Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories
From: redragon@interserv.com
Subject: The Academy (bond)
Date: 26 Dec 1995 16:23:21 GMT

			     The Academy

	The breakfast ordeal was over... finally. Mariko sat at the
table trying to "will" the corn flake off the end of her nose and
wondered just how she gets herself into these things. She felt doubly
responsible this time because she had gotten not only herself, but her
roommate, Courtney Richmond, into this predicament. Mariko looked
cross the beautifully appointed breakfast table at her friend who was
sitting strapped to a high-back leather covered chair identical to
Mariko's with a dejected look on her face and oatmeal in her hair. At
twenty-two, the blonde girl was two years younger then Mariko and
about two inches taller at 5'6". She was the type of girl who seemed
to turn men's heads everywhere she went, but she never was never one
to notice. They had struck up an immediate friendship and decided to
share an apartment soon after they had first met at the job that was
to get them into this mess.

	Sitting smugly at the head of the table was their principal
tormentor, Allison Palmer, owner, president, chief-of-staff and head
bitch of B&D (Beauty and Definition) Cosmetics. She was a tall,
strong, attractive (in a hard sort of way) redhead with a short flip
hair style. She sat with one leg slung over her chair arm, sipping
coffee and smirking at the two helpless girls.

	She had a devious twinkle in her eye, a twinkle Mariko had
come to know all to well over the last two weeks (or was it three?).
Allison finished her coffee with one final gulp and then rang the
little bell that was next to her place setting.

	When they first arrived at the estate, Mariko had expected a
butler in a tuxedo or at least a French maid to respond but instead,
the double doors of the huge dining room opened up and as they had in
the past, in marched six oriental women, with three coming around
behind Mariko and the others taking a similar position behind
Courtney. Mariko couldn't decide just what nationality the women were
although she had ruled out the possibility that they could be Japanese
like herself. They were all squat, rugged farm type girls, probably
from the mainland. They just did not fit in these lavish surroundings.
Not the Jet-set type at all like Allison and her friends. Or the the
sympathetic type either.

	Both girls were becoming painfully used to this routine, They
knew that now was not the time to talk, even though it was one of the
few times during the day that they were physically able to, but
Courtney seemed determined to press her luck.

	"And what's for desert?" she asked Allison with her best
sarcastic smile that didn't begin to hide the contempt she obviously
felt for Allison. She barely got the statement out before one of the
guards grabbed a handful of Courtney's blond hair and yanked her head
back, not too hard, it was her one warning for the day, (and it was
only six A.M.).

	"I was only asking!" Courtney blurted defensively, as the
guard twisted her hair a bit more. Allison smiled sweetly and said
"Why, I'm having some melon for desert and it's certain to be
delicious, But I think, for you two, some red rubber ball will do!"
With that, she nodded to the guards who pounced on both girls, and
almost effortlessly stuffed ball gags into their mouths. Mariko
couldn't help but notice that Courtney's gag was pulled about twice as
tight as her own, not that she had any prayer of extricating the one
in her mouth, but any small favor was welcome under their
circumstances. Sooner or later Courtney would figure that out and keep
her mouth shut.

	Allison sat back in her chair and began "Y'know girls, I've
been thinking... ("Oh shit! Here we go again!" Mariko thought)... You
two have been with me all this time and we haven't even had a chance
to tour my stables. I'm really quite proud of them, so I thought that
it would be fun to have a nice ride and then a quiet little picnic
today... If that's okay with you," she said as she looked quizzically
at her guests who could do little more then stare back at her.

	"If you don't want to go, just say so!" she blurted out before
slapping her knee, and laughing merrily at her own joke. (Nether
Courtney or Mariko could appreciate the humor in it!) "There then,
it's settled, the girls here will get you cleaned up and help you get
into some riding clothes and I'll meet you in the stables at nine."

	She then nodded again to the guards, who efficiently unbuckled
all the leather straps holding our heroines in their chairs then
pushed their heads down on the table and pulled their hands up behind
their backs to be fastened there with plastic tie-wraps. The chair was
pulled away suddenly and Mariko was hustled up and towards the door
with one guard on each elbow and the corn flake still plastered
stubbornly on the end of her nose. Courtney brought up the rear.

