by Van ©2019
		Chapter 9

Swooosh!

Arguably, more than enough time had passed for Penny to have a firm grasp of all the details of exactly how the Roget family's Pendulum Torture Device functioned.  Penny knew that would be Aunt Suki's position on the subject, anyway.  In fact, Suki would expect her to be able to draw a detailed diagram of the mechanism's gears and timing chains, explain the function of each and every component part, explain why some gears turned in one direction, some in the other, and some actually reversed their direction now and then, but Penny knew she wouldn't be able to do any of those things.

Swooosh!

Penny didn't even have a precise guesstimate of the time (in heartbeats/swooosh) required for the pendulum to make a full swing, meaning the time it took for the blade to complete one complete cycle—swing to the left, pause, then swing to the right—meaning the period of the pendulum or whatever the physicists and mathematicians called it.

Swooosh!

And she didn't even know the interval between the incidents of clattering noise that led to the klunk that led to the pendulum shaft dropping however far it dropped when it dropped; however, she was now absolutely sure that the shaft actually did drop whenever the clattering and klunking thing happened.  That particular collection of noise was, without a doubt, the herald of the process that brought the razor-sharp blade swinging ever closer to the clover-clamps clamping Poor Penny Parr's nipples!

Swooosh!  Clack-cack-cack-cack-cack-cack-Klunk!

There!  It happened again!  And the blade is definitely closer!  Penny's best guess was the drop was a fraction of an inch per clatter-klunk, but the blade was still far enough away that she couldn't be more precise.  The bottom line was: enough swooshing and clatter-klunking had happened that she was absolutely certain that the blade was dropping!

Swooosh!

By the way, the flickering LED lights set in various niches in the Pendulum Chamber walls were doing more than provide feeble, generalized "mood lighting."  At least some of the niches had LED spotlights tucked away and out of the direct sight of whoever was spreadeagled on the table.  The spots were positioned to point upwards and shine through the grinding gears of the mechanism and cast shadows on the vaulted ceiling and upper chamber walls.  That meant the shadows moved as the gears moved, of course, and in Penny's humble but very interested opinion, the overall effect was decidedly spooky, sinister, and ominous.  Admittedly, the effect was subtle, but it was undeniable that the chamber's lighting/set-dressing was very, very... atmospheric.  It was genuine theater.

Swooosh!

Penny tugged on her manacles and kicked against her shackles.  The attached chains clattered and clinked against the thick, heavy timbers of the table.  Escape had nothing to do with her efforts.  Penny had been spreadeagled on the hard, unpadded, wooden surface and trapped under the swinging blade for―hours?―and no amount of squirming, tugging, and kicking on her part was going to change that.  Penny was squirming for comfort.  Her "escape efforts" were actually severely restricted attempts to stretch.

Swooosh!

And speaking of the atmosphere, Penny thought, meaning the non-theatrical atmosphere... don't get me started about the lack of air circulation down here.  Penny's skin glistened with sweat.  The chamber was overheated, without a doubt.  Rada needs to turn down the damn thermostat, she fumed.  And why couldn't the engineer who designed the damn pendulum gizmo have included a nice, quiet fan?  It wouldn't even need to be electric.  It could be driven by the turning gears.  That was just... inconsiderate!

Swooosh!

Closer, Penny thought, staring up at the keen edge of the swinging blade as it sliced through the air over her clamped nipples and sweaty boobs.  It's definitely closer!  And where are Gwyn and Mandy?  Why aren't they rescuing me?  She tugged on her manacles and heaved a sigh through her black, silicon-rubber ball-gag.  The least they could do is come down here and watch!  What's so important that they're missing the show!

Swooosh!

And the same goes for Bethany!  Bethany Roget might be the Mistress of Roget Manor and Rada Grabhand's employer, but she's too nice of a sexy, 40-something old lady to slice and dice her favorite house guest, right?  Does Bethany even know I'm down here?  Has Rada gone rogue?  Does Bethany know her giant Norwegian amazon has gone bat-shit crazy and is using her super-expensive and possibly antique dungeon furniture to slooowly execute my ass?

Swooosh!

