.  He was dressed in full riot gear.  Two other guards stood just behind him, similarly kitted out.

Sarah was sitting on a tall stool, drinking a cup of juice and reading the morning news on her computer.  She was dressed in nothing but her robe and a pair of convict sneakers.  Her hair was twisted up into a quick bun, held in place by a pencil.

She sighed.  She knew it had to be related to the assault in the housing projects, or maybe the assault on Reginald at the school.  She also knew she couldn't resist. She could take out one of them with the pencil in her hair, but then what?  She had nowhere to run to anyway.  "Ok," she said, surrendering to the Leighton Acres security chief.  She stood up and turned around, her hands behind her.

Reynier quickly snapped the cuffs around her slender wrists.

"This way, ma'am," he said, trying to be polite as he directed her out the back door and into the prison van.

She was placed on a bench and her ankles were shackled to the floor.  It was only the third time she'd be restrained in the back of the van.  The last time had been on her trip to Stalin High as the school's first convict assignee, registered to a week of forced nudity as part of the Program.  The time before that had been her idea, as one of the games she liked to play with Thomas when she wanted to have sex. She smiled thinking about that, at the memory of how he had fucked her forcefully in the back of that van; the warden and his concubine.  She could feel her pussy starting to buzz with the echoes of that experience.  She pressed her thighs together, lest Reynier notice her arousal through the open flap of her bathrobe.

The security chief took a seat opposite her as the door slammed shut.  Two thumps soon followed and they were on their way.

"What are the charges?" Sarah asked.

"I'm not at liberty to discuss those, ma'am."

Sarah knew what happened to law enforcement officers stripped of the privilege of title, particularly once they were inserted into the prison population.  She'd seen it first hand at her father's penitentiary.  She felt slightly nauseous at the thought of it happening to her.

She'd lose everything. She knew that.  Her marriage would be over; her academy gone.  Hotchkiss and Azuma would try to distance themselves from anything having to do with her.  Dania and Isparana would forever be stained as relatives of the warden who died in prison just for three counts of assault.

Dead in prison.  She'd probably get three years for using a deadly weapon on the first two charges, another two for assaulting a minor on the third count.  Three strikes qualified her as a recidivist and an automatic ten year term.  But that wouldn't matter.  Once the prisoners found out who she was, she'd never make it more than a year behind bars before catching a shank to her ribs or a knife to her throat.

She might be able to get protective incarceration, a fancy word for solitary confinement.  Ten years of solitary; could she handle it?  Her unborn child would be taken from her by the State almost immediately, assuming she lived long enough to give birth. Thomas would have to sue for sole custody.  Her own child wouldn't know who she was until the fourth grade.  By then, Sarah probably wouldn't even know who she was either.  It was common for people to go insane under long-term solitary confinement, left to answer to nobody but their own demons. Sarah certainly had plenty of those.

The brakes squealed as the van came to stop.  Sarah guessed that they were pausing at the front gate, waiting for clearance to exit the compound.

Suddenly the door opened and the steps were lowered.  Reynier leaned forward and unlocked her leg chains from the floor, but left her wrists cuffed behind her.  He placed his hand on her elbow and helped her up.  She leaned over as she was guided out of the van, her breasts dangling freely against the material of her robe.

They weren't at the front gate.  They were at the motor pool.

Thomas stood waiting, dressed in the same clothes he had worn all night.  Grease stained his pants and shirt and his hands were black with grime.  There weren't any guards, other than Reynier, who still held her arms, and the driver of the van.  Thomas turned and directed them towards the barn's wide door.

Sarah grinned at Thomas. "You bastard.  You scared the pee out of me."

Thomas ignored her.

Sarah was guided into the garage; Renier still holding her arms.  Her husband pointed to the MGC.  "That," he said in a weary voice, "is off-limits to you.  You're not allowed to drive it. You can't even touch it. You can't even let anybody else drive it, either." He looked at her and waved his finger in her face. "No touchy."

He then turned and pointed to what looked like an explosion of car parts in an unused corner of the barn.  "That," he said, "is your new car."

Sarah's mouth dropped.  The body shell of a Cosworth Cobra sat on jack stands. At each corner was a tire, a brake rotor, and the applicable suspension components.  A steering wheel and vintage racing seats sat next to the doors that lay forlornly on the ground.  The trunk was open and the fuel tank protruded from the rear.

"How am I supposed to drive that?!" she exclaimed. "It's in pieces!"

"You grew up on a farm. You're pretty handy with tools."

"Thomas!" she exclaimed, her frustration evident in her tone, "I'm not a mechanic!"

"Then you better find one.  Your daughter might be a good start."

Sarah looked at him.

"You might also consider whoring yourself out to the warden for special privileges.  I'm sure a woman with your talents should have no problem with that."

Sarah began to smile. "You bastard."

"I'm not totally heartless.  The major components are already installed, thanks to the Cosworth factory. Other than the fuel tank, the engine is oiled, wired, and ready to go.  The transmission is in place and the drive train is finished.  Except for the seats, the interior is complete and the dashboard is done. Adding the steering wheel is simply a matter of tightening a bolt and wiring up the passive safety system.  Dania can help you with everything that needs to be done.  Or your warden, if you're cooperative."

Sarah dipped her head. "Thomas..." she started to say, a grin pulling at her mouth.

"Take her back to the house, Rey," Thomas said, "and chain her to her office desk.  There's enough work there to keep her busy for a few days at least.  Make sure she has enough food and water to last about six hours.  Might as well give her a portable toilet, too.  I'll be along to release her after I've had some rest."

"Thomas!" Sarah shouted.

Rey started to tug her towards the prison van.

"Wait; wait a second," Sarah said, resisting the heavily-armed guard. "Thomas, how am I supposed to get to practice this afternoon?  The kids took my Hotchkiss to school."

He pointed towards Dania's old red pick up truck, the paint faded and heavily weathered.  "It's mechanically sound," he said, "and I'm sure she won't mind loaning it to her mother, provided her mother doesn't tear it up like she did the MGC."

"Thomas!"

"Put her in the van, Rey," Thomas said, fatigued, "I'm going to hit the sack for a few."

***

Sarah had only been at her desk for an hour when she heard a gentle knock on her door.

"Come in," she answered.

The handle turned and the door cracked open.  Reynier stuck his head around the edge and peeked cautiously inside. "Sorry to interrupt you, ma'am, but do you have a minute?"

Sarah smiled. "Sure, Rey. Come on in. I could use the company."

The tall, heavy-set man flashed a quick smile and entered the office.  He held his hat nervously over his chest. "I just wanted to apologize for this morning, ma'am."

"That's ok," Sarah answered in a friendly manner, lifting her hand towards a guest chair, "please, sit down and we'll chat."

"That's alright, ma'am, I just... I felt a little bad about scaring you like that, but Mr. Leighton..."

"I know, Rey," Sarah said with a disarming grin, "I won't hold it against you.  I know you didn't have much choice in the matter.  You were just doing your job.  I'm holding Thomas accountable for that one."

The man smiled with relief. "Thank you, ma'am."  Reynier shifted his weight slightly. "I, uh, hope I don't sound too forward, ma'am, but I noticed that we kind of caught you... unprepared... this morning."

Sarah cocked her head at him questioningly.

"Well, I'm not allowed to unlock you so you can take a shower and get dressed properly, so I thought..." Reynier coughed and stepped aside.  He placed his hand on the doorknob and opened the door.  "Come on in," he said to someone waiting in the hall.

Theresa entered, carrying a large bowl of water.  Two towels were draped over her arm.  She dipped her head and did a slight curtsey.  "Your bath, mistress."

Sarah gave a little clap of joy and smiled deeply.  "Thank you, Rey," she said. 

"I'll see myself out, ma'am," Reynier replied.

"Oh, Rey, one thing," Sarah said as Theresa moved closer to the desk. "You may want to remind your security people to keep their face shields down when engaging a potential perp.  I could've taken out the new kid with my pencil to his eye."

Reynier nodded. "Will do, ma'am."

***

It didn't take long for word to get around school that Barney and Oscar had a thing going on with Isparana and a mystery girl.  Just who that mystery girl was became the topic of many a heated discussion.  Some thought she was a motorcycle racer.  Some theorized she was an actress or a model.  A small minority thought she was a superhero, hiding in a secret lair during the day so she could solve crime at night.  That was why she had told Oscar "Tonight" and walked away.

Isparana, for her part, did nothing to dissuade the rumors.  She was enjoying being something of a celebrity at school again, particularly after being forced to walk around it nude when she had first arrived there.  Like Sarah, being a convict in the Program had cast a slight stigma over her, and being housed at a correctional facility after being discharged didn't help attract boyfriends either.  When word got out that she was greenlighted for dating, the boys suddenly came out of nowhere, vying for her attention, orbiting her like planets around a brightly-burning sun.

Barney and Oscar were riding the wave of popularity themselves.  Girls kept complimenting them on their new look and wanting to know where they got their clothes.  Other boys complimented them as well, and hinted at looking for something similar for themselves.  The pair were evasive.  They didn't want to admit that they had raided a chest they'd found in the Anders house.  "We boutiqued it," became their standard response.

Meanwhile, poor Reginald found that he had fallen out of favor with two of the girls he had been chatting up for prom.  It's hard to project your masculinity when you're a senior boy sporting a broken nose and a black eye given to you by a sophomore girl and her mother.

Reginald's plight wasn't lost on Chastity, and she felt that she needed to help him fix it. 

"Hey, champ," she said as she caught him in the hall after classes had finished.

He turned, startled by the sound of her voice.  "Hey," he said nervously.

"A bit jumpy, aren't we?"

He sighed. "What do you want now?"

Chastity smiled. "Relax. I told you I like you. You hooked me up with James, remember? So, I'm going to help you."

He looked at her suspiciously.

"And I'm a little sorry I scared you this morning," Chastity continued, "but trust me, you'll thank me later.  You really don't want to cross the Leightons, particularly Sarah.  You may not know it yet, but she really is a good person ... when she's not crazy."

Reginald looked at her and sighed. "Ok, what did you have in mind."

"Well, your problem is that you used to be in, but now you're out. You need to get back in again.  The best way to do that, is to get in with the 'in' crowd.  And right now, you're talking to one of them."

"Ok."

"You hooked me up, so I'm hooking you up. See that girl over there?" Chastity pointed to Vella, who was completely unaware of the conversation going on about her. "She doesn't have a boyfriend.  She's also part of the 'in' crowd.  Since you crashed and burned with Dania, and prom is coming up, maybe..."

Reginald nodded. "I see what you're saying."

"Let me float your name by her and see what kind of response I get.  I hear she likes to swim, so you two will have that in common.  Maybe you can use that to open up good dialogue.  But let me talk to her first and then square it with Dania.  I might have to smooth things over with Sarah, too.  I'll get back to you.  Deal?"  Chastity extended her hand.

Reginald smiled. "Deal", he answered, giving her hand a quick shake, "You know, I've always thought Vella was kind of hot.  I just didn't know she was much into swimming, since she does all that running."

Chastity smiled. "Like a mermaid, Rege."

Reginald's face suddenly changed as he formed a mental image of Vella swimming naked; her long, dark hair drifting weightless around her with a fish's tail forming just below her bare hips. The same bare hips he had been admiring since her picture had appeared in the news showing them off.  Twice.   In his mind, he saw her smiling and waving to him as those hips slowly undulated with her tail.   "Whoa," he muttered under his breath.

Chastity gave him a knowing grin.  She realized she had just pressed one of his buttons.

***

The truck lumbered clumsily down the road.  It was certainly a far cry from the refined Hotchkiss Sarah drove on a regular basis.  Any attempt to take it much over the maximum highway speed was met with a floating sensation, like the roaring off-road tires were about to depart the asphalt and go find a dirt pit to play in instead.

The motor throbbed strongly with gobs of torque, the vibrations echoing around the bare-metal cabin.  The bench seats felt like they were nothing more than plastic stretched over bedsprings.  Her hands were sore from gripping the steering wheel so tightly, trying to keep the truck from jumping into the drainage ditches that followed along the road.  She didn't know how Dania could fall in love with something so raw.

The stoplights were the worst part.  Sitting in the cabin, wearing her Leighton Acres convict uniform because it was the only thing she could wear due to the chain around her leg keeping her from wearing her track pants - the chain that was there because Thomas was an hour late unlocking her ankle shackle - made her feel like an escapee.  She wanted to flash her badge and scream out the window "My other truck is a limited edition Hotchkiss!"

Finally, the torture was over as she pulled into the school parking lot.  Since school was officially done for the day, she didn't bother parking in the teacher's garage.  She put the truck's capabilities to good use and drove straight over the concrete tire stops, through the open gate, in and out of a drainage ditch, and into the stadium itself.  She didn't want anybody to see her getting out of such a beater vehicle and the stadium offered some privacy.  It was bad enough that her daughter drove the big red piece of shit.

The girls, still a bit groggy from their pre-practice nap, came staggering in a loose gaggle towards the faded red truck.

"Charger!" Dania shouted. "What did you do to him, Mom?!"

"Nothing," Sarah said innocently, "I just..."

"How long has this been here?" Dania wailed, reaching under the rear axle and pulling out a tangled piece of metal.

"I don't know. That must've happened when I went over the tire stops."

"You did what?!" the girl screamed. "My baby!"

Sarah suddenly realized that, after getting her hand slapped for driving the MGC, she was probably going to lose her driving privileges on the truck, too.

"I'm sorry," Sarah said apologetically, "I'll make it up to you."

"How?!" Dania cried out.

Sarah had to think fast. "I'll let you drive my Cosworth Cobra."

Dania choked back a sob.  She looked at her mom. "Your what?"

Sarah looked guiltily at the ground. "I kind of got punished by Thomas for damaging his MGC last night, so he bought me a Cosworth Cobra kit to drive instead.  He's making me assemble it before I can drive it though.  That's why I'm in your truck."

"A Cobra? Really?"  Dania thought about Sarah's offer. "I've always liked those."  The girl thought about how she had enjoyed working on her truck with Thomas. "That might be fun to put together.  Can I help?"

Sarah realized that sometimes Thomas was a pretty smart guy.

Faye came walking over to them now, a group of five girls following behind her.  She waved to Sarah and started talking as soon as she got within earshot.

"Hey!" she called out to Sarah, "I got your call about missing our briefing."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Sarah replied, "Thomas was late unlocking my chains."

Faye laughed.  "I'm not going to ask, but I assume it has something to do with your choice of wardrobe," Faye said drawing up closer and giving Sarah a hug. "I bring you a group of volunteers."  Faye rattled off each of the girls' names and their events.  "I figured you're going to need a substitute for Isparana for the next meet.  Maybe you can find someone ready for the challenge."  Faye turned to the group. "Who wants it?!" she shouted.

The new girls replied with an enthusiastic "Me!"

***

Sarah stood by the track, clocking the new girls' times to see who might make a good candidate for the relay squad.  She heard the footsteps of someone approaching and turned around.  It was Reginald.

"Hi, Mrs. Leighton," the boy said in greeting.

"Oh, Reginald, just the person I need to speak with," she replied. "I'd like to apologize for last night.  I shouldn't have done what I did, and I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to ... well, I know I shouldn't have ... I didn't think... " Sarah was trying to be diplomatic. "Ok, I'll just say it. I shouldn't have kicked your ass in front of the others; in fact I shouldn't have done anything at all.  Dania was mortified and let me know that she was ashamed to have me as her mother.  So... I'm sorry, and I promise I won't do it again."