	Allison's cheerful "Tah, Tah," rang in their ears as they
stumbled down the halls to their rooms.

				* * *

	Both Mariko and Courtney had started work on the same day at
B&D Cosmetics although certainly with different motivations. Courtney
joined the firm as a student intern in the marketing group, Her plan
was to slug her way to the top of the business world and be in the six
figure salary range by the time she was twenty-five. Mariko was
starting as a marketing liaison to the new Far East division. It was
her charm and wit, along with a hell of a snow job that had convinced
them in the interview that she had grown up in Japan. It didn't really
matter that coming to New York was the first time she had left
Southern California in her life. Her full blooded Japanese roots, The
smooth lines of her face, the gentle slant to her brown eyes and her
waist length, jet black hair had done the major portion of the
selling.

	This was actually her second job, but she didn't tell them
that. Her first had been with a rival cosmetics company based in
California. Ivan Rasovitz, the president of Rasovitz Industries, had
recognized her unique potential immediately and taken her under his
wing as his personal assistant. During one late night staff strategy
meeting he revealed his suspicion that B&D had been stealing his
formulas for several years. He hinted that what he needed was a
contact on the inside at B&D who could let him know what was going on,
maybe even send him back some of the stolen formulas so he could track
down the spy in his company.

				* * *

	Mariko sat patiently in the "Dressing Chair" while a
fashionably dressed woman applied her make-up (B&D brand of course).
The dressing chair was an interesting affair made up entirely of
adjustable, stainless steel tubes giving it an ultra modern
appearance. It's long legs were securely anchored in the concrete
floor of the dressing room making it the only permanent highlight in
an otherwise drab room. The chair was really little more then a stool
with arm rests as there was only a tiny, uncomfortable seat made up of
tubing that converged together to form a small square with no back
rest at all for a tired girl to lean against, nor could she put her
feet flat on the floor due to the telescoping legs that had been
adjusted before the guards had even placed her in the chair.

	As it was she could barely strain enough to rub the end of her
big toes on the floor. The arms and legs were constructed so that they
could be twisted and turned this way and that at the operators
convenience and with the simple tightening of strategic wing bolts,
they could be locked in place holding the unfortunate "Dressee"
rigidly in any possible pose. The steel cuffs that held her in the
chair only attached to her limbs at the wrist and ankles and could be
detached and re-attached easily from the chair without ever unlocking
them from her wrists and ankles.

	The unhooking of the cuffs could be accomplished easily by any
operator who was standing beside the chair but Mariko could not reach
any of the catches from her position seated in the chair. For obvious
security reasons, there was no point during the entire dressing
procedure where more then one of her limbs was ever released from the
chair. In this way she could be completely outfitted in anything from
a cocktail dress to a leather cat suit with little or no effort on the
part of her hand maidens, regardless of the amount of energy Mariko
chose to expend resisting them.

	The chair also had many interesting attachments like the one
she was enduring at that moment.

	While she was being made up, a sturdy head rest arrangement
was bolted to the back of the chair making her lean forward and
pushing her head forward slightly from the back of her neck. A large
tray with adjustable lights and all sorts of cosmetics was snapped in
place under her chin forcing her head up and back painfully against
the neck brace, ultimately holding her head perfectly still while the
woman plied her trade.

	Mariko knew well enough not to complain. On the first day a
mouth packed with cosmetic cotton puffs put an unpleasant end to any
protests the fashion dummy had to raise. Mariko always prided herself
on never making the same mistake twice. So she sat calmly, nude,
obediently making faces as the make-up woman ordered. Another taller
woman stood behind Mariko and carefully braided her hair into a long
ponytail tied at the bottom with a red ribbon. Soon, the two women
finished their work and stood in front of her commenting about what
beautifully high cheekbones Japanese women have. Mariko didn't know
whether to thank them or kick them, (If she ever got the chance!) so
instead she just waited. She was getting pretty used to waiting.
Finally, after they were done with their discussion on her chances of
making it in the modeling industry, they removed the tray and Mariko
breathed a sigh or relief as she was able to straighten up.