But there has to be a safety-stop built into this thing, right?  There has to be something to make the pendulum stop swinging at the last moment!  There has to be!  Government regulators wouldn't let ya buy a Pendulum Torture Device without a built-in safety-stop, right?  Neither would the insurance companies!  Would they?  No way!  Penny couldn't see anything in the mechanism that looked like a built-in safety-stop, but then, she didn't understand how the thing worked in the first place, so how could she recognize a part of the gizmo that made it stop working.  That didn't mean it wasn't there.

Swooosh!

Unfortunately, Penny realized, that doesn't mean it is there, either!  This did nothing for her peace of mind.  The naked, helpless, sweaty victim-of-the-gizmo continued her weak, pointless struggles/stretches and slowly tracked the swinging blade with her desperate blue eyes.

Swooosh!

Rada was nothing if not flexible.  And that meant both mentally and physically flexible, of course.  She was also tall, strong, and undeniably hot.

Anyway, as Rada gazed out the window, sipping her coffee and watching an exercise-clothes-clad Bethany teach a naked Mandy the rudiments of Tai Chi while a naked, hogtied and ball-gagged Gwyn squirmed on the grass in the shade of a nearby oak, she revised her plan for the Scavenger Hunt.  Rada finished her coffee, returned the dirty cup to the kitchen, then gathered the necessary supplies to put her plan in motion.  More precisely, she was now fully prepared and poised to strike.

As it happened, Option One of her revised Operation Scavenger Hunt implemented itself, which was what Rada had suspected would probably happen.  After completing her Tai Chi instruction duties, Bethany hugged and kissed her daughter's newly acknowledged girlfriend (much to Mandy's blushing embarrassment and Gwyn's bound and gagged amusement), then strolled towards the house.  Meanwhile, Mandy blew a kiss at Gwyn and padded away in the direction of the pool.  Obviously, the naked ginger was abandoning Gwyn to the mercy of the chickadees, nuthatches, and squirrels in order to take a quick dip and rinse off the sunscreen protecting her now slightly more freckled body.  She no doubt planned to come back and... do something involving Gwyn.  The bottom line was: Bethany and Mandy had separated and Rada's first target was presenting herself.

As soon as Bethany reentered the mansion, Rada pounced.  When the proverbial dust settled, the Mistress of Roget Manor was stripped naked, her wrists crossed and tied against the small of her back to a tight, multi-strand belly/crotch-rope, her ankles crossed and bound, and a ball-gag popped in her mouth and buckled tight at the nape of her neck.  And to insure additional quiet, Rada added a wide strip of Elastoplast tape.  It covered Bethany's ball-gagged mouth and the rest of her lower face.

There were the usual quickly muffled protests and expressions of outrage on Bethany's part, as well as the usual struggling and squirming, but Rada had little difficulty subduing her employer.  Bethany tugged on her bonds and batted her terrified (and gorgeous), pale-blue eyes at her smiling captor/employee.  Her pale, full breasts wobbled as she squirmed, and her erect nipples pointed with... fear?

Rada heaved the naked, bound, and gagged Bethany onto her shoulder, carried her to a nearby sitting room, and temporarily squirreled her away in one of the mansion's many cleverly hidden secret cubbyholes.  The space in question was a four-foot cube with padded walls, a thick and cleverly camouflaged door with solid hinges, a heavy-duty, well-camouflaged latch on the outside, no means of egress from the inside, and, for safety's sake, cleverly concealed ventilation.

Rada took a few seconds to savor the fear, horror (and possible arousal) in Bethany's eyes, then closed the cubbyhole door and engaged the hidden latch.  Thunk!  She then returned to prowling mode.  She would refrain from further gloating until a more appropriate time.  Anyway, Target One had been dealt with.

Mandy self-selected as Target Two.  That is, when Rada returned to her Reconnaissance and Staging Position at the sitting-room window overlooking the side garden, the smiling ginger had just returned from her quick dip in the pool and was toweling her naked, freckled body dry.  From her hogtied position on the grass, Gwyn lifted her saliva-dripping chin and stared daggers at her girlfriend.  Given both the distance and the intervening glass, Rada couldn't hear whatever Mandy was saying, but from her gloating smile and Gwyn's continued glower, it was clear the naked ginger hadn't finished topping her naked, bound, and gagged captive.  No doubt, Gwyn was finding Mandy's smile to be smug and infuriating, but there was nothing she could do about it other than squirm on the grass, which she did.  Finally, Mandy turned, padded across the lawn to the mansion, entered through a patio door... and waltzed right into Rada's arms.

