by Van © 2024
		Chapter 1

Between Glacier & Yellowstone National Parks
(...which encompasses a lot of territory).

---

Mountains, boulder fields, rocky terrain, grass, wildflowers, conifers, and an incredible cerulean sky studded with fluffy clouds.

The high country in Central Montana is very easy on the eyes... and hard on the legs and feet if you're backpacking up and down its rugged slopes over faint tracks that are as much game trails as recognized hiking paths.  That said, on an extended trip, what some people call "fatigue fugue" is only an issue for the first couple of days, if you're already in decent shape.  The same goes for nausea and headaches as you adapt to exercise in the thinner air at high altitude.

The pair of young women currently striding across this idyllic wilderness landscape were familiar with these issues all too well, but they were past the "breaking in phase" and were physically "in the zone" and not distracted from the surrounding beauty.

Both were in their early twenties.  Their backpacks were modern ballistic nylon with internal frames and padded hip-belts.  The rest of their gear (sleeping bags, tent, cooking gear, etc.) was equally modern, lightweight, and/or hi-tech, and all of their food was dehydrated.

They occasionally passed small lakes or stepped over tiny trickling streams, and they had the tablets required to treat what they needed for drinking and cooking.  That meant there was no need for them to tote around an excessive weight of water, and their USGS topographical map assured them there would be accessible water along their entire route.

In addition to the map, the women had compasses and a handheld GPS device (with a compact solar charger).  Also, they were both grizzled veterans of the Girl Scouts, with orienteering merit badges.  Finally, a handful of distant but prominent mountain peaks were serving as reliable landmarks.  The girls were navigating without difficulty.

Both were dressed for the occasion in hiking boots, wool socks, cargo shorts, panties, bras, tank-tops, long-sleeve cotton shirts, and floppy hats.  They had jackets, sweaters, and rain ponchos in their packs in case the weather turned foul and for when things cooled off at night.

Skylar Dundee

Taking the lead (at the moment) was Skylar Dundee, a redhead.  Sky (her friends often shortened her name to "Sky") was short, only five-foot-nothing (1.52 m).  She had an abundance of freckles (growing ever more abundant under current conditions), striking green eyes, and features often characterized as "devilishly cute."  Sky's smile is generally classified as a "goofy grin," but she's learned to live with it.  Finally, she's a self-confessed tomboy and keeps her red hair cropped boyishly short.  It's practical.

Fiona Taylor

Two steps behind Sky (at the moment) strode Fiona Taylor, a slender but shapely blonde.  Fiona has an entire three-and-a-half inches on her red-haired companion, and hence is often referred to as "the tall one" by their friends and acquaintances.

Fiona's long flaxen tresses are currently plaited in a pair of tight braids, so as not to interfere with her backpack.  They dangled and swayed to either side of her beautiful face as she hiked.  Her complexion is generally considered to be "fair," but it can (and at the moment has) take on a decent tan.  It was by no means a golden "beach bunny" tan, but she certainly wasn't Snow White.  With even features, blue eyes, prominent cheekbones, and what Sky teasingly refers to as her "swan-like neck," Fiona is unarguably a classic beauty.

Oh-by-the-way, Sky and Fiona are very good friends.  In fact, they're BFFs!  That said, when she's in a playful mood Sky sometimes addresses Fiona as "Viking Princess," or even "Disney Princess."  Fiona retaliates by calling Sky "Munchkin," "Leprechaun," or "Ginger Troll" when she's especially ticked off.

Their friends have dubbed the duo "Sky-Fi," which everyone agrees is very cute and solidly on the money.

When not backpacking in the scenic middle of nowhere, the BFFs attend Lewis and Clark University in Western Washington---Go Explorers!---and they've roomed together ever since (in its infinite algorithmic wisdom) the L&C Housing Office computer plunked them down in the same room in the freshman dorm.  They moved into a small apartment off campus as soon as it was allowed at the start of their sophomore year.  At the moment they were enjoying the summer break between their junior and senior years.

