by Van © 2025
		Chapter 9

Morning finally arrived.  Birds chirped in the gardens.  The sun rose.  Two generations of naked, bound, and gagged damsels wiggled and squirmed, blinked their blue, brown, or green eyes, heaved gagged sighs, and settled in to wait for Cook to appear and release them from their inescapable bondage.

In the "Pumpkin Palace" (Faith Grey's childhood bedroom)—Eppi, Faith, and Enid (the daughters) writhed and struggled (weakly) side-by-side on Faith's generously sized four poster bed.

In the Master/Mistress Bedchamber—Robyn, Nicole, and Roslyn (the mothers) also writhed and struggled (weakly) on Nicole's even larger four poster bed.  They were also side-by-side.

A hypothetical independent outside observer would agree that all six bed-bound captives were totally helpless and would remain so until they were released.  The captives were not happy campers.

Finally... well after the songbirds had finished their morning arias, the morning mist had burned off, and the earthworms that had survived the sunrise thrush onslaught had returned to their subterranean tunnel networks... Cook entered the Master/Mistress Bedchamber.

Wearing her usual "uniform" of sensible shoes and simple, functional, but not unattractive dress, the arguably gorgeous 40-something Cook wished her employer and two senior house guests a cheerful and respectful "Good morning," unlocked the three pair of Irish-Eight handcuffs binding the bed-bound prisoner's wrists behind their backs, untied the key knot of the Kimono-tie ropes  tethering Mistress Grey's upper-body to the headboard, then strolled away to return the steel cuffs to their storage location in the walk-in closet.  She returned to the main bedroom to find that Mistress Nicole had already unbuckled and removed her leather panel-gag (with silicon-rubber tongue-trapping and bite-protecting gobstopper), had sat up in her bed, and was untying her ankle-bonds.

"Cook, you're fired!" Mistress Nicole huffed as she released the last of her hemp bonds.

"Very droll, madam," Cook chuckled.  "I'll release the young mistress and her friends.  Brunch will commence at half-past nine."  With that pronouncement, she exited the bedroom.

Still sitting on the bed between the naked, bound, and gagged Birdie/Robyn and the naked, bound, and gagged Rosie/Roslyn, the naked but no longer bound or gagged Nicole/Nikki watched her apparently undismissable employee depart, then heaved a sigh and stretched.  "Eee-yah!"  She then set about the task of releasing Birdie.

Once Birdie's kimono-tie was untied and she could handle her remaining bonds without assistance, Nikki climbed over the still naked and semi-helpless Rosie and off the bed, then padded towards the door to the attached bathroom.

"You two scamper to your own bedrooms, take showers, and get dressed.  "I'll see you at brunch."

Birdie and Rosie watched their naked hostess disappear, then exchanged gagged frowns.  Both brunettes had been in the process of removing their panel-gags but were still fumbling with their respective buckles.  By the time they were totally rope and gag free they could hear the shower running in the attached bath.  They climbed to their feet and stared down at the jumbled tangle of rope and three gags cluttering Birdie's rumpled bed.

"I'm not putting any of that stuff away," Birdie huffed.

"What will the maids think if they find it all?" Rosie inquired.

"Not my problem," Birdie responded, then spun on her bare heels and padded for the bedroom door, stretching as she went.

Rosie grinned her lopsided grin, spun on her bare heels, and followed, also stretching.

The naked, bound, gagged, and tethered-to-the-bed daughters perked up when they heard the bedroom door being unlocked—Click!—and to none of the prisoners' great surprise it was Cook who strode into the Pumpkin Palace, wished them a collective "Good Morning," continued on to the bed, and began untying Eppi's bondage.

Faith noted that Cook was dressed in her usual semi-expensive and stylish yet eminently practical workaday attire, as opposed to last night's all-black secret-agent/ninja/cat-burglar costume.  Also as usual, every strand of her straight, ginger, wedge-cut coif remained perfectly in place as she leaned over Eppi and attacked the key knot of the big-brown-eyed brunette's ankle-bonds... followed by the key knot of her box-tie-bonds.