"Oh," the boy said, surprised, "I was going to apologize to you!  I shouldn't have done what I did to Dania.  I'd also like to apologize to you directly, for calling you a whore to your daughter's face.  I realize now that I was wrong. Way wrong."

Sarah looked at him. "You said what to my daughter?"  Her face tensed as she made fists with her hands.

Reginald's face dropped. "I... uh..."

Sarah smiled. "Relax; just having a bit of fun. Dania told me on our ride home.  And I promise I won't attack you again.  Thomas punished me for that.  He put me in shackles this morning and kept me chained up all day."  She pointed to the red mark around her ankle.

Reginald looked at her. "Really?"

"Yeah.  Because of the leg chains, this was the only thing I could put on," she replied, indicating the convict uniform. "He locks me up from time to time when I'm being bad."

The boy was looking at her, shocked. "You're kidding me, right?"

Sarah shook her head. "There's a rack in our basement if I get really out of hand.  I'll have to show it to you the next time you come to visit Dania."

"Yeah..." the boy started, "Right. Ok.  Um, about Dania. Apparently she broke up with me this morning and she's dating some new guy."

"Really?"

"Yeah, some sophomore geek.  Dinnings, Dinkins... something like that.  Anyway, I think I blew it with her."

"That's too bad."

"Yeah, I guess so. Um..." Reginald paused. "Would you mind if I asked Vella to the prom?  I think she's a great girl and I'd like to get to know her better."

Sarah gave him a sly grin. "I'm not her mother."

"No," the boy said hesitatingly, "but I want to make sure everyone's cool with it first."

Sarah nodded. "Ok. Have you asked her yet?"

"No.  Chastity offered to check with her first, before I put myself out there, but I don't want to wait. Plus, I didn't want to ask her and then find out I angered a parent... or something... so I at least wanted to check with you first."

"Well, I'm fine with it," Sarah said.  Then she had an idea. "You know, Reginald.  We might be able to help each other out here.  We'll forget last night's incident ever happened..." she said, waving her hands like a magician, "and I can guarantee that Vella will go to the prom with you."

The boy looked at her. "Yeah?"

"Yep," she replied.  "I know the way to her heart.  And if that doesn't work, I have a rack in my basement."

***

Once again Sarah was bent over the chain-link fence.  Her shorts were around her ankles and her skin was glistening with sweat.  She was the first in line for the spankings. Vella was next, and Chastity was after her.  Their shorts were around their ankles, too.

"I really need to negotiate a better start," Sarah mumbled.

"What you really need to do is run faster," Vella answered.

"Look who's talking, Ms. Record-holder," Chastity chimed in.

"Hey, you're right here next to me, slacker," Vella replied.

"Silence!" Isparana barked.  "The punishments are about to begin!"

Dania stepped behind her adopted mother. "It's about time I got some payback for embarrassing me last night."

Sarah turned her head and looked at her adopted daughter. "You wouldn't hit your mother, would you?"

Suddenly there was a loud smack. Sarah jumped and an audible gasp of pain and surprise escaped from her throat.

"Silence!" Isparana barked again.

Vella and Chastity giggled.

Dania wound up, and slapped her palm against Sarah's ass with a flourish, drawing a second yelp of pain from the woman.

Sarah exhaled audibly, forcing herself to remain braced against the fence.

Now Dania stood behind Vella.  Dania yawned. "With all this spanking, I suddenly feel a little tired..."

In a flash, Sarah reached over and grabbed Vella's wrist.  Chastity, on the other side of Vella, grabbed her other wrist.  Vella's hands were trapped against the metal bar.

"What are you guys...?" she started to say.

Dania now pulled her mom's shorts up, then scampered around and pulled Chastity's up as well.  The other girls lined up along the fence pulled theirs up, too, leaving Vella the only one with her shorts around her ankles.

"Dum dee dum dee do..." Reginald came strolling out from behind the bleachers. "Oh look, someone left a perfectly fine ass sitting here along the fence."

"Hey!" Vella cried out, dropping her hips as she tried to yank herself free of Sarah's and Chastity's clutches. Reginald continued to act casual as Sarah and Chastity kept her hands pinned to the metal bar.  Vella eventually quit struggling and resumed her position, realizing that she couldn't break free and would be better off just playing along to see what happened. "I'm going to kill you two when this is over," she mumbled, eliciting giggles from the two women.

Reginald walked up and placed his left hand casually on the small of her back, his other hand gently rubbing the smooth mounds of muscle presented to him by her position.  "Such a fine ass, too.  Nicely muscled with flawless skin tone. It'd be a shame to damage it with a spanking," he said, "so maybe I should do something else with it."

Vella shook her head and sighed with frustration. "I know two women who are going to get their asses handed to them," she mumbled, drawing smiles from her friends.

Reginald continued to massage the upturned glutes presented to him, admiring the way the skin rippled under his fingers.  With each pass of his hand across her globes, he drew a path closer and closer to her vulva; the delicate sex peeking out between the cheeks of her ass. 

Sarah looked over at her captive. Vella's eyes were closed and her mouth was slightly parted.  She recognized that her friend was starting to enjoy herself, just as Sarah had planned.

Reginald now cupped the blossoming flower concealed between Vella's toned thighs; patting it gently like a precious treasure.  He slipped a finger between the valley of her hips and delicately traced a line around the opening to her tunnel, tickling the blood-infused tissue into full arousal.  Vella gasped and moaned as he stimulated her dark opening, her breath passing audibly from her parted mouth.

"Vella," he said deeply as she moaned with pleasure, "will you go to the prom with me?"

The girl's eyes shot open.  She huffed once, twice, then looked at Sarah and Chastity, her head whipping back and forth in disbelief.  "You..." she breathed to each of the women that held her wrists, "That's why you set me up!"  She turned to the boy and said, "Yes! Yes, I'd love to!"

Sarah looked at Chastity, and mouthed a countdown.  Then, they each let go of Vella's arms and took off running across the field.  Vella, still stunned, paused as she watched her two friends run away, then she kicked off her shorts and took off after them, squealing and jumping with happiness as the rest of the squad - and Reginald - watched her pert bare bottom twist and flex across the grass in pursuit of the two devilish conspirators.

The outsider wasn't quite so outside any more.

***

Sarah sat in the body shell of the Cobra as crickets chirped in the night air just beyond the glowing circle that seeped through the open barn doors.

She'd managed to get the seats installed and had just finished wiring up the steering wheel, completing the interior of the car.  She ran her hands across the top of the dashboard, admiring the curve of the glare shield over the instrument cluster.  She was the only person she knew who could be punished by being given a replica of a classic sports car.

"Coach Sarah?"

Sarah looked over towards the open doorway.  It was Thalia.  Next to her stood a middle-aged woman holding a basket.  It was the woman who had answered the door when Sarah had gone to the housing projects to deliver the training academy invite for Thalia Simi.

"Hi, Thalia!"  Sarah swung her legs out of the Cobra and walked over towards the two women as they entered the barn and walked towards her.

"This is my Aunt Bella.  She ... we... would like to thank you for allowing us to share your home."  Thalia nodded to her aunt, who presented the basket towards Sarah.  The woman smiled and gave a friendly nod.

Sarah, with a nod and a thank you, accepted the gift from the woman and opened the wooden lid.  Inside was a ceramic dish and a glass bottle.

"I tell her... told her... that you are pregnant," Thalia said, "and cannot drink the wine, but she is too much traditional and gives it to you anyway."

Sarah laughed and nodded her thanks to the woman again. "I appreciate the thought.  I'm sure the others will enjoy it."  Thalia turned and said something to her aunt.

Sarah set the basket on the tailgate of Dania's truck and lifted the little wooden flap.  She reached in and pulled out the ceramic dish. It was still warm.  She lifted the lid on the dish to examine the contents. Inside was a mix of rice, vegetables, eggs, and sausage.  A strong aroma of warm, spiced food wafted up.  Sarah immediately became hungry.

"It is paella," Thalia explained as she and her aunt stood in the middle of the barn, "it is a tradition in my family.  And, it is my favorite."

Underneath the ceramic dish, at the bottom of the basket, were three plates and service settings.

"You were not at dinner with us," Thalia explained, "and Dania says ... said... you were not... weren't... at the assignees' dinner either, so we think maybe..."

Sarah quickly pulled out the plates and silverware and made them into little place settings on the tailgate, turning it into a metal banquet table.  "Yes! I wasn't hungry until I smelled this food, and now I'm starving!  It smells wonderful!"  Sarah waved her hand towards the two women, indicating for them to come join her as she spooned a portion onto each plate.

Thalia's aunt gave a wide smile as Thalia nudged her towards their little banquet.

Sarah unwrapped the foil from the wine's cork, then searched for an opener.  Thalia's aunt gave a concerned look as Sarah probed around in the basket.  There wasn't anything else in there.  Aunt Bella muttered something in Portuguese, and Sarah knew she was apologizing.  She smiled at the embarrassed woman, held up a finger, and said "One second."  Sarah went over to her tool box and came back with a screwdriver and a pair of pliers.  She gently inserted the blade of the screwdriver into the top of the cork, and then wiggled it out of the bottle. The women gave a celebratory cheer as the cork pulled free of the glass.

Sarah then poured the two women a glass of wine, as her glass remained empty.  She glanced at the two women, reading their thoughts, and knew she would embarrass them if she did not drink.

Then she had a thought.

She darted over to the cabin of Dania's truck and fumbled around under the seat.  There, she found a bottle of Azuma SportsAde that Dania had abandoned after practice.  A bright smile formed on the face of Aunt Bella as Sarah poured some of the sugary liquid into the empty glass, to join them in a toast.

"To prosperity," Sarah said as the women clinked their glasses.

"Miss Sarah," Aunt Bella said, "I ... would... like... to... thank you... for... "  The woman paused, trying to remember her carefully prepared speech. Thalia nodded to her encouragingly.  The woman, in a low whisper, repeated "... to thank you for..."  then she smiled as she remembered the next word, and continued "To thank you for... your generosity... and for... saving... our lives."

Sarah looked at her and gave a wide grin of surprise and joy.

"And..." the woman continued, emboldened by her success at English, "for saving Thalia."

Thalia turned to her aunt. She hadn't expected that. "Tia Bella..." she started to say.

"It is my pleasure," Sarah said quickly to the woman.  "Thalia, do you know the history of this place?" Sarah asked.

"The barn?"

"No," Sarah said with a laugh, "everything.  All that you see. Everything here. The house, the barn, the cars. Everything."

"No."

"Then, we're going to put your English comprehension skills to a test.  I'm going to tell you the history of Leighton Acres, and you're going to translate it to your aunt.  If she's going to live here, she should know something about the place."

Sarah told her, and Thalia told her aunt, how the Siobhans and the Leightons had been farmers with neighboring plantations, raising the same crops with the same seasons, year after year. Competitors and friends growing together; each family helping the other succeed and prosper.  Thomas and Sarah had grown up together, playing together, becoming each other's best friends and later, at Sarah's initiation, lovers.  She had been a successful track star at Ascension, a perfect-grade student, and had gone to State on a sports scholarship.  Thomas had enrolled at State as well on an academics award, and things were going perfect for both of them.

And then the market collapse had come and threatened to wipe out both farms. 

On top of that, Sarah's mother had died suddenly from a genetic blood clot condition - which Sarah had inherited - at almost the same time Thomas' father had taken severely ill.  Both families were dealing with tragedies.  Thomas had dropped out of school to manage things on the Leighton farm in the hopes that his father would recover.  Sarah, depressed over her mother's death, dropped out of sports and nearly failed out of school completely.  Jonas Leighton, Thomas' father, soon passed away, leaving Thomas alone in the world. Sarah's father, struggling to pay for her education when Sarah's scholarship was revoked, had sold almost everything the Siobhans owned, including her mother's prized piano.  Thomas was barely scraping by as well.

Then Sarah's father had learned about a penal farm privatization program being tested by the state, and Thomas had applied for it as well.  After both men had completed a training period and passed their licensing exams, both farms received their first allotment of prisoners with temporary barracks provided by the government.

Thomas had made it his first priority to get the ugly bare-bones state buildings off of his property as soon as possible.  To that end, he had scoured the registry of prisoners for anyone with construction experience, and had put them to work almost immediately, converting the existing farm buildings into more useful structures, in exchange for shortened sentences.  It was the first example of the rewards program that allowed Leighton Acres to achieve things that other programs had not.  The old horse stables became the new prisoner barracks.  The barn had become the motor pool and work shop. The original house had been converted to the guard's living quarters and relaxation area once the new main house had been completed.  Every piece of new construction had intentionally been designed to reflect a pastoral farm setting, blending with the original architecture.  Even the security fences had been painted white and landscaped.  He had wanted to impress Sarah when she returned from college.

"And," she said, "I was certainly impressed."

She told them how she had started spending all of her time at the Leighton place, preferring it over the dark ugliness that Siobhan Penitentiary had become.  She explained that her father was consumed by sadness and rage, and his business had reflected that.  It wasn't until Thomas had sent her undercover to Stalin as a nude convict that she had realized, one night locked in the passenger seat of Coach Faye's car after track practice, how much all of the sadness in her father's heart she had been responsible for creating.  And that night, with Faye's help, she had set about to make things right.

First, she had visited her father, to beg for his forgiveness for what she had done.  Then, she had gone to Thomas, to beg for his help in allowing her to fulfill her new purpose in life.

She had impressed the coaches at Stalin with her track abilities, and when her true nature was revealed, they had offered her a chance to coach competitive athletics as a volunteer.  To that end, she had convinced them to let her build a hand-picked relay team, pulling girls from various distances and guaranteeing a championship in return.  Even though she had failed, she had given one young woman - Isparana - a new family and a new future.  In return, the Stalin relay team had given her - without her permission, she was quick to add - recognition in the media by running without shorts, a salute to their coach written on their asses, in the final event.  That recognition had allowed her to recruit sponsors; sponsors that had, in turn, given Stalin a free pass to the Cross-Terras, where Sarah had given Vella the gift of being the sole representative of the school.  Vella, in return, had given her a new course record. 

Thalia said she remembered that day.  It was why she had applied for Sarah's training academy.

"Do you remember the people that performed at the concert afterwards?" Sarah asked her.

"Yes."

"Every single one of them was repaying a gift that had been given to them."

Sarah ran down the list.  In exchange for his friendship, Sarah had given an ostracized French opera singer the gift of a stage in front of an enthusiastic crowd.  She had given Stephanie her music career back.  She'd given incarcerated musicians the opportunity to perform on tour again, and Chastity the lyrics to a song she had heard as a baby, sung to her in concert by her own mother as the closing number at the runner's party.

A look of realization began to form on Thalia's face.

Sarah continued.  She had given Coach Bill a championship - finally - when Vella crossed the line at the Cross-Terras with that new course record.  In return, Bill had given her a prized concert piano; the same one she had first used to sing a forbidden song with the Stalin High janitor when she was still a naked convict, and which opera tenor cum high school janitor Francois Garand now used to teach students to sing every evening just before the start of his night shift, fulfilling her promise to the dean to re-start the Music program at Stalin - the only school in the district to offer such a thing.  Faye had given Sarah her trust, and in return she'd given Faye the opportunity to expand her coaching career in directions she had only imagined. She had given Dania a family, a home, and a circle of the best friends a teen-aged girl could want.  The woman she despised the most - Bobbi Jo Briggs - had taught her the dangerous negativity of hatred and Sarah, in return, had given her the opportunity to spread her message to every girl that volunteered to run track at every school in the district.

