by Van ©2014
		Chapter 2

The Next Morning
Shibari Meditation Lodge
Moon River Colony

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The four students entered the lodge at the scheduled time, one hour after breakfast.  They'd been discussing the meal in question.  Maura and Susie agreed that the vegan crepes, tofu scramble, lemon poppy scones, and soy milk chai had been delicious.  Jane and Ainsley, however, agreed that the flapjacks and maple syrup were quite good, but Jane was of the opinion that the bacon had been insufficiently greasy.  This had led to a scholarly discussion of the attributes, virtues, and shortcomings of American smoked bacon verses Canadian back bacon—but all discussion stopped when they crossed the threshold and stared in wonder at the spectacle in the center of the building's open space.

Lit from both sides by the indirect light of the soji screens and from overhead by the skylights, a blond woman was sitting in the semi-lotus position on the tatami carpet.  She was nude, like everyone in the colony, and was bound with natural rope.  Her arms were folded behind her back and neat, symmetrical bands pinned her upper arms to her sides, yoked her shoulders, lashed her wrists and ankles, and bound her upper thighs to her lower legs.  Everything was tight and interlaced, forming a unified web.  The blonde was utterly helpless.  Not even Harry Houdini could have escaped from her predicament.

Oh-by-the way, something was stuffed in her mouth, a narrowly folded cloth cleaved her lips to keep it there, and a more widely folded cloth encircled her head as a blindfold.  Of her features, only the point of her chin, her bulging cheeks, and the tip of her nose were visible.  Her hair was long, wavy, and pulled back in a ponytail.

"Please sit with your backs to one of the support columns," a second blonde said.  She left the relative shadows in the corner opposite the door and stepped into the light.  The students could see that she was tall, very tall, fair-skinned, and with an undeniable athletic beauty.  Her hair was cut short, somewhat like Ainsley's.

Maura and Susie flinched in surprise when the tall blonde spoke, but the detectives had noticed her immediately, even while their primary focus was on the bound, gagged, and blindfolded blond centerpiece.  It was their police training.

"I am your instructor," the tall blonde continued.  She gestured at the tan, rope-bound blonde.  "And this is my assistant, Kate.  In class, we will go by our first names.  My first name is Mistress, understood?"

"Yes, Mistress," the students answered in unison.

"Well," Mistress said, "what are you waiting for?  You have your instructions.  Choose columns that are closest to the center."

The eight support columns were evenly spaced in two rows, four on the river side and four on the forest side.  All were round, about six inches in diameter, solidly set in the floor, and bolted to the beams overhead.  Truth be told, they were more hefty poles than columns.  They were sanded smooth and sealed with varnish, with their top thirds decorated with painted carvings of forest leaves and flowers in the Mohawk style.

Jane and Maura each chose positions on the river side and Ainsley and Susie on the forest.  The students sat with their backs to their columns and the detectives settled into comfortably casual cross-legged positions.  Maura and Susie, on the other hand, flowed into the full-lotus.

"I assume you have already read the course material that Kate left in your cottages," Mistress said as she strolled to one of the cabinets.

"Yes, Mistress," the students droned.  The exception was Jane, who mumbled something that might or might not have been "Yes, Mistress."  All of the students' eyes were on the helpless, unmoving form of Kate.

Mistress opened the cabinet, lifted four lengths of hemp rope from a peg, draped them behind her neck and across her shoulders, and strolled to Jane.  "Well?" she said, focusing her unsmiling attention of the slightly flustered Jane.

Jane didn't know why she was embarrassed, or how "Mistress" had zeroed in on her halfhearted response.  Jane had flipped through the twenty or so pages of single-spaced assigned reading in its tastefully cloth-bound three-ring binder.  It was all about centering the mind and ignoring bodily discomfort and attaining a state that transcended... whatever.  It didn't look very important or directly related to the matter at hand: catching the Boston Bondage Bandit.  Maura had poured through her copy of the New Age nonsense, of course, but Jane had only skimmed the text.  Anyway, it wasn't like she was back in grade school.  It wasn't like Mistress was a nun.  "I looked at it... Mistress," Jane said.  "It would've been better with pictures."