The captive Faith frowned at her mother's senior employee above her tape-gag.  Why not me? she silently demanded.  It's my bedroom.  I should be untied first.  Granted, she was in the middle so Cook would have had to lean over Eppi (or Enid) to get to her, but still... it was the principle of the thing.

"Brunch will commence at half-past nine," Cook announced, then turned and made her exit, closing the bedroom door behind her.

Faith and Enid watched as Eppi wiggled and squirmed and eventually succeeded in freeing herself of her remaining hemp bonds.  She then sat up in bed, teased back a corner of her tape-gag, and slowly, carefully peeled the Elastoplast® strip from her lips... stretching and distorting her lips and the skin of her lower face in the process.  Next, she extracted the now slimy balled-up pair of cotton anklets stuffed in her mouth... frowned in disgust as she licked her lips and worked her jaws, then tossed the anklets across the bedroom with unnecessary force.  She continued working her jaws and licking her lips as she climbed off the bed and performed a full-body stretch, reaching for the complicated Gothic Revival rafters overhead and going up on her toes.

"Eyyyah!"

Still naked, bound, gagged, and lying full-length on the bed, Faith and Enid noted the pattern of pink rope-marks on Eppi's tan skin.  They were visible, of course, but didn't look especially serious.  Neither did the rectangular pink area centered over Eppi's pouting mouth.  They continued watching as Eppi padded around the bed and began untying Enid's bonds, and instead of attacking only the key knots, she was freeing her fellow brunette completely.  She even carefully removed Enid's tape-gag for her, gently extracted the balled-up anklets from her mouth, and tossed the damp wad across the room.

Now it was Enid's turn to climb from the bed, work her jaws and lick her lips, and reach for the complex ceiling in a strenuous stretch.

"Eyyyah!"

Then, both naked brunettes crossed their arms over their respective breasts and glowered down at the still naked, bound, tape-gagged, and tethered blonde on the bed.

"Showers," Eppi muttered.

"Showers," Enid agreed.

"Then we'll get dressed," Eppi added.

"Then come back and untie Pumpkin," Eppi's fellow brunette purred.

"Sounds like a plan," Eppi grinned, then exchanged a "high-five" with the now smiling Enid.

Faith watched, blinking her incredulous blue peepers as the brunettes turned, padded to the bedroom door, and made their exit, closing the wooden portal behind them.  Thud!

"Mrrrf!" Faith objected, but realized, of course, that she was too late... and it was moot as her fellow gamester/daughters would have ignored her anyway.

Well... I did tie them up first, Faith mentally conceded, then heaved a tape-gagged sigh and settled in to wait for her delayed rescue so she could take a shower and get dressed in time for brunch.  She had a few pithy remarks she intended to direct to her fellow younger generation gamesters... and as for Cook... many serious questions required answers.

Shortly before the nine-thirty start time Cook had decreed for the official commencement of what would became known as "The Great Brunch," Mistress Grey, her daughter, and their four house guests began arriving at the kitchen... and were immediately redirected to the outdoor dining venue that had been the setting for their previous barbecues and informal lunches.  The appearances happened piecemeal and in no particular order.

Everybody was fully clothed in their usual preferred attire for the usual vacation activities, and that included Faith, even though she'd had the least amount of time to make herself presentable.  To be clear, none of the Ladies Who Brunch were naked, bound, or gagged.   Go figure.

The mothers greeted their daughters with concerned affection, which was reciprocated (both the greetings and the concern); however, the younger generation unanimously requested (whined) that their respective maternal units should stop making such a fuss about their progeny's faded and barely noticeable rope-marks.  After all, they all had red wrists, young and old alike, and everybody was too embarrassed to talk about the clandestine kinky games they'd been playing with each other (along generational lines), so the mothers should just... chill... please!