Also... Sky-Fi have a "terrible secret" known only to their closest friends: they're into bondage... but not in an obsessive way.  Every now and then—and not really all that often—Sky ties up Fiona or Fiona ties up Sky!  And just to be absolutely clear, these are "Escape Challenges."  The girls are not a couple, and their secret exercises are physical exercises and are in no way "fetishy" or "kinky" (or so they keep telling themselves).  It's an innocent competitive game (or so they also keep telling themselves), and they're very discrete, taking every conceivable precaution to insure they're never caught-in-the-act.

There was a close call midway through their freshman year.  They were still in the dorm (of course) and Sky had tied Fiona's wrists together behind her back and her ankles together in what's usually classified as being "bound hand and foot."  Sky had used a couple of lengths of soft, white, cotton clothesline.  Fiona was squirming and testing her bonds—when suddenly a member of Sky's study group banged on their unlocked door, barged in, and demanded Sky's help in sorting out her part of the ANTH 101 class project their group was working on!

After accepting the Escape Challenge, Fiona had stripped to her bra and panties (for improved freedom of motion), then Sky had mustered her best Cartoon Villainess skill set.  Fiona was reclined on her twin-sized bed and helplessly bound!  Fortunately, Sky had covered her "victim" with her top sheet and blanket—Thank God!—so Fiona's semi-clothed captive state was well hidden.  Sky saved the day by shushing the intruder, indicating that Fiona was asleep, and ushering her fellow study groupie down the hall to a study lounge.

It had been close, but Sky and Fiona's secret had remained undiscovered.  Phew!

Lesson learned, the roomies resolved to always be prudent and/or circumspect whenever they indulged in their "hobby."  Once they moved out of the dorm they were able to continue their experiments with greater security, but still, they were always careful.  As already mentioned, only their closest friends know about Sky-Fi's escape challenge games, but even they don't know the full details.

"I have an idea," Sky announced as they trudged up a rocky but gradual slope towards a low pass leading into the next valley.

"Alert the media," Fiona said dryly.

"Funny," Sky smiled.  "It's an escape challenge.  Ever consider being tied to your backpack?  Wrists to your hip-belt on either side?  Your upper arms tied back to the lashing points on your pack?  And you'd be my pack pony, of course.  I'd be leading you around on a tether, and you'd have to be gagged.  Pack-ponies don't talk.  We have the required paracord and bandanas."

"Bears," Fiona responded, perfectly deadpan.

Sky grinned.  "Bears?"

"We both agreed," Fiona continued.  "No escape challenges while backpacking, because of the bears."

Sky rolled her eyes (but was still grinning).  "We've seen exactly one black bear this entire trip, and that was at a distance with it skedaddling over the crest a ridge to get away from us."

They each had a "bear bell" clipped to their backpack, cute little dangling jingle-bells that tinkled as they hiked and announced their presence at a safe distance, alerting otherwise oblivious bears.  For Sky-Fi, the unobtrusive musical clamor had long since faded into the general noise background.

"I do not want to be dinner for a hungry bear," Fiona huffed, "nor do I want to watch one eat you and find myself bound and gagged in the middle of nowhere."

Sky heaved a theatrical sigh.  "Valid points."

They continued hiking. 

"Maybe we'll get a chance to stage a challenge once we get to your cousin's ranch," Fiona suggested.

Sky shrugged.  "Maybe... if we're discrete.  I doubt if Cousin Kelly would care, but if we do it in whatever bedroom she puts us she'll never need to know.  Or maybe we'll find a closet or small room with a solid door in a stable, barn, or some other out-of-the-way outbuilding.  Then I could do to you the sort of terrible things the bad guys do to Nancy Drew in her books."

Fiona smiled.  "Let's leave the severe limits of your literary experience out of this," she purred.  "In any case... we'll see tomorrow."

"Once we get there," Sky agreed, "but not right away.  We should play it cool and feel things out... so to speak."

"So to speak," Fiona nodded.

The journey continued... with nary a bear in sight.  A bald eagle circling overhead noted the passage of the backpackers, but as they were no threat, were too big to kill, and weren't carrion... it soon lost interest and soared into the next valley.

