11 - Recalled to Life

Lisa and Giles had been out walking after Lisa had done her usual six mile run and training in preparation for her next fight - scheduled for eight days' time. It was against her toughest opponent yet - she was giving away quite a few pounds as well as three inches in height. Although it was not going to be easy, she was confident enough of at least giving the other woman a run for her money before she suffered her first knockout. Having Giles out of the way would be a good thing, now that they had just made love out on a barren hillside. She could put in some serious, hard training and be ready to do battle!

Giles was dressed again, but Lisa was not. She felt the world beginning to close in on her, much as she had imagined those tiled wall in that ghastly place of punishment. There might not be many more days of freedom left and she was determined that her body would be free and open to the air until that time. Then, dressed decorously, she would have to face journalists, lawyers - judges, even! Because Giles would certainly be prosecuted for telling what he knew. It would take all Lisa's sweet blue eyes and feminine wiles to melt the jury's and judge's hearts. She would have to relate every dreadful detail of three years she only wanted to forget. But she couldn't let Giles go down.

"Who's car is that, Lisa" asked Giles. "It wasn't there three hours ago.!"

"Four hours, Giles. We've been four hours away. I can tell time! I had a lot of practice! And I haven't a clue! But whoever it is in for a rare treat when he sees me like this!"

Giles sensed that Lisa was not about to put her swimsuit back on. Not that it hid a lot in any case! He was convinced that such a garment never saw serious action in a swimming pool. It wouldn't stay on for even half a length!

The visitor turned out to be George, Lisa's elder brother. He blushed as he looked up to see his sister walk in, naked and in the company of man he vaguely recollected as having been one of the officials at the Embassy years ago when he was vainly trying to help Lisa. He and Samantha were sitting together on the sofa and had been talking away like old friends when Lisa and Giles walked through the front door. He got up and seemed undecided whether or not to touch his sister, who he had always held in awe for some reason, despite being a couple of years older.

"Come on, big brother! Give your sister who's just got back from the dead a kiss!"

George did as he was told, doing his best to avoid too close contact with the still bare Lisa. Then he sat down again next to Samantha, who did not appear to mind this young man occupying the place at her side usually reserved for her partner and lover.

"I see you've already introduced yourselves, then!"

"Yes, Lisa. We've been talking away like the clappers for the past half hour since I arrived." He looked up at the clock. "Golly! It's more like three and a half hours! It seemed a lot less. I hope I haven't been keeping you from any important domestic duties, Samantha!"  A smell of burning indicated that he had indeed precipitated a culinary disaster of some sort.

Lisa went into the kitchen to investigate and found that it was only some vegetables that had boiled dry. Some minor adjustment to the menu was necessary, but all was soon well again. On going back into the sitting room she saw that Samantha looked very much happier than she had seen her for months.

"Your friend sure has had one hell of a life, Lisa. She's been telling me all about it. Pretty bad time she's had! As you know, of course."

"I knew that she had been through some bad times, but no more than that." Sammy had gone upstairs for a minute or two. "I never pushed her to tell me, George, because it was too painful. I had hoped to get it all out of her in time, but you have managed it in less than an afternoon! I thought you were going to be an economist - not a psychotherapist!"

"It just happened, Lise. I told her a lot about me. Things I never told you. Like how I hated school and being forced to do all sorts of boy things."

Samantha rejoined them.

"I've been telling George all about your time in prison after you came out of solitary. He couldn't believe how you got through it all!"

"That’s right, Lisa! " said George. "All those fights, which you seemed to love. They made me learn boxing at school, but I was always worse than useless at it and I hated it. And you seem to be a sort of undefeated champion! And I dreaded getting the cane. God, how it bloody hurt! But you took more strokes in eight months than I did in that many years. I've seen Mum and Dad today, and they are really upset about you going in for all this prize fighting, but I say you know your own mind and you're a big girl now! You certainly look well on it!"

"That’s because I hit them before they have a chance to hit me" laughed Lisa. Though this was not entirely true and if George had cared to take a closer look at his sister's face and body he would have seen the many signs of battle in a number of little marks, none of which Lisa tried to hide. In fact it pleased her to look a bit battered. It made her feel like a veteran and not the unspoilt novice people still took her to be.