"Oh!  Hey!  Rada!  Nooo―Mrrrmpfh!"

In short order, Mandy met the same fate as the Mistress of Roget Manor.  The only differences were that no stripping was required and the naked, wiggling ginger was stashed in a different secret cubbyhole in a different sitting room than Bethany.  Mandy's freckled wrists were crossed and lashed against the small of her freckled back and to a belly/crotch-rope, her freckled ankles crossed and tied together, and her protests and pleas for mercy stifled by a combination ball/tape-gag.  The fear and horror in her eyes as Rada sealed her inside her tiny padded prison were strikingly similar to what Rada had seen in Bethany's, except Mandy's eyes were green rather than blue, of course.

There was no rush dealing with Target Three.  Gwyn wasn't going anywhere.  But Rada was no slacker.  Taking time out to gloat was one thing, but letting a helpless, bound, and gagged damsel roll around on the grass and relax when she needed to be made even more helpless, bound, and gagged?  Never!

Rada strolled to the door to the side garden, through the door, across the patio, and towards Gwyn's oak.  For some reason, Gwyn didn't seem especially glad to see her.  Obviously, Rada's precious little Valp didn't believe she was being rescued, and she was right.  Rada released Gwyn's hogtie and frog-tie ropes, lifted her still naked, bound, and ball-gagged form onto her shoulder, and carried her into the mansion.  Gwyn mewled, squirmed, and kicked her bare legs... until Rada persuaded her to stop by means of a businesslike slap delivered to her pale, firm, right buttock.

Swooosh!

Far overhead, the gears of the Evil Pendulum Gizmo clicked and spun and clicked and turned and clicked and rotated.

Swooosh!

Penny stared up at the keen, glinting, razor-sharp edge of the pendulum blade as it whistled back and forth above and across her clover-clamped nipples, which she could do without.  She meant the modified, weakened, "wimpy" clover-clamps clamping her nipples, of course, not the nipples themselves.

Swooosh!

Penny had nice nipples.  Penny was proud of her nipples.  It would be nice if they weren't currently being squeezed by the clamps in question, of course, and she could definitely do without the near-subliminal low burn the clamps were causing.  It wasn't exactly pain, per se, but Penny would just as soon not have her nipples squeezed, thank you very much.  Also, it was distracting.

Swooosh!

And Penny didn't need distraction.  Not that kind of distraction, anyway.  She was seriously considering gibbering, and who could blame her?  If there was ever a situation that called for gibbering, this was it.  Penny's only problem was...

Swooosh!  Clack-cack-cack-cack-cack-cack-Klunk!

...she wasn't sure it was possible to gibber with a silicon-rubber ball plugging your pie-hole.  Gagged gibbering?  Is that a thing?

Swooosh!

Eighteen inches, she decided.  The blade's at least eighteen inches above my nipples.  Or is it sixteen?

Swooosh!

No, Penny decided.  Eighteen inches.  Plenty of time.  Lots and lots of time. TONS of time.  ALL KINDS of time, until...  Yes, Penny decided, the time has come for gibbering.  And for losing it in general.

Swooosh!

"MRRRRRR!"  The chains rattled as Penny struggled against her implacable steel manacles and shackles in a genuine and very sincere frenzy.

Swooosh!

Penny relaxed in her bonds.  She was semi-exhausted, and the mantra OMG! OMG! OMG! was droning through her head, nonstop.  Also... I'm gonna DIE!

Swooosh!

Rada's next task was deciding which of the two residents and the guest-of-the-manor not currently down in the dungeon playing stare-at-the-pendulum should "volunteer" to participate in her little game in which role.  That is, who should be the prize and who should be a seeker?

There were other details to sort out as well, such as:

1. Where should the prize be hidden?  Rada didn't want finding her to be either too easy or nearly impossible.
2. How and where should the prize be restrained so she could await her rescue in naked, bound, and gagged "comfort" and safety?
3. How should the seekers be restrained?  Hopping around as they searched would certainly be nice.  The boob-shaking would be most entertaining; however...
4. Safety.  Damsel safety was paramount for all games.
   