	Mariko had never hesitated, She would have done anything
(well, ALMOST anything!) to help this charismatic man who had gotten
her started in the business world, Anyway, it seemed a pretty good way
to make two paychecks while really working only one job. Besides, all
the cloak and dagger stuff was kind of thrilling, in fact, she even
made a point of wearing a cape to work her first day at B&D as sort of
a private joke.

	It turned out to be even easier then she had ever imagined to
get information on the B&D formulas, she had access to all B&D's
computers from the terminal she shared with Courtney and all those
computer courses in college had really paid off. She had worked there
only a month when she got her first look at the new formulas that B&D
was working on. After six months, she was merrily funneling all the
new formulas back west. Coincidentally, Mariko had just dropped a
package in the mail and returned to the apartment that she and
Courtney shared when this all began. She noticed right off that there
were some mail and some groceries lying in the middle of the living
room.

	"That girl's such a slob sometimes," she thought as she picked
up the mess. She then went into her bedroom to change out of her work
clothes. Mariko opened her closet door and screamed as she looked
directly into the gagged face of Courtney Richmond. Her scream was
short lived though, as a large hand clamped over her mouth from
behind.

				* * *

	The make-up women was busy arranging some clothes on a table
behind Mariko. All she could make out over her shoulder while one of
the women was showing the outfit to the other was a brown tweed
blazer. She could hear the make-up women commenting about how clever
the design was and how it should hold "This little one" quite nicely,
but she couldn't twist around enough to see. Mariko didn't like the
looks (or rather sound) of this so she decided it was time to take a
chance and speak up.

	"Excuse me, I don't want to interrupt your fun, but I think
you should know that I really look terrible in tweed," Mariko said.
Both women stopped their chatting and turned to Mariko.

	"Did you say something, Dear?" the make-up woman asked
pleasantly.

	"Why yes!" Mariko said somewhat surprised to finally get some
recognition around this place. "I said that I think I look awful in
tweed jackets." The tall woman walked slowly around to face Mariko.
She pleasantly brushed a stray hair missed by the braiding out of her
face and then leaned forward until she was nose to nose with Mariko
and hissed,

	"Who cares what YOU think, Doll?" Mariko couldn't mistake the
innuendo as she sat naked in front of these two women, about to be
dressed just like a toy.

	"Will we be needing any cotton today Dear?" The make-up women
asked Mariko over her shoulder. She simply shook her head. She was
defeated for now. The dressing could begin.

	First came a crisp, white cotton shirt that was quickly
slipped over her unfastened hand which was immediately reconnected to
the chair arm. Then the unfastening process was repeated with the
other arm and Mariko had to shift her weight to accommodate the
twisting of her arm behind her to get it into the other sleeve. They
then buttoned the shirt up the front all except the top two buttons.
Mariko was unpleasantly surprised by the condition of the shirt, two
oblong holes had been cut and hemmed neatly in the front of the shirt
were there could have been pockets. Out of these strategically placed
openings pointed her firm little breasts.

	Whoever had laundered the shirt had obviously had a fetish for
starch because both the collar and cuffs were a consistency
reminiscent only of cardboard. The two women were busy carefully
arranging the French cuffs of the shirt and tittered pleasantly as
they used tiny padlocks for cuff links. ("A little bondage chic,"
thought Mariko) Next came a yellow wool, V-neck sweater-vest and they,
after quite a tussle, slipped it over Mariko's head. "I'm sorry, this
is not really traditional, it's just in case it's a little chilly out
there," Ma'am explained with subtle grins that made Mariko even more
uncomfortable then her new apparel. The sweater was a little bit
scratchy where it rubbed against Mariko's nipples but it was bearable.
Next came the blazer, Mariko calmly cooperated as they threaded her
arms into the stiff jacket.

