“Gosh, Frieda, it feels funny not to have the sound of the sea in your ears any more.”

Francesca and her beloved Frieda were resting  on the grass outside a shepherd’s hut, high up in the hills. Below them was a wooded valley and grassy pastures, and towering above them  were the tall snow covered mountains. Frieda had never seen such awesome scenery before.

This pair had been kissing and crawling all over each other madly for the past half hour and this was pretty well Fran’s first speech since leaving the island earlier that day. A few yards away, Annie was playing at being a nurse, tenderly washing the dried blood from Joanne’s battered but still lovely face and fussing over her numerous other cuts, bruises and abrasions.  Fran caressed Frieda’s solid, compact little body, for the millionth time feeling the little redhead’s firm swimmer‘s muscles.

“I know, Fran. Still this mountain air is lovely and Jo says there’s a lovely lake in the valley, just around that spur. I’ll still get plenty of swimming with you!”

“Whatever you say, darling. I’m getting as daft as you about cold water!  I expect we‘ll both become famous for it in time! Let‘s stop talking - I get  SOOO bored with talking. Lets do things, eh Frieda? Nice things!”

The rest of the girls were in the hut getting the place into shape. Except for Angela, that is. She was tied to a tree, looking pretty badly beaten up herself, which she was!  Joanne saw that she could not be trusted and had decided to keep her under  restraint until she could make contact with her General and return her to his tender mercies.

But there was plenty do before that, so Angela would have to put up with her lack of freedom. At least she was being fed three times a day and in no great discomfort, thought Joanne.  She was not in the cage, although this had been dismantled and brought here with them at Joanne’s command. The State would no longer be able to use it to break its victims, but  Jo knew, with resignation, that it had not yet served its purpose. It was being reassembled  at that very moment high up almost at the snow line. Any future occupant would have a splendid view, but be rather cold!

“Oh, Jo. I was sure you’d win!” said Annie, pausing in her unnecessary but welcome fussing over her old friend, “The others were certain she’d got you time and time again, but I knew you’d win.”

“I’ll let you into a little secret, Annie. I was certain I’d had it loads of times, but somehow I kept managing to shake away the dizziness and keep going. She has one hell of a punch, that one! Normally I’d have eaten her for breakfast, but  I was still weakened after all those days cooped up.  No, Annie my love! How I came through that, I’ll never know. I think it was just the thought of never seeing you again, my precious! That’s what gave me the strength I needed.”

“Well - you won! That’s all that matters! Now we can get on with the real struggle!  No more of you having to purge your guilt. I think the suffering you went through in that fight pretty well evens up the score!”

Jo was finding speech painful and she did not reply.  She was finding it very hard to bear the throbbing pain in her battered head and face. Her nose had been broken, her upper lip badly bruised and her lower one cut right through - she would bear that mark to her dying day, many years later.

Her jaw ought, by rights, to have been fractured several times by Angela‘s blows, but it had somehow stayed intact, though badly bruised. Joanne had tried to eat and the pain had been terrible. The taste of blood in her mouth felt as if it would never go away. Bur when she had stood, triumphant and bleeding all over her fallen rival, and with all the others, except for the angry Forster cheering her wildly, crowding around her to clap her on the back and then raise her shoulder high in triumph, she had felt on top of the world, raising her battered arms in an ecstasy of jubilation.  Then she had broken free of the rest and embraced a delighted and crying Annie. As clasped and was clasped in turn by her darling,  she experienced all the joy of Heaven.  So this is what Victory does to one, she had thought. It feels great!

Now, though, hours later, she was very glad to rest and be fussed over by Annie. Tomorrow, she would have to face up to her continuing guilt once more, and she knew how that would turn out. But now all she wanted was to be with that sweet and loyal little angel.  She rose painfully and stiffly  to her feet, and the two wandered off to be alone together.