They gravitated to the buffet-line and discovered that despite having been up very late and having semi-exhausted herself by repeatedly binding and gagging her employer, Pumpkin, and all four house guests, Cook had outdone herself.  There were two kinds of quiche, pastries, sliced fruit, leafy salads, cheeses, roasted vegetables, etc.  It was a feast!

And speaking of Cook, other than to compliment the deliciousness of various brunch items, the mutiny of Mistress Nicole's senior servant was very much not a topic of conversation, nor were the supposed folding of the two clandestine bondage games into one combined bondage game.  Everybody was too embarrassed and had independently arrived at the decision that it would be best to hear Cook's proposed (meaning mandated) revisions of the games, digest her suggestions (dictates), then air all their dirty laundry at once.

Finally, when everybody was full, their plates empty, and they were sitting back and sipping refills of coffee, Cook appeared, still wearing her usual "Cook uniform" of sensible-but-stylish work clothes, but at the moment without her apron.  In her hands were six handouts, fresh off the kitchen work station's printer, which she distributed to the assembled ladies... then commenced her lecture.

"Please hold all questions until the end of the presentation," Cook intoned.

Everyone but cook turned to look at Mistress Nicole, who blushed (slightly) and shrugged.  Obviously she was willing to let Cook take charge... for now.

"First of all," Cook stated, "we will be starting with a clean slate."

"We?" Enid interrupted with a frown, then blushed (slightly) and covered her gaffe with a sip of coffee.

"I shall be the game's umpire, arbitrator, and referee," Cook decreed, "and you—all of you—will be the players.  Here are the new rules and procedures of the new game."

What followed could only be called a lecture.  The coffee-sipping attendees followed the points on their handouts and, as requested (ordered), held their questions until the end.

The first session of the restarted game would commence with all players selecting random cards from a well-shuffled deck, supervised by the Umpire.  The high card would be the Designated Binder and the low card the Designated Bindee.  Then, the Binder would, uh, first bind the Bindee in the manner of her choosing, then "entertain" her in one of the dungeon/torture-chambers down below.  Also, after their session, the Binder and Bindee would be excluded from the next round of card cutting that would determine the Binder and Bindee for the next session.

There was an obvious problem, of course.  Only Nicole's and Cook knew their way around the designated subterranean playground, but Cook suggested (decreed) that to maintain momentum they should proceed with the first session anyway.  She herself promised to provide a tour for the first session's Designated Binder to "help" her select an appropriate venue.

There was another problem.  The remaining players were being asked to go about enjoying their vacations while, for one of them, their mother or daughter was being "tortured" down below!  Not likely!

Cook had a remedy for that as well.  The immediate family member of the current session's Designated Bindee (who would henceforth be designated the "Interested Party") would be taken into the custody by the other non-selected players to insure no snooping and/or rescue attempts would be happening.  (Physical restraint was not out of the question.)

Finally, Cook proposed (decreed) that the first card cutting would happen immediately, although the session itself wouldn't commence until tomorrow after lunch.  Today would be a day of rest and spine-tingling suspense for the Bindee (and her mother or daughter).  This "solution" had the added virtue of giving Cook time to give the Designated Binder the aforementioned tour of Down Below so she could decide how she wanted to entertain/torture the Designated Bindee.

Cook produced a deck of cards and the card-cutting commenced.  The outcome was...

PLAYER	CARD SELECTED	FINAL RESULT
Eppi Brandon	Two of Clubs (2♣)	◄ DESIGNATED BINDEE
Enid Reid	Four of Hearts (4♥)
Faith Grey	Three of Diamonds (3♦)
Robyn Brandon	King of Hearts (K♥)	◄ INTERESTED PARTY
Roslyn Reid	Nine of Spades (9♠)
Nicole Grey	Ace of Hearts (A♥)	◄ DESIGNATED BINDER

Cook noted that this was a fortuitous outcome in that the first Designated Binder was already fully acquainted with all the Dungeon/Torture-Chamber venues Down Below (seeing as how she'd designed, funded, and supervised their construction and installation).

