by Van ©2019
		Chapter 5

Penny lay on her side in the gigantic bed of her guest bedroom in Spooky Roget Manor.  The gazillion-thread-count sheets, luxurious blanket, and exquisite bedspread were pulled up to her chin, her head rested on a fluffy pillow covered with a gazillion-thread-count pillowcase, and she was reflecting on the events of her first full day as a guest of the Rogets, and she certainly had a lot to reflect about, including:

• Predawn bondage.  Rada appeared out of nowhere, stripped her naked, and tied her up.  (Note to self: Find secret door into bedroom... tomorrow.)
  
• Group bonding.  Rada added Penny to the end of a three damsel coffle (Gwyn, Mandy, and Penny) and dragged them all down to the dungeons, by way of the kitchen and the basement.
• Languishing-Part I.  Rada had tied Gwyn in an ultra-shrimp-tie, Mandy in an ultra-ball-tie, and Penny in an ultra-hogtie, and then abandoned them to... languish.  It was more group bonding, now that Penny thought about it.
  
• Languishing-Part II.  Penny was separated from the others, dragged to a Bastinado/Tickle-torture Parlor, strapped to a hard wooden bench/lounger, and then abandoned to do even more languishing.  That was solo bonding, of course.
  
• In―out―in―out.  Penny was dragged to the manor's gym, chained to a Jules Verne rowing machine, and forced to row.  She had no choice.  It was either row or get her butt zapped.  She rowed.
  
• Massage.  Penny was forced to endure a full body massage at the very oily and highly skilled hands of Bethany Roget, Gwyn's mom!  It was... delightful?
  
• Zzzzzzzz.  Her wrists crossed and cage-cuffed behind her back, Penny was compelled to enjoy a nice nap in Gwyn's gigantic bed, and to share said bed with a Rada-box-tied Mandy and a completely untied (and infuriatingly smug) Gwyn!
• High Tea.  At some point, Rada had woken them up and Gwyn led the way downstairs to a pleasant garden room with a pleasant view of a pleasant garden through a pleasant window-wall of diamond-pane glass and they were forced to endure High Tea.  Penny remained naked and cage-cuffed, Mandy naked and Rada-box-tied, and Gwyn just plain naked.  Rada had brought up the rear, probably to make sure Penny and/or Mandy didn't make a break for it.

Rada was dressed in a nice looking dress appropriate for a lowly servant (who seemed to be able to tie up anyone she pleased without asking anybody's permission and with trivial ease).  Immediately after delivering her charges to the High Tea venue, the giant blond amazon had made herself scarce.  Penny assumed she was practicing her knots, polishing the spikes on an iron maiden, or doing something else appropriately sinister.

This was Penny's first High Tea.

Bethany was mother, in that she was both Gwyn's mother and the one pouring the tea.  She was wearing the same flattering sundress she'd worn before and after oiling her hands and giving Penny her post-rowing involuntary massage.  Penny, Mandy, and Gwyn remained naked.  Penny was almost positive that guest nudity (and bondage) were not normal features of a traditional High Tea, but then, this was her first time.  Anyway, the food was delicious, and so was the tea.  Gwyn fed Mandy and Bethany fed Penny. 

It was during High Tea that Penny learned that Rada's variant of the box-tie (with the signature double shoulder yoke) was referred to as a "Rada-box-tie."  Also, when Mandy politely inquired as to whether Penny had enjoyed rowing the "Magic Christian," she had an entertainment epiphany!  Magic Christian!  That was the name of the old flick that had inspired the photo-realistic computer generated movie that had helped Penny get into the proper galley slave mood and maintain her rhythm.  Apparently, "Magic Christian" was also the name of the kinky Jules Verne rowing machine itself.  Well, that settled that mystery.

And after that...

• Languishing-Part III.  Rada reappeared and led Penny upstairs to her guest bedroom, unlocked and opened the elaborately carved door, removed Penny's cage-cuffs, more-or-less shoved her inside, then locked the door behind her!  How rude!