"The Hermitage" of Kelly Dundee
(Sky & Fiona's destination.)

---

Kelly Dundee's spread is eighteen miles from the nearest town.  That means a grocery run or trip to the hardware store requires a dusty, winding, six-mile drive down a rugged semi-improved road to the nearest paved county road—seven more miles to the nearest state highway—then five more miles to the thriving metropolis of Redcliff, the town in question, which is little more than a gas station, a general store, two restaurants (one of which is a Jack in the Box!), a County Sheriff's sub-office, and a scatter of houses (and trailers).

She has had no neighbors to speak of, other than the Matos, and their place is four miles away as the crow flies.  A visit requires taking a semi-treacherous horse trail up and over two intervening rocky ridges.  That has the virtue of being a good workout for one of Kelly's horses.  There is the option of a tedious drive halfway to Redcliff, then looping back towards Ryegate Falls, then finding the turnoff to the Mato's rugged semi-improved road, but that takes about half a day.  Longer in winter.  The horse trail is better.  Except in winter.

Kelly Dundee

The mistress of The Hermitage is a 40-something redhead and is in excellent physical condition thanks to her routine of hiking, running, horseback riding, and yoga.  Her features are even and unarguably attractive, she likes her straight, ginger-red hair cropped short, her eyes are green, and her height is exactly 5' 3½" (1.61 m).

Skylar Dundee is Kelly's cousin, and together with her parents the "Little Tyke" had vacationed at The Hermitage for two weeks when she was ten.  Little Sky had had an absolute blast!  She'd been in tomboy heaven!  Kelly was very much looking forward to her fellow redhead's imminent return as a scholar in her early twenties, as well as meeting Sky's friend Fiona.

The main residence at The Hermitage is a large, single-story log structure.  The compound also includes a much smaller log cabin workshop for Kelly's leather-working business, a stable and corral for her "herd" of three horses, and various other small outbuildings.  Recreational opportunities include a small pond out in the valley about a quarter mile from The Hermitage (suitable for splashing, floating, and sunbathing on the grass), as well as a network of riding and hiking trails (okay, game trails) that wind through the surrounding hills.

In the middle of nowhere?  Yes, but Kelly loves her isolated existence in the splendor of the Mountain West... and thanks to satellite broadband access she can live on the ranch and maintain the internet connection with her agent and publishers required by her main career, that of a successful author.

Kelly is widely known for her bestselling fantasy action/adventure novels.  A few are considered "Steampunk," but most are squarely in the Medieval Fairy Tale milieu, and her publisher has pigeonholed most of her bibliography in the Young Adult (YA) category.  Kelly's protagonists are almost all beautiful teenage princesses (or beautiful teenage commoners who don't know that they're secretly princesses), and the action usually involves her fleeing from wicked relatives, evading an invading army, or going on a quest to slay a rampaging dragon, dismantle the neighboring kingdom's slavers guild, defeat a bandit chieftain preying on the peasantry, etc., etc.

And yes, there are dragons.  Also unicorns, fairies, elves, and trolls, as well as the occasional wise and intelligent talking wolf, bear, owl, or eagle.  Such elements are more or less required.  They allow Kelly's young readers to imagine entertaining encounters while indulging in blatant wish-fulfillment.  However, there is no magic in Kelly's stories.  Kelly doesn't do magic.  (Okay, there's a little magic, but not much, and she always makes it clear that supernatural elements might or might not be happening.)

Kelly's book-series are very popular with their target audience, and have been critically well received.  On those infrequent occasions that her publisher succeeds in talking Kelly into leaving The Hermitage for a book signing and/or to attend a convention, she finds herself surrounded by crowds of squealing tweens clamoring for her autograph, as well as cos-playing clones of her most popular characters begging for costume advice and to allow their friends to take their photo posing with their favorite author.

Kelly has also written a few "mainstream" novels that are also successful, but it's her YA output that pays more than half the bills and pads her investment portfolio.