Eppi was visibly nervous.

Enid and Faith were quick to embrace and comfort their fellow younger-generation player and Session One Designated Bindee, while masterfully hiding their relief at having dodged the proverbial bullet (for the moment) and their glee at the prospect of watching Eppi get dragged Down Below.  (The Germans have a word for it: Schadenfreude.)

As for Robyn... her feelings at the prospect of her darling daughter being stripped naked, rendered helpless, and subjected to subterranean "torture" were decidedly mixed; but horror, trepidation, and dismay were definitely in the mix.

Enid was quick to comfort her fellow brunette mother by pulling her into a close embrace (and preventing her from interfering with Enid and Faith's efforts to comfort the darling daughter in question).

Needless to say, Nicole was thrilled at the prospect of "entertaining" a damsel as curvaceous, devilishly cute, athletically waifish, and/or pulchritudinous as Eppi Brandon.  She had no intentions of causing anything even remotely resembling physical or emotional harm to Birdie's darling daughter, but it was going to be fun... at least for Mistress Grey.

Cook watched the players' interactions, a ghost of a smile curling her lips.  Events were progressing exactly as she'd planned.

The rest of the day passed with the usual exercise and vacation diversions, but without any nudity or bondage.  Actually there was nudity, but only in the form of skinny dipping and/or sunbathing; however, there were no instances of Damsels-in-Dishabille-and-Distress.  Eppi managed to put on a brave face, Mistress Nicole refrained from gloating (at least in public), Robyn managed not to have an emotional maternal meltdown, and the others were supportive and/or sympathetic towards the Designated Bindee, the Designated Binder, and the Interested Party.

Everybody went to bed in their own bedrooms (for once) and their were no unauthorized shenanigans.

The Next Day—The First Day of the Revised & Restarted Game...

---

It had been agreed (meaning Cook had dictated) that Session One would commence immediately after lunch, and all of the Players (and their Referee) gathered in one of Grey Mansion's second story sitting rooms.

Robyn embraced and kissed her daughter while everyone else watched... then Eppi bravely stepped forward and, with Enid and Faith's assistance, divested herself of her sandals, Daisy-Duke-style cutoff jeans, white tank-top, and lace-trimmed matching bra and panties set.  She was now totally nude with her brown tresses pulled back in a tight ponytail restrained by a fabric-sheathed elastic.  Her big brown doe eyes blinking beneath her trademark bangs as she bravely awaited her fate.

Mistress Nicole, resplendent in sandals and a very pretty flower-print sleeveless sundress (with spaghetti straps) smiled, stepped forward, prepared a coil of the usual thin, conditioned hemp rope for use, then turned Eppi around, and proceeded to render her helpless.  That is:

(1.)  Mistress Grey lashed Eppi's wrists together behind her back, palm-to-palm;

(2.)  She used a second coil of rope to bind Eppi's elbows together, also behind her back (of course).  In point of fact, Eppi's elbows were touching.  The Designated Binder had cinched the ropes between her Designated Bindee's upper-arms before tying the final knot, but underneath the wide, neat, and tightly frapped band of ropes Eppi's elbows were pressed together!

(3.)  Using a third coil of conditioned hemp, Nicole took a loose turn around Eppi's neck, tied a non-compacting knot, then dropped the resulting leash.  It flopped down to drape between Eppi's breasts, slap against her flat, sculpted tummy, and pool on the floor.

Next, Mistress Grey used one of her black leather panel-gags (with red silicon rubber tongue-trapping and bite-protecting gobstopper attachment) to silence her captive.  This isn't to imply that Eppi had put up any kind of fuss while being bound and gagged.  Far from it.  Eppi had been the very picture of a naked, shapely, decidedly beautiful, and courteously cooperative damsel during the entire process.  She had pouted, but that was to be expected.

Naked, bound, gagged, and helpless, Eppi stood bravely and stared off into infinity.  Needless to say, she was the center of attention.