It was then that Penny discovered that all her things―except for her books, iPad, and iPad charging cable―had been confiscated!  Her clothes and luggage were missing!  Even the baby-blue Deborah Walley baby-doll nightie she'd found on the bed the previous evening and assumed was a gift was gone!  The chest of drawers was completely empty, as was the wardrobe.  There were still towels in the attached bathroom, so Penny supposed she could use one as a wrap, but why bother?  The Modesty Express had left the station before dawn when Rada stripped her naked, and she'd been naked ever since.

Anyway, Penny settled in to wait for dinner which, supposedly, would be some time after sunset.  She lay on the bed and read one of her books.  She'd already confirmed that Roget Manor had WiFi, so she supposed she could try sending an e-mail to cousin Beebe requesting an immediate extraction, but Cousin Beebe (and Aunt Suki) would probably be furious with her for executing an emergency protocol without a good excuse.  And Cousin Beebe (and especially Aunt Suki) would not consider bondage and nudity as exigent circumstances.

Also, as Bethany's guest, triggering a home invasion by Dr. Bondage (and the notorious Suki) would be really rude behavior.  Besides, when you really think about it, what's a little naked exhibitionism and over-the-top bondage between friends?  If Bethany wanted to run Roget Manor like a spooky Gothic nudist-colony/BDSM-camp, was it really Penny's place to object? 

Eventually...

• Dinner, supper, whatever.  Rada unlocked the bedroom door and announced that dinner was served.  Surprisingly, she didn't pounce on Penny and bind, buckle, or lock her in rope, leather, or steel restraints.  The giant Norwegian goddess just walked away, leaving Penny to scramble from bed and follow her to a small dining room on the first floor.  No bondage.  How 'bout that!

Bethany was dressed in a really beautiful red cocktail dress, Gwyn in an equally beautiful black cocktail dress, and Mandy was naked.  Whether that was to keep Penny company or if Bethany's guests routinely dined in the nude wasn't clear.

The soup was a really tasty bisque, the salad had a yummy dressing, the main entree was beef in some kind of sauce, and dessert was a mixed berry tart (with a scoop of vanilla ice cream).  All the portions were small, but that was okay.  Penny had missed lunch but enjoyed High Tea, so she wasn't all that hungry.

Curiously (now that she thought about it), as they chatted and ate, the subject of bondage never came up.  Penny got the impression that things like dungeons and languishing in chains and/or tight rope were okay at High Tea, but weren't considered proper dinner conversation.  Penny supposed she could have forced the issue by demanding to know what was going to happen to her tomorrow, but she didn't.  She sensed her hostess and alleged friends took it as an established fact that she was okay with everything that had happened today, and for some reason, Penny didn't feel compelled to dispute the unspoken assumption.  I guess that means it is an established fact that I'm okay with everything that happened today, Penny mused.  Go figure.

After dessert, Penny retired to her bedroom for more reading... and thinking.

She supposed it wasn't really all that unexpected that she was "okay" with what was happening.  After all, Penny Parr was lucky enough to be the apprentice of the world famous kidnapper-for-hire Dr. Bondage (and her partner, the infamous, notorious, and mysterious Aunt Suki).  Penny was into this stuff.  And she already knew Gwyn and Mandy were players.  And if Gwyn and Mandy hadn't extended their ongoing bondage games into their Roget Manor Summer Vacation, Penny very well might have done it herself.  (Who was she trying to kid.  Of course she would have done it herself.)  And Roget Manor had a lot of fun toys to play with!  And a lot of fun playrooms!  And Penny could tell she'd barely scratched the surface!  So... what was the problem?

Uncertainty?

Suspense was a part of the game, an important part of the game.

Being a total bottom?

That might be it.  Generally, Penny enjoyed playing for both sides, but definitely favored Team Top―but who knew what the future might hold?  If an opportunity presented itself, maybe she'd get a chance to wiggle her way up from the bottom.

Gwyn was her size.  Maybe she could capture the Goth wannabe, confiscate her wardrobe (so she wouldn't be naked all the time) and talk Bethany into adopting her as her temporary daughter and demoting Gwyn to the role of naughty-naked-maid-who-needed-punishing.  She was sure Mandy would go along (or suffer the same fate as Gwyn).