Rada had plenty of time to make decisions.  None of the soon-to-be players were going anywhere.

After careful consideration, Rada decided Gwyn would make the best prize.  That way, her girlfriend and mother would be the ones competing for her rescue.  Granted, Gwyn and Bethany as seekers would be another chance for mother/daughter bonding, but they'd done that yesterday.  No, girlfriend/mother bonding was better.

And speaking of bonding...  Rada's smile widened.  A gem of an idea was starting to coalesce, meaning yet another modification/evolution of her game plan was taking form.  She'd let the notion metaphorically simmer on the back burner while she dealt with hiding the prize.

Randomly choosing a cubbyhole on the first or second floors meant the game could be long, short, or something in between.  If the seekers were lucky, Gwyn would be found right away.  On the other hand, if they were unlucky, Rada might have to call the game on account of darkness.  There was no way she was going to let naked, helpless damsels hop around the manor in the dark.  It wouldn't be safe.  Also, she had a pork loin roast marinating in the refrigerator for dinner and wasn't about to let it go to waste.

There was something else Rada needed to do.  Oh, that's right, she remembered.  Rescue Penny... but first things first.

Rada decided Gwyn should await her rescue in the attic.  Specifically, she was to be sequestered in a closet-size space directly beneath one of manor's many towers, turrets, and/or spires.  Like the rest of Roget Manor, the attic was honeycombed with convenient places to hide bound and gagged family members or guests, and although the complicated maze of interconnected vaults and galleries was not elaborately decorated in the Gothic style, like the floors below, all of the hiding places were well-camouflaged.  Sliding panels and secret doors abounded.  You just had to know where to look and how to trigger the hidden latches... even if you were naked, bound, gagged, and hopping from place to place.

Was it a fair game?  Was it too difficult?  Could Bethany and Mandy possibly check each and every cubbyhole in the mansion's entirety before either (1.) the seekers collapsed in exhaustion, (2.) poor Gwyn went totally stir-crazy from hours and hours of naked, bound, and gagged languishing, or (3.) it was time for dinner?  Well... no.  Of course not.  The game was in no way fair.  But it would certainly be fun... for Rada.

When the dust settled on phases one and two of The Great Scavenger Hunt, Gwyn was bound, gagged, and suspended inside a tall, narrow, shallow space no larger than a gym locker.  Her bonds included the ubiquitous Rada-box-tie, with its signature double shoulder yoke, as well as an elaborate, well-cinched ladder-tie that reinforced the box-tie and continued down her body and all the way down to her big toes.  There was also a crotch-rope (with knotted pussy/butt-cheek cleaving and labia-framing/pinching strands, of course).  Finally, Gwyn was head up, toes down, and pinioned in midair by a web of multiple horizontal, vertical, and diagonal ropes stretched taut and knotted through the plethora of steel eye-bolts screwed into the walls, floor, and ceiling of the locker's interior.

The door was camouflaged to look like just another of the countless sheets of aging plywood that paneled many of the attic walls.  However, it included a small "ventilation grill" an uninformed observer wouldn't give a second glance.  And as it turned out, that particular grill wasn't part of the manor's ventilation system.  It was a view-port.  Stretched about an inch behind the grill's louvered steel slats was a taut screen of black cloth, transparent enough for the occupant of the locker to be able to see through and out into the attic beyond.  And that view included a long hallway connecting several spaces and continuing all the way across this part of the attic to the top of one of several sets of the stairs that led to the floors below.

Was it cruel to suspend Poor Gwyn, the bound and gagged occupant of the locker, in a web of taut ropes in such a tight, close, claustrophobic space, yet allow her to secretly see whatever was happening beyond her tiny prison?  Well... arguably... it was.  But then, no view-port and total darkness would also be cruel.