"Hrrrmf," Cook cleared her throat.  All eyes turned to the Referee... who was gazing at Eppi with a neutral expression.

Eppi gazed back, frowning above her gag.  At this point in the game, having been rendered helpless, the rules required her to execute a Courtesy Struggle to verify her status... so... she rolled her eyes and did so.

The Designated Binder, the Interested Party, the other gamesters, and the Referee/Umpire watched as the Designated Bindee shrugged her shoulders, twisted at the waist, tugged on her bound wrists, and generally squirmed and struggled.

"Boobs," Faith whispered to Enid as Eppi continued rolling her shoulders, bent forward and twisted at the waist, groped for the totally unreachable key-knots of her wrist bonds with her fingers, and generally verified that she was totally unable to free herself.

"Boobs," Enid whispered back.

They were referring to the way Eppi's stringent elbow-bondage pulled her shoulders back and thereby thrust the boobs in question forward.  Also, her vigorous escape efforts were causing said boobs to bobble, oscillate, shake, and sway.

"Pokies," Faith added, referencing Eppi's erect nipples.

"Pokies," Enid agreed.

Their fellow younger-generation-gamester's nipples were, in fact, pointing.

"She must be cold or something," Enid suggested, perfectly deadpan.

Faith grinned.  "Or something."

"You can't leave her like that!" Robyn objected.  Her pale-blue eyes were noticeably moist.  "She'll dislocate her shoulders!"  She glared at Nicole.  "You're being cruel!"

"Hardly," Nicole countered.  Her expression and tone were not unsympathetic, but she defended her rigging choices nonetheless.  "If I intended to leave your lovely daughter 'like this,' I would have box-tied her, as you well know."

Roslyn pulled Robyn into a sideways hug, both to comfort her and to prevent her from breaking game protocol and attempting to rescue her naked, bound, and gagged offspring.  "Elbow-ties aren't really that mean," she whispered, "you know that.  As I recall, we did it to each other on more than one occasion, back in the day."

The not naked, bound, and gagged daughters had overheard.  "That's why you used the box-tie on us back at the start?" Enid whispered to Faith, "because they're... less mean?"

Still grinning, Faith shrugged before whispering back.  "I like the way box-ties look.  Sue me."

Enid shrugged as well.  "You're not alone.  Box-ties are pretty cool."

Meanwhile, Eppi had decided that she'd fulfilled her courteous struggling obligation and was standing and staring at the others with Brave Defiance.  (This caused her boobs to stop bobbing and oscillating, but her nipples maintained their erect status.)  She did not stare at her mother, of course.  She didn't want her maternal unit to break down and embarrass her by starting to cry.

"Well," Nicole said, "I'll see you all at dinnertime," and with that she left the sitting room.  The end of Eppi's leash was now in her right hand, so the Bindee had no choice but to pad in her Binder's wake.  She did pause in the doorway to briefly look back at her mother... then the rope snapped taut, she hurried after her captor, and was gone.

"Oh!" Robyn exclaimed in a near sob and tried to follow, but Rosyln tightened her grip on her distraught friend and Robyn was unable to follow.

Cook was standing nearby, reached into the pocket of her apron, and produced (of all things) a pair of shiny steel handcuffs padded with pale-blue fake-fur.  She spun Robyn around, pulled the distressed mother's hands behind her back, and snapped the fuzzy cuffs on her wrists.

Click-click-click-click!  Click-click-click-click!

"Hey! Let me go!" Robyn objected, then tried to follow up with more protests, but—"Mrrrf"—they were rendered unintelligible when Roslyn (her alleged friend) resumed her hug with her left arm while tightly clamping her right hand over Robyn's mouth!

"Mrrrrrf!"

Still standing in front of the captive Robyn, Cook turned to Faith and barked a command.  "Tape!"

Faith smiled and sketched a casual salute, turned, and scampered away.

Meanwhile, Cook reached under Robyn's sundress and pulled down her panties!