Penny's real problem was Rada Grabhands.  The blond giantess seemed to be the ultimate top.  Penny topping Rada all by herself was an absurd impossibility, and would the Norwegian goddess allow Penny to top the others?  Even temporarily?  Would Rada tolerate competition?

Penny resolved to shift her currently nonexistent plan for capturing the tall, exquisite blonde to the front burner.  Next chance she got, she'd broach the subject with Gwyn and Mandy.  It was inconceivable that her friends wouldn't want revenge for the way Rada had stripped, bound, gagged, and generally topped the three of them.  As long as there was a decent possibility of success, they'd definitely be onboard.  Of course, there was every chance Rada might immediately turn the tables and retaliate by introducing the three of them to her other signature variations on all the classic bondage positions, ultra-style, but...  No pain, no gain!  Also...  Fortune favors the bold!

Yes... the problem is Rada, Penny decided, then heaved an epic yawn, stretched, closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

And speaking of Rada Grabhands...

"Mrrrmpfh!"

Penny was roused from a deep slumber to find a ball-gag in her mouth!  And someone was buckling its strap at the nape of her neck, under her tousled blond hair!  And whoever was doing the deed (as if there was any doubt) was handling her initially disoriented but increasingly spirited resistance with trivial ease!

The attacker was Rada, of course.

"Good morning, Kattunge," the smiling blond giantess purred.  "This is your wake up call."

Now fully awake, Penny kicked and squirmed and fought, but couldn't prevent Rada from binding her wrists behind her back, then using more rope to craft a shoulder-yoking harness and turning the arrangement into a "kimono-tie."  It was similar to a box-tie, but without the horizontal bands above and below her breasts pinning her upper arms to her sides.  This time, the bands in question passed under her armpits and only encircled her chest, above her boobs.  Also, it was a semi-reverse-prayer-kimono-tie, with her wrists crossed and raised until they more-or-less touched her shoulder blades!

Apparently satisfied with a job well done, Rada took a step back.

Penny scrambled from bed, only briefly impeded by the tangled covers, then wiggled, squirmed, and tested her new bonds.  Rada had used the same black-dyed hemp rope as yesterday, at least from what Penny could see of the strands crossing her torso (above her boobs) and yoking her shoulders.  As kimono-ties went, it could be worse.  Aunt Suki had done something similar to her once, but she'd included Penny's thumbs and hands in the bondage.  This was a little better.  Still... talk about your rude awakenings!

"Mrrrmpfh!"  Penny shook her tousled hair from her irate and ball-gagged face and stared good morning daggers at her attacker.

Rada was wearing her Sinister Exercise Outfit: sneakers and anklets, calf-length spandex pants, and a sports bra, all in Evil Black, but she'd added a black, half-zipped fleece vest to the ensemble, probably to protect the kidnapping giantess from the morning chill.

It was a little chilly in the bedroom, but Penny decided she was probably just feeling the aftereffects of being jerked from her warm bed and forced to stand there in the nude.

"Breakfast will be in fifteen minutes," Rada announced, then turned, strolled to the bedroom door, and made her graceful, sinister exit.

Penny watched her go, having no better option, then padded to the bathroom and conducted her morning toilette, as best she could.  The unusually tall faucet of the washbasin allowed her to suck at least some water past her ball-gag, and she already knew how to flush the toilet and use its bidet function while tied up.

And then, Penny returned to the main bedroom... and waited.

Rada reappeared right on time, as far as Penny could tell.  Smiling her evil (gorgeous) smile, she unlocked and opened the bedroom door and waited for Penny to stomp (pad) across the threshold and into the hallway.

There, Penny was surprised (mildly) to find Mandy waiting for her.  The redhead was naked, ball-gagged, and kimono-tied in an identical manner to herself.  Mandy's long, ginger curls were a tousled mess, with several copper strands draped across her lightly freckled, ball-gagged face.

"MrrRrr," Penny mumbled.  ("Good morning.")

"MrrRrrRrrr," Mandy replied.  ("Good morning to you.")

