Lisette Rivers & the Crumbling Mansion Affair

By Brian Sands

Chapter Three: The Experiment

"It won't be exciting after a few hours, if we can't get out of these ropes," said Lisette.

"Oh but we will won't we?" Sunny began to test her wrist ties and her voice faltered. "Oh. They are tight aren't they?"

"That's the whole idea," boomed Jeremy Buddington cheerily from one of the armchairs, where he sat nursing his refilled brandy balloon. "My heroine does not escape her bonds. She remains bound for hours and is rescued by the detective inspector with whom she is in love."

Sunny looked across at Lisette. "We can help untie each other," she said optimistically.

"That's the ticket," said Buddington approvingly. "Although, come to think of it, my heroine is alone. So by rights you should both pretend to be on your own and do the best you can to get free without help."

"All right," replied Sunny. "But we can't try that - on our own - until after you leave us. If we were really kidnapped and our kidnapper found that we were getting loose he would just tie us up again, a lot tighter! And if he were guarding us he would do the same. He'd stop our struggles if they were succeeding."

"So you're saying that I should leave you two to sort it out?"

"It would be more realistic," said Sunny reasonably.

"The verisimilitude you so want," added Lisette ironically.

"Oh very well," grumbled Buddington. "I suppose so. There is work I can do in my study for an hour or two."

He began to rise ponderously from his chair.

An hour or two? Lisette thought wildly. What has Sunny got us into?

Buddington had clearly been enjoying the sight of the two young women in their bonds, Lisette in dark slacks, green knitted top and neck scarf, and Sunny in her slim skirt and lacy transparent blouse, and he could not hide his disappointment.

"Wait a minute," called Sunny from over her shoulder as Buddington moved towards the door. The man paused and looked around vaguely.

Sunny strained her hands against the coils that held her wrists and kicked playfully with her bound legs. "I think we should be gagged. If we were being held captive our kidnapper wouldn't want us to scream or call for help."

"Well …" Jeremy Buddington looked distractedly about the room.

Sunny understood the difficulty. "You can use our scarves," she said brightly. "Liz is wearing one that looks strong enough, and there's an even thicker silk scarf in my bag."

As the man stumped across the room to inspect Sunny's shoulder bag, the young woman rolled onto her side with difficulty to face Lisette. She wriggled ecstatically.

"What could be simpler than being tied up like this?" she exclaimed. "We'll trick him." She lowered her voice. "We'll just wiggle over to each other and take turns untying our hands. I know it's cheating but I'm having a lot of thoughts about this and he'll fill his note book and the experiment will be a success!"

Lisette thought differently about their situation. "Don't struggle like that," she warned. "You'll only make the knots tighter, and they'll be harder to undo, and you'll exhaust yourself. It's no fun being really tied up. After a while the ropes will start to hurt and the pain will keep us still. Can't you feel the circulation already going in our hands? After a while the ropes will cramp our bodies and it will be even harder to struggle."

"So we'll untie each other as soon as he leaves," said Sunny optimistically.

"It isn't going to be as easy as you think," countered Lisette. "My fingers are already getting numb - yours must be too - and it won't be possible to pick open the knots. I think we should ask him to loosen them before he goes."

Both young women raised their heads and looked across the room at Jeremy Buddington who, with one arm sunk to the elbow in Sunny's shoulder bag, was muttering to himself.

"Ah here we are!" He extracted a voluminous square of ice green silk printed with an unobtrusive ivy flower pattern.

Lisette continued her advice in a low voice. "Sunny, being tied up for a long time is bad enough, but it's worse when you have a gag in your mouth. It's …

" But She was unable to finish because the man was returning. Lisette and Sunny looked up at him expectantly.

"Now Miss Virtue …" said Buddington.

Jeremy Buddington knelt beside Sunny and brought the folded scarf over her head. The girl opened her mouth. She seemed to be in a trance as the thick luxurious material was pushed in between her jaws, the ends passed around to the back of her neck over her long hair, and tied firmly with a single knot topped by a second knot tied in a bow. During the procedure, which was surprisingly fast, Sunny emitted no sound.

Jeremy Buddington turned to Lisette.

"Miss Poole likewise," he said cheerfully as he untied the silk scarf from Lisette's neck.

"Just a minute. Won't you … Ngggk?"

But Lisette's question died away as her own scarf was drawn quickly between her jaws and tied behind her neck over her hair in the same way that Sunny's gag had just been secured.

The man climbed ponderously to his feet, grunting with the effort, and dusted his hands. "Two neat little bundles of womanhood," he observed, his face beaming in admiration. "I shall now repair to my study and begin writing up my notes on this subject. I'm looking forward to your reports."

He turned to leave and was halfway to the door when Sunny began to speak unintelligibly but urgently through the cloth in her mouth. Buddington halted. "Eh? Is something wrong?"

Sunny raised her mumblings to a higher pitch.

Jeremy Buddington retraced his steps and knelt beside Sunny. He took one end of the scarf where it was tied in a bow and with a single pull released the double knot, loosened the gag and eased it gently from Sunny's mouth. "What is it dear girl?"