Above Roslyn's hand-gag, Robyn's pale blue eyes widened considerably as she struggled and tugged on her comfy-cuffed-wrists.  "Mrrrpfh!"

"Stop that!" Cook ordered as she continued tugging Robyn's panties down her kicking legs and freeing them from her sandal-clad feet.  For some reason, being forcibly and involuntarily deprived of her panties was not have a calming effect on Eppi's mother.

At that point Faith had returned from her Cook-mandated quest to locate a roll of Elastoplast® tape and a pair of bandage scissors.  Robyn watched with wide blue eyes as the Grey daughter (a saucy and/or wicked smile curling her lips and dimpling her cheeks) handed the scissors to Enid, tugged a strip of tape from the roll, and held it steady so Enid could snip it free.

The tape-gagging of Robyn was a group effort.   Roslyn continued her hug/embrace and hand-gag while her daughter held Robyn's head steady—Cook wadded Roslyn's panties into a compact ball—and (still smiling sweetly) Faith held the strip of tape ready, stretched between her hands.  Then... it happened.  Roslyn's hand-gag was released, Cook crammed the compacted panties into Roslyn's mouth, and Faith pressed the tape home... then used her tan fingers to smooth the off-white strip, ensuring the tape's adhesive was well-adhered to Roslyn's lower face from ear-to-ear and from just under her nose to just above her chin.

"Mrrrmpfh!" Roslyn complained as her alleged friends released her and stepped back.  She danced in place, twisting, squirming, and tugging on her cuffed wrists.  "Mrrrm!"

For several seconds Cook let Eppi's mother confirm her helpless status while Young Mistress Grey and the other house guests smiled and watched... then she cleared her throat.

"Hrumf!  I have work to do," Mistress Grey's senior servant announced, then focused on Roslyn and pointed at Robyn.  "See that Ms. Brandon doesn't get up to any mischief.  Once she calms down you may remove her tape-gag, if you wish to enjoy coffee or tea."  She then shifted her unsmiling attention to Faith and Enid.  "As for you two, if I catch you trying to sneak down to the Dungeons... you'll regret it.  Understand?"

"Yes, Cook," Faith and Enid responded, giggling and dropping quick curtsies.

Cook rolled her green eyes, managed to continue stifling her smile, spun on her sensibly-shod feet, and made her exit in the direction of the kitchen.

Robyn, Roslyn, Faith, and Enid watched Cook depart... then turned and smiled at each other (except for Robyn, who it was clear was not smiling).

Faith focused on Roslyn.  "Want me to find more rope for you?"  She pointed at Robyn's sandal-clad feet.  "To tie her ankles and..."  She made a graceful but vague hand gesture.  "...other stuff?"

"We'll help," Enid offered, smiling brightly at her mother.

Roslyn shook her head (a smile trembling on her lips).  "You two go for a long run, take a swim, sunbathe down by the lake, or do something else," she ordered, "and if I catch you trying to spy on Nicole and Eppi... I'll tell Cook."

The daughters who had not been dragged below by Mistress Grey sighed in disappointment, then spun on their heels and scampered away.

Robyn and Roslyn watched them depart... then turned to face each another.

Roslyn's trademark quirky smile was now on full display.  "Stop being such a drama queen," Roslyn/Rosie chided her friend.  "You know Nikki won't hurt your cute little Eppi... and in any case, I already know where to find all the rope I would possibly need to ensure sure you don't spoil their game."  She then leaned forward (still smiling) and planted a light kiss on Robyn's tape-gagged lips.  "Let's take a stroll in the gardens," she suggested (ordered), then took hold of Roby's left arm and led her away.

Robyn heaved a sigh as she strolled at her handler's side.  She knew full well that she could trust their hostess to "torture" her beloved daughter without doing any real harm... but it had been her duty to put on a melodramatic show.  Poor Eppi! she couldn't help thinking, and resolved to spend the day making plans for what she'd do to Faith if the cards were kind and gave her the opportunity to "entertain" Nikki's beautiful daughter.