Maura gasped at Jane's impertinence, as did Susie.  Ainsley, on the other hand, was struggling not to laugh.

Fortunately, Mistress was also amused.  "Read it tonight," she purred.  "You are...?"

"Jane, Mistress."

"Hands behind the column, Jane," Mistress ordered.

Jane watched as Mistress selected one of the lengths of rope and stepped behind the column.  "Uh, behind the column... Mistress?"

"Would anyone care to enlighten Jane?" Mistress inquired.

"Maura, Mistress," Maura responded, introducing herself.  "The reading stated that all classes will be conducted with the students bound, when they aren't actively participating in the instruction."

"That's correct, Maura," Mistress said.  She knelt behind Jane's column, took hold of her wrists, crossed them, and began binding them with the doubled rope.

"Hey!" Jane objected, but it was already too late—too late to politely refuse and probably too late to prevent the binding process.  It was Jane's nervousness that had made her say something.  She realized full well they were undercover and had to play along with the curriculum, but Jane Rizzoli letting herself get tied up?  That was hard.

None of the students had a clear view of what Mistress was doing, but in about a half a minute she'd finished the job, stepped around to the front, gathered the still somewhat long free ends of Jane's wrist bonds from either side, and tied a square-knot over her bellybutton, pressing her spine and bound wrists against the wood and dimpling the flesh of her waist and flat, well-sculpted tummy.

Jane twisted her wrists and tugged on her bonds, to no avail.  The rope didn't bite, exactly, but it was tight and impervious to her efforts.  She knew she wasn't going anywhere.

Meanwhile, Mistress had gracefully strolled behind Maura's column and was binding her as she had Jane.  She continued around the room, binding Susie... and then Ainsley.  Both students introduced themselves as Mistress applied the ropes.  All the while, Jane continued struggling (a little) while Maura and Susie smiled and watched her futile efforts.  Ainsley watched and smiled as well, but her smile was more than a little nervous and her blush had returned.  Kate—naked, bound, gagged, and blindfolded—remained as still as a statue.

"Now," Mistress began, once her class was properly prepared, "If Jane will stop fidgeting and pay attention, we may begin."

Maura and Susie giggled, then quickly controlled themselves.  Ainsley gave her fellow cop a commiserating smile and wink, then focused on their teacher.

"Sorry, Mistress," Jane muttered sullenly.

Mistress smiled and nodded, then began.  "Our first topic is safety.  We will discuss those parts of the anatomy that are particularly vulnerable to damage.  Impaired circulation and nerve damage may result from sloppy technique, so you will learn both the correct placement of the rope bonds and the correct degree of constriction and pressure."

"Uh, we're going to be tying each other up?" Jane gasped, then remembered to add a quick, "Mistress?"

"As was explained in last night's reading," Mistress confirmed.  "There are self-bondage techniques that allow oneself to meditate in physical helplessness, but generally you will require a partner to prepare you for your meditative sessions."

"Oh," Jane muttered.  "That makes sense, Mistress."  Mistress nodded, then turned her back and began to pace.  Jane noticed Maura's mocking smile—it looked mocking to her, anyway—and responded by sticking out her tongue.  This served to redouble Maura's mirth.

Meanwhile, missing the childish byplay behind her back, Mistress continued her lecture.  "We'll begin with the pressure points."

There was an hour and a half hour break for lunch, followed by three more hours of lecture and instruction.  When the students returned from their midday repast, Kate was free of all bonds and, by all appearances, none the worse for having spent the morning in tight bondage.  Even her rope marks had faded.  None of the students could deny that Kate had a nice smile and was quite attractive.  Like her Mistress, Kate was also quite adept with rope, which she demonstrated by binding the four students against the same posts and in exactly the same manner as the morning class.

Mistress appeared and the instruction began.  First, there was a recap of the morning safety lesson: pressure points, vulnerable nerves, how to avoid positional asphyxiation, etc.  Then, there was a lecture on how to meditate, which Jane already knew was one of her yoga weak-points.

