It was quiet in the motel room. Dark and quiet. Two of the occupants, of course, were maintaining an enforced silence.
The kidnappers had chosen the location well: a cheap motel, in a seedy area on the outskirts of Portland. The office was far enough from the rooms that no one would see Brenda Joyce and her partner as they opened the car trunk and unbound the women’s ankles. There were no witnesses as Franny and Madame Ulanova were removed from the trunk, and marched, bound and gagged, to a large room, with two smaller ones on each side. Brenda Joyce informed her captives that they had rented the rooms on either side, as well, so there was no point in their trying to knock on the walls for help.
Inside, the furnishings were threadbare, but the two chairs which sat at a table in the guest area were large and heavy. Franny was pushed down on one of the twin beds while Brenda Joyce unbound the straps that had restrained Madame Ulanova for the entire time. The woman was afraid to move, but Joyce indicated that she might try and work some circulation back into her arms. After a moment, she told her to sit in the chair, and used the straps to fasten her arms to the arms of the heavy chair. The rope that had hogtied her in the trunk of the car was then cut in two, and used to tie her ankles to the legs of the chair. Still gagged with the leather and cloth pad, the woman closed her eyes, and sat back in the chair.
As Brenda Joyce worked, Ted had been savoring the charms of their other captive. Franny lay face-down on the bed. It was pointless for her to try and loosen her bonds now: as soon as they finished with Madame Ulanova, they clearly intended to tie her to the other chair; best to try and rest and regain her strength. She closed her eyes, and tried to ignore the claustrophobic sensations that threatened to over whelm her: the ropes that held her wrists firmly in place against the small of her back; the additional turns that Ted had used to secure her arms, and that hugged her tightly. She did her best to relax and surrender herself to their cruel embrace. The gag was another matter, though: unable to use her arms to push herself up, she had to strain her neck to keep her face off the bed and breathe comfortably. Not only did this gag silence her more effectively than the scarf had, it exerted a unique control over her: it dictated how she must hold herself; it presented her lips and teeth to her captors as though she might have been a prize horse ready to have its mouth inspected; most humiliatingly, she noticed that it caused her to drool. Then, as though matters were not bad enough, she felt Ted's hand casually rest itself on her trim rear, and give it a caressing pat. She tried to squirm away, and heard the man's cruel laughter. His insolent use of her only ceased when Brenda Joyce announced that she had finished tying Madame Ulanova to the chair.
"Okay, now for this one." Ted hauled Franny to her feet, and pushed her over to the other chair. From behind, he began to undo her arms and elbows. Even through the huge ballgag, Franny let out a sigh as she felt the pressure on her arms released; though her wrists were still bound, it was an incredible feeling of relief. She worked her shoulders up and around as the man untied the rope looped about her waist. Once he had freed her hands, he spun her around, gave her a push, and she fell into the chair. Though she ached to try and remove the ballgag, she knew better than to resist as the man took the cords which had bound her, forced her to sit forward in the chair, and tied her arms to the tops of the chair arms. After what she had just been through, this almost qualified as comfort. In moments, he had roped her in place: arms, wrists, legs, and ankles. Franny tried to get comfortable, but she was smaller than the Russian woman, and her arms and ankles were tied in such a way that she could not rest against the back of the chair. Exhausted from her ordeal, she drooped her head, a thin line of saliva running down her chin from the cruel way the ballgag forced her mouth open.
The man yawned and went to the kitchen. Brenda Joyce sipped a drink and looked at her captives. After satisfying herself that both were helpless and unlikely to go anywhere, she addressed Franny. "I suppose that ballgag probably isn’t very comfortable; it really is a size or two larger than I’d have normally used for you." She paused. "I’ll tell you what. Now, you understand that we have to keep you quiet, and, contrary to what you might have seen on TV, just tying a hanky over your face won’t do it. I’ll see if I can find something else to use on you. You just wait right here," she concluded with a giggle. The woman disappeared into the kitchen area, and returned with a bottle of water, a plastic bag, and a roll of silver-colored duct tape. She took Franny’s chin, and looked into the helpless girl’s eyes. "Now, I’m going to replace that ballgag for you, but there is to be no repeat of your performance earlier. Let me warn you now, if we have any nonsense—if you make even a single peep—I am going to take that pretty hair of yours and stuff your mouth full of it before I tape it shut." She paused to let that sink in, then opened the plastic bag. "If you co-operate, I think we can make do with these," and she held out two large natural sponges. "You may not enjoy it, but I guarantee you’ll prefer it to the ballgag." Franny nodded. She hadn’t given up hope of escape, but she would clearly have no good opportunity here. Brenda Joyce reached behind her head, and unbuckled the gag. It took some effort, but she was able to work it back and forth until it was free. Franny worked her jaws around for relief, and licked her dry lips. Brenda Joyce then held the water bottle to her lips, and allowed her to take a few sips. At this sign of solicitude on her captor’s part, Franny decided to take a chance.
"Please," her voice came out a cracked whisper, "Please let me go. I won’t--"
She stopped abruptly as the woman took a handful of her hair and rolled it into a ball, glaring ominously at the girl. Brenda Joyce said, "Don’t make me warn you again. Besides, do you think I really believe that if we let you go, you’d forget all about us and the woman we’ve kidnapped? No, you’re going to remain in our care for a while yet, and the smartest thing you can do—for both of your sakes—is shut up and co-operate. I’m sure you can see that Ted would love to spend some time amusing himself with you, and if you annoy me enough, I just might let him. Now, open up." Franny sighed and obeyed.
