Two days after the two girl rebel prisoners left their side of the island to see what lay on the  seaward  of their prison, there was a great storm in which all the water in the Seven Seas seemed to be falling on the island with furious winds sending huge waves pounding the shore and inundating their cave shelter, scattering the meagre supplies left to the girls by the Inspectors  and strewing them over the beach, or at least, those which had not been swept out to sea.  When conditions had returned to something like normal, the helicopter swept in and landed on the beach as usual.

Inspector Van Reisen walked over to the cave, brandishing her whip in anticipation of a bit of vigorous, sweat inducing and very healthy exercise and fun - for her! Today she intended to give Joanne the mother and father of all whippings and then lay with equal savagery into Annie as well! Her heart was pounding with excitement at the prospect!  As she neared the cave and saw the devastation, her spirits sank. It would seem that the terrible weather had deprived the Inspector of her sport, washing both girls far out to sea together with the majority of their possessions!

“Damn!, damn!, damn!” she muttered. Disappointment and rage at her intended victims for so inconsiderately depriving her of her morning’s sport caused her  almost to foam at the mouth!

She returned, disappointedly and viciously slashing at the air with her unemployed whip she did so,  to the chopper and her colleague.  Both Inspectors got on board and were whisked back to the mainland.

“Well, we’ve got a couple more rebels lined up for the outdoor treatment” muttered Van Reisen “Such a crying shame  about that Joanne Esterhazy, though. I loved hearing that hard bitch screaming for mercy the other day and I couldn‘t wait to have her singing along to Tickler‘s tune again!  There‘s no one can stand up to old Tickler for long!”  She looked fondly at her leather whip as she said these last words, her ugly face,  with its heavy black moustache under the broken nose and her pock-marked cheeks,  creased into a smile that made her look almost beautiful.

Meanwhile, the two girls were holed up in a cave on the other side of the island.  They had been in the lee of the recent storm and well above water level in any case. Neither Annie nor Joanne had any idea what had happened to their shelter and they were not to learn of this for some time. Without the means of lighting a fire or anything much in the way of fuel, they were both feeling very cold, and had spent most of the time clasping each other for warmth and praying for better weather.

By the time things had calmed down, both of them were tired and hungry, regretfully deciding that they might as well get back to their cave, their supplies and the tender mercies of their occasional and unwelcome visitors.  As they crept down towards the sea, they realised that the storm had caused a lot of damage, including wrecking a ship. Out to sea, they could see the remains of a moderate sized coaster, and on the beach was scattered a large number of pieces of cargo, including several containing food.  Also lying on the beach were the bodies of two men and a woman.

The men had both perished - drowned,  in all likelihood,  and then washed up on shore.  The woman, though,  was still alive, if barely so.  Joanne and Annie managed to bury the two men, utilising bits of wreckage as makeshift shovels.  They carried the unconscious young lady, scarcely any older than Annie,  up to their temporary shelter.

Francesca Moroni opened her eyes to see two very young, very lovely and very naked young ladies looking down at her with mingled concern and relief. Their concern was for the woman’s condition and their relief that she had at long last recovered consciousness.  The elder and taller of the two turned away to get something for her to lay her head on, now that the rescued girl was awake again.  Francesca gasped as she saw Joanne’s still freshly scarred back.

“I know! It’s not a pretty sight, is it?” said Joanne, hearing the intake of breath and guessing its meaning. She looked over her shoulder,  smiling. “More than likely it won’t be much to look at ever again, but at least I’m alive.  We’re all alive! Let’s hang on to that!”

“What are you two doing here? You weren’t on the ship.” said Francesca in a voice that was weak, but getting stronger every second.

“We are prisoners of the State, confined to this island indefinitely, all alone here except for a couple of aesthetically challenged goons who come over to whip us and otherwise punish us from time to time. We shouldn’t by rights be on this side of the island and had best be getting back where we ought to be even if it does almost certainly mean more of their charming attentions. There’s a suspended and very uncomfortable cage where they’ll put me to rot for a few weeks and a whip waiting for poor little Annie here, when they find out.  You could do yourself a bit of good by denouncing us, if and when they rescue you!”

Francesca said nothing. The effort of speaking had exhausted her, and she fell into a long and deep sleep.  By the time she woke up, only Annie was at her side. She asked after the absent Joanne.

“Gone to look at the other side of the island again.  She says she’ll try to think of some plausible reason to give them why I’m not with her - we were going hunting, seems the likeliest.  How are you feeling, and what‘s your name? I‘m Annie.”

“Francesca.  Francesca Moroni, daughter of Senator Moroni. Glad to know you, Annie!  I was a sort of stowaway. I say  ‘sort of’ because the captain knew about it.  He was in love with me and wanted to help.  I was hoping to get away from the country and find a home somewhere free, if there is anywhere free nowadays.  Maybe America, if they still exist and it‘s still possible to cross the Atlantic.  One hears such tales of the freedom they enjoy.”

“They do still exist, OK, according to Joanne, my friend, who’s awfully clever and knowledgeable.  But they’re no more free than we are any longer.  The same thing happened there many years ago as did here. We two are going to stay here and fight for freedom, joining up with others who think as we do  - so should you!  You‘ll have to take all those clothes off, though,  if you wish to fight side by side with us!”