Thalia looked at her, amazed. "All for them...  I wish I... You have give to me, too, but I have nothing to give to you," she said, a tinge of regret in her voice.

"No," Sarah said with a smile, "you have given me my first taste of paella.  Now, every time I eat it, I'll think of you and Tia Bella."

Thalia smiled.  Thalia turned to her aunt and translated what Sarah had said, and the aunt smiled, too.  The aunt said something in reply.

"She says the paella is from her," Thalia said with a grin, "and I still debt you."

Sarah started laughing.  "Well, I should tell you what Thomas told me when I first came to visit him.  I asked him to bring out a prisoner so I could see her punished.  He said, 'This isn't a prison. It's a second chance.'  I didn't believe him at first, because I had always been taught that only bad people go to jail, but eventually I saw that he was right.  It's certainly given me a second chance, and everyone else that's come here; assignees and otherwise. So, make the most of your second chance and that will be payment enough.  Ok?"

The girl nodded. "Ok."

Sarah smiled. "I've already noticed a change in you.  You're stronger. More confident.  And I like that."

Thalia dropped her head and grinned.

Tia Bella just quietly ate her paella.

***

It was late by the time Sarah finished her goals on the Cobra.  After cleaning herself, she snuck quietly down the hall and cracked open the door to her bedroom.  She saw Thomas' familiar outline on the bed, dimly lit by the faint amount of ambient light that sifted through the window.  The drapes had been drawn and it was difficult for Sarah to see. 

She tiptoed carefully around the bed, feeling for the corner posts with her hand, as she made her way to her side of the mattress.  She reached down to pull back the covers and felt a naked back instead.

"Hi, Mom," came a groggy croak.

"Dania?  What are you doing here?"

"Sleeping. Or I was."  Dania reached up and grabbed an extra pillow. "Here," she said throwing it at her mother, "you can sleep at the foot."

Sarah had a fleeting thought of using the pillow to suffocate the child.  Then she remembered her promise not to do anything un-Mom-like.

As she stood there, pondering her options, she heard a giggle from the girl, followed by a chuckle from Thomas.  They knew she was conflicted.

Sarah sighed.  She started towards her chair by the window, then turned and, with a yell, pounced towards the narrow space between the two bodies.

Downstairs, the security team heard a loud thump.  The new kid looked up instinctively.  The guard next to him waved him off. "Don't worry, that's the Leighton bedroom. You'll get used to the noises that come out of there at night."

***

Sarah woke up in the middle of the bed, alone.  She reached over for Dania and she was gone.  Then she reached back for Thomas.  He was gone, too.

“I’m over here,” he said from the doorway.  “Maybe you should consider keeping a gun and a badge handy for the next time you can’t find us.  It’s always helped me.”

Sarah gave him a dirty look, then said groggily, “What time is it?”

“Early, but Dania’s already left for school with Isparana in the Hotchkiss.  I told her you were going to take her truck to the body shop to fix the damage you did yesterday,” he said. “She didn’t like it, but I told her you’d fix anything you else break, including the rock guard you sheered off yesterday. You can drop it off for paint and body work as her birthday gift from you.  Either the girls or I can pick you up after practice and bring you home from there.”

Shit. She’d be driving the beater again.

***

Sarah was making pretty good time, all things considered.  She’d gotten a quick breakfast of fruit, which she was eating as she drove down the highway.  She had a meeting with Bobbi Jo and didn’t want to keep her waiting.  Still, Dania’s old truck wouldn’t give her more than the speed limit, which was becoming tedious.

A yellow cab came up behind Sarah’s truck.  A trade van slipped in behind that.  As they crested a hill, the van made it’s move, passing the cab.  Sarah saw the van coming up to pass and politely slowed down and moved over to give it room.  She raised her hand to wave to the driver, acknowledging its passing.

Suddenly the glass on her side of the truck exploded.  She instinctively ducked and pitched the wheel to the right, causing the truck to careen onto the soft shoulder of the road.  She glanced up to get her bearings, but all she saw was the rear panel of the van, the nose of Dania’s truck burying itself into the van’s rear quarterpanel.  Then she felt the taxi cab impact the truck from the rear, squeezing Sarah between the car and van.  She tried to slide the truck to the right, but it was wedged in tight on the left corner of the van’s bumper.

Smoke billowed from underneath the vehicles as their tires burned against the asphalt.  Sarah released her grip on the steering wheel, lest she sprain her wrists fighting the mass of screaming wreckage. She could do nothing but wait as the tangled mass of metal slowly slid to a stop.  After the truck came to rest half on the road and half in the dirt, she did a mental checklist to make sure nothing was broken, sprained, or bleeding. Then, Sarah pressed the seat belt release button and got out of the truck to see if the other drivers were ok.

That’s when two men grabbed her arms as another grabbed her legs. Masks obscured their faces.

She scissor-kicked her legs, trying to free them first.  They were the strongest part of her body and she knew if she could get them free she might be able to kick the rest of herself free as well.  Twisting her body and kicking with her legs made it more difficult for the third assailant to maintain his grip, and she did, finally, manage to kick him off of her.

The other two barked at him. “Get yer ass in gear, fuck head!” “Grab her!” “Shit!”

The man tried to grab her again, and as he did, he lowered his head.  She gave him a solid kick to his jaw, trying to jar his head enough to interrupt his nervous system and lose consciousness. He grunted at the contact, but instead of knocking him out it just made him angry. 

“Ow! Fuck!  She’s a fighter!”

Now she was being dragged into the back of the van, its bumper so mangled that the kidnappers had trouble getting the doors open.  As they wrestled with the van, she wrestled with them, trying to make things as difficult for them as she could.

She managed to get her legs loose again, and kicked the man again; a shot right to his chin.  This time he went down; sprawled on the pavement, out cold.

The two men flung the doors open and started to drag her inside.  Sarah hooked her feet in the carnage of the van’s bumper, trying to keep from going into the metal box, but the two men were too strong.  One of them wrapped a chain around her throat, threatening to choke her to death.  “Quit yer fighting right now or I’ll snap your pretty little neck,” he growled.

She knew they had her. She’d have to wait for an opportunity.  She relaxed slightly and let them drag her into the van.

Now the third man was clambering back to his feet, his legs unsteady.  He wobbled into the van and fell on the floor, trying to regain his bearings.

“Designer suit in a piece of shit truck.  Who the fuck are you?” One of them rifled through her pockets.  He found her credentials in her jacket pocket.

“Oh fuck!  She’s a warden!”

“Fuck!”

The three men looked at each other, trying to decide their next move.

“Let me go now,” Sarah growled, “or else there will be a whole shitstorm coming down on your heads.”

The one holding her credentials rattled off her name.

“Oh shit,” one of them said, “that’s Siobhan’s kid!”

“Fuck!  Let’s go man!  Ditch her and let’s get the fuck out of here!”

“No,” the leader said coldly, “we came here to do a job and we’re going to finish it.”

“Fuck that!”

“No!” the leader barked, “Fuck you! 

“Fuck this shit, man!  I’m gone!”  The one holding her legs started to exit out of the back of the van.  As he cleared the mangled bumper, his head exploded in bone, tissue, and gore.

The sound of an empty shell casing striking against the metal roof echoed in the small compartment.  A strong smell of detonated gunpowder permeated the confines of the van.

“No,” the leader repeated menacingly, “fuck you.”  He turned to the one still holding Sarah’s arm.  “Any problems?”

“No, man. I’m cool.”

“Then hold her,” the leader said.

The leader released his grip on her arm as the other took hold of the chain around her neck. Sarah reached up and grabbed the chain, instinctively trying to relieve the pressure around her arteries as the leader reached forward and grabbed the collar of her blouse.  With a violent yank, he pulled her top open, revealing the lace-trimmed cups of her bra.

"Nice. Designer stuff down to the skin," he growled. "Now let's have a look at those titties."

The leader then grabbed ahold of the thin fabric and pulled viciously, the delicate threads parting with shriek as the man tore away her bra.  The man paused, watching her mounds rise and fall with her panting, her nipples pointing up towards him, waiting to be stroked and fondled.

“Nice,” he said admiringly, “nice and tight. Just like I imagined.” 

He pulled again at the material of her blouse, opening her up all the way down to her hips. “Very nice,” he growled. “You’re going to be a good fuck.”

The man began to fumble with the fastener around her waist, then lost his patience and pulled out a large hunting knife.  The blade gleamed as he began to cut away at the belt holding her skirt together as the other man chuckled evilly in her ear. Sarah froze, trying to keep her mind clear, fighting back the panic that began to grow in her heart.

The leader now had her skirt off and was cutting at her stockings, creating an opening around her snatch.  She knew she was going to be raped.  She just didn’t know how much it would hurt or how long it would last.  Tears began to form in her eyes.

“I’m pregnant,” she cried, trying to appeal to any morals the man might have.

“I don’t give a fuck,” he replied.

That was when she noticed the patch over his left eye.  She realized who he was.  He was the man she had attacked outside Building Omega.

The man raised his hand, made a fist, then punched her in the stomach.  Sarah cried out in pain. He raised his fist and punched her again. He was trying to kill her baby.  As he raised his fist again, she cried out, “I’ll obey!”

The man stopped. “I’m sure you will, bitch.”  He punched her belly again.

He positioned himself between her thighs and fumbled at his belt, trying to loosen it with one hand while holding the knife with the other. “Fuck....” he muttered, frustrated at his inability to expose his member. He set the knife on the floor of the van and pulled out the gun and tossed it to his partner. “Cover her,” he said.

That was the opportunity Sarah needed.

As the partner fumbled with the gun, Sarah reached back and punched him in the ear, stunning him momentarily.  She then planted a firm kick in the center of the leader’s chest, driving him backwards towards the open door.  She turned her head in the direction of the gun, spotting the rectangular form with her peripheral vision.  She quickly reached for it and, feeling the spur of the hammer, stuck her finger between the firing pin and the chamber, rendering the gun useless.

The leader was sitting up now.  Sarah quickly covered the knife with her left leg as she kicked at him with her right.  She missed on her first try, but connected on her second, catching him solidly on the side of his head and knocking him off-balance.

His partner was yanking the gun, trying to shake Sarah’s hand loose as his other hand held onto the chain around her neck.  Then he made a fatal mistake.  He let go of the chain to get a better grip on the gun.

Sarah instantly spun onto her side and struck at his face with her free hand, aiming for his eyes.  She felt one finger touch something wet and firm.  The man yelled and jerked backwards.

The leader reached under her leg and found the knife, grabbing its handle and raising it high in the air. Sarah kicked at him even as she wrestled with the man holding the gun. The leader brought the knife down clumsily, just trying to connect with whatever he could hit.  Sarah felt burning sensations on her legs and soon blood began to fly across the roof of the van.

Then she heard the whine of a high-compression engine, screaming hurriedly towards them.  She knew she had to finish this quickly, before more lives were endangered.

She focused on the gun.

The gunman had both hands on the weapon, trying to pry her fingers away from the hammer.  She reached up and stabbed at his other eye, feeling moisture on her hand as the man cried out again. Then she felt a sharp pain in her chest.  The leader had struck the knife against her torso.  She yelled out in pain and used the adrenalin to pull the gun closer to her body, bringing the gunman closer to her, too.

The leader brought the knife down again, just in time to catch the gunman in the shoulder.  The man’s grip on the gun loosened as he yelled out in pain. Sarah wrapped her other hand over the gun and pulled as hard as she could. She felt the man’s hand slip from the rectangular piece of metal as she pulled the gun into her hands.

Sarah turned to face the man with the knife, just in time to see a thick strap slip over his neck and pull him backwards, violently, out of the van.  The cavalry was here.

She turned back to the gunman.  His eyes were closed and he was reaching out towards the sound of her struggling.  She turned the gun towards him and, without hesitation, shouted “Die you fucker!” before pulling the trigger.

The back of his head exploded in blood and bone.

She heard a groan from the asphalt and looked to see what was happening, pointing the gun in the direction of the noise.

“Miss Sarah, do not shoot!  It’s me, Thalia.”

Now a slender feminine silhouette appeared above the mangled bumper, a look of horror on her face as the blood continued to pool on the floor of the van.  “Do not move!  I will call for help.”

“Is he...”

“Dead.  I breaked his neck,” she replied, as she started to tear pieces of the dead men’s clothing to bind Sarah’s wounds.

Sarah now relaxed and set the gun on the floor of the van.  She looked at the myriad cuts and wounds to her body.  “He stabbed me,” she said, holding a piece of her blouse against the gash. She lay her head back.  She felt cold.  The crisis passed, she began to shiver uncontrollably.  “I’m... I’m going into shock.”

***

“Brutal attack on the highway leaves three men dead and one woman in the hospital!  Details at noon, one, five, six, seven, ten, and eleven!”

***

Sarah had the sensation that she was flying.  She kept seeing lights move over her eyes, but her legs weren’t moving. Was she dead?  She’d heard that people see lights when they’re on their way to heaven.  She was definitely flying.  She felt cold, too.  Hell was supposed to be hot, but she was cold, so she must be getting closer to heaven.  She’d made it!  The lights, the cold.  And there was that awful, dry taste in her mouth and a strong aroma that seemed to permeate her senses.  Probably the embalming fluid they had injected into her corpse for the memorial services.  She was certainly dead and in heaven. There could be no question.

Wait. How could she feel anything if she was dead?  If she could feel her senses then at least part of her must still be alive.  Maybe she just had to wait for the rest of her body to catch up with her soul.   Well, if she was dead, at least she’d managed to remove some evil from the world before she died.

But what if she wasn’t dead?  What if she was trapped in her body for eternity? That would explain why she could still smell and taste things.  She would probably hear her own eulogy, and then spend eternity trapped in a coffin.  That would suck.

And the beeping.  That continuous beeping.  It had never been a good sign when she was asleep and woke up to beeping.  Was she sleeping now?  She tried to open her eyes, but she couldn’t.  Maybe that was a good thing. If she didn’t wake up to beeping, maybe things would be ok for once.

Or maybe she was dead, but her unborn child was still alive.  That must be it!  She was only alive enough to bring the baby to term.  Ok, she could handle that.  Thomas deserved an offspring.  He was a good man and could care for their child on his own.  They certainly had a strong enough circle of friends for support.  Sarah had seen to that.  If she had to die, at least Thomas would have people to help him through his grief.  He’d have Dania there for two more years at least.   She could help him keep things straight.  They were already comfortable enough with each other to share a bed at night without feeling weird about it. The perfect father and the perfect daughter; with the best sister-in-law/aunt in the world.

She relaxed.  Everything was fine.  She was flying. She must be on her way to heaven.

***

Sarah felt nauseous.  She gagged and tried to vomit, but nothing came out.  Her mouth was incredibly dry.  She looked around. She was on her back in the cream-colored room of heaven.

Isparana was there. So was Dania. They were both smiling at her.

“Hi, guysh,” Sarah mumbled.  “Hi, Dania. Welcome to heaven.”

“Hi, Mom,” Dania replied. “Isparana invited me.”

“Good.” She smiled and closed her eyes.  Her angel was there in heaven with her, and had brought her adopted daughter to visit.  She knew things would be ok now.

She relaxed and went back to sleep.

