Part 9 (1/2)
I almost laughed. I guess I was so used to the fact that Sheila was around, that I hadn't considered that Amy and Elizabeth both didn't even know of her existence.
”A new girl.”
”Five of us now?”
”Sort of. I doubt if I'll keep her.”
”Lucky her.”
They didn't know the circ.u.mstances here. I sobered. ”Not really.” I refused to say any more. Noticing my change of mood, Elizabeth wisely changed the direction of the conversation.
”Can a girl ask where are we going?” Elizabeth spoke again as we pa.s.sed through the gate.
”You'll know when we get there.”
Elizabeth sighed as I guided the women to the left. Amy followed in silence.
Actually I hadn't planned on taking them too far. Just to the neighbour's. However, with the size of the lots in this area of the city, it took us about ten minutes to make our way to the next house. But we weren't walking very fast. The girls enjoying the sun on their bare skin.
I stopped the girls in front of a much more modest house than the home we had just left. It was a two story house, painted yellow, but without the grounds or obvious wealth a.s.sociated with the last house.
As we approached the front door, Amy spoke up. ”Why are we here?”
I answered her. ”Just exploring.”
”You aren't going to hurt us?”
”Not yet, darling. Not yet.”
Elizabeth s.h.i.+vered.
The mailbox read, *The Johnsons'. I tried the front k.n.o.b. Locked. I idly wondered if anyone was home or not. I left the two bound girls on the front porch and wandered around the back of the house. The gate was unlocked. The house had a large backyard bordered on one side with a stone wall, facing the Mayer residence. The Johnsons had a small swimming pool and a back deck. Modest. I tried the back doors. They were standard gla.s.s patio doors. Locked as well.
I wandered back into the yard and found a large rock. Not elegant, but I couldn't see any way for my time abilities to help me get into a locked house directly. I threw the rock through the back door. Gla.s.s all over the place; on the deck, on the kitchen floor. I carefully picked my way through the jagged gla.s.s and into the house. I concentrated and removed the time bubble from around the door. The gla.s.s magically reattached itself and mended the door. End of gla.s.s problem. I would normally have just left the destruction, but the girls would have been in some serious danger in their bare feet. And I had no intention of punis.h.i.+ng them by making them walk over broken gla.s.s nor was I about to allow them shoes.
I glanced around the kitchen. It was a nice size. There was a pretty woman working at preparing some meal on the counter. Twenty something. Perhaps very early thirties. I walked through the house and opened the front door from the inside.
Elizabeth and Amy were still waiting quietly on the front porch, sitting on the rail.
”I heard a crash.” Elizabeth spoke to me.
”Back door.”
She looked down at her bare feet as she stepped across the threshold.
”Gla.s.s?”
”I cleaned it up. Your pretty toes will be fine.”
”And here I was thinking you were finally going to let me wear shoes.”
I laughed. Amy smiled at me as she stepped inside.
”Anyone home?”
”There's someone in the kitchen.”
I took the pack from Elizabeth's bound fingers and rummaged. Finally I selected a short length of chain and connected Elizabeth's and Amy's wrists with it and a pair of padlocks. The girls stood quietly back to back. I ran the chain into the front closet locking it to the hanging bar. The girls watched all this in silence. When I was done, Elizabeth spoke up. ”Proud of yourself?”
”Yeah. Actually.”
”You realize that we'd have stayed where ever you put us without the need for any of this.”
”Yup.”
”Why then?”
”I wanted to.”
”I see.” But she still didn't understand. I guess I couldn't blame her.
I turned away from the girls and walked up the stairs. I could hear Amy and Elizabeth softly talking as I moved away. Not much else to do when you are chained up.
I wandered through the house. No surprises like at the Mayers. No locked rooms. No hidden abused s.e.x slaves. n.o.body else home. The last door on the right held a small child. Asleep. Less than a year old certainly. There was a huge poster on the wall above the child's crib with a picture. Like what you could get at the photo development places. Blown up to poster size with a likeness of the kid. The word across the bottom, in fancy script, was *Autumn'. Didn't quite know what that was all about.
I closed the door and wandered back to the women.
”Anything interesting?” Amy spoke. ”Please. Can't you let us out of this?” She rattled her wrists against the chains. ”We'll be good. I promise.”
”How good?”
”I'll do anything you want. You know I will.”
”Would you threaten an infant?”
”Huh?”
”If I gave you a knife. Would you threaten an infant?”
”You have to be joking.”
”Not really hurt it. Just pretend like you would.”
”Whatever for?”
”Would you?”
”I guess. As long as you didn't ask me to really hurt it. That I couldn't do.” She was serious. She'd take whipping until she died, but she wouldn't hurt a child. That was fine. I didn't want or expect her to.
”Hmmm. Wait here.” I was actually surprised that she agreed to do it this easily. Perhaps her lesson from yesterday had sunk in.