Rada had ditched the fleece vest, but accessorized her stalking and kidnapping outfit with what was probably the same riding crop as yesterday, and was using it to point down the hallway.  "Ladies, to the kitchen if you please."

Mandy and Penny exchanged a commiserating sigh, then padded in the indicated direction.  They were side-by-side with Rada bringing up the rear.

They passed the occasional window and descended the Grand Staircase (with its Gothic rose windows) and noted that dawn was beginning to break.  Upon arriving at the kitchen, the naked captives sat at the informal dining table, then watched as Rada stepped to the counter and started preparing their breakfasts.  Apparently, it was going to be more of the same disgustingly healthy (but yummy) cereal as yesterday.  At least this time we're not going to have to languish for a few hours before eating, Penny thought.

Soon, two napkins, two spoons, and two bowls of rolled oats, nuts, grains, and other healthy stuff were arranged on the table before the two naked, bound, and gagged damsels, as well as a container of soy-milk.  Then, Rada produced a comb from somewhere, stepped behind Mandy, and began combing her long ginger hair.  Penny watched.  What else did she have to do?  Soon, Mandy's wavy locks were tangle free and Rada pulled them back and used a fabric-covered elastic to secure them in a tight ponytail.  Penny was next, and this time Mandy got to watch as Rada combed Penny's long, blond hair and arranged it in a ponytail.

Just then, the door swung open and Bethany and Gwyn entered the kitchen.

Bethany was wearing high-heeled pumps and a really pretty black dress with a black toreador-style jacket trimmed in white.  Her dark hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail.  Gwyn was wearing a similar outfit, only the dress was in a bold black and white geometric pattern and her jacket completely white.  Her dark hair was also pulled back.  Mother and daughter greeted the dawn with broad smiles and sparkling blue eyes.
 
"Good morning, everybody," Bethany gushed, then leaned down and kissed Mandy's forehead... followed by Penny's forehead.  "Elf and I are off to enjoy a nice, leisurely breakfast at the dining room of a charming little bed and breakfast on the other side of the lake, followed by a little shopping in town.  We really haven't had as much time to talk as I'd like, so I'm going to steal her away for a little mother-daughter bonding.  I hope you don't mind."

What lake? Penny wondered.  There's a lake?  Do they rent boats?

Grinning like the gloating traitor that she was, Gwyn stepped forward to take her mother's place, then also planted disgustingly wet kisses on her friends' foreheads.  "Bye!" she purred, waving her right hand and twiddling her fingers.  "You guys have fun with Rada."

And then, before either Penny or Mandy could do more than blink in alarm at their abandonment... the mother and daughter were gone.

Penny and Mandy locked eyes and exchanged a Sigh of Profound Betrayal.

Rada was smiling at the still swinging kitchen door.  "Mother-daughter bonding," she chuckled.  "What a fantastisk idea."  She shifted her smile to the naked, bound, and gagged damsels at the table.  "But first things first."

The damsels in question watched as Rada added a handful of fresh blueberries to each of their bowls, then poured soy-milk over the resulting concoctions.  Soon, the towering blond would remove their ball-gags and start feeding them.  And after that?  Penny assumed Rada would continue her tour, and down below there were a lot of chambers with heavy wooden doors (with elaborate iron bands) that she'd not yet visited... which wasn't at all ominous.

Once breakfast was consumed and the ball-gags back in Penny and Mandy's disgruntled mouths, Rada used her riding crop to shepherd the captives down the stairs to the basement... across the basement... then down the stairs to the dungeons.

Once in the gloomy confines of the Roget Labyrinth of Woe, Penny and Mandy watched as Rada unlocked, unbolted, and opened the first door on the left.  Click!  Thunk!  Creeeeeee!  The space beyond was surprisingly small, more-or-less a tiny closet.

Rada placed a hand on Mandy's back and pushed her across the threshold.  The naked, kimono-tied, and ball-gagged redhead only had time to turn, face the door, and register a wide-eyed complaint―"Mrrrf!"―before the door started closing.  Creeeeeee!