***

Sarah was resting on her side, facing the hospital room door.  Her tongue tasted awful and she had a slight headache.  Her legs ached and her face felt crusty.  She sensed a light coming into her room and struggled to open her eyes.  The door was cracked and Chastity's face was peering through the gap. 

Her hair was streaked with generous portions of grey and aged lines accented her eyes.  A strand of pearls hid the loose skin at the base of her neck. She was obviously much older than when Sarah had last seen her. Chastity noticed that Sarah was staring at her. "Oh, you're awake!" she exclaimed softly.

Sarah's eyes shot open.  Had she been in a coma all these years? "How long have I been asleep?" Sarah croaked with alarm.

"Most of the day," said a voice from behind her. 

Sarah recognized it as Chastity's.  She rolled over quickly, saw her student there, then rolled back to face the woman at the door.  "Oh... shit," she muttered. "Marybeth!  For a second there I thought I'd slipped into a coma and pulled a Rip Van Winkle!"

Chastity, the younger version of Marybeth, started laughing.

A smiling Marybeth stood over a very much relieved Sarah and placed her hand on Sarah's forehead. "You don't feel feverish.  You must still be a little delirious from the anesthesia they gave you, or maybe the blood loss made you senile," Marybeth deadpanned.

"Hate you," Sarah said automatically.

Marybeth gave her a quizzical look, then glanced at her daughter.

"That means she likes you, Mom," Chastity explained. "It's an inside joke with us."

"Oh," the woman replied, "well then I hate you, too."

Sarah smiled. "Thank you."

Marybeth began to stroke Sarah's hair motheringly. "Sarah, I wanted to thank you for what you've done for Chastity and I.  She tells me that you're responsible for so many of the positive things that are going on in her life.  I've already noticed changes in her; good ones.  She's becoming a gracious young woman."

"Mom!"

"And I just wanted to say thank you very much for that," Marybeth continued, ignoring the fact that she was embarrassing her daughter. "I know Chastity can be a handful sometimes.  I know I was with my mother." Marybeth laughed. "She always warned me that I'd end up with a clone of myself some day, and then I'd understand why she was so harried.  She was right."  The woman waved her arm towards her daughter. "Look what I got for payback."

Chastity huffed.

Sarah giggled. "I'm something of a clone of my mom, too.  Sometimes the peach doesn't fall far from the tree."

"So true," the woman replied. "so true.  But it is good to know that I'll have a legacy; something to carry on after I pass. Such that it is."

Chastity grumbled and Sarah knew she was shaking her head without even having to roll over to check.

Sarah reached up and slipped her hands over the woman's.  A worried look passed over Sarah's face. "Marybeth," she said, "I'm so scared... "  Sarah choked. "When I was in the back of that van, I fought so hard.  It was all I could do..." Sarah choked again, then coughed, clearing her throat. "It was all I could do to stay alive. I would've killed all of them if I had to.  I tried. But I couldn't do it.  And then I saw my blood all over the floor... my life oozing out. I tried to stop it, but there was so much.  I remember the look on Thalia's face when she saw me in there and that's when I realized how bad it was. And afterwards, when they were all dead... I lost it. At some point, I couldn't fight anymore and I was dying.  I could feel my soul leaving my body.  But something was keeping me here.  It pulled me back.  I was dead but it was alive.  Something small but powerful and strong was fighting to live.  And I know it was my unborn child.  The only reason I'm still here is because of her.  I know it."  Sarah clutched Marybeth's hand as tears welled in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks to stain her pillow. 

"Shhhh," the woman said, comforting her frightened friend, "you're alright now."

"Marybeth..." Sarah said, trying to blink her tears away, "Please. I need a favor."

"Sure," Marybeth replied soothingly, "you know I'll help you.  Just tell me what you need."

"Tell me that everything's going to be alright.  Tell me I'll be ok.  Because I'm not so sure."

Sarah began to cry.

Marybeth smiled. "You have nothing to be afraid of.  The bad men are gone, and you saved your baby.  You're surrounded by friends and the love of a good man. Nothing can hurt you now."

Sarah blinked and slowly shook her head. "No.  You don't know.  You can't guarantee because you don't know.  My mom never saw it coming.  She was on a trip to give a concert.  She passed out walking to a taxi cab and never recovered.  Did you know that?"

The woman nodded. "I saw the stories, but I wasn't sure how much of it was true."

"It's true.  One minute I had a mother, and the next I didn't.  I found out through a news ticker before anyone could contact me.  The media had all the details because they were right there when it happened.  Do you know what it's like to see your mom's name on a news brief saying she's dead, with pictures of her on the ground and a complete description of events, like a box score at a game?  I went into shock.  I ceased to function.  My roommate drove me down from school and the whole time I was in the car I felt like an empty shell.  Just this black empty void, like my brain was gone."

Sarah paused, reading the reaction on Marybeth's face. "Dad was inconsolable.  His wife was dead and he didn't get a chance to say good-bye.  He quit eating.  A neighbor had to feed him. They told me he didn't leave his bedroom for a week; except to pee and attend the services."

"I nearly dropped out of school and lost everything.  And I didn't care. I wanted to die. It didn't seem worth the effort to keep going.  But my heart kept beating and my lungs kept filling with air, so I had to keep going.  I guess it was the same with Dad.  He kept selling off Mom's things until there wasn't anything left but her ring. I can't imagine he'd...  Well anyway, a friend told him about the penal farm program and he got into that just to survive.  He still had to support me because I couldn't support myself.  He lived like that for all those years, waiting for me to graduate.  And when I came home, I came home to ugliness and hatred.  He was mad at the world for what had happened, and I think he probably blamed me for some of it.  I certainly had a large part in the aftermath. I was just too self-centered to see it.  I didn't realize what I had done until Thomas put me through the Program."

Marybeth and Chastity exchanged glances. They realized they were getting Sarah's confessional.

"When I was in that van..."  Sarah paused.  She had seen their looks. She rolled over and said to Chastity, "I'm sorry.  I'll stop now if you want."

"No," the girl answered. "you never let us stop until we're finished.  Same for you."

Sarah smiled her thanks and turned back to face Marybeth.  "When I was in that van, and when I knew I was dead ... my death would've been a news item; just like my mom's.  I don't want Thomas find out that way.  I want him to find out from someone he knows; someone that will still be here in a few years after the girls have gone off to college.  If something happens to me, promise me you'll be the one to tell him."

Marybeth looked at Sarah.  She had just been asked to be the caretaker for Sarah's soul.  What could she say?  She nodded.  "I will.  And if something happens to me and I can't do it, I'll send my peach."

Sarah smiled with relief.  She rolled over and looked at Chastity. "I would appreciate it."

The girl nodded, unable to speak.

Sarah winked at her, then asked, "Thank you."  Then Sarah's expression changed to one of curiosity. "Where is everybody?"

"Well, last I saw," Marybeth answered for her, "Thomas and another gentlemen just left, Isparana and Dania went for lunch and then were going go to school, and Vella and Thalia were back at their schools but planning on coming here for the night shift."

"See, we're learning that it takes at least two of us to keep you from escaping," Chastity added.  "That's why I called my Mom."

Sarah grinned and looked at her student. "I promise I won't try to escape this time.  You need to get on with your day before you miss any more classes. Go to Stalin and tell them I won't be coming to practice this evening, and probably not tomorrow either.  The dean doesn't need to know why, and neither does Faye because she'll have to tell the dean.  Faye can lead the drills and get the team ready for the meet this week and I'll circle back with her when I'm back on my feet."

Chastity nodded and began to gather her things.  Just then, the door opened tentatively and a familiar convict peeked in.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," Theresa asked cautiously, "but the police would like a word with Mistress now that she's awake."

Marybeth gave Sarah's hand a reassuring squeeze as Chastity leaned over and gave her a brief hug and kiss.  "I promise I won't let them slack," the girl said as she left the room.

Sarah laughed and called out, "I'm sure you won't!"

***

The district attorney, a uniformed officer by his side, stood next to Sarah’s bed.  They were the only ones in the room.  Sensors were attached to her chest and monitors beeped steadily above her head.  She had pulled the blanket up to her chin to ward off the cold from her blood loss.

“And that’s the way I remember it,” Sarah said. “That’s everything.”

The DA nodded. “Well, if the forensic evidence backs that up, I’d say there’s nothing to prosecute.”

Sarah held up her hands. “You’ve taken the GSR already, right?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the officer replied, “We took the samples in the ambulance, along with those of the perps.  We’ve also documented the blood spatter on your skin and chain impressions on your neck, along with blood samples from everyone.”

“Fine. If you don’t mind, I’d like the initial report to the media to be a little different from fact.”

The two men looked at her, confused. “Why?” the policeman asked.

"When I don't show up for work, people will wonder what happened to me and put two and two together.  I don't want them to know I was almost raped and killed,” Sarah replied. “If people knew what really happened... well, there would be talk and I'd always be 'that woman'.  I just want to keep it to myself.  Besides, I promised my daughter I’d be more of a mother.  I just want to be normal for once.  For her.”

***

The teleprompter scrolled the day’s top story.  The well-dressed news anchorwoman read the paragraphs dutifully, placing the emphasis at random spots in the sentence, trying to make it sound more sensational than it already was.

A lonely stretch of highway.  This was the scene of a brutal attack this morning.  A woman, driving by herself, on her way to an important business meeting; the same as you or me.  Suddenly, two cars, one in front and one in back, collide with her and force her off the roadway, trapping her helplessly in her vehicle.

Three men, good Samaritans she assumes, help her out of her vehicle. She tells them that she’s pregnant. And then, things take an unexpected turn for the worse.

The men force her into this van, its bumper mangled by the impact, just as you see here.  Once inside, they hold a gun to her head, beat her, rape her, punch her in the abdomen three times trying to kill the unborn child, then brutally stab her with a  large hunting knife repeatedly until she is unconscious.  They think she is dead.

Then, a stroke of luck.  A local female high school student, on her way to an early track practice, comes upon the scene.  She recognizes one of the vehicles as belonging to a friend she knows.  But she doesn’t see anybody; no drivers, no police.  So she stops to see if the occupants are still trapped in their vehicles.

She goes from car to car, starting from the back and working her way forward. When she gets to the van in front, a horrible scene is revealed to her tender eyes.  it's not her friend at all, but her friend’s pregnant mother, nearly naked and bleeding horribly, with two men holding her down and a third raping her. One of them  is brandishing a gun.

Because she’s a minor, we can’t show you her face or even tell you her name.  But what we can do is tell you what she did next.

She opens the door and pulls the gunman out, takes his weapon, and shoots him with it.  Then, she shoots another assailant in the head, killing him instantly.  As the third man, armed with a knife, charges at her, the gun jams, so she uses the only weapon she has left; her book bag. 

Swinging the bag from her shoulder, she loops the strap over the attacker’s neck and holds on tight until he passes out.  She survives.  Her attacker does not. He is later pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

And the rape victim?  Well, we can’t release her name due to victim’s rights laws, but suffice to say that she and her unborn child are expected to make a full recovery.

All thanks to one little high school girl who is now being hailed as a hero.

Ethyl Finkerstein, Action Pulse News, reporting.

***

“I sound like so much the bad ass,” Thalia said, commenting as the group huddled around Sarah’s bed to watch the evening news report. “Why did you tell them that?”

“You are a bad ass.  You had the strength in you to pull a grown man out of the back of a van, wrestle him to the ground, and snap his neck. I’m just giving you a little more credit. I’m sure you would’ve shot all three if you had gotten there in time," Sarah replied, "Besides, I promised Dania I would be more Mom-like.  I can’t break that promise to my daughter, particularly since she took time out of her busy social schedule to visit me in heaven.”

“Mom...” Dania started.

“Oh,” Sarah interrupted, as she turned to Dania, “and I’m sorry I scratched your paint and broke your window.  I promise I’ll have it fixed as soon as they release your truck from Evidence Impound.  Along with the rock thingy.”

“The rock guard?” Dania replied.

“Yeah, that.”

“Mom...”, Dania said, annoyed.

“And another thing,” Sarah said, interrupting her again, “I know you have a birthday coming up.  What would you like to do to celebrate?  Would a cake be too childish for you?  I know you’re the big sixteen now and all grown up and everything.”

“Mom...”

“And would it be too much for you to keep me informed on who your boyfriend is this week?  You seem to go through them faster than I can count.  How is your father supposed to know who to intimidate?”

“Mom...” Dania started again, becoming irritated at the interruptions.

“And why haven’t I seen a report card?  Didn’t you have exams recently?”

“Mom!”

“I swear, you test me sometimes...”

***

The evening's moonlight glowed through the thinly-curtained window of the hospital room.

Theresa had turned off the monitor's audio so that Sarah could rest without listening to the monotonous beeping.  Thomas, in all of his wisdom, had assigned Theresa to be her personal caretaker, working hand-in-hand with the hospital staff to attend to Sarah's needs during her convalescence.

Sarah now sat up in her bed, watching the sleeping figure of the woman she had nearly attacked during a nightmare not too long ago.

Theresa was slightly older than Sarah and her face, even asleep, seemed to have a contented smile on it.  Sarah wondered if it was just good genes that gave her that appearance, or if the woman was truly happy with her station in life.  For all the time the two of them had spent together, with Theresa dutifully tending to her on the massage table at Leighton Acres and now here at the hospital, Sarah could never once remember Theresa ever complaining about anything; even after Sarah had lashed out at her blindly.

Theresa stirred on the small folding bed.  A soft breath escaped from her mouth and she opened her eyes.  She saw Sarah looking at her. "Good evening, Mistress," the woman said. "Did you need something?"

Sarah shook her head. "No," she started. "Well, yes, in a way.  Theresa, are you happy?"

The woman pulled the blanket up closer to her chin and shifted on the mattress. She nodded. "Yes, as well as could be expected."

Sarah tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"Well, for once I'm not afraid.  Nobody is going to beat me. Nobody is going to starve me.  Nobody is going to rape me.  And I know that in six weeks I'll be free."

Sarah looked at her, trying to recall the information in her file.  She was drawing a blank.

Theresa continued. "Of course, that assumes that I don't get throttled or punched by a vice-warden suffering from nightmares.  I learned that when I was giving you a massage, remember?"

Sarah smiled and looked down. "I remember. And I'm sorry about that."

Theresa chuckled softly. "You've apologized plenty already.  I know you didn't mean it.  You were dreaming.  You certainly scared everyone though.  None of the other assignees want to be near you now.  That's how I...,  uh..."

Sarah lifted her head and gave a knowing grin. "That's ok. I'm not offended." Slowly, Sarah's brain began to function. "Theresa, what did you do before you came to Leighton Acres?"

Theresa rubbed the sleep from her eyes.  "I was a medical assistant.  Actually, that's just the last job I had.  I've had several. Waitress was my first one.  Receptionist was another, then I was promoted to secretary for an insurance company's general counsel.  That's how I got interested in the medical field.  I didn't have a college education so I applied for tuition assistance from the firm to take some introductory classes, and then I kept going.  Before I could finish, the office closed.  I needed a job and wanted to work for a hospital, so I lied on the application and said I had my degree, even though I was still in school, paying my own way."  Theresa shrugged her shoulders. "I thought I could finish before they found out, but no such luck for me.  I was arrested for unlicensed practice of medicine and sent to Arlington for the first part of my sentence.  Then I applied for Leighton Acres and was accepted."