"Any way" explained George. " I must be off now, but I've asked Samantha out tomorrow - there's a concert in Hereford - in the Cathedral - and I've got a small solo part in one of the choruses. Sammy said she'd love to come! So I'll be picking you up at about three, Sammy. You'll have to amuse yourself during the rehearsal and then sit and listen to a load of amateurs ruining great music, but there's a terrific restaurant I'll take you to and we'll be back around two in the morning. Bye!"

"So you like my brother, then?" asked Lisa after George had left and Giles had gone to pack before leaving in the morning.

"He's a great fellow, Lisa! Not like you at all, but as kind as you and gentle. He sang a bit of the thing he's doing tomorrow. He's got a wonderful baritone voice, Lisa. You never said anything about that."

"I never knew, Sammy! I did know he was a choir boy until his voice broke, but I had no idea he'd kept it up since. Marvellous! You two met only a few hours ago and already you know more about each other than I do!"

"Sorry, Lisa" Sammy looked about to cry. Lisa hugged her.

"Don't be sorry. Do you think you and George might get serious? Too early to tell, I suppose."

"I knew how much I felt for you as soon as I met you, Lisa. That's how it was with George today and I'm sure he feels the same. I hope so!"

"So if I told you that I as good as threw myself at Giles earlier on and that he duly responded as a red blooded male should and screwed the arse off me up there, you might not feel too devastated?"

"I knew, Lisa! It was written all over the pair of you!  The minute I saw you both come into the room I knew! You looked to have been well and truly shagged, all dreamy eyed, still sweating all over and juice running down your thighs! You can't hide things like that when you don't have clothes on! And he looked like the cat that's stolen the cream! I'm very happy for you. It started at the prison, didn't it - between you?"

"In a way, Sammy. He never laid a finger on me during his visits, but I could see he was smitten! And now, I'm smitten with him! But it took time to grow with me, and I'm not hopelessly in love with him Sammy. I would never leave you. As long as you need me, I'm yours and yours alone."

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Lisa was at the end of her morning run around the Serpentine. She felt sure she had easily done her daily six miles and was wondering whether to go straight to the gym or back  to her hotel when a familiar voice disturbed her cogitations.

"Getting some exercise, Lisa? Fight coming up?"

Lisa looked round in surprise. "Yes. I always have a fight coming up! I'm a very combative and very busy lady these days."

"And when is this next contest for the brave and, I observe, still bare-footed Lisa?"

"Day after tomorrow. And the brave Lisa will get her arse whipped. The brave Lisa won't back down, but she won't win this one!"

"How many miles have we run today?"

"About six."

"Let's do another four miles, Lisa. Then straight to the gym for some really serious working out. Then lunch. Then more exercise. Then we go to dinner and talk. And tomorrow, you rest and ready yourself. And don't you DARE lose! I don't have my same trusty old cane any more, but in a great city like this, there must be many places to buy a suitable springy, swishy length of bamboo to punish  Lisa the Loser's backside! Let's start running. Keep up with me! No slacking!"

Lisa obeyed. She had no idea why she obeyed, or what the former bane of her life was doing in London. Perhaps she was having some annual leave. People did have vacations and they came here from all over the world to have them!  Why should hatchet-faced prison guards not be among them?

As they ran, Rosanne asked Lisa questions about her present career.

"Still fight naked, Lisa?"

"Not always. It depends on where I'm fighting. Sometimes I wear boxing boots, gloves, shorts and a top. I've had a couple of bouts like that. Sometimes it's nude wrestling. Hate that!  I like to bash the opposition, not strangle it! But mostly I do bare fist - very illegal - fighting. Tomorrow we're wearing gloves and nothing else. The gloves are just to protect the knuckles from abrasions. They're really hard! No padding at all. But I do so much miss those gloriously brutal fights to the finish at the prison, although tomorrow should be good - even if I lose. It won't get stopped until one of us knocks the other unconscious, no matter how much blood is flowing!"