"Wait here," Rada purred (unnecessarily).  Thunk!  Click!  After she bolted and locked the door (leaving poor Mandy incarcerated in the tiny cell), Rada took Penny by one arm and led her away.

"Mrrrmpfh!" Penny complained.

"Yes, Rada is a real Tispe," Rada chuckled.

They passed door after door (all with elaborate iron bands), then paused―at random, as far as Penny could tell―while Rada did her thing.  Click!  Thunk!  Creeeeeee!  Then, she led Penny across the threshold and into a cell much roomier than Mandy's closet, something like twenty, maybe thirty foot square, with a ten foot ceiling.

Penny flinched when the door closed behind her.  Creeeeeee!  She'd been distracted staring at the machine that occupied something like half the cell's floor space.  It had gears, some as big as bicycle wheels or trashcan lids, as well as dangling chains passing from gear to gear and suspending cannonball size iron weights cast in the shapes of devils or demons or gargoyles.  And everything was interconnected.  It was all one big machine.

In front of the massive mechanism was a long, narrow, waist-high table made from heavy wooden timbers.  A set of wooden stocks was fixed at one end of the table, its ankle-openings padded with lambskin fleece.  At the other end was a big wooden drum wound with a pair of steel chains, and at the ends of the chains were what Penny instantly recognized as suspension cuffs.  Both were brown leather and padded in the wrist areas with more of the lambskin fleece.

So... obviously... the table, pillory, and drum comprised a rack!  And the rack's drum was integrated into the gigantic machine behind it.  No big mystery here, Penny decided.  She also decided she didn't want any part if it!

The naked, bound, and ball-gagged little blonde shook her head, took a slow step back... then another... then bumped into the closed door.  She then (somewhat frantically) shifted her wide-eyed gaze from the rack/machine to Rada and prepared to marshal her best counter arguments to being stretched on the rack/machine.  Her problems were: (1.) Mr. Ball-Gag, and (2.) the evil smile curling Rada's perfect lips.

Clearly, the gigantic shield-maiden wasn't interested, but Penny made her counterarguments anyway.  "Mrrrrm!  NrrRrrmpfh!  Mfffrmmph!"  Etc.  An objective observer would have to agree she'd made several valid (albeit unintelligible) points, but Rada ignored all of them.

Penny kicked and squirmed and struggled when, with her usual depressing competence, Rada picked her up and heaved her onto the bed of the rack, lifted the top bar of the stocks, and captured her struggling, kicking feet, trapping her ankles in the deep, padded, anatomically correct openings.  She lowered the top bar, engaged a hefty iron hasp, and closed a hefty padlock.  Thunk!  Click!

Penny continued squirming and struggling as Rada bent her forward at the waist into a full crunch, untied her kimono-tie bonds, then captured her wrists in the suspension cuffs.  Slapping and/or batting with her hands proved totally ineffective, especially once both her wrists were buckled in the tight, padded embrace of the cuffs.  Next, Rada secured the cuffs with miniature brass padlocks.  Click!  Click!

Penny panted through her nostrils and past her gag, her boobs wobbling and limbs thrashing as she explored the limits of her new predicament, which was flat on her back in a loose spreadeagle on a bed of hard timber.  Truth be told, the wrist chains had quite a bit of slack, but Penny was reasonably sure that was about to change.

Her arms crossed under her boobs, Rada smiled and watched for several seconds as Penny struggled.  It's called gloating.  Penny was already quite familiar with the practice.

Having at least temporarily met her gloating quota for the morning, Rada stepped to the far side of the machine and began turning the handle of a windless.  A chain snapped taut with a twang, then began shortening and lifting a quite substantial iron weight into the air.

Penny watched with understandable interest.  The weight in question took the shape of a hideous devil or demon or gargoyle, like all the others, but was far and away the biggest of the lot.  And now that Penny had the "free" time to notice, the entire machine was another Victorian/Hammer Studios Horror Film triumph of dramatic set dressing.  She couldn't vouch for the quality of the engineering―yet―but the mechanized rack was truly worthy of Roget Manor.