Sarah gave her a questioning look. "How long have you been at Leighton Acres?"

"One month, three weeks, four days.  Not that I'm counting."

Sarah smiled at the convict humor and lay back down.  She sighed. There was something she really wanted to know, but wasn't sure how to approach it.  "Theresa..." she started, paused, then said. "Never mind."

"What?"

"Nothing. I was curious about something you said but it wouldn't be right for me to ask."

"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies," the woman joked.

"Oh, I'll know when you're lying. Don't worry about that. Just ask any of my girls.  And ask them what happens when I find out you're lying.  They'll tell you all about that, too.  So will their boyfriends."

Theresa laughed. "So Reynier tells me.  When he found out I was being assigned to you, he gave me a brief summary of what to expect."

"And you still took the job?"

"I'm a convict. Did I have a choice?"

Now Sarah sat back up, propping herself up on her hands.  She looked at Theresa intently.  "Theresa, you don't have to do this if you'd rather do something else.  I can have you assigned to anything we have available, and if we don't have a job you like, I can try to find one at another penal farm, or even out-placement.  You can't keep your earnings, but I can credit you for them for when you go back to school."

Theresa smiled. "No, this is fine.  I'm starting to understand you, Sarah Siobhan Leighton, and I feel sorry for you.  Can I have an honest moment?"

"Sure."

"Despite everything you have - the big house, the fancy car, the nice clothes, the money, even the fame and prestige -  I wouldn't want to trade places with you.  I don't think I could handle the responsibility.  It would kill me."

Sarah laughed. "Well, I've died twice, nearly three times, so you may be right."  Sarah paused. "Since we're having an honest moment, I'll go ahead and ask what I really want to know.  When you said that at least you weren't being beaten, starved, or raped, should I assume at some point in your life you were?"

Theresa pursed her lips.  She looked away, then turned her eyes back to Sarah and said, "Sort of.  I was abused as a child, from twelve to sixteen, by my mother's boyfriend. I think that's why I want to help people now.  I've walked that mile in their shoes and then some."

Sarah studied her.  Theresa didn't flinch or look away. Her breathing stayed normal.  If she was lying, she was a very good liar.  "Ok," Sarah said, "now I guess it's my turn to be interrogated. Go ahead."

Theresa thought for awhile, then shook her head. "No, there's nothing I want to know that I don't already know."

Now Sarah's curiosity was piqued. "And what exactly do you know?"

Theresa smiled. "Everything.  Or at least as much as I want to know.  Good night."  The woman rolled over to face the wall.

"Theresa?"

The woman let out a soft snore.

"Don't you dare do this to me!" Sarah challenged.

Theresa giggled.  "We'll talk more tomorrow.  You need to sleep, Mistress.  Dr. Restropo will be coming by for an examination tomorrow and you'll want to look your best.  Trust me."

Sarah sat there, fuming, then let out a defeated sigh, leaned back against her pillow and settled into the linens.

***

Sarah was in the back of the van, her attacker leaning over her with a knife.  He was saying something to her but she couldn't make out the words.  She tried to speak back, to ask him what was going on, but her sentences were gibberish.

He was raising the knife, his face twisted with frustration and rage.  She saw something moving behind him; a shadowy figure in the bright light outside the doorway.  She couldn't quite make it out.  The man said something again and now the dark shadow was moving across the metal roof, swirling around the stamped steel ridges.  She didn't feel threatened by it.  Whatever it was didn't mean her harm.  It was there for her attacker.

Now the man was swinging the knife down at her.  Sarah flinched, trying to bring her arms up to stop him. 

Instead she hit something hard and metallic.

Her eyes shot open.  She was in the hospital bed, gulping for air as her hand pressed against the guardrail.  Theresa threw her blanket back and came running over, clad in an outfit Sarah had never seen before.  It certainly wasn't a traditional Leighton Acres convict uniform.  The tunic had been altered to incorporate snap-close pockets at the waist and a pen pocket over the left breast.  The loincloth had been replaced with a brief, but stylish, skirt that featured hidden hip pockets and two large snap-close pockets below the skirt's waistband.  Miscellaneous shapes lay hidden inside the pockets as Theresa leaned over her patient.

"You're ok," Theresa was saying, "you're ok.  You're not in any danger."  Theresa was looking at the monitor above Sarah's head, one hand pressing a button as the other rested gently on Sarah's trembling shoulder.  "Ah, looks like your heart rate dropped really, really low.  That explains it.  Just another one of your nightmares."

Sarah looked at her, swallowed twice, exhaled, and lay back down.  "I'm sorry I woke you."

"That's ok," the woman whispered, stroking Sarah's forehead. "Just go back to sleep and rest.  I'll still be right here when you wake up."

***

"Well the good news is the knife missed anything important.  A minor miracle, that."

Dr. Restropo was standing in Sarah's hospital room, showing her and Theresa a computer-generated image of Sarah in three dimensions.  Sarah nodded her understanding as the doctor indicated the path of travel of the blade.

"It went in your side and into your spare rib, and that's as far as it got.  It broke the bone but even that should heal nicely.  In fact, none of the cuts are particularly deep.  There's just a multitude of them.  Every time he cut you, it opened up more veins.  That's why there's so much blood loss.  He didn't get any arteries; just muscles and the veins that feed them.  I'd say your propensity to clot certainly played a role in saving your life.  That and the fact that you had a friend there to call for emergency rescue so soon."

Sarah looked at her doctor. "And the baby?"

Dr. Restropo smiled. "Doing just fine.  You have strong abs, Sarah, and that protected the embryo.  According to our scanners, it's perfectly normal.  Because of your cardio-pulmonary conditioning, there should be no ill effects on its development from the blood loss, either.  But I would advise you to stay off your feet for awhile; not because of a risk to the embryo but to avoid opening up any of the wounds to your legs."

Her legs. Sarah had deliberately avoided looking at them. She knew they had suffered the most in the attack and she wasn't sure she could handle looking at the damage.  She nodded her understanding to the doctor. "Ok, not a problem."

"And Sarah," Dr. Restropo said sternly, "I'm going to say it again, to make sure you understand the importance. I strongly advise you to avoid any - ANY - activities that might stress your leg muscles.  I can discharge you tomorrow, but you're going straight home for bed rest.  You can sleep there just as well as here.  Unless, of course, you like my cabbage soup." The doctor smiled.

"It's delicious," Sarah said darkly.

"That's what I thought," the doctor said, snapping the computer shut. "I'll be moving into the offices on Leighton Acres over the next few days, so I may not be available for your every beck and call.  I have faith in Theresa's ability to tend to you if you start to show any of your urges to get out of bed and save orphans, criminals, and wayward girls."

Sarah glanced at her personal nurse.  A pair of chrome shackles dangled from Theresa's fingers and she was smiling gleefully.  Sarah gave a playful pout. 

"Fine," Dr. Restropo said, "I'm glad we have an understanding.  I'll be by tomorrow to check your dressings."  The doctor took Sarah's hand and patted it reassuringly, then left the room.

Theresa put the shackles back in her bag and resumed reading her palm computer; keeping one eye on Sarah as Sarah kept one eye on the bag with the shackles.

***

"Good evening, Dearest," Thomas said softly, giving Sarah a quick kiss. "Theresa, could I have a moment with my wife?"

"Certainly, sir."  The woman got up and left the room, flashing Sarah a quick wink before disappearing behind the hospital room door.

Sarah's eyes narrowed suspiciously at Thomas as a wry grin pulled at the corners of her mouth.  "What are you thinking of doing?  You wouldn't take advantage of me in my current condition, would you?" she asked playfully. "You know I'm not supposed to exert my legs, and I'm pretty sure what you have in mind will most definitely exert them."

Thomas chuckled. "Well, the thought did occur to me," he replied as reached down and cupped her chin tenderly, then leaned over her and gave her another kiss.  She moaned pleasurably and wrapped her hands around his neck to keep him there.  Finally, after getting her fill of his scent, she released her grip and let him pull away, a devilish look on her face.

"Thomas, did you bring me any treats?" she asked, grinning like a child.

Thomas chuckled again. "No, but I did bring a special guest.  We came by earlier but you were sleeping. Marybeth is chatting with him now.  I think there might be something there."

"Marybeth?  With who?  I didn't know she was single."

"Apparently she is. And has been for awhile, it seems. And she's talking with your dad."

Sarah shot up.  "Dad's here?"

Thomas reached out and pushed her back into bed. "Relax. You might pull a stitch loose.  He came to see you, but apparently Marybeth has him sidetracked at the moment."

"Daddy..." Sarah said with a smile.  "I haven't seen him in awhile.  Does he seem happy?"

"You know, now that you mention it, he does," Thomas quipped. "I hadn't thought about it, but when he saw Marybeth he did seem to brighten up.  It hadn't occurred to me..."  Thomas drifted off.  "But you two can talk personal stuff later.  I just wanted to let you know that he'll be helping with the paperwork while you're recovering and he brought some files with him that you'll need to go over.  You're still responsible for the old Siobhan Penitentiary cases, you know.  You were behind in your warden duties when you were injured, and you're dropping even farther behind now, so I called in reinforcements on a consultancy basis."

Thomas looked at the door, then leaned over Sarah and whispered, "Do you have any more of those little cardboard envelopes you gave to the girls?  Marybeth may need one later."

Sarah slapped him playfully.

***

"Are you sure it's ok for us to be in here?", Reginald asked as Vella led him down the hall.

"Yeah," Vella answered, "Sarah said I could come over and play with her toys whenever I visited.  Thomas is with her at the hospital, so they won't be home for awhile.  Ispy will be busy filming with the boys for a few hours and Dania's on a date.  Sort of.  That means, we get some private time." 

Vella led Reginald down the stairs and into the basement of the main house.  As they reached the landing, Vella flipped a light switch on the wall, bathing the room in a sinister glow, a circle of light emphasizing the wooden frame in the center of the room.  Coils of rope were wrapped around the drum at one end and twin loops hung forlornly from the other.

"Whoa," the boy said. "Sarah joked that she had one but I didn't believe her.  Is that thing real?"

"Yeah," Vella responded, "Barney and Oscar built it for a movie and gave it to Sarah after they were done with it.  Pretty impressive, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it sure is."  Reginald strode over to the rack and tentatively turned the handle on the drum.  "Have you ever used it?"

"Just once."

Reginald looked at her. "Seriously?"

Vella nodded.

Reginald grinned at her.  "Want to try it again?"

Vella shrugged her shoulders. "Not right now. Maybe later.  There's something else I want to show you."  She walked over to a corner of the room and pulled out a large A-shaped frame about waist-high, mounted on collapsible wheels.  It looked like a sawhorse, but with wider legs.  Leather restraints dangled from those legs. "I thought this would be more interesting to try first."

The boy studied the contraption. "I don't get it. How does it work?"

"Well, the girl straddles it like a horse and her legs are strapped to the boards, so her vagina is directly over this hole.  Then, her hands are cuffed behind her or hung overhead.  Whichever.  From there, you can just use your imagination."

Reginald smiled.  He was using his imagination.

Vella smiled, too.

***

"Is that what I think it is?" 

Barney stood poised on the stairs leading down into the basement of the Anders house, staring at the stainless steel table that gleamed in the harsh white light.

"Yes," Isparana replied, "it is an embalming table.  It was upstairs in the parlor, but my sister wanted it moved down here so she could redecorate the room.  She did not want it removed from the house, in case Dr. Restropo wanted it for her practice."

Oscar looked at him. "You know, I think we might be able to use this."

"Psycho killer straps women to the table..." Barney started.

"... to 'disassemble' them into smaller parts..." Oscar continued.

"... and build the perfect woman..." Barney finished.

The two boys nodded, circling the table, deep in thought.  Barney looked up to study the lighting as Oscar formed a square with his fingers to check camera angles.

"Maybe we should shoot a test," Barney suggested.

"Good idea. I'll go get the camera out of the Hotchkiss," Oscar replied, tromping up the stairs and out the door.

"And who," Isparana said, folding her arms across her chest, "are you going to shoot for your test?"

Barney looked at her and smiled. 

Isparana unfolded her arms and walked seductively over to him, her hips swaying as she dropped her head and gave him a sensual grin.  She wrapped her hands around his neck and buried him in a deep, hard kiss.  As she broke their embrace, she wiped her finger across his lips. "Foda," she whispered, "I am too easy."

***

Dania lay in the back of her truck, the Dinkins boy on the mat next to her.  A basket of food, once warm, lay abandoned in the corner of the truck bed.  The two young teenagers were on their backs, staring at the panorama of stars that stretched above the peach orchard.

"Makes you feel small, doesn't it," Dania said.

"As if we're just floating across the galaxy like dust in an endless ocean," the boy replied.

Dania turned her head and looked at him. "That's beautiful.  Is that a quote?"

"No," the boy answered, "that's a David Dinkins original."

"I like David Dinkins originals," she whispered with a smile as she slid closer to him and draped her arm across his chest.  "Tell me a few more."

"Sorry," he replied, "my brilliance only comes in spurts."

Dania laughed as she gently traced a line along the profile of his lips.  She then drew herself closer to him and kissed him, gently.

The boy returned her kiss and paused, as if registering her scent.  "That was nice," he said.

"Yeah," Dania breathed.  Then she kissed him again.

***

Sarah was in the back of the van, her attacker kneeling over her and waving the knife.

He was saying something to her, but no sounds were coming out.  Just his lips moving, repeating something.  She tried to focus on the contours of his mouth; trying to analyze the shapes he was making.  She knew the words he had spoken to her that fateful day, but now he was saying something different.

A shadow was moving in the bright light outside the door behind him, the form amorphous and shifting with its movement, just on the edge of her field of vision.  It felt familiar to her, as if she should know what it was and not be afraid.  Thalia?

The one-eyed man was lifting the knife, holding it in the air high overhead, his face twisted with rage even as his mouth formed words.  She saw him pronounce an "A", and then another "A".  He repeated it again, his mouth not quite closing as his tongue flicked against his teeth.  An "N"?  "A" then "N" then "A" again.  Nana?

Now the knife was streaking towards her.  The shadow drifted across the top of the van, curling with the indentations of the metal roof as the man plunged the knife downwards towards her.  It was heading directly for her heart.

Then, the shadow moved, enveloping the man's hand as the knife's trajectory changed.  For some reason the man missed his target and struck her in the leg.  The shadow swayed with the man's arm as he raised it up again, swinging wildly, uncontrollably, slicing at the muscles of her legs as blood began to spray across his face.  The shadow remained around his hand, even as he lifted the knife again. "N", "A", "N", "A" he repeated as he plunged the knife down again.   Again the knife veered away from its predicted target, striking her in the chest, glancing off her rib cage and skidding sideways against her skin and penetrating no deeper.

Then she heard the whine of the motorcycle engine and, on the edge of her peripheral vision, the familiar yellow and silver cycle, a lone leather-clad female rider atop it.

He repeated "N", "A", "N", "A", as if he was speaking directly to her, trying to tell her something even as his arm swung its deadly knife at her.

The other attacker fell on top of her, the knife plunging into his shoulder.  His eyes were closed and his mouth was crying out with pain.  He slumped over her momentarily, then fell back as the man with the knife raised the blood-tinged blade high into the air.

Now Thalia's strap was around his neck and he was being pulled out of the van.  Sarah saw the shadow move again, towards the other man that had been holding the chain around her neck.