Despite hours of yoga classes and private sessions, all of which Jane had "suffered through" at Maura's insistence and at her BFF's side, Jane knew herself to be a lousy meditator, if that was a word.  Maura, on the other hand, seemed to be able to turn off her brilliant mind by flicking an imaginary switch.  She could go from Dr. Smartypants to a relaxed vegetable in nothing flat.  Jane, on the other hand, found simple inactivity to be difficult.  Actual meditation was an onerous task.

Anyway, the meditation lecture was followed by a practical session, during which Jane did her best to remain still, to not fidget and squirm and tug on her bonds, and to think tranquil thoughts.  As always, Jane found totally clearing her mind to be very difficult, but even Ainsley seemed to have the knack.  Maura, Susie, and the Canadian cop drifted off into la-la-land in only a few minutes—or seconds, in the case of Maura.

Mistress was in full lotus in a position several feet offset from the middle of the room, apparently so she could keep an eye on her students, something, Jane noted, she seemed to be able to do with both eyes closed.  And all the while, Kate walked a slow circle around the room, also monitoring the students' "progress."  She had a long, switch-like bamboo cane in her right hand, but it was a badge of authority, apparently, and she wasn't using it for anything but a prop.

Eventually, although she never did meditate, Jane managed to fall asleep—then snapped awake when Kate whacked the carpet immediately in front of Jane's crossed legs with the cane.

"What?" Jane demanded, blinking in alarm.

"Slumber is not meditation," Mistress stated, "as was discussed during this afternoon's lecture."

"I wasn't asleep," Jane objected.

"You were snoring," Maura whispered.  As the room was totally silent, everyone heard.

Jane found Maura's smug, superior smile to be particularly irritating—although she knew it was just Maura being Maura—and reacted instinctively by sticking out her tongue.  This elicited a giggle from her fellow students, a wry smile from Mistress, and earned the poor carpet another whack of the cane from Kate.

"Let's try again," Mistress intoned.

Jane glowered at Maura and Maura smiled back, but before Kate felt the need to punish the carpet a third time, they composed themselves and began to meditate.  That is, Maura meditated and Jane concentrated on remaining still and not fidgeting.  It was difficult.

Finally, the first day of class was over.  Kate dropped another twenty-or-so pages of additional reading in front of each student, followed by two bundles each of conditioned hemp rope, the same type binding them to their posts.  She then made her way from column to column, untying the class.  She left Jane for last.  Whether this was by chance or as punishment was unclear.

Mistress was still in the lotus position and, apparently, was still meditating.  "The first two pages of tonight's reading include your homework assignment," she said without opening her eyes.  "Class dismissed."

"Honor your Mistress," Kate said quietly, then bowed.  The four students bowed as well, and Jane added a flip of her right hand, as if she was a naked musketeer flourishing an invisible hat.

"Jane!" Maura hissed in admonishment.

The very picture of innocence, Jane shrugged in return.

Susie and Ainsley grinned, but successfully stifled giggling fits.

Kate favored Jane with a disapproving stare.

The students gathered their reading material and bundles of rope and made their exits.

Kate waited a few seconds... then heaved a sigh.

Mistress' lips curled in a smile, but her eyes remained closed.  "Jane won't be a problem.  You were nearly as unfocused in the beginning."

"She won't get very far in just a week," Kate muttered, shaking her head.

"But she may find the first step of her path," Mistress responded.

Kate was skeptical.  "As long as her check clears the bank."  She turned and headed for the door.  "Swim?"

"In a while," Mistress answered.  "I think I'll do my T'ai Chi first."

Kate made her exit, and all was still in the Shibari Meditation Lodge.

The evening special on the non-vegan menu was garden salad, trout a la meunière, and roasted vegetables, all paired with a nice pinot gris.  Maura's and Susie's vegan solidarity crumbled and, along with Jane and Ainsley, they selected and devoured the fish.  After diner the four enjoyed an after-diner stroll by the river, then paired off and retired to their cottages to tackle their homework.