And speaking of gags, the ball-gag Mandy had used to plug Gwyn's mouth out in the garden remained intact, but Rada hadn't augmented it with an overlying tape-gag.  She wanted to make sure her precious little Valp was "free" to breathe around the silicon-rubber ball and drip drool onto her chest and boobs.  However, that didn't mean Gwyn would be able to make noise if/when she saw her potential rescuers (the seekers) climb the stairs and start strolling or hopping in her direction.  Why not?  Rada had ordered her to remain silent.  Also, she'd added an obedience collar to Gwyn's ensemble of restraints!  The blunt copper studs on its interior gently pressed against either side of the unhappy prisoner's throat and would zap Poor Gwyn if she so much as hummed through her ball-gag.  The shock(s) in question would be harmless, of course, but decidedly unpleasant and a strong incentive to follow Rada's order and keep silent.

Rada paused before closing the secret door that would hide Gwyn's roped, suspended, and semi-cooperatively-gagged self from the seekers.  It had been hard work suspending the squirming, mewling, naked little damsel in her taut web.  Rada had earned herself a nice interval of gloating.  The fear and anguish in Gwyn's blue-eyed stare was... heartbreaking.  Rada had already explained the details of the game to the prize, so Gwyn knew Mandy and her mother would have to do a lot of searching in order to find her and she was almost certainly in for a looong wait.

Rada watched Gwyn's weak squirms for a few more seconds.  The suspending ropes didn't even quiver as she "struggled."  Well, Rada thought, things to do, then closed the locker's thick, solid door, making sure the latching mechanism caught.  Click!

There!  Prize sequestered!  Rada spun on her heels and strolled down the attic hallway to the stairs, knowing Gwyn was watching her recede into the distance.  Poor Valp, the tall Norwegian sighed.  This was turning out to be a really fun day!

Swooosh!

Penny's blue eyes rolled to the right, tracking the blade of the swinging pendulum.  Apparently, the LED lights and spotlights in the various niches were also positioned to make the blade's keen edge flash at least once with each pass, even as it dropped lower... and lower... and lower.  She had to admit, it really was a clever lighting plan.

Swooosh!

Penny's eyes rolled to the right.

Swooosh!  Clack-cack-cack-cack-cack-cack-Klunk!

Penny estimated the distance between the blade's edge to her clamped nipples at the lowest point of the swing was now... 7¾" (±1¼")?  Something like that.

Swooosh!

That meant she still had something like 31 (± 4) clatter-clunks to look forward to before... first contact.  And with six swooshes between clutter-clanks, that meant... 186 (± 24) swooshes to go!  For some reason, a corner of Penny's brain not occupied with fear, terror, horror, etc., had risen to the occasion and was allowing her to do basic arithmetic.
 
Swooosh!

Penny decided to run her mental checklist.  Naked—check!  Bound—check!  Gagged—check!  Sweaty, hot, and bothered—check!

Swooosh!

Thoroughly entertained by simulated torture/execution—check!  Ready to call it a day and soak in the hot-tub, sip a cold drink, and get a nice full-body massage—DOUBLE check!  So... where's Rada?

Swooosh!

Why isn't she here?  Why isn't she rescuing me?  I'm even willing to forgive her for perpetrating this... atrocity!  I'll even stop calling her Rada Grabhands the Norwegian Troll!

Swooosh!

Also...

Swooosh!

I'M GONNA DIE!!

Swooosh!

Rada continued on to the execution (so to speak) of phases three and four of The Great Scavenger Hunt by retrieving Mandy and Bethany from their respective cubbyholes and laying them out on their stomachs on the floor of the gym, side-by-side, head-next-to-head, shoulder-next to-shoulder, hip-next-to-hip, etc.  She'd settled on a bondage scheme that, unfortunately, would mean significantly less boob flopping and no hopping, but had the virtue of being both creative and, quite possibly, unique in the annals of doing wicked things to naked damsels.  Also, it would be safe (or safer).

As Rada loomed over her "victims," Mandy was on her left and Bethany on her right.

In terms of resistance, it would be Rada (fully prepared and with the equipment of her choice readily at hand) against a pair of naked and already bound and gagged damsels.  That was still two against one, technically, but Rada took no chances.  She made sure the changing-of-the-bonds wasn't a contest by removing the soon-to-be-seekers' old bonds only after adding new, additional bonds.  She also freely applied her weight, in the form of her knees and elbows, pinning down all or part of Mandy and/or Bethany as required.  The damsels took the hint and cooperated.  There was a degree of exasperated mewling and squirming on their parts, but any actual resistance was largely pro forma.