His eyes were closed and the shadow was thick and dark around his face, like bees attacking an intruder to their hive.  Sarah had the gun in her hand and she pulled the trigger, the barrel pointing towards the man as he reached blindly in her direction.  She didn't hear a bang, but she saw the bullet leave the gun and fly, slowly, towards the center of the man's face.  The cloud parted, forming an open circle where the bullet would penetrate the man's nose and enter his brain.  Then the back of his head exploded.

The shadow hovered in the open air for a moment, then drifted towards her.  She didn't know what it was, but she didn't feel afraid of it.  She didn't try to move as it began to settle over her damaged body.

She felt cold.  Like death.  The same chill she had felt that day in the van.  But she felt something else, too.  She felt life.  Both ends of the human existence and she was bridging the gap between them.  She felt a tiny red blob in her belly glowing with energy; strong and alive.  The shadow seemed to enter every cut in Sarah's body and she could see herself growing darker with it.  But there was that pulsing red energy; a tiny ball of life.  Death could not enter there.

Now Thalia's face appeared in the doorway, a look of horror on her face.  She was also saying something; "N", "A", "N", "A"?  Nana?  Was Sarah supposed to know someone named "Nana"?  Thalia moved closer to her, rags in her hands as she began to bandage Sarah's legs.  Sarah tried to speak to her, to ask about "Nana", but the girl was oblivious.  She called out again but the girl couldn't hear her.  Sarah reached for her, trying to get her attention.

Her hand rang against the bedrail.

Sarah's eyes shot open.  She was still lying down, but Theresa was over her, out of striking range.  She was looking at the monitor above Sarah's bed.  Sarah was gulping oxygen and her heart seemed to be trying to beat its way out of her chest.  Another nightmare.

"You're ok," Theresa was saying, "you just gave yourself a little fright.  That's all.  You're ok now.  Nobody can hurt you here."

Sarah blinked, then coughed to clear her throat.  "Theresa," she gasped, "I was trying to speak. What was I saying?"

Theresa looked at her, confused. "I didn't hear you say anything.  Your thrashing around woke me up."

Sarah looked at her nurse and nodded, then settled back into the linens as Theresa tucked the sheets back into place.

***

Vella's well-toned legs were spread wide and lashed to the dark wood of the modified Spanish Horse, the firm muscles captured by the leather restraints around her ankles and knees.  Her hands were cuffed behind her and long, slender chains dangled from clips that adorned her quivering nipples.  A light sheen of sweat coated her body, accentuating every curve of her skin as the moisture captured the light.

Reginald stood behind her, a riding crop in his hand. 

She shuddered as he paused, watching her tremble on the Horse, the chains bouncing with every ragged breath she took.  A leather gag only slightly suppressed her cries of pain and pleasure.  Her hands flexed against the cuffs, testing their hold.

He had let the whip do the work of preparing her for her final torture, the leather finding fresh skin to bite with each flick of his wrist.  She had cried out wonderfully, her head tossed back in agony even as the lips of her sex blossomed with arousal.  She was responding beautifully to the abuse, and he secretly wondered how much she could endure.  But this was not the time.  He would have to be patient.

Vella dropped her chin, looking at the two evil clamps that bit into her sensitive teats.  Her nipples throbbed with pain, and she knew the clips would hurt more coming off than going on.  She smiled as she stared at her own body coated with sweat, her legs spread obscenely, allowing him access to the most sensitive parts of her body.

Now he was moving under her, an object in his hand.  Then she felt it. Something hard and rigid.  Not him. Something else; pressing against the opening to her sex.  She felt it slide along the folds of her cleft, gathering her juices on its tip, then she felt it pushing against her, forcing its way inside.

She winced and squealed at the pressure, the unyielding object driving itself into her body, pinning her to the apex of the torturous frame.  She shifted her hips, her lean tummy twisting as she tried to accommodate the size of the object buried inside her.

Reginald moved behind her, reaching around her arms to cup her sweat-slicked breasts.  She moaned as his fingers found the two clamps, prodding them up and down.  Then, he released the pressure on the springs, the metal teeth parting from her skin.  A tiny yelp escaped from her throat as blood returned to the nerve-rich flesh, awakening them to more throbbing pain.  He flicked the pained nubs with his fingers, causing her to flinch and gasp.

She began to cry, the tears welling in her eyes even as he began to gently caress her trembling breasts.  He kissed her tenderly on the cheek, then whispered. "It's time."

She turned her head, following his movement as he knelt beneath the frame and pressed a switch.

The object buried deep in her pussy came to life, a soft vibrating sensation against the walls tickling and arousing her.  She moaned through the leather gag and inhaled deeply, absorbing the pleasure along with the pain.

He wrapped his hands gently around her face, wiping the moisture from her brow as she began to grind against the object lodged in her body.  Her breasts bobbed with each reflexive jerk of her body, the dark nipples now dotted by two red nubs where the clamps had done their work.

She twitched and flexed and writhed on the frame, the muscles of her legs drawn tight against her skin as she rode the vibrating object shoved in her pussy.  She gasped and choked and struggled against the pain even as waves of pleasure coursed through her body.  She could feel the familiar warmth building into a raging fire that soon became an inferno as wave upon wave of sensuous pleasure emanated from her sex.

Then, she arched her back as a squeal tore from her throat, her long hair clinging to the moisture on her shoulders.  She gasped, then grunted.  And then she came; her tummy rippling as she bore down on the object seated between her wide-spread thighs.

Reginald smiled.  Watching her cum was everything he had imagined it would be.  Beautiful, vibrant, and glorious.

He reached under the Horse and switched off the device.  Once was enough for their first date.

***

Isparana, naked, lay on the cold metal table, her warm body creating a foggy outline against the stainless steel surface.  Her eyes were closed and her hands rested comfortably at her sides.  A harsh spotlight beamed overhead, illuminating the gentle contours of her golden skin. 

A camera's mechanical eye was trained on her delicate feet, studying the wrinkles of her insoles, the sensitive bottoms vulnerable to the slightest touch.  Slowly, the metal orb began to pan upwards, following the curves of her calf, then along the lines of muscle in her smooth thigh, rotating across the top of her toned leg to continue its journey to the crevice of her clean-shaven mound of Venus.  The camera paused there for a second, as if to draw attention to the dark tissue that had blossomed with arousal between the folds of her skin.

Now the undead eye continued its trek, moving onward across the trembling flesh of her lean tummy and over the crest of her ribs.  Her two soft mounds, each capped by a dark nipple, rose and fell with her breathing.  A gentle pulse beat incessantly at the hollow of her throat, the tiny throbbing just visible in the bright light.  The camera moved upward, framing the beautiful face that lay, relaxed, on the table, cushioned by the dark curls of hair that nested underneath it.  The woman's long, dark eyelashes fluttered slightly, and a gentle breath passed between her sensuous lips.

A hand, encased in surgical elastic, reached down and pressed against her jaw, cupping her chin. It moved her head slowly to the left, then to the right, as if to study the woman's flawless profile.  The hand, completing its inspection of her face, tapped in contemplation at her chin, then slowly, with a pointed finger, began to trace a line down her throat, pausing at the tiny beating pulse at the base of her neck.

The finger pressed against the woman's soft tissue, the skin bending under the pressure of the artificial material as the vein throbbed in the light.  The finger tapped twice, as if testing the resistance there, then continued its trek down the naked body before it.

It passed across the flat expanse of the woman's chest, between the valley of her upturned breasts, then curled off to one side, following the curve of skin and muscle where her breast met her ribs.  The finger circled upward, outlining the base of her mound, then spiraled towards the dark nipple that hovered at its peak.  The elastic-coated digit pressed against the warm skin, teasing the sensitive teat, causing it to contract as a tiny dot of puckered flesh rose up into the air.

The finger toyed with the tiny cap, watching it bend and flex, becoming more erect with each stroke against it.

The woman shivered with pleasure and a smile began to pull at the corners of her mouth.

The finger paused, waiting.

Suddenly Isparana reached up and grabbed the lapels of the old lab coat Barney was wearing, pulling him down onto her naked body as she buried her lips against his face in a deep, hard kiss.  She quickly wrapped her long, smooth legs around the boy's waist, preventing him from pulling away.

"Dammit!" Oscar cried out, the camera still in his hand, "You're not supposed to do that!"

Isparana giggled as she broke her kiss, still gripping the boy's lab coat. "I know, but sometimes I cannot help myself," she said with a wide grin.  "I am sorry.  I will try harder next time."

Oscar hung his head, dropped the camera to his waist, and sighed.  "That's the third time already."

"Hey, Ossy," Barney said, still trapped between Isparana's legs, "maybe you should go check the footage we've already shot.  Out in the truck.  For about twenty minutes."

Oscar sighed again. "Yeah," he said defeatedly, "I'll check the tire pressure a couple of times while I'm there, too."

Isparana giggled as Oscar tromped back up the stairs.

***

The Dinkins boy lay in the back of the truck, looking up at the full moon.  His hands were folded behind his head and Dania's head rested comfortably in the natural crevice of his elbow.  She was on her side, her arm draped across his chest and her leg flung across his waist.  She was giving him soft kisses as they both lay there, becoming comfortable with each other.

He slipped his free hand out from underneath his head and placed it gently against her back, letting his fingers softly rub against her blouse.  The material of her top felt soft and smooth.  She moaned and kissed him again.

Then he realized something was missing.

"Dania?" he asked.

"Hmmm?" she replied.

"Are you wearing a bra?"

"No," she whispered, "I didn't want to make things too complicated for you."

The boy's eyes shot open in panic.  He hadn't planned for that.  He wasn't sure he was ready.

"I, uh..." the boy stammered.

Dania giggled. "That's ok," she said as she reached out and playfully stroked his hair. "This is nice, too."

***

Thalia sat in the all-night market, waiting for her aunt to finish her shopping.  The food storages at Leighton Acres were plentiful, but sometimes even they needed some augmenting; particularly when it came to spices.

Her aunt was humming a gentle tune, something she did when she was happy.  As far as Thalia knew, her aunt only enjoyed three things: shopping, cooking, and cleaning.  And as the housekeeper for the Anders house, she would be kept busy doing all three.

Thalia glanced at the menagerie of odd items scattered around the cash register.  Various magazines and tabloids had been strategically placed to entice the store's customers to spend a little more money than they had planned.  It was a clever ploy, and one that usually worked.

Her aunt was approaching the counter, the basket filled with leaves, powders, and shoots.  Thalia dutifully stepped up to the register with her, to act as her interpreter.

That's when she saw it.

The cover picture was Isparana laying on a rain-slicked track, her hair matted and lifeless.  She was reaching up towards Sarah, crying as her coach reached down towards her, a look of empathetic pain on her face.  Around them, caught in mid-stride, were the bare asses of Chastity, Dania, and Vella, running towards their coach and their friend.  Silver streaks of rain caught by the lights gave the photo a far-away magical quality.

Thalia reached for the magazine and quickly lifted it out of its stand.  She turned the pages to see if there was more inside.

"Mae de Morte!" Thalia exclaimed.

"Que?!" her aunt replied to her with surprise.

Thalia turned the magazine towards the cashier. "Who is this?!" she demanded, pointing to a picture in the corner.

The man looked at her, confused.  "That?  That's Shannon Siobhan.  The musician.  You've never seen her?"

"Sagrado..." Thalia murmured, making a gesture across her face and chest.  She set the paper on the counter hurriedly. "We will buy."

"No," the man said.  "I'm not allowed to sell back issues once the new ones come out.  That shouldn't even be there.  I must've forgotten to pull it.  Sorry."

Thalia looked at him, shocked and disappointed.

The man noticed her reaction. "It's free.  You can keep it. I was going to throw it away anyway."

***

Isparana was being punished.

Oscar had found a crate of cloth bandages in a cabinet upstairs, in the old embalming room.  Dirty and old, they weren't useful for medicinal purposes, but they were proving to be useful for what he was trying to film.

Long white strips of cloth were tied around Isparana's ankles, then tied to the stainless steel table.  Strips of the old cloth had also been wrapped around her knees, hips, wrists, and elbows; each strip then tied underneath the flat metal top.  Long strips ran across her throat and her forehead, pinning her securely to the table.  A gag had been fashioned from a white towel, then a bandage had been wrapped around her mouth, muting her cries. No matter how much she struggled and pleaded, she wasn't going anywhere.

She was twisting and flinching beautifully as Barney continued his examination of her body under the watchful electric eye of the camera.

The gloved finger toyed with the dark nipple, causing the captive woman to pull against the bonds holding her body to the surgical metal surface.  She moaned and cried with frustration as her pert nub was stroked by the elastic-clad finger.  Then, finally, mercifully, the finger, and the hand attached to it, continued its journey down her body.

The hand lightly brushed against the warm, golden skin of the woman's lean tummy. The skin dented just slightly as the fingers traveled downward, past the tiny cove of her bellybutton, towards the rise of her mound.  There, the hand flattened itself, covering the cleft of her blossoming pussy.

The tight-fitting material covering the hand dimpled slightly as the fingers slipped along the crevice, causing the woman to renew her vigorous tugs against the cloth strips binding her to the table.  The hand hovered over the protruding tissue, the fingers gently rubbing the blood-infused nerves hidden in the petals of the woman's flowering sex.

Then, the hand rotated, cupping her sex as a finger slipped inside.

"Cut!"  Oscar yelled.

"What?" Barney said, "it was just getting good!"

"This is a horror movie, not a porno.  We can't show penetration."

"Well can we edit it out?" Barney asked.

"Sure, but if we're going to cut it out, why bother in the first place?"

Isparana lay helplessly bound to the table, watching the two boys' conversation, her eyes darting from boy to boy like a spectator at a tennis match.

"Because we can get some really good body shots of her squirming.  At least from the hips up.  Nobody needs to know why she's moving around."

Oscar thought about that. "You know, you're right.  The audience can just see her fighting her bonds and fill in the blanks with their imagination.  That might work even better than our original plan."

"Hmmmmm!" Isparana hummed through her gag, annoyed at not being consulted first.

Barney looked at her.  "You don't mind, do you?  Sarah let us do far worse to her."

"Hmm-Mm?"

"Yeah. She did."

Isparana looked at him, sighed, then rolled her eyes in surrender.  She was too easy.

***

Reginald waited in the darkness, holding Vella's clothes as she stood under the outdoor shower mounted to the side of the stables.

"This is gonna suck," she said as she closed her eyes and reached for the rusty chain that dangled over her head.  She inhaled deeply, let out a squeal of fearful anticipation, and pulled the chain.

A burst of clear, cold water fell from the silver shower head, dowsing her sweat-slicked body with bone-chilling crystalline liquid.  The shock knocked the breath out of her as Reginald took another step back, lest he too get a late-night bath.  She choked and gasped, her breasts shuddering with her contractions as she stood, mouth open, trying to breath.

"Oooh, that's cold!" she exclaimed.

After standing there for a moment, watching the drops cascade off her body as she recovered from the cold water, she reached for the shampoo, squirted some in her hand, and began to lather up.

Reginald smiled at the girl, admiring the way her body moved as she shifted under the water spout, her breasts lifted by her raised arms as she massaged the foam through the strands of her dark hair.  Her body glistened in a mix of sweat and water, seeming to shine with her own inner light, each gleaming curve enticing him more and more.  Even on dry land she seemed to be an enchanting siren luring him onto a rocky shoal.

"You really are beautiful," he said admiringly.  "I'm surprised none of the other guys asked you out first."