Rada continued cranking and the weight continued rising.  Even with her legendary shield-maiden strength it was obviously an arduous task.  Her tan biceps bulged as she worked.  It took a while, but finally, the weight reached its full height, a ratchet and pawl mechanism lifted and dropped with a loud click, the weight stopped moving, and Rada stopped cranking.

Smiling her gorgeous but disturbing smile, Rada moved to what was obviously a control panel mounted nearby on the wall.  From her position on the rack Penny had a severely limited view, but the panel had a great number of levers and shifter-arms, large and small, and apparently, Rada felt obligated to fiddle with every one of them.

Rada frowned as she double checked the setting.  Then, her smile returned, she gloated for a few more seconds... smiling at Penny as she squirmed and tugged on the suspension cuffs... then threw a T-shaped lever.

There was a loud creak, followed by a thunk, then gears began turning and one of the smaller dangling weights dropped one link of chain with a snap.  Most of the gears were now turning... slowly... and some of the bigger gears were turning even more slowly.  The machine was clicking, thunking, grinding, and generally doing its thing.

Penny was mesmerized by the largest gear.  She could barely tell it was moving, but it was moving... and clicking... slowly.  The entire machine was like a clock...  A really... big... antiquated... clock.

Several more seconds passed, then the rack's drum creaked, moaned, rotated away from Penny about one inch, then locked with a thunk.  It was enough to shorten Penny's suspension-cuff chains by a fraction of an inch.

The machine continued clicking, thunking, and grinding at the same stately pace.

OMG! Penny thought.  I'm being pulled apart by Big Ben!  This IS a giant old-time clock!  And it won't stop!  And it'll keep clicking and clicking and ticking and tocking!  And I'm a PRISONER OF TIME!  And the chains will keep on shortening and shortening!  And I'M GONNA DIE!

Penny didn't really believe she was going to die.  Imagine the paperwork.  Rada might even get fired.  But if there was ever a time for a Dramatic Display, this was it!  Penny squirmed and tugged and bucked and thrashed and screamed through her gag for all she was worth... then paused to gauge the results.  Nothing.  Rada was still smiling, still gloating, and was as tall and gorgeous as ever.  Bummer.

Penny had tried Brave Defiance followed by Pitiable Panic, both without noticeable effect, so she decided to shift to Pathetic Begging.

"Mrrrrr!" she whined, knitting her brows and batting her big blue eyes.  It was a truly heartbreaking display.  Penny knew because she'd practiced it in front the mirror, as well as perfecting a whole host of pitiable expressions that might prove useful if and when she was gagged, helpless, and needed to engender sympathy.

"Nice try, Kattunge," Rada purred.  She was back at the side of the rack, smiling down at Penny's naked but not yet all that stretched body.  She reached out, gently rested her right palm on Penny's stomach, and began a slow circular massage.

Penny continued Piteous Expression #1, but obviously Rada didn't have a heart.  It was disappointing but not unexpected.

"Well, enjoy your day," Rada said, lifted her hand from Penny's tummy, then spun on her heel and exited the chamber.  Creeeeeee!  Thunk!  Click!

And Penny was alone, and at the mercy of the gigantic, complicated, slowly spinning and grinding mechanical rack!

The rack continued making "progress," but it was glacially slow.  It was something like a full minute after Rada had abandoned Penny to her fate before one the smaller devil/demon weights dropped a link and the drum clunked, creaked, and took in another tiny-little-bit from each of the suspension-cuff chains.

'Enjoy your day,' Penny thought, remembering Rada's last words.  As if she's gonna leave me like this for... eight or ten hours?  The chains aren't that loose.  This thing'll pull me apart like a roasted chicken if she leaves me here that long.  She bluffing... obviously.  She has to be.

"You put her on the Auto-Rack?" Mandy demanded.  "Rada!  That's mean.  She's new."

"Compared to our cute little Kattunge," Rada chuckled, "I believe you are the one that is 'new,' my cute little Fox."

Mandy heaved a sigh.  "You're probably right, but still...  The Auto-Rack is scary."