	When her hands were re- secured to the chair the tall women
opened her blazer up and began fishing around in the left armpit of
the blazer, and Mariko, who was extremely ticklish, had to fight hard
to keep from squirming. Finally the woman produced a thin piece of
wire with a clasp on the end. This, she fed into the left arm hole of
the sweater, across Mariko's chest and then out the other arm hole.
She then fiddled in the opposite arm pit for a moment and yanked the
wire.

	Mariko then realized what was happening. Sewn into the
shoulders of the blazer was a horizontal figure "eight" of leather
with the cross of the "eight" in the center of her back. Her arms fit
through the holes in the "eight" before going into the blazer's
sleeves. The wire was attached at the top and bottom of the "eight"
and once it was connected Mariko would not be able to remove the
jacket without first undoing the wire. Had Mariko been able to peek
behind herself, she would have seen that there had been a triangular
section about four inches wide removed from the jacket at about her
shoulder blade level. This triangle was reinforced with leather around
the edge of the opening and had a small metal clip hanging loosely out
of it. The tall woman continued to work, diligently trying to connect
the wire when, finally, there was a small "click" as the two ends of
the wire connected.

	The two women soon set their attentions on Mariko's next piece
of apparel, this turned out to be a set of black leather riding
gloves. Not normal gloves as you may expect, Mariko had no doubt that
they would be unique. Once they were worked onto her hands she
discovered that the skin tight gloves had no thumbs, rather, the thumb
was part of the side of the glove. Although she could wiggle her
fingers freely, her thumbs for all practical purposes were gone! The
two women used button hooks to close the tops of the gloves around her
wrist.

	They produced a pair of steel handcuffs and locked one on
Mariko's right wrist. Then they unlocked her left wrist from the chair
and twisted it to meet the other hand where it was locked up in the
loose handcuff. They removed the chair's bracelets from her hands and
replaced them on the chair arms ready for the next dressing session.
Mariko now sat with her wrists securely handcuffed behind her back and
her feet still locked to the chair.

	When the tall women stepped quickly behind her and pulled her
hands up suddenly between her shoulder blades and clipped them to the
hook in the back of her jacket. Mariko found that any leverage she
could have hoped to have was gone.

	The make-up woman glanced at her watch and said to the other
woman "Its almost 7:30! We had better finish her up! Would you hand me
her tie?" The other woman grunted and handed her a strip of bright red
cloth and then took a firm grip on Mariko's ponytail.

	"We're gonna make sure you're completely tied up, doll... Get
it? *TIED* up?" The make-up lady then buttoned up the top two buttons
of the shirt, and slipped the necktie under the collar and around
Mariko's neck. She then carefully knotted the tie, it took her three
tries to get it right, and slid it up tight to Mariko's neck and
tucked the necktie neatly into her sweater. She fumbled around in her
pockets for a moment and produced a little gold collar bar which she
clipped to both sides of her collar under the necktie knot.

	"What's that for?" asked the tall woman.

	"Allison likes them, she calls them tie locks. She had me put
one on Sweetcakes when she took her riding a couple of weeks ago,
Sweetcakes rode all day, then spent the night hogtied in bed and her
tie wasn't even crooked in the morning." replied the make-up woman.

	"Pardon me, but this doesn't fit right, it's awfully tight."
Mariko gulped, (or tried to, it wasn't easy because of the collar.)
The make-up woman tucked a bright red, lace hanky into Mariko's breast
pocket and pined a carnation to her blazer lapel.

	"Your comfort doesn't matter to us, My dear," she said as she
worked. "The only thing that is important is that you look presentable
while you are with your mistress." Using a small safety pin she pined
the key to Mariko's handcuffs to her necktie, just below the knot but
hopelessly out of reach of Mariko's wandering fingers.

	"There, finished," said the make-up woman as she stepped back
to admire her handiwork. "You look so cute!" she squealed to Mariko as
she pinched her cheek and gave her tie one last primp. "Allison's just
gonna eat you up!" "More likely it'll be the other way `bout!" added
the tall woman as she turned towards the door with the other woman.

	"Wait a minute, aren't you forgetting something?" asked
Mariko.

	"Oh really! can't you be at all patient?... " said the make-up
woman with an exasperated tone "There'll be someone here presently
who'll gag you... Can't you wait until then?"