Vella turned and smiled.  "I guess no other boy has managed to get Sarah to hold me down for him."  She paused, waiting for his reaction.

He stood, unmoving, conflicted in what to do next.  "Ah, hell," he said, tossing her clothes across the rack as he simultaneously kicked off his shoes and reached for the button on his pants.

In the security room, Reynier reached over and dimmed the monitor as the microphone picked up the girl's playful giggle.

***

Sarah lay in the back of the van.  She knew where she was and how the dream would unfold.  She promised herself that this time, she would pay closer attention.

The man was above her, wielding the knife, his face twisted with rage.  He was speaking, but she couldn't hear him, his mouth forming the letters "N", "A", "N", "A" over and over as the shadow drifted from the ceiling and covered his arm.

Then, she felt herself drifting upwards, as if her soul was leaving her body.

She rotated in mid-air and was looking downwards at herself, from somewhere behind the man, over his shoulder as the knife swung clumsily downwards at her.  She saw her body, bloody and naked, rotate and reach for the other man, the one holding the gun, and as she did so, the knife began to race directly for her heart.

Then, it veered off to the left, impacting against her rib and careening away from her vital organs.  The man raised the knife again and plunged it straight down again.  This time the knife's trajectory stayed true as Sarah pulled the gunman over her.  It struck him in the shoulder and he cried out in pain.

A length of black rope appeared out of nowhere and yanked the man holding the knife backwards, and now Sarah could see the damage to her legs; a multitude of cuts across her thighs and shins, mercifully avoiding any major ligaments in her knees or arteries in her muscles.  But from each cut oozed a continuous flow of blood that sprayed from her legs every time she tried to kick her attacker.  Then, a spent cartridge case flew through the air and fell into the thickening pool.  She had shot the gunman, and, the fight over, her body was relaxing.

As her body settled into the pool of blood, her head rotated over and she could see her own face, the skin darkening with death as the shadow drifted across it.  Her eyes were looking at her, but they were not her eyes.  They were someone else's, someone she knew.  And her mouth was repeating "N", "A", "N", "A".

Nana?  Who was Nana?

Now Sarah's body was looking out the back of the van.  Sarah, hovering over the crime scene, knew Thalia was coming even before the girl entered the cabin.  But there was something else.

Thalia was looking at her, a look of horror on her face.  Sarah studied the girl's reaction.  Was she terrified of the violence and gore?  Or did she see something that Sarah didn't?

Then, Thalia did something that Sarah didn't remember her doing before.  Thalia was bandaging Sarah's leg, and after tying the first rag, she made a sign across her head and chest.  It was something Sarah hadn't seen until now.

Almost instantly, Sarah began to drift downwards, falling back into herself.  She rotated over onto her back.  As she did so, Sarah instinctively reached out to brace herself for the impact.

And her hand clanged against the bedrail.

Sarah was laying in her bed, her heart beating fiercely in her chest .  She opened her eyes, expecting to see Theresa standing overhead, but nobody was there.  Sarah sat up and looked around.  Theresa was just beginning to stir.  Sarah quickly lay back down, trying to control her rapid breathing, pretending to be asleep.  She didn't want to cause the woman to lose anymore of her own precious rest.

But she did have some questions for Thalia.

***

David Dinkins woke up to a sound he'd never heard before.  Something was screaming.  It sounded like some sort of mythical creature, crying out in pain.  His eyes shot open and he lifted his head.

Dania was on top of him, in the same position she'd been in when he had somehow dozed off.  Her head was resting in the crevice of his elbow and her arm was draped across his chest.  Her smooth, bare leg sat comfortably across his waist.  A warm camping blanket had been spread over both of them, the top dampened by the night-time dew.

He slipped his arm under the cover.  He felt for her back, intending to massage her tenderly.  But instead of the smooth fabric of her blouse, he felt warm, soft skin.  Quickly, his hand felt along her flanks, brushing along her bare hip and thigh.  He realized, with horror, that he had fallen asleep with a naked girl on top of him.

He wasn't sure what to do next.  He really had to pee, but he didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to have a naked girl on top of him, either.

Dania stirred slightly as she came out of her night-time slumber.  One eye cracked open and she smiled.  "Good morning," she croaked happily.

The creature screamed again.

"What is that?"  the Dinkins boy said with a touch of concern.

"That?  That's Rooster Cogburn."  She gave a quick laugh, then explained, "He runs the hen house.  The name seemed fitting."

The creature screamed louder.

"Oh," he said, "well, how do you shut it up?"

"You don't," she murmured sleepily, "you just get up and get ready for school."

Dania braced her hand on his chest and pushed herself up, the blanket sliding down her bare shoulders.  Even in the twilight gloom, Dinkins could see the two pink-tipped mounds shifting between her elbows.  He tried to nonchalantly catch a quick glimpse without getting caught.

"That's ok," Dania said with a smile. "You don't have to hide your interest."  She sat up, straddling his leg as the blanket fell in a heap around her hips.  She drew her arms back, giving him an unobstructed view of her breasts.  "You can touch them if you want.  I won't mind."

The boy looked at her. "I, uh..."

She giggled. "Go ahead.  I want you to."

Dania's hand was resting innocently against the boy's waist.  She felt him surge through his jeans.  She giggled again and whispered.  "I think you want to, too."

Before the Dinkins boy could do anything, the mysterious creature screamed again, reminding her that it was time to wake up.

Dania turned in the direction of the noisy bird and sighed. "Oh, Rooster..." she admonished.

She patted the boy's rock-hard shaft. "I guess we'll have to save this for later."  She then turned and crawled out of the back of the truck and stepped onto the ground. 

He watched as her toned legs, capped by her muscular ass cheeks, carried her towards a nearby tree.  From his position in the truck, he could see one smooth leg, one feminine arm, and the side of one soft breast as she squatted down.  She reached between her thighs and soon a look of relaxed contentment came over her face as a tiny dribble of urine splashed against the ground.

Then her eyes shot open in terror.  She looked down and a tiny squeal of playful surprise escaped from her open mouth as she realized her tiny puddle was creeping towards her foot.  Dinkins saw her shuffle quickly, then stop when she realized she couldn't escape.  She sat there, naked against the tree, and continued to pee.  Soon the stream slowed to a trickle, then nothing.  Her business finished, she gave herself a quick rub then stood up and walked back towards the truck, unashamed of her nudity. 

She paused, there in the early morning gloom of the peach orchard, and stood up on tiptoe as every muscle in her body suddenly flexed at the same time. She raised her arms high into the air, drawing her young breasts up and tight against her chest as the cords in her calves and thighs twisted with exertion.  He wasn't sure, but he thought he saw the little cap of her sex peeking out from the curve of her bare cleft.  And in that moment, in their little slice of Eden, she was the most beautiful girl in the world.

She let out a little kitten growl and settled back onto her bare feet, a leaf sticking to the foot that had suffered the humiliation of standing in her own pee.  She then walked to the side of the truck and reached for her clothing, getting dressed as the boy watched her transform from a child of nature into a young woman.

***

"This sucks."

Sarah was alone in her room.  Theresa had gone to pick up a fresh uniform delivered to the front desk, along with a set of clean clothes for her mistress, leaving Sarah alone and bored.  With two more hours to go before visiting hours officially began, it looked like Sarah would be bored for awhile.

She sighed. "And now I'm talking to myself."

And then Thalia burst into the room.

"Hi," the girl whispered, slightly out of breath. "I come while Theresa talk to Security.  I do not wait for right hours. Is ok to talk?"

Sarah nodded. "Yes!  I'm so glad to see you!  I had a dream last night and..."

"Yes, last night I busy too. Ok..." Thalia reached into her motorcycle jacket and pulled out the magazine.  "I shop with Tia Bella and I see this.  Is you and Isparana, yes?"

"Yeah. And Vella, and Chastity, and Dania..."  Sarah pointed to each of the girls in the picture.

"Ok."  Thalia inhaled, slowing herself down.  "Is necessary I talk you some things."

Sarah dipped her chin, indicating her concentration on what Thalia was saying.

"I am from Brazil, but for eleven..." The girl paused, checking her math. "... eleven years we live in Suriname. You know this place?"

"Vaguely. I think it's somewhere in South America, right?"

"Yes, on the north.  We go there for work. Eleven years. Then I come here.  Ok."  Thalia leaned in closer to Sarah. "In Suriname we learn the old one.  I am learning Catholic..." Thalia quickly made the sign of the cross, "but also the old one, the Winti.  You know of this?"

Sarah shook her head.

"Ok," the girl continued, "it is from Africa, come to Suriname with the people.  The Catholic, they say it no good, so people punished, but it told in secret, person to person.  I hear of it from friend, who teach it to me.  In Winti, there is one god, like Catholic, who live far away. So, to help people, Anana send other..."

Sarah's eyes narrowed.  "Wait. What was this god's name?"

"Anana. Why?"

"Spell it."

"'A', 'N', 'A', 'N', 'A'."

Sarah's arm shot out and she clutched Thalia's shoulder in a death-grip. "In my dream, the people kept spelling 'N', 'A', 'N', 'A'.  I thought they were spelling 'Nana', like a nickname for a grandmother."

Thalia put her hand over Sarah's and sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes wide.

"Miss Sarah, when I ride up to Dania's car, I think it is Dania, because it is her's.  I think she is in trouble, so I park the motorcycle and sneak up on the white... thing.  I can not see face, but I see nice shoes and I know it is you; because Dania does not have it for school.  I take my bag and I get the man out.  I break his neck and I look inside the white thing.  But I do not see you..."  Thalia lifted the magazine, opened to the story about Sarah, and pointed to the picture in the corner. "I see her!"

Sarah looked at the picture.  "Mom..." she said in a faraway voice.

Thalia continued.  "In Winti, you are three things. You are the Kra - yourself; the Yorka - the things you learn; and the Dyodyo - your parents, who protect you, even after they die."

Sarah exhaled.  She couldn't believe it.  She shook her head. "No... no, you saw me in there; not her. I look a lot like her.  Maybe I just looked different because of the blood loss."

"Talk to me your dream," Thalia challenged.

Sarah sighed. "Ok, I'm in the back of the van and the man is stabbing me.  He's saying 'Nana, Nana' over and over again.  Then there's this shadow across the roof of the van and it surrounds his arm. Every time he tries to stab me in the heart, he misses and hits something else; my legs, my ribs..."

"The busi gado..." Thalia said in confirmation.

"The what?"

"The shadow.  Is the busi gado.  The forest gods.  It look like long, dark man."  Thalia's eyes narrowed. "When you see me first, where?"

"At Building Omega."

Thalia shook her head. "No.  Think!" She pointed emphatically to her brain.

Sarah's mouth dropped. "At the Cross-Terra's..."

Thalia nodded. "In the trees of the forest."

Sarah couldn't breath.  A huffing noise came out of her mouth.

Thalia looked at her.  "Say me more of your dream," the Brazilian girl said.

"He's stabbing at me, and then I pull the gunman over me.  The man with the knife stabs him, and then you pull the man with the knife out of the van.  I roll over and the gunman is reaching for me.  There's this shadow over him, too, blinding him, and when I shoot him the shadow makes this little hole, just big enough for the bullet to go through.  And then he dies.  I turn back and lay on the floor of the van, and the shadow is over me, waiting.  Then it starts to settle over me and I become so cold..."

"Yes, like death," Thalia said, "I look in the white van and I see your mother; not you. But I get in van to help, to keep you here..."

"... and you made some sign with your hand.  What was it?"

Thalia looked at her.  "How you know that?"

"I didn't see it when it happened. But I saw it in my dream."

"I make the Catholic sign - Trindade - but also something else, too. My grandmother do when she think I am bad.  I do not know from where, but she say me it is for... I do not know the word... when you do bad and you are sorry."

Sarah's eyes spread wide with shock.  "Of course!  I should have known!"

Thalia looked at her quizzically.

"Thalia, I did some bad things after my mom died," Sarah said, "I've gone to my father and asked for his forgiveness, but I've never apologized to my mother."

Thalia's eyes were locked on her.  "This you necessary to do."

Sarah nodded. "Yes. But not here. Tonight. When I'm back home.  And please don't tell anybody!"

Thalia smiled.  She leaned over and kissed Sarah's forehead. "You help me.  Now I help you."

***

Tia Bella was busy in the kitchen, trying to feed seven hungry teenagers.  Vella was with her, carrying on a conversation in Portuguese, as she helped serve the plates of eggs, toast, jam, and fruit to the hurried crew.

The four boys were silent, hungrily shoveling heaping spoonfuls of breakfast into their mouths.  The three girls, on the other hand, were chatting amiably about how well they slept,  with winks about who they slept with, or if they slept at all.  The boys were oblivious to the coded signals the girls were exchanging, thinking it was just the usual boring banter girls always seem to spew when they have nothing in particular to keep them occupied.

To Tia Bella, it felt just like home.

***

"Mom, you're not seriously going to start dating Sarah's dad, are you?"  Chastity asked, leaning against the doorway as she filed a chip out of her nail.

"Well, he's a nice man and he's very polite and well-mannered,"  Marybeth replied as she stood over the sink washing the morning dishes. "Besides, you heard Sarah.  He's been lonely these past few years and he might enjoy some company; that's all."

"Mom, she's my coach!"

"And your friend.  And my friend.  It's perfectly fine for me to socialize with her father.  He's a true gentleman."

"Mom," Chastity said, glaring at her mother, "it's a little weird. No. Strike that. It's a lot weird."

"Well, I enjoyed talking to him yesterday and he's invited me to come out for brunch today.  I think he wants to show me his fish farm.  From what he's told me, it sounds like a very interesting operation."

"Huh," Chastity said sarcastically, "I don't recall you ever expressing an interest in fish or farms, much less a fish farmer."

"Well that's just one thing he's doing. You know, he's had other businesses, too.  Very successful ones."

"Mom..."

Marybeth sighed.  "It's been a few years since your father left, and I just... it's just nice to have someone to make plans with and spend time with.   I mean, you'll be gone soon and I'll be here alone, so I just thought... maybe it was time... you know."

Chastity looked at her.  "I give up."  Chastity dropped the file into the decorative glass bowl by the door and picked up her books. "I'm going to school. At least I know things are normal there."

***

"Bobbi Jo?  It's Faye. From Stalin.  Have you spoken with Sarah lately?  Me either.  She's missed the last couple of practices and none of her girls will tell me where she is or when she's coming back.  I thought maybe she'd spoken with you."

Faye paused, pacing in the girl's locker room.

"You either?  Hmmm. I tried calling Thomas but he hasn't called me back, and I know Isparana and Dania have missed a few classes.  You don't suppose something's happened to her do you?"

Faye waited as Bobbi Jo gave her opinion on the situation.

"Yeah, I agree.  I'll go out there tonight after practice and see what's going on.  If I find out anything, I'll let you know.  Sure.  Not a problem.  Good luck to you, too."

***

Sarah's homecoming was an understated affair, just as she had requested.  She wasn't a conquering hero and she didn't want to be treated like one.  She just wanted to be normal, or as close to it as she could be, for awhile.

Theresa had wheeled her out of the hospital and into the prison van - the only vehicle where she could keep her legs straight while sitting down.  Then, once she had arrived home, Thomas had carried her into the main house.  "Just like our honeymoon," he had joked.