And as previously mentioned, Kelly has an additional revenue stream: her leather-working business.  She designs and fabricates custom leather apparel and accessories in the form of jackets, vests, belts, and bracelets, as well as "novelty accessories" in the form of cuffs, mittens, armbinders, harnesses, hoods, muzzles, etc.  That's right, bondage gear!

Kelly's more restrictive creations are in great demand among wealthy connoisseurs and are universally acknowledged as being exquisitely well-made, to incorporate attractive and innovative features, to fit perfectly, and above all, to be stylish and beautiful.  They're also totally inescapable.  Kelly's output is limited and her on-hand inventory virtually nonexistent (not counting her growing collection of prototypes), but her wealthy customers don't mind waiting weeks or even months for their deliveries.  They're after quality, swank, and the prestige of owning a "Dundee Binder."

The business is low volume but with a substantial profit margin, and to maintain quality Kelly's designs must undergo extensive testing.

Lorelei Mason

That's where Lorelei Mason comes in.

The 20-something, 5' 5" (1.65 m) blonde hails from the hamlet of Moora in Western Australia.  She's Kelly's sole employee and the only other permanent resident of The Hermitage.  Lorelei's job title is "Wrangler and Roustabout," which translates as "the person who cares for the horses and fixes anything that needs fixing."  And oh-by-the-way, Kelly has decided that "Bondage Gear Test Subject" also falls within the scope of Lorelei's employment.

This might have posed legal and social challenges for Lorelei's boss; however, as it turned out, the "Ozzie Gull" in question doesn't at all mind serving as Kelly's "Bondage Barbie" (not to be confused with "Shrimp on the barbie.")

At the moment, the horses were in the pasture, busy doing horse things and not wanting for water, grooming, or anything else requiring Lorelei's attention, and nothing on the ranch needed painting, hammering, repairing, or replacing.  So... Lorelei had no credible excuse for why she couldn't be naked, bound in Kelly's latest creation, and wiggling, twisting, squirming, and struggling to escape said creation with the required due diligence.

Nakedness was required as clothing might interfere with the leather ensemble undergoing evaluation.  A feeble excuse, yes, but an established element of Kelly's testing protocol nonetheless.

Lorelei strenuously wiggled, twisted, flexed, and strained her fit, tan, eminently healthy body.  The placement and number of straps and buckles were critical elements of the product being testing, as well as the number and spacing of the holes or slots punched in the straps required to secure the buckles.  Therefore, the test subject (Loreli) had to demonstrate the range of motion that was allowed by the design.  Kelly needed to assess how the helpless and naked blonde's escape efforts affected the tightness and complementary looseness of the various elements of the harness, binder, or whatever restrictive design was undergoing evaluation.

The location of the current test was Kelly's "Writing Room" in the main house.  It was one of the largest rooms in the log structure.  An expanse of tall windows afforded a pleasant and relaxing vista of the surrounding landscape, there was a large desk for Kelly's desktop computer, a comfy office chair, an overstuffed easy chair (with ottoman) for reading, and a comfy chaise-lounger/daybed for catnaps—not that Kelly frequently indulged in catnaps.  Kelly Dundee had things to do!

At the moment it was Lorelei who was reclined on the lounger/daybed in question, and she was definitely not taking a catnap.  The blonde was naked (as required by proper protocol), and was busy conducting the initial test of Kelly's latest leather creation.

The creation in question was a "full-body-harness."  It restrained Lorelei with her arms at her sides, her legs together, and from her neck to her ankles in a complex web of horizontal, vertical, and diagonal narrow straps.  It also included a broad, rather stiff collar and integrated wrist and ankle cuffs.  A row of steel rings, spaced a few inches apart, ran down the front of the harness and served as anchoring points for the straps.  As this was a prototype, all of the leather was natural cowhide, "belt blanks" that were conditioned with oil so as not to be excessively stiff, but were not stained.