"When do we grow our hair, again, Lisa? It looks so stunning when you grow it full length?"

"I like my head shaved, Rosanne. I know that leaves me in a minority of one, but it's my hair! And my head stays shaved. I'm good at it these days. You'd never be able to find fault again!"

"No, Lisa! It shines, that skull of yours! And you have a well-shaped head. Keep it that way! I am glad to find my Lisa again!"

Rosanne certainly kept up a cracking pace! But only for the first couple of miles and then it was Lisa who was setting the pace and Rosanne was beginning to flounder. They finished running and set off for Lisa's hotel, which was in the same direction that Rosanne was going. Lisa showered and came back into the room wrapped in a towel. She sat on her bed and Rosanne surprised her by kneeling in front of her. Her surprise was lessened when the former prison guard took one of her feet and began to massage it, very skilfully. Then she worked on the other and Lisa thanked her.

"You need to take care of those feet, Lisa. I must say that the state of them would get you a good caning if you were back in prison!"

"It's being in this filthy city that does it. At home where I can run for miles on grass, they stay clean the whole time. When I come here, the dirt gets ingrained and it takes weeks to get out. But, as you say, they're not up to your standards!"


After her shower and foot massage, Rosanne went with Lisa to the gym. Lisa paid Rosanne's fee and was put through the mill. Then dinner.

"So what brings you here, Rosanne?" asked the still astonished Lisa, glad to see her kinky friend and  tormentor again, but very confused.

"I am a political refugee! A fugitive from a despotic regime which I finally sickened of serving. I may be penniless and jobless, but at least I finally have my self-respect!"

"I suppose you wouldn't like a job the day after tomorrow?"

"You need a second for your fight?"

"Correct. You know how to patch up my wounds and fire me up to keep going. And believe me, win or lose, I'm going to need a lot of patching up! Have a nice big bucket to collect the blood in. I'll be losing it by the pint!"

"Why the pessimism, Lisa? You faced some big merciless women at the prison and won through. And you won because you wouldn't think of losing! You're a born fighter, Lisa - a natural! Why are you mentally giving up before you even start?"

"It's Giles, the guy from the Embassy who came to see me at the prison. He's determined to go to the press about my case. And I know he'll get into trouble, and though I'll stand by him and do my best for him, I'm a woman with a criminal record. Our Embassy know I didn't do it, but that's not the story they're telling now. They've just clammed up and said the matter's in the hands of a sovereign foreign government. I'm going to tell my story, though. I hate the idea of reliving all that, but once they hear all about what was done to me, there's bound to be a lot of sympathy, but it may not save Giles."

"And how is Samantha?"
 
"Very well indeed. You'd hardly know her! And she's engaged to my brother! A very short and whirlwind romance. They took one look at each other and fell in love! So they get married in three months and Giles and I are getting hitched as soon as this business has blown over. He won't consider it with a gaol sentence hanging over him - not that I'd mind."

Lisa paused and then changed the subject.

"And how are things at the prison? Do they still have the odd licensed brawl? Or did that come to an end when I left?"

Rosanne smiled evilly.

"As if we'd let a fine tradition like that fall into desuetude? We appointed Sandra as the resident champion. When I left, she had beaten off four challenges. I think she'll last a few more years. She almost beat you when you two fought."

"When we first fought, on my second day, she half-killed me!"  Then Lisa reverted to her concerns over Giles.

 "So you could say that, with so much else on my mind, fighting that female gorilla tomorrow is not my number one priority right now. I'll do my best - I always do! - but I fear I may not have that vital edge.  And you can help me back to my hotel afterwards!"

"Lisa! I have things to tell, but not now. May I say that you needn't worry about Giles. Give the fight your all and knock her out like you always knock out the opposition!"

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"Try to keep that eye out of trouble, Lisa. I'm doing my best but that cut's getting worse and she knows it. Mind you, you've started one on her. Keep after that! You're ahead so far! She's not finding you a pushover!"