Now she was sitting on the upstairs veranda, watching the assignees do their daily chores, her feet propped up on an ottoman while she reviewed the paperwork her dad had prepared in her absence.  She was impressed. Even with his other business concerns, he could still crank out a solid volume of prison work.  He had almost gotten her caught up.

"Mistress? Chastity is on the line for you."

"Thanks, Theresa. I'll take it out here."

Sarah reached down and picked up her phone.  "Chastity?"

"For the record, there's nothing wrong with me.  I'm not an orphan.  I'm not a convict. And I'm not living in squalor.  I'm perfectly normal."

Sarah's face twisted in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"My mom is dating your father.  That means if they get married I could end up being another new member of your family."

Sarah started laughing.  "You called me for that?  I thought it was something important!"

"It is important!" the girl yelled.  "It's bad enough I have to deal with you during the day and the occasional night!  I could be stuck with you on weekends and holidays, too!  Can you imagine our New Year's dinner?  I'm sitting at the table with my mom, and YOU'RE THERE, TOO!  With the entire Siobhan clan!  That would totally suck! If that's not important, I don't know what is!"

Chastity continued to scream her fears and frustrations into the phone.  Sarah had to move the device away from her ear, lest her hearing be damaged.  Sarah waited patiently for Chastity to run out of energy so she could contribute her thoughts to the lopsided conversation.

Finally, Chastity paused to take a breath.

"Chastity," Sarah said quickly, "I'll be sure to tell Isparana that you're rejecting her as your sister."

Chastity launched a fresh tirade as Sarah giggled.  Sometimes Sarah could be so evil.

The door behind Sarah cracked open and Theresa's face appeared.  "Mistress?  Coach Faye is on the other line."

"Thanks, Theresa. Go ahead and patch her through."

Sarah lifted the phone back to her ear. "Chastity... Chastity, please. I have Faye on the other line.  I'll be right back."

"Don't you put me on hold!" the girl screamed, "Don't you ..."

Sarah pressed the button.

"Faye?  What's up?"

"Sarah, what's been going on up there?  You missed your meeting with Bobbi Jo a couple of days ago, and you haven't been to practice.  I can't get your team to tell me what's going on. So... what's going on?"

"Hey, I have Chastity on the other line and she's having a personal crisis.  Can I get back to you?"

"No," Faye answered abruptly.  "You either tell me now or I'll drive up there and get some answers myself.  I've tried calling Thomas but he won't return my calls.  What's so secretive that you can't even tell your favorite prison bitch?"

Sarah started laughing. "Ok, I guess I can tell you.  But I have to ask you something first.  If I tell you what's going on, it's going to complicate your obligation to the school system.  Do you still want me to tell you?"

Faye paused. "Maybe you should deal with Chastity while I think about that."

"Ok." Sarah pressed the button.  "Chastity? I'm back."

"You BITCH!  I can't believe you put me on hold!  After all I've done for you!  That's how you treat me?  I can't believe this!  I'm freaking out here and you put me on hold!"

"Chastity..."

"This is why I don't want my mom dating your dad!  The mere thought of having you for a sister is driving me crazy!  I mean, really!  It's driving me crazy!"

"It wouldn't be so bad," Sarah interjected. "Look at the bright side.  You could drive the Hotchkiss and I could wear your clothes."

"Aaaaagghh!"

Sarah chuckled.  She was going to have a lot of fun with this.

"Chastity, we could go to the shore and build sandcastles together."

"No!"

"We could share stories of our boyfriends."

"Aggh! No!"

"And I could ask my dad how your mom is in bed."

A violent hacking cough came from the other end of the line.

"Hold on, I have Faye on the other line."

"Don't you put me on hold again!  Don't you..."

Sarah pressed the button.

"Faye?  Did you still want to know?"

"Is it bad or is it good?"

"It started out bad, but I think it's going to be good after all."

"Hmmm.  How long are you going to be away?"

"I think about a week.  Is that going to be a problem?"

Faye sighed. "Ok.  I'll tell the dean that you're busy with work.  But I want to know what happened when you get back.  Fair enough?"

"I can live with that.  Thanks.  I owe you one."

Laughter came from the other end of the line as Sarah pressed the button to get back to Chastity.

"Chastity? I'm back."

"Hate you."

"Hate you, too... future sister."

A heavy sigh came from the device pressed against Sarah's ear.  Chastity's storm had passed.  "Bye," Chastity replied curtly as she hung up the phone.

Sarah giggled as she set the phone back on her little table.

***

The day was coming to an end.  Thomas had dismissed Theresa for the evening and now she was leaving the main house, making her way towards to stables to clean up for dinner.  Then, she heard Sarah's laughter and turned to see what the source of her merriment was.

Thomas had brought out a small folding stool and was sitting next to Sarah's chair, telling her something.  Sarah reached over and patted his chest as she laughed again.  He turned and was smiling to her, saying a few more short words.  Sarah covered her face, trying to control her laughter as Thomas kept feeding her short snippets of conversation.   She seemed to be suffering a very bad attack of the giggles, and Theresa started to laugh as well.

She had never seen two people so in love with each other.

She hoped that, in six short weeks, she would be just as fortunate.

***

Sarah and Thomas were seated at their usual dinner table at the front of the mess hall in plain view of the assignees, with Dania and Isparana, who had invited Dinkins, Barney, and Oscar.  Sarah's father had also decided to join them, and had invited Marybeth, who had also brought Chastity, who sat quietly pushing her food around on her plate. 

Sarah decided to take advantage of the opportunity.

"So how was your date, Dad?" she asked.

Chastity's head shot up. Her eyes burned with hatred.

Marybeth answered before Sarah's father could respond.

"We had the most wonderful time," she crowed, "I've never laughed so hard in my life!"

Mr. Siobhan sat there with his mouth open, his eyes twinkling with mirth as Marybeth continued to speak.

"I swear, I thought there were a few times I was going to pee!"

Several chuckles came from around the table, in between the sounds of forks striking plates.

"So I take it you two will be seeing more of each other?" Sarah asked.

"Oh certainly," Marybeth confirmed. "We've already planned to go to the riverfront for some shopping tomorrow."

"Shopping?"  Sarah looked at her dad.  "I don't recall you ever really being fond of..." She took note of the expression on his face and caught herself. "Oh, but I do recall you did enjoy that little restaurant on the river.  What was it called?"

"La Natural?" Dania suggested.

"Yes, that's the one," Sarah acknowledged, pretending to forget the name of the place in order to draw others into the conversation.

"Not a big fan," Barney offered.

"Me either," Oscar added. "The fish sucks."

"Oh," Marybeth said, "maybe we could make some suggestions for them, then.  Sarah, your father makes the best baked tilapia."

"I know," Dania said, nodding. "Gramps' is much better than theirs."

Isparana had stayed out of the banter, choosing instead to watch Chastity as the blonde-haired girl glowered at the corner of the table.  Isparana began to realize that Chastity wasn't comfortable with the idea of her mother dating Sarah's father, and possibly becoming Sarah's - and therefore Isparana's - sister.  Or Dania's aunt for that matter. Isparana looked at Sarah and realized that her adopted sister had deliberately initiated the topic, just for that reason.

"It is too bad you must drive back to the city tonight," Isparana said, joining in the conspiracy.  "The riverfront is such a far drive.  Perhaps it would be best if you stayed at the Anders house tonight, so you would not have to drive so much."

"That's a great idea!" Sarah exclaimed, "Dad, we have beds in all of the rooms now.  You could show Marybeth around the estate after dinner and then stay out there for the evening.  Chastity could stay here with us.  Thalia and Tia Bella are staying at Ascension tonight and Tia Bella won't be back until the morning, so you'll have the whole house."

Chastity dropped her fork loudly on her plate.

"But what will we do for clothes?" Marybeth asked.

"I left a few things there that should fit you, but if they don't, there's a laundry facility there; enough to handle a full track team," Sarah replied. "Tia Bella's pretty good about keeping the kitchen stocked, but if you can't find anything to eat, you can join us in the morning for breakfast."

"What about Chastity?" Marybeth questioned.

"Yes," Chastity said darkly, "what about me."

"I'm sure you won't mind staying here at the house in the spare bedroom.  We can play dress-up, tell each other ghost stories, and talk about boys."

Chastity's eyes shot daggers as she tapped her finger against the table top.

"Then it is all arranged," Isparana said conclusively.

Marybeth looked over at Sarah's dad and smiled discreetly.

Sarah noticed the exchange.  Thomas had been right.  There was something there.

"So what is everyone else doing?" Sarah asked.

"Well, David and I were going to go camping in the peach orchard tonight," Dania replied.

"And I will be filming with Barney and Oscar at the old waterwheel,"  Isparana added.

"Looks like you and Chastity will have the house to yourself for awhile," Thomas said. "I want to do some work on the MGC.  Someone managed to loosen a tie rod the last time she drove it."

Sarah looked guiltily at the table.  Then she smiled. She'd had her fun; made sweeter because it was at Chastity's expense.

***

"I'm sorry I did that to you,"  Sarah said as she sat on the upstairs veranda watching her father escort Chastity's mother along the path towards the Anders house, "but you make it so easy."

"You're not sorry," Chastity replied as she watched her mother disappear into the sinking sun.

Sarah snickered. "Yeah, you're right."

Chastity stood quietly leaning against the balustrade.

"You know, we're not so different you and I," Sarah said. "We're both very strong-willed..."

Chastity didn't move.

"... very determined..."

Chastity still didn't move.

"... and very protective of the people we love, and who love us."

Chastity's finger began to tap on the wooden balustrade.

Sarah noticed it.  She was on the right path.  "You know, if I didn't like your mother, I wouldn't have asked her to take the responsibility of delivering bad news to my husband."

The finger continued to tap.

"And I wouldn't be encouraging her relationship with my father."

Chastity whirled around. "Do you know what it's like to watch your mother cry every night after she thinks you're asleep?  Do you?  Do you know how it feels to know that she's trying to be happy for your sake, when she's actually buried in sorrow?"

Sarah looked down.  "No. I can't say that I do."

"Well I do.  I do!"

Sarah looked up at her. "Want to talk about it?"

"No."  Chastity shifted nervously, unsure of what to say or do.

"Chastity, I..."

"I just don't want to see her get hurt again," the girl blurted out. "I mean, look how messed up your family is.  Do you think I want to see her get caught up in all that?  She's my mother!  She's all I have!"

Sarah looked at her. "I can't promise you ever-lasting happiness, but I will tell you that I think your mother and my father are falling in love.  Is that so bad?"

"Yes!  That's the problem!  I don't want her to fall in love!"

"What?"  Sarah was shocked.  "Why not?"

Chastity paused.  Took a breath, then said in a tiny voice, "Because I want her to be there when Dad comes back..."  Chastity turned to face the plantation stretched out in front of the house, her head sagging as she tried to hide the tears forming in her eyes.  She gasped once, then felt a hand on her shoulder.

Sarah was standing up for the first time since the attack.  And she was stretching her arms to embrace Chastity in a comforting hug.  Chastity turned and reached for her, and as they came together, she leaned her head against Sarah's shoulder, and wept.

Sarah stood there, catching the girl's tears.  Her legs ached but she knew Chastity's soul ached more.  She could feel Chastity's heart beating strongly against her own as they stood there, clutching each other. After awhile, Chastity's sobs subsided, but she continued to hold onto Sarah.

"Stay out of my closet," Chastity whispered in a voice cracked with emotion.

Sarah laughed.  "Ok."  She laughed again, then said, "but I want you to do something for me.  I want you to go into my bedroom, and on my dresser you'll see an ornate jewelry box. It belonged to my mother.  Open it up and select a piece you like and wear it to school tomorrow."

Chastity paused. "Why?" she asked with suspicion.

"Because sharing sucks and its something I need to learn to do more of.  So, I'm giving you access to something I hold dear to my heart."  Sarah waited for her words to register, then added, "And I want to prove that I'm morally superior to you."

Chastity gave a quick laugh.  "Hate you."

"Hate you, too."

***

"Hi, Mom," Sarah whispered, sitting in her favorite chair, staring out the window at the sleeping world spread under the blinking night-time sky.  "I know it's been a long time since we've spoken, but I think I really need to talk to you now."

She folded her arms across her hips and patted the little ball of life growing in her belly. 

"I wanted to say thank you for saving my life, and the life of your granddaughter.  I'm sorry I was so careless, and I promise to do a better job of being a mother.  The little one isn't even in its third month and it's already spun a sports car, shot a man, and had a near-death experience.  I promise, from here on out, I'll try to be more normal." 

She paused, collecting her thoughts.

"I wanted to thank you for giving me Dania as a trial effort.  I know..."  Sarah choked, cleared her throat, and started again. "I know she's going to be a wonderful granddaughter for you.  She's proving to be very resilient, and will be a very beautiful woman despite my mistakes and screw ups.  She's also proving to be very vocal about my mistakes and screw ups, so that I don't make them again."  Sarah laughed, despite the tears that were beginning to form in her eyes.  "I know Thomas will take very good care of her.  She's the daughter he's always wanted.  So you don't need to worry about her. Ok?"

Sarah exhaled.  This was proving to be harder than she had thought.

"I also wanted to thank you for bringing Isparana into my life.  I know Dad is really proud of her, and considers her to be his own daughter.  So thank you for giving me a sister that's so terrific, and who will be a good aunt and confidant for Dania when she needs one."

"And I..." Sarah exhaled again, wiped at her eyes, and continued. "I wanted to tell you that I'm really glad that Dad has found someone that makes him happy, and that the someone he's found is such a great lady.  I'd like to think that you approve of Marybeth.  I really like her.  And I think Dad is good for her, too.  Even if Chastity isn't too thrilled with having me as her sister, I'll still love her as my sister.  I think, deep down, I always have.  We're a lot alike and we already fight and love each other like sisters do."

Sarah thought she heard something outside her door.  She waited as her ears strained to detect a noise but there was nothing more.  Probably just the house settling.  With the new furniture in the girls' rooms, the floor was still adjusting to the additional weight.  Just another sign that her family was growing.

She continued.

"And Mom, one last thing.  Please forgive me for all of the bad I brought into the world after your death.  I promise, from here on out..." Sarah started to cry.   "... from here on out, I'm going to try very hard to make you proud of me."

She wiped at her eyes and coughed.  She bowed her head, then looked out the window, watching the stars as she cleared the moisture from her face.  And in that moment of personal calm, she saw a meteor flash across the darkness as it burned in the atmosphere.

Suddenly Sarah remembered sitting in the hospital room with Theresa.  "I know everything about you," Theresa had said.  "Everything about you that I want to know."  The words echoed in Sarah's thoughts.  How much did she know?  Certainly she had read the accounts of Shannon Siobhan's death. She'd probably heard about Sarah's first brush with death, too, after the news had been broadcast all over the sporting world.  Even Thalia had found an account of it.

But surely Theresa would want to know more.  Particularly why Sarah had attacked her in a terrifying nightmare.  But Theresa had never asked.  Why not?

Because she already knew.  Someone had told her.

When Sarah had been chained to her desk as punishment for damaging Thomas' car, Reynier had brought the woman in to give Sarah a sponge bath.

Reynier.

Sarah smiled.  Theresa had a secret lover.  A terrible secret for a convict. And for the head of security.  It would be a career killer for him.  She couldn't tell Thomas.  Or could she?

"Thanks, Mom," Sarah said. "I promise I'll make you proud to have me as your daughter."

***

by Thomas Chaser, June 2011