Actually, Ainsley announced that she was going to wander around for a while, chatting up the staff and fellow guests and gathering intel about Giselle, aka Mistress.  Jane wanted to do the same, but Ainsley pointed out it might look suspicious if both of them nosed around, and Maura and Susie agreed.  Also, Maura reminded Jane that she had a double load of reading to accomplish, plus their "homework."

Jane groused and complained, of course, but agreed to let Ainsley do the police work tonight.  However, she insisted that it would be her turn to sneak around tomorrow.

Maura and Jane arrived at their cottage to find a Colony employee waiting by the front door.  She was a short brunette, a very short brunette, no more than 5' 1", with fair skin and a pretty face.  She was carrying a stack of the Colony's saffron-orange towels, a bottle of massage oil, and a rolled mat of nile-green foam was under her right arm.  They could tell she was an employee by her "uniform," a pony bead necklace with an oval-shaped copper name tag engraved with the name "PENNY" and the unsurprising job title of "MASSEUSE."

"Hi," Penny said brightly. 

"Hi," Maura replied with equal brightness.

"Hi," Jane muttered in a somewhat less enthusiastic manner.  "What's she doing here?" she whispered in an aside to Maura.

"I scheduled us a massage," Maura whispered back.  "All you have to do is ask at the concierge desk."  She was still smiling at Penny.  "Sorry to keep you waiting," she said in her normal voice as she opened the door and took a step aside to let the others enter.

"No problem," Penny shrugged.

Jane rolled her eyes and motioned for Penny to precede them into the cottage.  "You could have said something," she whispered to Maura, giving her BFF a gentle nudge in the ribs as she passed.

Maura giggled and followed.  "You need a good massage.  Just like you need this vacation."

Penny ignored the hushed conversation as she placed her towels to one side, unrolled the mat on the floor, then spread one of the towels atop the mat.  She was trying to decide whether or not the cottage seventeen guests were a couple.  They obviously were good friends, despite the bickering, and while they certainly argued like a couple, maybe they were just friends.  Penny was pretty good at reading the guests, but these two were new.  Time would tell.

"You go first, Jane," Maura suggested.

Jane gazed at the waiting mat and towel, then shifted her gaze to the kneeling, smiling brunette.  "How old are you?" she inquired coolly.

Penny met her gaze, her smile never wavering.  "Old enough to drink and vote," she answered.  "How old are you?"

Jane couldn't help but smile.  "Touché."  She'd decided she liked this kid, and Penny was a kid.  Either that or she she'd been blessed with a triple dose of cute genes.  Maybe both.  Anyway, the tiny brunette was devilishly cute, and Jane suspected she was a bit of a scamp and a troublemaker.  A cop learned to size people up pretty quickly.  Penny also had magic fingers, which Jane quickly learned as the youngster oiled her hands and began kneading Jane's shoulders.

"That feels good," Jane sighed.

"Not used to spending the day tied to a post?" Penny purred.

Jane chuckled.  "No.  I take it you know what goes on in the Shibari class?"

"Shibari Meditation class," Maura corrected her BFF.  She'd opened both her own and Jane's three-ring binders and was inserting their second package of reading.

Jane ignored Maura and concentrated on enjoying her massage.  It had occurred to her that the owner of the magic fingers probably was a good source of information.  "The class is popular?"

"Very," Penny confirmed.  "It's also good for business.  Lots of business for me, anyway."

"Have you taken it?" Maura inquired.  "The class, I mean."

"Can't afford it," Penny answered, "but I liberated an extra copy of the reading material.  Also, Zelle is nice enough to demo a few of her techniques now and then."

"Zelle?" Maura asked.

"Giselle Pierce," Jane muttered, "aka Mistress."  She reminded herself she was supposed to be probing for intel, but Penny's hands truly were magic.  There were a couple of occasions when it felt as if Penny's rubs and touches might have been a bit more sexual than therapeutic, but those moments were fleeting, and felt sort of good, so she saw no reason to draw attention to them.

"What about Kate?" Maura asked.

Penny shrugged.  "She's okay."

Jane could tell Penny was less enthusiastic on the subject of Kate, as opposed to 'Zelle.'

"Oh my," Maura said.  She'd settled into one of the easy chairs with her binder in her naked lap.