After Jo’s hard won and bloody victory and the brief celebration which had followed, they had all climbed aboard and taken off. First, they had landed on the other beach and loaded up with guns and ammunition and then Joanne had directed to them to what she knew to be a safe area, well inside the zone of rebel control.  Five hours later the boat had arrived. When Duke Albert heard that all his birds, including a precious metal one, had flown, he was more unhappy than ever.

He guessed that Annie and Joanne had not, after all, been drowned. He was sure they were involved in the non return of the helicopter, all along, but the old fool would not believe him.

But the new Duke was no fool. He had a mind to be compared to Joanne’s. In the coming times he and Joanne  were to come to know each other well, though  from a distance,  until he found himself facing his proud and ever naked enemy across the table as he signed the surrender.  This is in the future, though. We must not push ahead too fast!
……………………………….....................................................................................................

PENITENCE RESUMED

Five days after their escape, Angela had just left them, promising faithfully that she would return to her unit. She had carried with her a request from Joanne that her unique group of naked, hardened and fearless females be loosely attached to the wider struggle in some way. It could be a long time before they got an answer. Angela had a long trek ahead.

Jo and Francesca were talking things over. “It’s still not right with you, is it Joanne ?”

”No, Fran! Anything but! I sense the feeling among the women that I got off too lightly, and I agree. I can’t lead without paying my debt in full. We’ll call a meeting for  later today. I’ll hand over to you and you  must decide what to do.  Here we go again, Francesca!  But I trust you,  devious girl though you are! This time I think we should co-opt a couple of other girls onto the court. I leave it up to you who you choose! Just make sure it’s a proper fair, square and above board decision! I want to be able to look those women in the face again, Fran!   You simply have no idea how much I need that!”

And so the scene of Joanne’s disgrace was partly re-enacted. Once again, she was ordered to stand to attention, while the spectators sat around. Fran, who had appointed Annie and Rosie to assist her, questioned Jo closely about her reason for falling asleep, skilfully drawing out of her an account of all the ghastly suffering she had so recently gone through, at that that time, at the Inspectors’ hands. There was obvious sympathy among the women as this story unfolded. Finally the three retired to confer, Joanne being ordered to remain standing to attention, even though the proceedings had already lasted half an hour.

Three hours later, they came back. Annie remained standing while the others sat down, one on either side of her. She spoke to Joanne and the rest of the women. Poor little Annie was terribly pale and looked as if she was about to cry, but she spoke clearly and without  wavering.

“I have been asked to deliver the  court’s judgment. I am happy to make it clear that we all agree on every detail of the following judgment.” She paused and said with great emphasis. “All of us.”

“Every sympathy is due to the prisoner in respect of the ordeal she was put through. I saw it myself, and a great many women would never have lived through it - as well as a lot of men. It was ferocious  and I hope I never live to see the like of it again. The fact remains, however, that she was our leader. She ought to have known her limitations and had the sense to perform within them. This  was an error of judgment, stemming, we regret to say,  from her own vanity. Such a mistake could have been fatal to her and to us. We do not find, therefore,  that Angela’s punishment of eight weeks in the cage was excessive, or her award of two hundred lashes. Having come to understand the standards commonly applying in modern armies in these hard times we see that Angela was being fair and just.

“As to her doubling both aspects of the sentence, the prisoner was wrong to interrupt when she did. And so this was also fair, by the standards of military organisations such as ours.

“The use of the whip, while barbaric in the eyes of many, has come to be pretty well universally accepted as a punitive measure. We in this group may decide to do away with it in future (and speaking personally, although I have suffered three times myself in that way, I very much hope we don‘t). It is  an available option at any time and Angela was quite entitled to order it.

“We have gone into every aspect of this, including Angela‘s betrayal of the prisoner. We were right to organise her escape and to remove Angela from command . Her incompetence could have been fatal to us all. The prisoner’s own role in this is very much appreciated!  No one is to be charged with any offence in regard to all this. My colleagues have agreed that I should not be forced to complete my own punishment. - I‘m, glad about that, I must say!”