	"No, No!" Mariko stammered, "Pants, you forgot my PANTS!"

	"Oh, you obviously haven't seen them yet, have you?" said the
tall woman with a smile as she shut the door.

	Shortly, the door opened and in marched the three guards. They
walked around her and began to fumble with the riding britches. Mariko
tried to turn to see them but she found that this was not a
comfortable feat with the tight, starched collar and tie. First, one
girl took hold of Mariko's ponytail and pulled back on it forcing her
to lean back. The other two pulled short nylon stockings on her feet
then pushed her feet into the legs of the britches. They had to remove
the ankle cuffs one at a time to yank the pants up to Mariko's knees.

	Even when the pants were at her knees Mariko knew that they
were going to be very tight, but soon her mind was elsewhere. One of
the girls came around where Mariko could see her new riding boots.
They were made of very shiny black patent leather with heels that were
about five inches high and no thicker at the bottom then a pencil. The
girl was examining the heal more closely and pointed out a curious
metal threading something like a screw starting about one inch from
the tip of the heal and continuing about another inch up the heel.

	The three girls (or four if you count Mariko) examined the
heels for a moment then shrugged it off and began trying to put the
boots on poor Mariko. Every stitch she wore until then had fit her
like a glove but these boots were a different story, they were much
too small, at least one size, maybe two. Mariko tried to explain this
fact to the guards, loudly! The guard holding her hair put a stop to
that nonsense with a hand pressed firmly over her mouth. The others
pulled, tugged, crammed and finally forced her feet into the boots.
They pulled the little straps up and around her calf and put small
padlocks at the top so the boots couldn't be removed without the key
which was added to the handcuff key pined to her tie.

	They stood Mariko up and then re-applied themselves to pulling
up the britches. When the pants were just below her crotch they
stopped and one of them went over to the table and returned with a
small velvet box.

	When she opened it, Mariko tried her best to bolt for the door
and would have made it except for the high heels and the fact that a
guard still had a firm grip on her hair. As it was she made it a grand
total of about one inch. Mariko begged and pleaded with these girls
but they paid no attention to her.

	As the girl with the box removed three shiny steel ball
bearings and came towards Mariko with a slight hint of a smile on her
face, the other one bent down and grabbed her ankles and forced them
as far apart as the tight britches would allow. The first girl quickly
and efficiently inserted the Ben- Wa balls and then pressed the crotch
of the britches into place to ensure that the balls wouldn't pop out.
The other two redoubled their efforts at pulling the pants into place.

	Mariko suddenly realized that the crotch of the pants had been
lined with rubber and this, combined with the built in tightness of
the pants, was forcing the balls even deeper inside her. They zipped
up the britches and Mariko could already feel the rubber doing its
best to warm things up. She barely noticed the "click" of the lock
insuring that she would be wearing the riding britches for some time
to come. A wire hobble of about eighteen inches was added to small
rings on the inside of the ankles of her boots. The hobble was really
unnecessary because there was no way Mariko could possibly run in
these boots, in fact she was surprised she could even stand.

	Lastly came the riding hat, a derby. Mariko had no delusions
about this at all. They plunked the black velvet hat down on her head
and a whole bunch of matching leather straps fell around her cheeks.
The main strap, which one of the girls was trying to apply to her
mouth was connected to a steel bit type of arrangement which popped
easily into her startled mouth when she gasped as one of the girls
attempted to rearrange her Ben-Wa balls from the outside. The steel
bit passed between her teeth and drew her lips back at the corners as
the straps were tightened securely at the back of her neck under her
ponytail. In the center of the bit was a hard rubber pad that extended
forward under the bit, right up to the back of her lower teeth. Right
behind the bit the rubber was softer and curled upwards squishing
itself against the roof of her mouth.

	As it worked out the gag was inserted perfectly the first
time, the lower pad crushed her tongue against the floor of her mouth
and the upper rubber had plenty of room to expand should she try to
open her mouth any further. Mariko was limited in that regard because
of the tightness of the bit in her mouth where it pulled her cheeks
back cruelly. Mariko heard the small click of the lock at the back of
her neck and the key to her gag was added to the growing collection
dangling from her necktie and our little equestrienne was ready her
canter.