The woman took one of the sponges from the bag, and tipped Franny’s head back by her chin. She then inserted the sponge into the girl’s open mouth. The woman’s fingers were strong and slender, and she soon had the sponge pushed to the back of Franny’s mouth. She released her captive’s chin, and placed a hand at the back of Franny’s head to steady it. She then took another sponge, and stuffed it in atop the first. This time, though, instead of forcing it to the back of Franny’s mouth, she used her fingertips to stuff it into the girl’s left cheek. Once she had determined that it was in as far as it would go, another was added, filling her right cheek. One final sponge was added, filling the front of her mouth, pressing down on her tongue. The woman then released her head, and Franny had to forcibly remind herself of the ballgag (or the woman’s other alternative!) to keep from trying to expel the sponges from her mouth. Brenda Joyce then began cutting strips of tape from the roll. When she had three of them, she forced Franny to close her jaw around the packing, and then pressed the first strip of tape over her lips. She smoothed the tape in place, then added two more strips in a small "X" pattern over the first. "There. That should keep you quiet enough," she said with satisfaction.
As Ted returned from the kitchen, Joyce indicated the bound figure of Madame Ulanova. "Let's get her cleaned up to meet her husband." Ted untied her, and Brenda Joyce addressed the woman, "You can have twenty minutes in that bathroom to shower and clean up." Ted withdrew a knife from his pocket, and stood next to Franny. "And I hope you understand that you must be on your best behavior unless you want to see this young woman hurt." Franny looked in terror at the knife hovering near her face, and the woman nodded. For the next twenty minutes, Franny had to endure the sound of the hot, steaming shower, and could only fantasize about how good one would feel. Finally, Madame Ulanova emerged, toweling her hair. Brenda Joyce went to retie her to the chair, and Ted asked, "What about her?" nodding to where Franny remained bound and gagged in her own chair.
"What about her? No one's paying to have her returned all clean and shiny."
"No, but if she and I should…well, find a little time together, it would be nice if she could get cleaned up a bit, first." The woman just shrugged, said "Ten minutes," and returned to tying Madame Ulanova. Franny looked anxiously up at the man. "O.K., honey, same deal. You got ten minutes in the bathroom. No tricks, no noise-- I know a hundred ways to hurt that woman," he nodded at Madame Ulanova, "that won't leave a single mark to upset her husband." As he spoke, he was untying the ropes that bound Franny to the chair. Franny got up, and reached for her mouth. She began to slowly peel off the duct tape sealing her lips. It was agonizing, going a millimeter at a time. Brenda Joyce, having finished with Madame Ulanova, rolled her eyes at Franny's slow progress. She stepped to the girl, slid a fingernail under the loosened edge of the tape, and yanked as hard as she could. With a painful ripping sound, the tape peeled off Franny's face, and she shrieked into the stuffing in her mouth.
"Best just to get it over with." Brenda Joyce reached into Franny's mouth and plucked out the sponges. The girl was still gasping from the pain of having what felt like having half her face removed, but Joyce ignored her misery and pushed her into the bathroom.
I must be mad, a part of Franny's mind was telling her, facing the most deadly peril I've ever known, and here I am about to take a shower. Well, she answered herself, so what? What are the choices? Despair? Give up? Neither appealed to Franny; anyway, she couldn’t allow them to harm Madame Ulanova. She would use this opportunity to recover some of her lost dignity. They would certainly tie and gag her again when she was done, but they wouldn't break her!
When Franny emerged from her shower, Ted was already snoring on one of the twin beds. Franny had seen him place his gun under the pillow before, and wondered idly if it made the pillow lumpy. Brenda Joyce had her own pistol out as she motioned for Franny to sit down again. Once the girl took her place, Joyce tucked the gun behind her waist, and began refastening Franny's arms to the arms of the chair. She thought of jumping the woman, but from this angle she couldn’t reach the gun. It took only moments for Joyce to put the idea out of her head altogether by fastening her wrists to the chair arms again. As more rope was applied to Franny's forearms, she noted that the woman was less stringent in binding her captive than the man had been. Tired as she was, Franny didn't know if she could make any use of this, but she did her best to remain still as Brenda Joyce continued to tie her, intending to give the woman no reason to do the job any more securely. Joyce was certainly cautious: she made sure she was behind the chair as she began to tie Franny's ankles, so the girl would have no opportunity to kick her. When Franny's ankles were secured, Brenda Joyce stood up, holding the roll of duct tape.
"It's late, and we all need our sleep. If I can count on you not to make a fuss, we can dispense with packing your mouth, and just tape you up. I'm sure that will make it easier for you to sleep in the chair. Can I trust you to behave?"
Franny widened her eyes as innocently as possible, and did her best to look as tired as she felt. "I'm not going to make trouble." She hoped she sounded convincing. Brenda Joyce nodded, and cut off more strips of tape. She repeated the three-strip arrangement, but without the sponges filling her prisoner's mouth. Finished, she glanced down at Ted, snoring away, then went to the other bed. She put her gun in her bag, and her bag in a drawer of the nightstand, turned on the small lamp, and doused the overhead light. Brenda Joyce removed her shoes, took a glance at her captives to ensure they were secured, pulled a magazine from her bag, and settled back on the bed to read. Franny put back her head on the chair. She wanted to formulate an escape plan, to start working at the ropes, but the events of the day, and the relaxing shower, had just left her spent. Her eyes dropped closed almost against her will, and in a few moments, she fell asleep.