Named and Shamed (7 page)

Her groom was grinning from his position at her rear. Removing both hands and picking up a bucket of water, he unceremoniously sloshed the icy contents over her vulnerable body. Jenny screamed all right, but not with pleasure.

Angel

The crackle of static was loud but the voice remained intelligible.

'The Angel is in place, Sir.'

There was a pause and a shuffling of papers, before several loud thumps could be heard.

'Sir, are you OK?'

There was another, longer pause.

'Yes I'm fine, thank you. Which one is in place?' The response was firm but unhurried.

'Well, let's just say it's not the favourite, Sir.'

'Good Lord. How interesting. I trust you'll keep on top of new developments for me?'

'It's what I do best, Sir. Over and out.'

Michael Redcliff looked down at his previously pristine pile of first editions, scattered randomly all over the floor and now not quite as beautiful as they once were. No matter. News such as this deserved to be celebrated. He dialled the intercom on his cordless telephone handset and waited.

The recipient picked up the call after a single dial tone. 'K, darling, I can report good news. Another part of the plan has slotted into place nicely. We'll both be getting exactly what we want soon, and not before time, in my opinion.' There was a bubble of chatter into his earpiece. 'Why so impatient, my dear? You can work someone else over in the meantime to curb that nasty mind of yours. I will be.' He depressed the button to end the conversation and clicked the handset back into place on its charger.

It could be said that he was a man who rarely smiled, whether given cause or no. The delicate curve now forming at the corners of his lips wasn't entirely sure if it was welcome, but it couldn't help making an appearance, nonetheless.

Fitted and Bitted

Shivering, her body moving in jagged ripples like a wind-torn flower petal, Jenny was dragged from the breakfast room by her leash. Her groom, who had introduced himself as Daniel, had promptly tied her to a sturdy wooden post and left, giving no idea of what was to come or where he was going. The good news was that he had forgotten to replace her plug; the bad news was that a fine mist of drizzle had begun to seep from the skies and coat her body, succeeding in chilling her thoroughly to the bone.

Pulling fretfully at the chain with her collared neck, it didn't take her long to realise that not only were her actions pointless, they would also result in whiplash if she wasn't careful. Even though her hands were still clipped behind her back, she began banging her leather mitts together as hard as she could and jogging gently on the spot to keep warm. She hoped the sun would make an appearance soon. Even though it was only the end of August the temperature had not risen above ten degrees and her breath made a slight fog in the air.

To alleviate the boredom of being tied to a post and rendered immobile, she tried to crane her neck backwards over her high collar and peer into the barn. It was virtually impossible, so she had to settle for listening keenly. There were plenty of noises coming from its direction. Excitable ones for the most part and judging by the grooms, who were running backwards and forwards with strips of dangling leather in their arms, the ponies were now being fitted into their tack.

'Jealous?'

Jenny's head snapped around to find Daniel had reappeared behind her. Unfastening her leash from the post he gave it a sharp tug to indicate she should follow him. As he was considerably bigger than she was his tug had her stumbling forward, metal hooves clunking against the uneven cobblestones that decorated the space between several of the stable buildings.

'Don't worry,' he said, turning back to look at her with a leering grin on his face. 'You'll be getting yourself prettied up in just a few minutes. We're now off to the tack room, as it happens. I know your sort. Can't wait for all yer holes to be plugged with something plump and fat, can you? You want those titties covered in leather and their buds pinched tightly with little clamps, so you jingle sweetly and announce every step you make. You want that rubber bit between your teeth and you want to be slobbering and begging for cock. I bet you can't wait to feel your new tail dangling...'

Jenny screamed. She had no idea why she hadn't done so earlier. This awful place was beginning to mess with her head. There was no gag in her mouth and nothing to stop her yelling at the top of her lungs. 'Help me! There's been an awful mistake. Please get me out of here!' Shouting as loud as her vocal chords would let her, it was a disappointing effort as the wind whipped most of the sound away. Straining her neck in its ridiculously large collar she tried to survey the area, but it remained desolate and not a single soul bothered to peer around a corner and see what all the fuss was about. There was only one person who seemed at all perturbed by her outburst, and that was Daniel, who was now wearing a look of incredulous disbelief.