	Mariko was shoved roughly out the door and into the hall. The
guards were content to let her stumble along at her own awkward pace
down the corridor. Suddenly a door to her right flew open and Mariko
found herself face to face with Courtney. Her heart sank as she looked
at her friend who was done up in exactly the same fashion as Mariko
except her color was blue, Navy for the blazer, light blue for the
sweater and her tie was blue plaid complete with the keys pinned
neatly in place.

	The two prisoners didn't even have time to exchange
sympathetic glances as they were marched awkwardly down the hall. The
only sound that followed them was the high pitched click of their
heels on the concrete floor and the merry jingle of the dangling keys.
They were then bundled into an elevator and taken up to the main level
of the estate and after another seemingly endless stroll, they were
taken to a door that led outside, the first time they had been outside
since they had been brought here. Given a choice, Mariko would have
hoped that their exit would have been a little more dignified.

	They walked down a long stone walkway to where they saw the
make-up woman standing on the edge of the white stone driveway.

	When they arrived the make-up lady made them stand for an
inspection, adjusting here and primping there. They then were forced
to march back and forth so she could "Get a good look at you" and
apparently satisfied, she dismissed the guards who returned to the
house. Mariko looked around herself in disbelief as various
maintenance people busied themselves around the grounds. They paid no
more attention to the two bound and gagged girls then they would to a
couple of secretaries out on their lunch hour. Mariko wondered if this
sight could be more commonplace around here then she ever imagined.
She shuddered at the possibilities. Presently, a golf cart came
bouncing up the dirt road and came to a stop in front of the three
women. A large man in filthy coveralls smelling distinctly of manure
stepped out of the cart and asked the make-up woman,

	"Are Deez Dem?"

	"No," Mariko thought, "It's two of the other sixteen girls
standing around in ridiculous looking riding outfits wearing handcuffs
and gags." The make-up woman assured the man that they were indeed the
girls he was looking for and then stepped back. He guided Mariko and
Courtney to the back of the golf cart then carefully seated them
there, facing the rear. Mariko was so relived to be off her already
sore feet that she barely noticed as he fiddled with their hobbles and
yanked on one end causing a slip knot device on the wire to tighten,
pulling the girl's ankles snugly together. The make-up lady bent down
where the girls could easily see her and said,

	"You two have a nice day and I'll see you this evening...
bye-bye!" She turned and then without looking back, walked into the
house. The man spent a moment or two talking about the weather with
the gardener who was trimming a nearby hedge, then, whistling a little
off key tune, he jumped into the drivers seat and turned the cart
around and headed off towards the distant stables with two very
nervous, very uncomfortable, passengers aboard.

	The ride seemed longer the it really was for the girls as they
were roughly bounced about by the bumpy dirt road they were being
shuttled down. Soon they were passing huge exercise pens bordered with
white stock yard fences surrounding bright green manicured lawns. Most
of the pens were occupied by varying numbers of beautiful horses
prancing about, some being attended by grooms others free to run
about. Mariko couldn't help but notice how idyllic it all appeared,
and what a distinct contrast it was to their present situation.

	Mariko squirmed in her bonds for a moment... testing... hoping
the man driving wouldn't notice. (He didn't) But it didn't matter, she
wasn't going to get loose now, not a chance. She only prayed that
someone would make a mistake and give her an opening for escape. Just
a crack, That was all she would need! She could crawl miles to escape,
run through streams to throw off the sent of the dogs that were sure
to be sent after her. Duck the searchlights! (Hey! this is getting
pretty darn exciting!) Then she could climb that last fence and make
it to freedom! The golf cart came to a sudden stop and Mariko's
momentum made her bump against the back of the seat, causing her
handcuffs to click a notch tighter.

	"Shit, So much for fantasy. Back to reality... " She thought.

	There was certainly more interest here then back at the house.
Several trainers walked by slowly, really taking in our heroine's
predicament.