Meanwhile, Jane had rolled onto her back and Penny was continuing the massage.  "What?" she asked as Penny reached under her shoulders from either side and slowly ran her hands from her back to the back of her head.

"The homework is rather... involved," Maura answered.

"It's not so hard," Penny said.  "I can walk you through it, if you like."

"That's very kind," Maura answered.  "The illustrations are pretty clear, but they mainly focus on the desired end result.  Matching the descriptions to the illustrations, on the other hand..."

"I know what you mean," Penny chuckled, "but it's a snap once you see it done."

"See what done?" Jane sighed.  Penny was nearing the end of the massage process, and Jane was very relaxed.

"I'm going to tie you up," Maura explained.

Jane's eyes popped wide.  "You're what?"

"That's the homework assignment," Maura explained.  "One of the students is to bind the other in the manner described."  She indicated the open binder with a languid flip of the wrist and a smile.  "And since I'm the one that's already read the instructions..."

"Don't worry," Penny grinned as she cleaned her hands with one of the towels.  "Tomorrow night's homework is similar, and then you can tie her up."

"I've been tied up all day," Jane whined, and it could only be described as a whine.

"So have I, remember?" Maura said primly as she left the chair and picked up one of the coils of conditioned hemp that Kate had given them.

"Mauraaaaa!" Jane complained.

"It's our assigned homework," she reminded her BFF, then indicated Penny with a surreptitious nod.  The tiny naked masseuse was busy changing the towel covering the mat, getting readying for her next customer.  Maura walked over to Jane and whispered in her ear.  "We want to appear to be normal students, don't we?"

"Yeah," Jane whispered (grunted) in sullen response.

"We should probably do this in the middle of the floor," Maura suggested, stepping to the center of the carpet and releasing the coil securing the neat bundle of rope.  She smiled at Penny.  "I double the rope, find the center, then make a loop, correct?"

"Correct," Penny nodded.  The grinning pixie focused on Jane.  "You should either sit or kneel," she suggested.

Jane was not happy.  She'd do what she had to do to preserve their cover, but there was entirely too much tying up going on around this place and she was not happy.  She stomped to the center area, flopped down onto her butt, and crossed her legs.  "Just get on with it," she huffed.

What happened over the next few minutes did nothing to improve Jane's mood.  With Penny as her coach, the binder open at her side, and using the coils of conditioned rope, Maura knelt behind Jane and proceeded to tie up her BFF.

According to the notes, the technique was called the ushiro takatekote, and supposedly was considered by most to be the foundation of the Art.  In the West, it was called a "box-tie."  Jane's arms were folded behind her back with horizontal, doubled loops of rope pinning her upper arms to her torso, passing above and below her breasts.  Rope also yoked her shoulders and cinched the horizontal ropes, and multiple loops bound her forearms and wrists.  The final knot was tied through the yoking rope at the nape of Jane's neck, well out of the reach of her fluttering fingers.

It was complicated.  Jane wasn't at all sure she could duplicate the tie loop-for-loop and cinch-for-cinch.  The notes in the binder would probably help.  In any case, it was tight and, much to Jane's surprise, more or less comfortable.

It was also infuriating.  More correctly, the sight and sound of a naked, smiling, chattering Maura and a naked, mischievously grinning Penny wrapping and tightening loop after loop of doubled rope around her naked body was infuriating.  Jane sat and glowered into the distance, ignoring the growing feeling of helplessness as band after band of doubled rope slithered and snapped taut, dimpling her flesh and rendering her ever more dependent on her "captors."

Maura turned the page and continued, and Jane's cross-legged pose quickly become involuntary.  With a second coil of rope, Maura tied her ankles together, then looped more rope around her folded legs and lashed each lower leg to its respective thigh.

"Really, Maura?" Jane muttered.  "My legs?"

Maura tucked the remaining rope under the horizontal bands below Jane's breasts, pulled out the slack, and it tied off.  "Finished," Maura announced, smiling brightly as she wrapped the remaining free ends and tied a final knot.  "This is called the ebi-zeme or 'shrimp-tie,'" she added.