'You stupid piece of horseflesh! What the fuck do you think you're doing?' He slapped her cheek. Hard.

The stinging blow blindsided her and she fell to her knees, her precarious balance immediately lost. Searing pain from the heavy impact assaulted her kneecaps, and for a moment she wondered if she would fall flat on her face. It took a few seconds, but she managed to keep her torso vertical. Her eyes began to fill with tiny sparks of pure fury. As if to goad Daniel further she turned her other cheek to face him.

He looked at her incredulously. 'Are you trying to get us in trouble? They'll cane the flesh from both our bones if they catch you opening your gob. All you'll succeed in doing is making sure they're forced to silence you, and believe me when I say you won't like their tactics. You've already earned two punishments so far today, I wouldn't be so quick to be courting a third.' Shaking his head in disgust he hauled her up from the floor and keeping a tight grip on her leash, marched her straight to the tack room and shoved her inside, so anxious was he to get rid of her. The door was then slammed shut in her face.

Jenny listened to the sound of his booted feet stomping away and felt his handprint throb against her cheek. Resting it against the cool wood of the door, alleviating the pain somewhat, she found herself reluctant to turn around. The smell of leather, polish and antiseptic were already assailing her nostrils, and they were not comforting scents. Eventually she managed to summon enough courage to face the music, or the silence, as it happened.

The first thing she noticed was that there was nobody inside. Having ascertained that fact, she immediately went back to the door and banged into it with her backside, seeing if there was a chance it might open. The heavy wooden door didn't move an inch and her ass exploded in pain.

Think, Jenny, think! But try as she might, kicking at it with her hooves and knocking it in an awkward backward position with her mittens achieved no greater effect. The door was locked and she was trapped.

Check for exits. Careful to walk slowly and maintain her balance, fully aware that if she stumbled she would not be able to right herself, Jenny began to explore her surroundings. Concentrating solely on looking for an escape route and trying not to let her eyes linger on the various bits of human-pony tack that decorated the walls and floors, she eventually found what she was looking for just past the line of brightly coloured collars. White, yellow, blue, green, orange, red and black; what did they mean? Shaking her head to rid it of thoughts she wouldn't need, her eyes settled on the door just past the long shelf; the only additional door the room contained. It had a handle. Of course it had a handle, but how on earth did you open it with both arms clipped behind your back? With your teeth, perhaps? In the end the dilemma was solved for her, as when she bent to grip the metal handle with her mouth the door moved. Someone had obviously forgotten to close it.

The room beyond was small and dark. It didn't bode well. Searching around for a light switch she found a cord dangling beside the door. Her teeth were going to get quite a workout today! Gripping the cord between her molars she tugged and heard a click. Bright light flooded the room. Knowing she had little time to waste she focused her attention, looking for an exit or anything that might pass as one, such as a ventilation shaft, heating vent or window. There was nothing. The room had a linoleum floor, plenty of shelves, lots of sex toys and absolutely nothing that would be of the slightest use in an escape attempt. Cursing, she slammed her back against the wall in anger and watched as dildo's rained down around her. The sound of shattering glass filled the air.

'Well, what have we here, Agnes?'

Jenny spun around, only to discover that the two old ladies who had performed her internal exam yesterday were casually watching her antics from the open door. They held in their hands a white leather corset, a bridle and a fat butt plug complete with a tail.

'No,' whispered Jenny. 'No, no, no.'

Visibly shaking, well aware of the fate about to befall her, she made to run. Barrelling straight through Agnes and Hetty she used her body to give one last sideways swipe at the sturdy wooden panels of the main door. Her body bounced back from the effort and landed in a sprawled heap on the floor. Out of options, she pounded her metal hooves into the floorboards in the manner of a three year old having a gigantic temper tantrum.

'Now this simply won't do,' said Henrietta in a clipped voice. 'You've already been in trouble today by several accounts, and Daniel is clearly traumatised. Whether you want to be here or not, none of what we do here is 'negotiable', and if you continue on the track you're heading down you'll be spending most of your time down in the dungeon. Your behaviour doesn't just reflect badly on yourself; it will affect everyone who comes into contact with you.