When the proverbial dust settled, Mandy and Bethany were sharing a single armbinder (and this was the part her scheme about which Rada was particularly proud).  Mandy's right arm and Bethany's left were pressed together inside a single-sleeve of black leather with their hands palm-to-palm and their forearms touching from wrists-to-elbows.

After tightening the binder's laces until the black, supple leather was skintight, Rada passed the binder's left shoulder-strap under Mandy's left armpit, across both of their chests, over Bethany's right shoulder, then down to the binder's right buckle.  The right strap then made a mirror image journey to the binder's left buckle.  The straps in question were barely long enough as the binder wasn't designed for double-damsel use.  Rada had to tug and pull, but managed to secure the straps on their second holes.

Next, Rada buckled a black leather padded cuff around Mandy's right ankle and an identical cuff around Bethany's left ankle.  She locked the cuffs' D-rings together with a brass padlock, then buckled a black leather strap around the seeker's right and left upper thighs, just above their knees.

Rada considered adding nipple-clamps (with dangling bells), to link Mandy's right nipple to Bethany's left nipple, but decided enough was enough.  The seekers had one free hand each so they could manipulate hidden cubbyhole latches and grab hold of balustrades and handrails as they conducted their search―but that meant any hypothetical clamps Rada deployed to pinch their nipples would have to be tamper-proof, meaning both very tight and lockable.

Unfortunately (or fortunately for Mandy and Bethany's nipples), there were no such nipple-clamps in the manor's extensive inventory, with or without bells.  Rada could have relied on threats and intimidation to ensure any "normal" clamps would remain untouched, but Rada knew that would make this a different and much darker game, inappropriate for the level of "shared fun" of the occasion.

Rada also considered minimal or no gags for one or both damsels, so one or both would be able to engage in unimpeded speech and/or gag-talk.  That would certainly expedite the hunt for the prize, allowing them to compare notes and formulate a search plan.  It would also allow Gwyn's mother and girlfriend to get even better acquainted.

No, Rada decided.  They already know each other pretty well, and they have the rest of the summer to gossip and dish dirt about Gwyn (when they aren't bound, gagged, and/or languishing in separate locations, of course).  She decided to leave Mandy and Bethany's ball and tape-gags intact, but added a pair of Gwen-hoods that covered and pressed against their compound gags and left only the seekers' upper faces exposed from nose to forehead, including their sad, anxious, blinking green and blue eyes, respectively.

Finally, there was the matter of security.  The armbinder closed and tightened by means of long laces crisscrossing between vertical rows of grommets.  Theoretically, that meant it was vulnerable to manipulation by the pesky, not-encased fingers of unhappy damsels with escape on their minds.  Fortunately, like most of the leather accoutrements in the Roget Manor inventory, the binder came equipped with a flap and strap at the top with a lockable buckle that covered the doubled bow securing the laces.

The ankle-cuffs and thigh-strap also had lockable buckles and Rada deployed the required mini-padlocks.  She then used leather collars with lockable buckles and another pair of mini-padlocks to provide security for the Gwen-hoods.  Finally, for added security (and overkill), the arm-binder incorporated horizontal elbow and wrist straps, also with lockable buckles, and they were also buckled tight and padlocked.

Mandy and Bethany were now totally unable to free themselves.

In summary, Mandy and Bethany's right and left arms were encased behind their backs, respectively, and completely useless.  Their right and left legs were strapped together, respectively, but they could bend their right and left knees, respectively.  Their left and right arms and legs were completely free and unencumbered, also respectively.  That meant, if they cooperated and limited their three-legged gait to a stately pace, they'd be able to pad around the mansion and grope for the hidden latches of the hidden cubbyholes in complete safety, even on the stairs.  It would probably be awkward at first, but Rada knew they'd sort things out and rise to the occasion.

They better rise to the occasion, Rada thought with a wry smile.  Their prize is in the attic.

Rada's smile widened as the damsel-duo executed their required and expected joint courtesy struggle.  Rada continued smiling (gloating) and watching as her fair-skinned, blue-eyed, beautiful employer and their freckled, green-eyed, beautiful young house-guest explored their conjoined predicament.