Mandy and Rada were basking under the summer sun on a pair of lounge chairs next to Roget Manor's outdoor pool.  The pool in question was kidney-shaped and as much a decorative water feature as a swimming venue, unlike the rectilinear indoor pool next to the gym that was clearly designed for lap-swimming.  The Garden Pool was for splishing and splashing, not exercise.  The design included a waterfall with shallow basins ideal for bird-bathing, as well as several flowerbeds and bushes that went right to the pool's edge.  Taken as a whole, the aesthetic was quite natural.

Rada's tall, perfect body glistened with tanning lotion and her blond hair was coiled in a tight bun.  She was totally and gloriously nude.  At the moment, the only thing she was wearing was a pair of sunglasses.

Mandy's less tall but arguably no less perfect body was also glistening, but with sunscreen.  Like Rada, Mandy was also nude, except for several mostly single strands of forest-green parachute cord (nylon, multiple twisted strands with a woven sheath, ¹⁄₈" (3 mm), aka 550-cord, aka paracord).  Her wrists were tied behind her back, palm-to-palm,  her elbows tied together, her ankles also tied together, and two distinct webs of green cord embraced/encased her body: (1) a ladder-tie of single strands that dimpled her pale, peach-pink, lightly freckled flesh every few inches from shoulders to ankles, and (2) a Kikkou (diamond-hitch) pattern of diagonal cords that also dimpled her pale, peach-pink, lightly freckled flesh from shoulders to ankles. 

Not to worry, however, as 97% of Mandy's skin was exposed to the sun.

Generally, as her complexion was prone to sunburn, Mandy wasn't a big fan of sunbathing, but Rada had explained that Mistress Bethany thought she looked better with freckles everywhere, so sunbathing she was.  And it wasn't like Rada had given her any choice in the matter.  Mandy's ginger hair was coiled atop her head, like Rada's, to allow maximum tanning (freckling) of her neck and pouting face, and for the same reason her ball-gag was resting on a low table between the two lounge chairs, rather than plugging her mouth or dangling around her neck as an ugly necklace.

Oh-by-the-way, Rada had tied one end of a piece of green cord around the base of Mandy's ginger bun and the other to the top of her lounge chair.  She'd also knotted a second length around Mandy's big-toes and tethered them to the base of the chair.  The cords had enough slack to allow Mandy to roll onto her left or right sides, or even all the way over onto her stomach.  This was for purposes of uniform tanning (freckling), of course.

Rada was big on sunbathing, as evidenced by her rich, dark, all-over tan.  For the tall blonde, this was a maintenance session.

"I still think you're being mean," Mandy sighed.

"I'm sure Kattunge agrees," Rada chuckled, then sprang from her chair and untied Mandy's big-toes... followed by her hair-bun.  "You're going to burn," she observed.

Mandy managed to sit up and glared at the grinning, naked amazon.  "Well?"

"Well what?" Rada inquired with a grin.

Mandy rolled her eyes and nodded towards a giant oak about twenty yards away, across the lush green lawn.  Under the dappled shade of its spreading branches were a pair of lounge chairs and a low table identical to the setting next to the pool.  "Carry me over there."

"And why should I do that?" Rada inquired, then picked up the ball gag, thrust its black, silicon-rubber ball into Mandy's pouting mouth, then buckled its black leather strap tight at the nape of the glaring captive's lightly-freckled neck.  Next, she lifted Mandy to her feet and gave the helpless ginger's pale and as yet only very lightly freckled rump a business-like slap!  "Hop-hop," she ordered, then turned and strolled out onto the lawn.

Mandy glared at her handler/rigger's perfect, deeply-tanned, naked body as Rada padded into the distance.  Once Rada was about twenty yards equidistant from both the pool and the oak tree, the tall Norwegian stopped and began a series of stretching exercises.  Mean! Mandy fumed, then began hopping towards the oak tree.  (Hop!)  At least―(Hop!)―she untied―(Hop!)―my toes.  (Hop!)

Meanwhile, Rada had completed her stretches and was now executing a flurry of martial arts hand-strikes, punches, and kicks.