	"Hey babe, Goin' Riiiidin'?!" one called out teasingly as he
walked by. Mariko tried to meet their stares, but almost immediately
she found herself staring at the ground behind the cart trying to make
herself as small as possible. The driver was writing something on a
pad in the cart and when he was finished he walked to the back of the
cart and easily hoisted Mariko over his shoulder like a sack of
potatoes. With one hand on her rump for balance, he walked towards the
nearby barn.

	As he neared the door he stopped a man who was passing by.

	"Yo Karl! Ya got a butt?!"

	"Waddya Talkin' about, You already have one right there!"
replied Karl motioning to all he could see of Mariko. The big man
fumbled in his pockets for a moment.

	"No I don't, I haven't got any smokes," replied Mariko's
chauffeur.

	"I don't believe this!" Mariko couldn't help say out loud...
All that came out was "Eh Dt Bleh Tds!" though, and nobody paid any
attention.

	"Here take one of mine Lou," Karl said as he lit the cigarette
for Lou. "Palmer's going riding today, huh Lou?... Can I have a look?"

	"Sure... " Lou replied as he turned around and Mariko found
herself staring right into the face of Karl, another stable hand.

	"Man, what a waste, This one's a ten too, Just like the
others!" This was definitely the most bizarre compliment Mariko ever
had, and hopefully ever would, receive.

	"You have a good time now Ya'ear," Karl said as he walked
away. Mariko just wished people would stop telling her to have fun in
this screwed up place.

	Lou carried her into the barn and walked over to a horse stall
in the corner. There he bent over and placed her on her feet in the
straw in the middle of the stall. He squatted down and loosened
Mariko's hobble out to about six inches, enough for her to shuffle
about in the stall and that was about it. He stepped out of the stall
and closed the gate, then turned to Mariko and said "I suggest dat ya
don't try ta sit down, caus' ya might get dirty. Unda stand?"

	"Yes, I understand!" Mariko tried to reply, But all she said
was "Yth Eh Nudthd!."

	"What?"

	"Ydth! NI! Nudthsss!" (She drooled a little).

	"What?"

	"FHth YYn Athhl!" (She drooled a lot).

	"Sorry Honey, can't understand what ya is saying." With that,
he turned around and walked out to get Courtney. Mariko shuffled over
to the gate and looked longingly at the latch. It was outside, she was
inside... No way.

	"Shthh!" Almost immediately Lou returned with Courtney under
his arm and deposited her in next to Mariko. Then he closed the gate
and left. Escape, although it certainly entered both girls' minds was
out of the question. They stood as close as they could to each other
trying to embrace the only comfort they had in this crazy world. The
comfort would not last very long.

	Lou returned carrying two small English saddles and blankets
and dropped them in front of the stall. Then he called out to another
man who was walking by the doors,

	"Hey, Joe! Do me a favor an get Thunder an' Cyclone for me
will ya!" Thunder!!!... Cyclone!!!!!... Mariko and Courtney looked at
each other in terror! Lou didn't seem to notice though, as he brought
out a large crate and put it on the floor in front of the gate. Then
he sat down on it and fiddled with one of the saddles. Joe appeared
suddenly pulling two gigantic horses, one black, the other brown.

	He tied the brown one to a post and led the black one over to
the crate and helped Lou saddle it. The horse snorted but didn't
resist much. Mariko just couldn't get over how big it was! Joe held
the reins as Lou walked into the stall. Courtney panicked and bolted
as Lou approached her, shuffling as fast as she could for the corner
of the stall. Unfortunately, her mincing steps of six inches was no
match for Lou's stride. He simply took hold of the back of her pants
and spun her around and steered her towards the gate. Mariko backed
away into the other corner. Lou picked Courtney up and stood her on
the crate next to the horse and removed the hobble connecting her
ankles. Then, with one motion, he stepped up on the crate, grabbed
Courtney by the back of the jacket and the seat of the pants and
deposited her in the saddle.