"Actually," Penny said, "this is a really relaxed version of the shrimp-tie.  In a real shrimp-tie, the rope is looped behind the head and tightened to force the, uh, 'subject' into a full crunch.  The Japanese used it as a form of torture."

"Well," Maura said, still smiling, "we certainly don't want to do that."  She continued reading the instructions, then pointed to a passage.  "Is this really necessary?" she asked Penny.

"Oh, yeah," Penny nodded.  "Supposedly, it helps focus the mind."

"What?" Jane inquired.  She was trying to crane her neck and read the page, but the angle was unfavorable.

"I'm not sure what to use," Maura said.

"What?" Jane demanded.

Penny stood and strolled towards the cottage's bathroom.  "I know just what you need."

"Mauraaaaa!" Jane complained, tugging on her bonds.

"Calm down, Jane," Maura.  "It's necessary for the assignment."

"What is it," Jane demanded.

Penny had returned from the bathroom and was kneeling behind Jane.

Jane's eyes were still on Maura.  "Just tell me, already.  What else are you gonna—Mrrrf?"

Penny had reached from behind Jane's head and eased a folded washcloth into her open mouth, and now was tightening and cinching a narrowly folded scarf, cleaving the washcloth and Jane's mouth.  She then tied a square-knot at the nape of Jane's neck, under her ponytail.  Both the washcloth and scarf were saffron-orange.

"Mrrrrf!"  Jane was struggling furiously, but the ropes held.  Maura had completed her homework assignment with the usual competence and perfection.  Also, the gag was effective.  "M'mpfh-rrr-fff!"

"Calm down, Jane," Maura said seriously.  "Now," she instructed, "you're to focus on the feeling of helplessness and try to find your center."

Actually, Maura was trying her best not to break into a giggling fit, and Jane was in no way fooled.

"M'mpfh!" Jane complained, staring daggers at her BFF.

"Well, that's that," Penny said brightly.  "Ready for your massage?" she asked Maura.

"I guess," Maura said with a grin.  "Where did you get the scarf?"

"Bottom shelf of the bathroom cabinet," Penny answered.  "Hair scarves are the only clothing allowed at the Moon River Colony, in case the wind starts to blow."

"That I know," Maura said with a smile.  "I read all the material in the welcome folder.  I just didn't know the Colony provided scarves."  She reached out and straightened a loose strand of Jane's hair.  "That's a pretty shade of saffron, at once warm and soothing."

Jane glowered at her smiling BFF.  She did not feel soothed.  Just you wait, Jane silently promised.

Meanwhile, Penny had knelt on the far side of the towel-covered mat and was oiling her hands.

"The instructions say you should relax and try and meditate," Maura told Jane with an earnest smile.  "I know you still have to get through two reading assignments, but once I get my massage, I'll read both of them aloud while you meditate, okay?"

"Mrrrf!" Jane growled in response.

"I'll take that as a yes," Maura chuckled, then kissed Jane's forehead, went to the mat, and reclined in her stomach.

Jane had a perfect view as her naked BFF received a massage from the naked Penny.  She remembered Maura telling her she was a self-described "wild-child" when she was in college, and now Jane believed it.  Apparently, the combination of rope and lack of clothing had released her BFF's inner-trickster.  And as for Penny...  Jane shifted her angry and very much not relaxed gaze to Penny.  The youngster's oiled hands were kneading Maura's shoulder muscles.  A pair of tricksters, Jane mused.  Her gaze shifted back to Maura.  Just you wait.  Just.  You.  Wait.

The used towels draped over her left arm, the remaining unused towel and bottle of massage oil in her right hand, and the rolled mat under her right arm, Penny made her exit.  As she pulled the door closed, Maura was sitting in a full lotus with her three-ring binder in her lap, reading to the bound, gagged, and glowering Jane.  What Penny's fellow Colony employees called her "brat-smirk" curling her lips, she shook her head once she was on the main path to the Great Lodge.

Penny had made her determination.  The guests in cottage seventeen were definitely a couple.  It was a pity they didn't know it yet, but they were definitely a couple.