However, the harness was also a final prototype.  The rivets securing the straps through the rings were all in place, all the functional/ non-decorative stitching was complete, and the lengths of the straps (including the free ends dangling from the buckles, once they were secured), were finalized.  The next step in the design process would require making choices about the color and texture of the leather, the color and finish of the metal hardware, and any additional decorative details, such as tooling or embossing; however, the prototype was 100% functional.

The harness gave every appearance of being completely inescapable.  The straps included leather sleeves for retaining the free ends emerging from the buckles, so none of them were flopping around as Lorelei struggled.  Her efforts were accompanied by quiet but noticeable creaking sounds as the leather flexed, also a faint and somewhat musical tinkling was coming from six tiny and empty buckles dangling from strategic locations.  There were also steel D-rings periodically sewn into the harness down its length on either side, but they were silent when they moved... if they moved.

The unused buckles were there to secure "accessories," some of which were established designs and already in Kelly's catalog, and some of which were still in the early design phase.  They included:

Brassiere or Boob-Related Attachments.  These included metal cups, either smooth inside and out or with their interiors lined with tiny needle-like points—close-fitting hemispherical  cages or nets of interwoven wire or leather thongs—and narrow straps that passed across the wearer's breasts, anchored a steel ring over each nipple, and could be tightened to compress/dimple the breasts in question.

Bikini-bottom/Crotch Attachments.  These varied from a simple narrow straps that cleaved the wearer's pussy and bisected her butt-cheeks—triangular bikini-bottom/thongs that "modestly" covered her lady-bits and bisected the wearer's butt-cheeks—and a "Hitachi-harness" that anchored a wand-type vibrator with its business end firmly pressed against the wearer's pussy.  Both the existing and notional designs came with and without penetrators for more intimate captivity, and some were wired for electrical stimulation.

Foot and Toe Attachments.  The ankle-cuffs' empty buckles were ready to secure a mini-harness that would bind the wearer's feet together and bind her big toes—"tiptoe-sandals," networks of narrow straps that bound the feet in the on pointe position—and toe-cuffs with long, narrow straps that tightened to lock the feet back in the opposite of on pointe.

This was a test of Kelly's latest (and hopefully improved) basic full-body harness design, so none of the possible attachments were in use.  (Hence the empty buckles.)

As for the D-rings, they would be used to pin the harness-bound wearer in place, either horizontally to a bed or bondage table, or vertically in some form of suspension.  Again, at the moment none of the rings were in use.  The current test was of the flexibility or restriction allowed or imposed by the unaccessorized harness.

Lorelei stopped struggling, lay still in the tight embrace of the web of leather straps, then blew an errant strand of hair from her face and favored her boss with a saucy smile.  The straps were tight enough to ever-so-slightly dimple her firm, smooth, tan skin, even when she wasn't struggling.  Lorelei was panting, but just a little.  She was also glowing, but again, just a little.  "Well," she grinned, "it works."

Kelly smiled down at the naked, leather-bound, and helpless young blonde.  "So it would seem," she agreed, "but you know I'm a big believer in... thoroughness."  She turned and strolled to a combination cabinet/chest-of-drawers across the room.  "Go ahead and take a break, if you feel the need... then get back to work."

"Ya mean back to work bein' naked, bound, an' helpless?"

"And struggling," Kelly added, then opened a drawer and pulled out an example of one her earliest and bestselling catalog items: a ball-gag.  Its spherical mouth-plug was black silicon-rubber, a narrow leather strap passed through the ball, and was attached on either side to a pair of D-rings that, in turn, were attached to the ball-gag's wider main strap that would buckle against the nape of its hypothetical wearer's neck.  The leather of this particular gag was a shade of brown that Kelly especially liked, and all the steel hardware had a gold finish.

"Mrrrmpfhrrrm!" Lorelei complained (with an Australian accent) when Kelly crammed the black rubber ball into her mouth—"Nrrrrrm!"—then buckled the main strap tight under her now somewhat tousled blond hair.  Lorelei tossed her head to dislodge the gag and/or restore order to her golden tresses.  She was unsuccessful on both fronts.