	"Hey, there little lady," Joe drawled, "Cyclone's a real good
horse, why he ain't thrown nobody for a couple of weeks now!" Courtney
was whimpering audibly. Joe continued,

	"Just don't show him you're afraid, an' whatever you do, don't
make any sudden movements to spook him!" Courtney's body went
absolutely ridged, not so much as a deep breath passed her lips as the
men finished up their work. They put her feet into the stirrups and
then Mariko saw what those curious screw things on their heels were
for. Lou carefully guided Courtney's heel into a hole on the stirrup
and pushed it down until the screw threads came out the bottom. He
produced a wing nut from his pocket and tightened the nut on the
threads, thus preventing Courtney from pulling her foot out of the
stirrup. He walked casually to the other side of the horse an repeated
the procedure. Joe took the reins and led Cyclone to the side and tied
the horse to another post. Courtney still hadn't moved a muscle.

	While Joe was getting Thunder into position beside the crate
Lou turned to Mariko and said,

	"Don't keep us waitin' sweetie."

	It didn't take a kick in the head for Mariko to realize the
futility of resistance. She put her head down to watch where she was
going and shuffled forward. By the time she arrived at the crate
Thunder was saddled and waiting. The closer and closer she got to her
mount the more and more amazed she got at just how big horses really
get and just how much she didn't want to see how big it was from the
horse's back. Lou settled any doubts she might have had by grabbing
her and swiftly depositing her in the saddle. Momentarily, her feet
were secured in the stirrups and Joe cautioned,

	"Remember, No sudden movements." The warning was unnecessary
as Mariko had been following Courtney's lead from the moment she hit
the saddle.

	"Remember Girls, Don't spook them!" Joe said as he walked away
chuckling. Lou took both sets of reins and led the reluctant
equestriennes out of the barn.

	The sound of hoof beats thundered up from behind the girls.
Neither dared turn to look but their eyes flashed back and forth
desperately trying for a glimpse of anything

	"Yo Ho, you two! I see you're right on time!" Allison called
from behind. Both girls stared straight ahead.

	"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Allison loved bad
puns... She slowly coaxed her mount around where her new playmates
could see her. Allison was dressed in a old red flannel shirt with a
white thermal T-shirt under it, Jeans, Cowboy boots and a beat-up
ten-gallon hat. She slowly rode her horse around the girls, checking
them out and teasing them a little,

	"I've got the lunch, The wine, Plenty of rope, I can't think
of anything else we could need for our picnic. Can you?" She reached
back into her saddle bag and removed an expensive looking camera and
took a dozen or so photos of the girls from various angles.

	"For my album," Allison explained. On the third time around
she noticed that the only time her little pets were looking at her was
when she was directly in front of them. She suddenly stopped short in
front of the two girls who sat rigidly in their saddles. Allison
leaned forward and examined her captives faces closely. "They told you
the horses names, didn't they?" Both girls nodded ever so slightly. A
smile broke across her face and she burst into laughter. Both horses
were startled and both riders screamed into their gags but neither
horse moved. Allison slowly began to regain control of herself.

	"Their names are a joke you dummies! These are two big
marshmallows!... They wouldn't hurt a fly! They've done this same
thing hundreds of times. You can scream and struggle or anything you
want and they wont move, they're completely trained!"

	It took a moment, but then both girls realized that their
captor was really telling the truth. They both slumped in the saddles.

	"Look at me!" Allison ordered and both visibly relieved girls
complied. "There are about a million and one things I am going to do
to you two. And I plan on doing each and every one to you at my
leisure... " Alison then ceremoniously leaned over, and flicked the
button holding Mariko's blazer closed. The jacket then fell open
framing her sweatered breasts rather then supporting them. The wire
under her sweater ensured that the jacket was staying on. She winked
at Mariko then and then repeated the drill on Courtney. "I don't want
to *TERRIFY* you... just terrorize you! And just remember, I won't
need to hurt you to accomplish that." With that, Allison reached down
and untied the reins from the post and tied them to her pommel.

	"Ready for some fun in the sun girls? What do ya say to a
gallop!" Allison shouted as she spun her horse about and headed for
the trail with Mariko and Courtney about to begin the ride of their
lives.