Ingenious! Rada silently congratulated herself.

Mandy had been here last summer, so she knew where at least some of the manor's cubbyholes were located.  She'd gained that knowledge the hard way.  Bethany knew where all the cubbyholes were located, of course.  That meant the Mistress of the Manor would have had an unfair advantage if Rada had gone with her original plan of a one-prize-and-two-seekers Scavenger Hunt contest.  This way, the two were one, were searching together, and it wasn't a competition.  However, both Bethany and Mandy had strong incentives to find Gwyn as quickly as possible (maternal and romantic, respectively).

Also, the sacrifice of damsel-hopping (and the subsequent boob-shaking) and its replacement by leather-enforced mother/girlfriend intimacy was worth it, in Rada's opinion (which, at the moment, was the only opinion that mattered).

Both damsels had finished their individual assessments of their joint bondage and were now glowering at Rada with naked resentment (literally).

"All right then, ladies," Rada beamed, "we're going to play a little game.  Somewhere in the manor I've hidden a prize, and that prize is bound, gagged, and totally helpless.  And by the way... like Sauron's Ring of Power... the prize wants to be found."

Bethany and Mandy exchanged an unamused, gagged stare, heaved simultaneous sighs, then returned their gagged gaze to their captor.

"Nothing?"  Rada sighed and shook her head.  "I thought it was funny.  Anyway, can you guess who the prize might be?"

Bethany and Mandy continued staring at their captor and self-appointed game-master.

"I'll give you a hint," Rada purred.  "She's not Penny."

Mandy and Bethany rolled their green and blue eyes, respectively.

"Oh, that reminds me," Rada said as she pulled her iPhone from the back pocket of her spandex exercise pants.

Mandy and Bethany watched as Rada swiped her way through a menu, then smiled at the small screen.

"Bra!" the grinning blonde exclaimed, "I have plenty of time."  She returned the phone to her pocket.

Mandy and Bethany frowned and exchanged gagged and confused looks.

Rada noted their lack of comprehension.  "Just checking on our little Kattunge," she explained.

Rada hadn't shared her plan for entertaining Penny on Day Three of Hazing Week with either Bethany or Mandy, so neither of the seekers knew what Rada was talking about, other than that Kattunge was Rada's Norwegian nickname for the cute little blonde.

"So," Rada addressed her captive audience, "here are the bounds of the game.  Your prize is in neither the dungeons nor the basement, nor is she in the garage, pool house, garden shed, any of the other outbuildings, nor anywhere in the gardens and surrounding grounds, for that matter.  She is somewhere inside the manor, but not in plain sight.  She's hidden... just as you were hidden while I was busy tucking her away."

Bethany and Mandy's joint reaction was a pair of simultaneous, truly tragic, gagged sighs.

"That's right, ladies," Rada chuckled.  "She's in one of the cubbyholes."

"Mrrrk!" the seekers complained.

Rada knew Bethany and Mandy's gagged complaints meant 'Not the cubbyholes!' or something similar, and her smile widened.  "Ladies, please.  That's only a hundred or so places to look... more if you include the non-secret closets and storerooms.  I think they count as cubbyholes, don't you?"

Bethany and Mandy favored their grinning tormentor with simultaneous cold, lethal stares.

Rada's reaction was unexpected.  Still smiling, she pulled her sports-bra over her head, then peeled down and removed her spandex pants.  Rada wasn't wearing any panties, which meant she was now nude, of course.  "I think I'll turn on the sauna," Rada explained.  "Also, I have a little something to take care of down below."  She then spun on her heels and padded away, towards the gym and its adjoining shower/massage/sauna room.  "Have a nice hunt!" she wished the glowering seekers over her left shoulder, then paused and turned.

"By the way, ladies," Rada purred, "in case you need added incentive... no supper until you find the prize."

Bethany and Mandy watched the gloriously nude, deeply tanned, tall, and above all incredibly hot amazon turn, again, and make her exit.  They then exchanged another gagged sigh.  They knew they better get started.  Roget Manor did, indeed, have something like a hundred secret cubbyholes, and the "prize" wasn't going to find herself.