"I wanted to say it's too loose," said Sunny. You have to tie it a lot tighter!"

"Oh, is that all?" said the man with a chuckle. "I thought you were starting to get frightened or something."

"I want to know what it's like in real-life."

"That's easy enough," responded Buddington. "Open wide dear."

Lisette saw Sunny's eyes widen with surprise as her gag was retied a lot more tightly. The ends were passed under her hair too, which Lisette knew would make the silk harder to slip off because it was now tight against the skin of Sunny's face and neck all the way round.

"I suppose I should do the same for you my dear," murmured Buddington as he turned to Lisette.

Lisette wanted to remonstrate that, no it was fine with her to remain gagged as she already was, but she was not given that option. The scarf remained in her mouth as Buddington retied it under her hair, as he had done for Sunny. The silk bit into Lisette's cheeks and the corners of her mouth, drawing her lips apart in a narrow grimace and to a degree locking her jaw to make movement difficult. She looked across at Sunny. Sunny Virtue's face was split in the same way by her gag.

The door closed after the man, leaving Lisette and Sunny alone to their own devices. Sunny rolled over onto her other side so that her back was towards Lisette. The girl began to edge awkwardly in very short shuffling movements towards Lisette. Taking the cue, Lisette also rolled to her other side so that they were back to back.

As they began edging backwards with the intention of helping to untie each other's bonds, Lisette felt thoroughly disheartened. She knew that Sunny was optimistic. It was all an adventure to her. But experience told Lisette that they were too securely bound for their combined efforts to have much effect. Of course they were safe. This was, after all, an experiment in reconstructing a plot element for a novel, as the author Jeremy Buddington had argued so forcefully. But it was uncomfortable. The wrist bonds and the gag were already wearisome and might soon become unbearable.

It was more than likely going to be a long and uncomfortable night. Lisette seriously disputed the idea that the interests of literature justified the physical discomfort that she and Sunny Virtue were now experiencing.

Time passed. Lisette moved her mouth experimentally against the gag. It was tight enough to defeat any real attempt to slip it off. The silk cut into the soft corners of her mouth and felt as though it was embedded in her cheeks. It held her mouth open, yet stretched at the same time in a narrow grimace. Lisette guessed that Sunny's equally tight mouth tie was a faithful mirror image of her own.

It's surprising how an ordinary silk scarf can become so uncomfortable in such a short time when it's used as a gag. Lisette had entertained these thoughts on similar occasions. Silk's deliciously soft, but it's also very strong, she mused. But, depending on how tightly it's tied in my mouth, my jaws will ache. I might be able to speak around it at the start, but my mouth goes dry because it's held open, and that turns my voice into a croak. It would have been more comfortable if we'd asked Buddington to tie the scarves over our mouths instead.

These thoughts helped to pass the time. That was all they did. They did not lead to any brilliant ideas about how to get each other untied. The knots that held their wrists were surprisingly cunning, and no amount of picking at them with fingers that were slowly growing numb had any effect. Lisette and Sunny Virtue looked into each other's eyes and saw only hopelessness and resignation in those of her companion. Sunny gave a small shrug and curled up on her side next to Lisette. At least the carpet was thick and soft.

Lisette tried to speak reassuringly, to tell Sunny that it would be all right, that the writer Jeremy Buddington would soon return and free them, the experiment would be over. But all that came out was a garbled and slightly hollow sound as though she was in the dentist's chair with her jaws held open by a dental gag.

Sunny looked uncomprehendingly in response to Lisette's attempted: "Don't worry, Sunny. We'll soon be rescued." The girl shrugged her shoulders again.

In the silence that followed Lisette could hear the measured ticking of what sounded like a grandfather clock from somewhere in the room outside her field of vision. Lisette had plenty of time in which to observe her fellow captive. Sunny's struggles had popped two buttons of her transparent blouse, exposing firm and rounded breasts that flanked a deep cleavage line, pushing out from the bra cups in which they were supported, framed also by the lacy full slip.

She's a pretty little thing, thought Lisette. All this is a tremendously exciting game to her, a new experience. She's young, though not I think as innocent as those large blue eyes would have one think. And she'd be right about us being safe. She appears to know this man Buddington well enough to trust him to bind and gag her! He does have rather an avuncular aspect.

Time wore on. The hidden clock began to chime, musical notes that ended in the inexorable ringing out of each hour. Lisette was startled to find that it was already ten o'clock. They had arrived at Jeremy Buddington's cottage some time after seven. Had they been tied up for two whole hours? The ropes cramping her and the itching gag confirmed it.

Has he forgotten us? He seems awfully absent-minded! Lisette looked hopefully towards the door. There was no sound from the other side.