Francesca gasped at this. She looked horrified and disbelieving in equal measure.

“In this weather?” she shivered at the thought, drawing her tattered clothes around her. “And it gets colder before Spring. A whole lot colder!  Mind you, you look OK!  I’ll say that much!  You look the very picture of health!”

“Oh! We’ve got used to it these last four months!” said a boastful Annie, pleased at last not to be playing second fiddle. “So will you - you’ll see!”

There was fresh water flowing from a spring high up on the hillside.  Annie scrambled up the slope, causing Francesca’s heart to come up into her mouth as she watched the slight and agile girl climb up the rocks, her bare toes seeking out and wrapping themselves around the unlikeliest footholds, with one hand clutching a container for the precious fluid.  She really was very relieved to see a triumphant Annie finally return to ground level and safety.  The water tasted better than anything either girl had  ever drunk before!

The revived Francesca assisted Annie in retrieving useful goods from the wreckage on the shore.  They found  plenty of food that the sea had not spoiled. One case  was very heavy.  Annie’s best efforts could not open it. This one would have to wait until Joanne returned. Clever Joanne would open it!

Clever Joanne returned next day. Annie’s face fell as she saw that her friend and leader had once again covered herself with animal furs and made rudimentary coverings for her feet. She was armed with some sort of club and looked like a cave woman!

“HI, Annie! Nice to see you again, sweetie! And hello to you! Glad to see you looking so much better! I didn’t get your name last time!”

“She’s called Francesca” said Annie. “And I hate seeing you with all that stuff covering you! I’ll never look like that as long as we are fighting to be free!  Nor will Francesca here!”

Joanne was a little taken aback by the vehemence of Annie‘s words. From some way off, she had seen that the new girl had removed her own rather worse-for-wear clothes, but had made little of it, since it was now unseasonably warm after the recent foul weather. The memory of Annie’s delirious remarks came back to her. The girl had been serious! She looked down at her own clothed body and then at the two nude girls before her, both of them with reproach in their eyes.

“If I go along with you two crazy people, it’s on one condition!”

“What, Jo?” asked Annie.

“This is the last democratic decision we take.  From now on, you both do exactly as I tell you.”

Both of the other and younger women agreed readily.   Joanne very reluctantly removed her laboriously improvised garments.  She was not to wear them or any other clothes,  apart from backpacks and rifles,  for a very long time to come. (For the remainder of this story and beyond, as a matter of fact).

Having done this and exposed her fur-warmed warm body anew to the island breezes,  the leader  then showed a chastened Annie the path taken by the trickle of water from the barely accessible spring to a rock pool just behind a spur of the hillside. “You risked breaking your neck for nothing, you daft girl!”, she said.  Then Joanne told the other two exactly what she had found on her trip back to their former shelter.

“Our cave was hit by a massive tidal wave, from the look of things.” said Joanne. “The Inspectors must have visited the wreckage and thought we had both been drowned and swept out to sea - as we surely would have been if we‘d stayed.  At present they’re busy building a new shelter, higher up from the shoreline.  My guess is that a new “guest “ is going to be dumped there before too long. We must all three take it in turns to keep an eye on the place  and see what goes on.

“Annie - you get over there and stay there for  a day until I come to relieve you. Stay awake ALL the time, Annie!  You can sleep when you return!  And DON‘T let anyone see you, whatever you do! That Van Reisen bitch is there, supervising the work and swishing her beloved whip about as if she can‘t wait to use it on someone - so be careful and  make damned sure it‘s not on you!”

Annie scrambled eagerly off to do as she was told and Joanne turned her attention to the heavy packing case.  She carried it with Francesca’s aid up the hill and they dropped it off a moderately high ledge.  The case burst open as soon as it impacted on the hard ground below and the metal contents spilled out undamaged. The package contained guns and ammunition - enough to arm a sizeable group!

 More searches of the remains of the wreckage on the shore revealed no more merchandise of this nature and Joanne, anxious if possible to lay her hands on yet more weaponry,  resolved to swim out to what remained of the ship and see what she could find.  She was gone for hours and when she finally returned was cold and exhausted, as well as empty handed. As she said, though “It’s a start to our revolution, Francesca!”

Joanne decided that they must stay in the cave by day in future, since it would only be the work of a few minutes for the helicopter to make a circuit of the island, which it was bound to one day, maybe some day soon.  The tried to erase all traces of their presence and retreated to the cave, making sure neither of them could  be seen from the air. It was as well Joanne had been so cautious.

Half an hour after the pair had ensconced themselves in the shelter, the familiar sound of the helicopter was heard.  It landed on the beach.  While a group of people, including Joanne’s late tormentors, searched the beach, the helicopter went out to hover over the wreck. Happily, the grave containing the two men’s bodies was not uncovered! By nightfall, the people were still there.  It was not until noon on the next day that the helicopter finally took off.  By this time, the beach was cleared of all débris.

“I’d better go and relieve poor Annie” said a concerned Joanne. “Stay where you are, Francesca. Don’t even think about venturing out!  I see now that no part of this island is really safe for us.”