"Mfffffh!"  Lorelei glowered at her smiling employer as Kelly strolled back to the drawer... then returned with a black cloth sleep-mask with an elastic band.  The blindfold wasn't one of Kelly's creations, but it did a quite adequate job of robbing the irate blonde captive of the gift of sight and hiding most of her petulant gagged scowl.

Kelly usually didn't go in for bondage overkill (although Lorelei might have a different opinion of the subject), but the grinning redhead did believe in doing things right.  For that reason, she returned to the cabinet a third time and this time lifted a set of wireless headphones from its recharging unit.  She hadn't manufactured them either, of course, but she had accessorized them with a pair of buckling straps that insured that once the headphones were properly in place, they'd be on to stay.  Kelly placed the headphones cups over her test subject's ears, tightened one strap across the gagged and blindfolded blonde's forehead and buckled it in the back, then buckled the second strap under her chin.

Apparently in response, Lorelei resumed her testing duties with renewed vigor... either that or she was putting on a show of her aggrievement and disgust.

Kelly smiled and watched as her favorite Ozzie Gull rolled, twisted, kicked, and squirmed, to the limits imposed and allowed by the new harness design.  Since Lorelei could no longer see her, Kelly made no effort to conceal her leering/gloating smile behind a facade of professionalism.  Kelly was openly relishing the sight of her wrangler/roustabout's tan, smooth, strap-dimpled flesh, including her bobbing breasts, pointing nipples, thrashing legs, flexing feet, groping fingers, twisting shoulders, and tossing head as the Brave Damsel fought to escape her Cruel Restraints and regain her freedom.  Kelly was enjoying herself, and the only person present was in no position to judge her for doing so.

About two minutes passed... possibly three... then the Mistress of The Hermitage strolled to her desk and settled into her comfy office chair.  Fresh sheets were on the beds of the girls' (Skylar and Fiona's) designated guest bedroom and extra towels were in the main bathroom down the hall.  All was in readiness for the backpacking youngsters' expected arrival, which should be sometime tomorrow.  That meant there was nothing to prevent Kelly from getting in a little writing time.

Kelly fired up her computer and set to work fleshing out the character notes for her next novel, Princess Cyerra and the Outlaw Elves.  It would be the fourth installment in her Kingdom in the Trees series, but before starting in earnest she paused to tap a few keys and send a Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa, and Billie Eilish playlist to Lorelei's headphones.  It was the least she could do.

Something like ten minutes later, Kelly sat back in her chair to mull over what might still be needed for her notes on Eriu Bravestar, the she-elf outlaw leader who would begin the story as Cyerra's nemesis but by the final chapter would be the brave human princess' friend and ally.  Kelly spun her chair to check on Lorelei... and smiled.

The naked, leather-harness-bound, ball-gagged, blindfolded, and with headphones strapped over her ears was... dancing!  Kelly hadn't thought it was even possible to dance while lying prone on a lounger/daybed, naked, leather-bound, ball-gagged, blindfolded, and with headphones strapped over one's ears, but apparently it was.  In any case, Lorelei was rhythmically rolling and swaying from side to side, bobbing her head, waving her cuffed hands at her sides, and rocking her feet!  "Dancing" was the only thing it could be called... and it was very cute.  Also, the captive's efforts were imparting a provocative oscillation to her leather-strap-framed boobs.  That was also very cute.

Kelly turned back to the keyboard, tapped a few more keys, and thereby routed the music to Loreli's headphones and the Writing Room's speakers.

♪♫♪♪  Watch me da-ance, dance the night away!  ♫♪♪♫
♫♫♪  My heart could be burnin', but you won't see it on my face!  ♪♪♫
♪♫♪♪  Watch me da-ance, dance the night away!  (Uh-huh!)  ♪♫♪♫
♪♪♫♪  I'll still keep the party runnin', not one hair out of place!  ♪♪♫♫♪

Kelly recognized Dua Lipa's Dance the Night Away from the Barbie movie.  No wonder her favorite Ozzie Gull was "dancing" in blissful bondage.

		Chapter 2		►