Annie smiled. Then she went on. “We have concluded that for the intention behind the original sentence to be understood both by the prisoner and by all present here today, these intentions should be spelt out in some detail.

“Angela  is not here for us to question her,  but we think she  felt that the offence in question was so serious that only fifty six days in the cage on a very reduced diet,  without a second’s relief, an experience whose extreme horror she had cause to know very well, would be sufficient retribution. Therefore it is not enough for us to order the prisoner to complete the balance of her award, she must start it afresh and serve it in its entirety.  The doubling of the original punishment must stand.” There were astonished gasps from all the watching girls at this.  Their consternation increased as Annie continued..

“It was also Angela’s intention that the prisoner commence her confinement still in terrible pain from a robustly administered military whipping.  This has been our hardest decision.  On balance, we reluctantly feel that the prisoner must be whipped again and whipped long and hard  - she still has one hundred more lashes to come, in any case, but we have decided on three hundred to be delivered now and one hundred more to be given on her release.

“We hope the prisoner will return to lead us after she all this and we all three pray that she will have the strength to endure it.    I, personally have no doubt that she will.  Does the prisoner have any thing to say before this sentence is confirmed and carried out?  We want her to acknowledge that our decision  is fair and just.”

Joanne replied calmly.

“I accept the time in the cage. I see, but don’t entirely go along with your reasoning.  But I do contest the fairness of the whipping. I am not afraid to face it, but I really think I am only due for another hundred.”

There were angry murmurs of agreement from the rest of the girls.  The three conferred. Finally Annie spoke.

“We cannot accept your case.  Our decision must stand. In order not to give you too severe an ordeal,  the final flogging will be delayed until two weeks after we free you, so that you can first recover your strength. You will not be leader for that interim period, but will be free to come and go as you please,  not under anyone‘s orders. We also are willing to delay starting  your resumed punishment for two weeks in view of what you have recently been through.”

Joanne was quick to answer. “No. I want to get it over and done now. I still don’t think it  fair, but I won’t make any more fuss.”

Annie looked even paler, but she still spoke strongly, despite the fact that every word was agony for her to speak. “The rest of you can go away.   We wish to be alone with the prisoner. All will participate in whipping her and will assemble here in two hours from now.”

As soon as Joanne was alone with the three members of the court, Francesca smiled and motioned her to sit down. The three of them came over and joined her, Annie tentatively put her arm around her and was unspeakably happy when Joanne responded warmly.

“Oh, Annie, my love! You were wonderful! To think I was once the strong one! I shall miss you, but at least I can trust you three to keep your word. Where do you intend tying me for my flogging?”

Francesca answered. “ Let’s leave that for a while, shall we, Jo? Now it’s all settled I feel rather washed out. Believe it or not, we’re only doing this to please you!  Sounds absurd,  I know!  Let’s all relax for an hour or two, shall we? Why don’t you and Annie go off alone together and then be back by the tree at four this afternoon. I know you won’t be late!  Make sure she gets a lovely goodbye,  Annie!”

………………………………..............................................................................................

“Oh, Jo! I was SO scared you’d never want to speak to me again! I promise not to stop thinking about you all the time.”

“You did right, Annie, so forget it. I’m proud of you. You looked at the facts of the case and came to a decision without fear or favour. Those are the values and standards we are fighting for, Annie. I’ll tell you this, though. Both cage and whip are OUT after I’ve been freed.”

I’d keep them both if I had my way, thought Annie. She was getting to be as hard as Frieda!

They lay in each others’ arms, until the dreaded hour. Then they walked, arm in arm,  towards the tree. Joanne raised her arms without being bidden and Rosie tied her hands to a low overhanging branch. Fran gave the order to start and Annie gave her dearest friend the first ten lashes, laid on with all her strength. By the time she had finished, her arm ached and she was covered in sweat, breathless, and her chest and taut little abdomen heaving with the effort. This time, Joanne did not scream, although a few groans could be heard towards the end.

Finally they put her back in the tiny cage, hung high up on the mountainside, and left her.