The bell went for the seventh round and Lisa got to her feet. As Rosanne has said, she was badly cut over her right eye. Happily, the blood wasn't impeding her vision - yet. But the eye was closing rather ominously and all Rosanne's ministrations were only delaying the inevitable. Lisa started off aggressively, which was her favourite approach. She hated defensive tactics. That was why she had been so popular in the prison and it was why she was getting a reputation among the aficionados of underground fighting as a brave and attractive fighter, whose great physical beauty made her ruthless brutality in the ring so startling - and dramatic. But tonight she was at the receiving end of a lot of brutality herself, sustaining far more damage than she could afford. At this rate she would soon be on her back and failing to beat the count as the other woman stood over her grinning in triumph. The opening  salvos made little impression on the other fighter who answered back in kind and blood was splattered all over the ring as Lisa's head was snapped back time and again under a flurry of cracking blows from the other woman's hard leather fighting gloves. The interval came not a second too soon!

"You won't last another round like this, Lisa. For heaven's sake pull yourself together! Now get out there and show them. I've got myself a nice cane for you! You don't want a sore arse as well as a sore everything else, now do you!"

Lisa was knocked down at the end of the next round and saved by the bell. Rosanne got the bleeding and almost broken girl back to her corner. She hissed in her ear.

"Listen, Lisa! I can help Giles. And you. I stole the files relating to your case. I've got them in a safe place. I can clear you and him as well. But it's a big story and a lot of people would kill to get those papers back. So say nothing until I get in touch. I only told you now because I want to stop you worrying. You've most likely blown it against that cow, but I still give you a fighting chance. You've come through so much and won through!"

"You're right about that" thought Lisa as the bell went and she faced up again to her toughest opponent yet. Rosanne was right about another thing. There had been a weight lifted from her mind and it was making all the difference. Her legs started doing all the things she wanted them to. Lisa kept away from the other woman's leather clad fists, getting quickly in and out of her range and working on the cut she had opened up in the second round, but which had begun to stop bleeding. Soon it was wide open and pouring blood all over the ring to join Lisa's. Each break they tried to clean it way but more was being shed all the time. But it was not Lisa's any more that made the ring like a bloody shambles.

"My word, Lisa! That was a turn around!" said an admiring Rosanne, who had never seen Lisa do better than in the five rounds after she had told her about her news. “You’ve got her now. She's going down next round - right?"

"Right!"

And half way through the fourteenth round of a bloodbath that had left both fighters unrecognisable as the attractive women who had first entered the ring and which had made many even of this hardened and bloodthirsty audience sick at the carnage, it was Lisa who stood over the other woman, rather than vice versa as had seemed likely at one stage.

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"I see you still know how to produce a good KO, Lisa!" I thought that girl was never going to come round!"

"My father says that if a job's worth doing, then it's worth  doing well! But I think I need a rest for a little while! I'll be weeks recovering from tonight! Are you going to tell me how you got hold of all this evidence  - and why?"

"I did it for you, Lisa. You went through three years of hell including all those months in solitary. I got more and more upset after you left. On your behalf I watched over Samantha like a hawk and made sure nobody did her any harm, staff or inmates, and when she was safely free and back and with you in England..........."

"Wales, Rosanne!  Watch your mouth!"

"OK, Wales! As soon as she was out of harm's way I started looking round for ways to get your name cleared. And I came up with plenty! There are files - were files - in the governors office and I have a friend in the Justice Ministry who showed me all the papers relating to you. They knew all along you were innocent. But the bitch who actually robbed the hotel had been blackmailing just about every top official in the country, including the Justice Minister and half his senior staff and the US Ambassador. When all this shit hits the fan, it's going to bring a lot of careers to an end! So when you go to the press, make sure to take my stuff along with you!"

"Aren't you coming with me?" asked Lisa. "You deserve the credit for all this. There should be a lot of money coming your way!"

"I won't take a cent! I'll find a job in your great city. Go home, Lisa. Go straight home and await instructions! And well done tonight! You haven't lost your killer punch - in fact you get better all the time! I'll be in touch, I promise."

"Pity that other girl died, though!” said Lisa. “If only we could have got a confession out of her!"