The clock struck another quarter and it seemed that almost no time elapsed before it chimed the half hour. Ten thirty! Lisette shifted uncomfortably. Lying in one place on her side with her arms behind her and no support for her head by now had her body aching intolerably as well as cramped. The soft carpet beneath her gave very little comfort. Her hands were numb, but the tingling in her fingers meant that there was still circulation in them. Pins and needles shot through her arms and shoulders. Opposite her, Sunny moved restlessly and shifted closer. The little blonde nuzzled her face against Lisette's breasts and, surprisingly, fell asleep.

She's more limber than me, thought Lisette with a twinge of envy, and more trusting. She's just waiting it out. Has Buddington tied her up before … as an experiment? Is that why Sunny's so confident? But she said it was the first time she's been tied up.

Lisette's thoughts were interrupted providentially by the sound of the door opening. Jeremy Buddington entered, notebook in hand. The man took several paces into the room then stopped, blinking in the light and gazing around him vaguely over the tops of his reading glasses. For several seconds he appeared oblivious of the two young women lying on the floor at his feet. When he did set eyes on them, he recoiled in utter surprise.

"My goodness," he faltered. Lisette could almost see the cogs and gears turning metaphorically as Buddington's mind caught up with the situation. "My goodness," he exclaimed again, "I completely forgot about you two young ladies. Got involved in my note taking, wrote some descriptive paragraphs about how the heroine is trussed up by the robbers. I must have fallen asleep. Look at the time!"

"Mmmmph mmmm," came Lisette's response as she shook her head and tried to make every indication that she would like the gag to be taken out of her mouth. The man did not appear to notice.

"Damn silly of me really. I'll be forgetting my head next."

"Mmmmmm!" The smothered cry was the best, and most frantic, that Lisette could manage.

Jeremy Buddington understood at last. He squatted down beside them. "Now where did I put my glasses?" He gazed distractedly around him. "I'm lost without them, can't see the side of a barn door without them."

The gag prevented Lisette from telling him that they were perched on his head. Sunny Virtue glugged faintly. With a shock Lisette observed that the pretty girl's eyes were shining with affection and what must surely be hero-worship. Well, it takes all sorts, thought Lisette as Jeremy Buddington, having discovered his spectacles, carefully untied her gag, then that of Sunny Virtue. Lisette's mouth felt numb, and when she attempted to say "Thank you" and "About time too" the words did not come out right. They sounded blurred to her ears. Her jaw felt stiff and it ached.

Sunny Virtue appeared just as dishevelled as Lisette but her words were clearer. "You are a silly old fellow. Come on, get these ropes off us and I'll make us all a nice hot drink."

"Yes. Oh that would be splendid," said Buddington.

Lisette stood and stretched, rubbing circulation back into her hands and massaging her mouth and face. By the time she and Sunny were back in the living room drinking from large cups of hot chocolate, Lisette could scarcely believe that they had been bound and gagged for more than three hours. Sunny carried on as though nothing had happened.

Lisette volunteered to do the washing up of cups and dishes in the kitchen, and Sunny Virtue and Jeremy Buddington disappeared into the man's study where Sunny talked about how it felt to be tied up and gagged for hours.

"He doesn't mean any harm," said Sunny a little breathlessly as they walked back along the roadside path. "Once he left me for an hour posing in a trench coat under a hot arc lamp because he wanted to take photographs and forgot about me when he was working in the dark room. I was drenched with sweat. He did use one of the shots as an illustration for his new novel, so that wasn't so bad."

"You said this was the first time you'd been tied up," said Lisette.

"That's right. It was."

"You took it very calmly."

"To tell you the truth, I was hoping that one day he'd get around to it. I kept on reading about his heroines getting into all sorts of scrapes, being gagged and tied up in any number of dangerous situations, and I must confess that I fantasised a lot about how it would feel if I was the heroine and what would I do and everything. It certainly makes a girl feel helpless doesn't it? We couldn't move or speak. I'm glad it was just an experiment and not a real-life situation. I think I'd be very scared it if was the real thing."

"I'm sure you would be," agreed Lisette. She forbore to tell her pretty blonde companion that she had far too much experience of being tied up and gagged. It was to get away from that sort of stress that she was taking her country holiday. And look what happened, thought Lisette ironically. But Sunny's right. At least it was innocent and neither of us was hurt, only damned uncomfortable!

Sunny drew to a halt. Lisette realised that they were standing opposite the entrance to the strange mansion building next door to her cottage.

"I suppose I could sneak in there. I have keys of course and my room key and room number as a guest. But I'd better just go on to the village. Business over that old place can be done later. You are coming to that dinner party tomorrow night aren't you? Fforbes is throwing it, pretending it's his estate. He'll get a real surprise when I turn up. Between you and me, I'm told that he's a small-time swindler. I'm going to make darn sure that he doesn't get his hands on my aunt's property, well, mine now of course."

Lisette agreed to go to the party. After meeting Sunny she would not miss it for the world.

It was after two o'clock when Lisette took a quick shower and crawled into bed. Rasputin Thermodux the Third blinked at her sleepily from where he sat in the middle of the bed. There followed a subtle series of movements and changes of body position before a settlement had been arranged and they were both asleep, the big Persian lying snugly inside the curve of Lisette's back.

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