Her breasts flopping with every hop, Mandy finally passed into the shade, eased herself down onto one of the lounge chairs, lifted her bound legs and feet, and reclined full length.  Her gaze returned to Rada.  The shield-maiden was good at whatever it was she was doing.  She looked dangerous... and was very easy on the eyes.

Mandy's thoughts turned to last summer, specifically, to the day she'd been the "guest" of Mistress Bethany's Auto-Rack.  Poor Penny, Mandy sighed, then closed her eyes.  It wasn't like there was anything she could do to rescue her little blond friend.

Penny was seriously considering freaking out!  For real!

The mechanical rack had clinked and clunked and taken in portions of chain several times!  And now Penny was stretched to the limit!  And the limit in question was pain!  One more click and clunk (maybe two) and she'd be in serious trouble!

Penny's arms were stretched, her boobs significantly flattened, her ribs prominent, her stomach even flatter than usual, her legs stretched, and her feet pointing!

How long had it been since Rada had abandoned her to her cruel fate?  Penny had lost track.  In her defense, she'd been preoccupied trying and failing to find some way to wiggle her way out of the tight, padlocked, and well-padded suspension cuffs.  Freeing her feet from the pillory was a lost cause.  The heavy timbers didn't even shake when she struggled and kicked.  And her resistance became more and more limited and less and less "effective" as the chains shortened and further restricted her efforts.

The prisoner-on-the-rack had also lost count of the exact number of times the rack had clicked, clunked, and turned the drum, slooowly making her predicament more stringent.

Cousin Beebe would be disappointed.  All that training in Enhanced Situational Awareness, and Penny was acting like any other mindless Damsel-in-Distress being stretched on the rack.  Aunt Suki would be especially disappointed, and no doubt would punish her for her inability to multitask.  (Not that Suki ever needed an actual excuse to mete out punishment, but Penny falling down on her ESA training would have been a solid pretext.)

Finally... it happened!  Click-clunk!  But this time―Click-rattle-whirrr-thunk-click-clunk-snap!―rather than the drum taking up another pair of suspension-cuff-chain links...

• What sounded like an electric motor hummed to life.
• Several of the machine's chains rattled up or down.
• Several (actually, most) of the gears started turning all at once and continued turning, all at once.
• Several of the devil/demon/gargoyle weights either rose or fell.

Finally, the motor stopped, there was a rather authoritative click, and the largest devil/demon/gargoyle weight dropped exactly one link.  Simultaneously, the drum turned in the opposite direction, several links of Penny's suspension-cuff-chain played out, and Penny was back to exactly where she'd started, loosely spreadeagled on the rack!

Penny was relieved she wasn't experiencing the agony of having her joints pulled apart, but she was also pissed off!

The true nature of the rack's function was now crystal clear (or at least highly probable).  Rather than being an unspeakably cruel engine of execution (not that Penny had ever really believed that Rada was really trying to torture her to death), the rack stretched its victim (Penny) to her limit!  Then granted a reprieve.

Click-clunk!  Then did it again!

That's right, the drum had turned and taken in a fraction of an inch from each of Penny's suspension-cuff-chains, just like before!

It was doing it again!

"Mrrrmpfhmrrrf!"  Penny kicked and squirmed and tugged on the cuffs and went generally berserk!  This was mean!  "Mrrrrrrrrrrf!"  It was a lot better that slow dismemberment, of course, but still, it was mean!

Penny stopped struggling and "relaxed" in her bonds.  She was panting through flaring nostrils and her breasts heaving.  Penny was also sweating (and realized she'd been sweating for some time).  The chamber was overheated.  Based on two day's experience, overheating seemed to be a normal feature of the Roget Manor Dungeons.  She supposed it was better than underheating.  Nobody likes a hypothermic damsel.

Naked, bound, and gagged tantrums were pointless.  Penny didn't even have an audience, it really didn't make her feel any better, and it certainly didn't get her off the damn rack.

Penny lay on the bed of hard timbers and stared up at the stone ceiling... naked, helpless, ball-gagged, panting, and sweating.

There has to be a way, she fumed.  There has to be a way to turn the tables, capture Rada Grabhands, and make her pay for her Crimes Against Damselkind.