Jenny refused to acknowledge a word Henrietta was saying. It was all lies. She desperately wanted to put her hands over her ears, but they remained immobile in their hot and sweaty mitts. She growled. If they were trying to break her it wouldn't work. They could send her for a weeklong vacation in the dungeon and see where that got them! She would not be cowed like this. She would not!

The two ladies shook their heads and each hooked an elbow under Jenny's shoulders, dragging her upright and grunting as they did so. The little vixen was trying to kick out and swing her arms around, but they'd both seen all of this before and knew where to stand to avoid any nasty blows.

'Watch those boots, Aggie,' Hetty cautioned.

The metal horseshoes the ponies wore delivered the meanest bruises, and Hetty knew this from experience. Sidestepping carefully around the kicking beast and giving her a wide berth, they managed to move her to the middle of the room, where there were two metal chains dangling from the ceiling. The chains were efficiently clipped to the D-rings on both the front and rear of her collar and winched upright by a pulley system. There was no way she could fight the pressure upon her neck. It was a very effective way of keeping her upright and on her toes. Wrenching her legs apart, with two hands apiece on each, they fastened leather ankle cuffs over the boots, and these were attached to metal eyelets in the floor.

When they were finished Aggie pulled herself back up from the floor with a groan and a hand in the small of her back for support. Her face wore a pained look. Wiping a hand over her brow she said, 'I'm getting too old for these shenanigans. That's it, Hetty, I'm handing in my notice tomorrow. I don't think I can take any more of this.' Rubbing the sore spot on her back with the tips of her gnarled fingers, her brow furrowed. 'I wonder where I put that tube of Deep Heat? I think I'm going to need it.'

'Rubbish,' said Hetty, waving her hand in the air as if to pooh-pooh Agnes' sentiments entirely. 'This one is destined to wear the black. Haven't you heard about her egg? If you leave now you'll forfeit your bonus, and retiring in St Tropez with a herd of toy-boys is an expensive business. After she's got that black feather in her headdress you'll be in demand.'

'All the more reason to retire now,' Agnes grumbled.

'How about you stay and I'll offer to rub your back when we've finished up here?' There was a devilish glint in Hetty's eye.

'Hmph. It's tempting, but I could do with that muscle rub right now.'

Hetty's lips twitched. 'You'll have to wait on that one I'm afraid, dear. I've been using it on a couple of naughty pony boys down at the stables. If you put the stuff in the right place you can have almost total submission in less than thirty seconds.'

Agnes slapped her hand to her forehead and gave Hetty a filthy look. 'That was my own personal tube, Henrietta, and I bought it for a reason.'

Henrietta scrunched her face up in apology and tugged on one of her unruly red curls. 'Sorry. I can run and get it now for you, if you like?'

'No, thank you. I think I'd rather go and buy myself a new tube. I can only imagine where you've been putting that stuff.' She sighed. 'Let's get on with this first and then you can make it up to me.'

Agnes returned her attention to the jumble of tack that they'd both managed to heap upon the metal trolley. Untangling the leather corset first she handed it to Hetty, who immediately brought it up to her nose and inhaled deeply. 'Mmm, leather,' she said, with an almost religious undertone. There was a snort in the background. Hetty ignored it.

Turning her attention back to Jenny she said, 'Well, dearie, it's time to get you laced into this beauty. I'm not going to lie to you, it'll take a bit of getting used to, but oh my, you're going to have a waist to die for!' Hetty held the corset up for the trainee's perusal.

Jenny's silence had not been accidental. Locked securely in place and about to be rendered virtually helpless with all the additional accoutrements the ladies were now sorting through, she was trying to stay calm. If she started screaming or squawking the chances were that they would do exactly as they had the last time and gag her. So she figured she had one chance, and one chance only, to make the use of her voice count. Threats were of little use to her; she'd already tried them to no avail. That left bribery and by their earlier conversation, she hoped she'd have half a chance. She thought about how much she should offer in order to buy their cooperation, and in the end she figured it was best to go high. She would offer them two million pounds each. Her father would have that kind of money at his disposal and while daddy dearest would be livid at the thought of having to part with that kind of cash, he might be persuaded to eventually, if only to keep up appearances. He liked to drag her along to charitable events and political functions, to prove he was a family man, of course. There was little love lost between them. He had put paid to that over a decade ago.