Madame used the whole length of the sash on Simone’s wrists. Two horizontal turns, a knot jerked so tight that the young woman flinched and gasped in pain through the satin cloth bunched in her mouth, a second knot doubled over the first also jerked tight; the sash turned vertically, the knot jerked hard once again before being doubled securely.

The fingers of the woman dug into Simone’s arms like steel claws as she waited for Douglas to return with several coils of sash cord over his arm. ‘I’ll do it this time,’ hissed Madame through her teeth. ‘Just pass the cords to me as I need them.’

‘Yers, me-dame.’

‘This is how you’re going to spend the morning my girl,’ grated The Woman in Black as she looped four turns of cord around Simone’s arms at the elbows.

The cord was pulled tight, dragging Simone’s elbows painfully into the small of her back. It was then cinched in the middle, further tightening the constriction around the girl’s arms, forcing her shoulders back. Although the ties did not bring her elbows together, the ropes made her shoulder blades almost touch.

‘This is how they treat prisoners in war, you know,’ said Madame with a return to her cynical humour. ‘The elbow tie, from the ancient Egyptians to present-day Afghanistan. It’s very disabling. There’s scarcely a need to bind your hands, except that you must be taught a very firm lesson.’

Simone looked over her shoulder at Madame, tears in her eyes.

‘Not so defiant now are we?’ Madame paused and sucked in a deep breath. ‘I will break you, little girl. You will spend this morning in agonising discomfort.’

A thought in the back of Simone’s mind came unbidden, as though there was another Simone watching the whole drama more dispassionately than the frightened young woman whimpering through her gag: ‘This woman’s crazy. She’s on a power high. I wonder what her testosterone level is?’ Simone shook her head, but the thoughts buoyed her up. She ceased crying and stood straight, silent and defiant as Madame continued to bind her.

Dougie handed another piece of cord to Madame. The end of this was wound three times about Simone’s wrists above where they were bound already and a doubled knot made. The long end was left dangling and Simone was pushed roughly onto the sofa, whereupon Madame knelt and trussed her legs together above the knees and then at the ankles. Each knot was jerked unforgivingly tight. The fingers of Simone’s hands tingled and she felt that the two sets of bonds for her legs were likewise slowing circulation if not cutting it off altogether.

‘Take her shoulders, Dougie.’

As Douglas took Simone, Madame gathered the girl’s legs into her arms and between them they hoisted their prisoner from the sofa and laid her on her side upon the lambskin rug in front of the fireplace. Simone’s legs were then drawn back so that her knees were bent to ninety degrees, and the end of the cord at her wrists was tied around her ankles. As well as being forced back elbow to elbow, her arms were now also stretched downwards towards her feet so that her hands were about twelve inches from her shoe heels.

‘This is what we call a half-hogtie, Dear,’ said Madame, ‘But having your arms trussed back this way makes all the difference don’t you think?’

Simone looked up mutely at the woman’s gloating face, not deigning to attempt to speak through her gag. Instead she bit down on the cloth and glared at the woman with narrowed eyes.

‘My, what looks!’ But Madame appeared slightly rattled. ‘Take care of her Dougie. Finish the job while I change.’

‘What more has to be done?’ though Simone. ‘Oh yes ...’ The gag still had to be tied in place so that she could not get it out of her mouth, and ropes could be secured around her torso to hold her arms more immovable if that was at all possible.

Dougie knelt beside her. ‘She’s in a real mood this morning,’ he whispered in a confiding tone. ‘The arrangement with the fence didn’t go through last night so we have more waiting to do.’ He lifted his head and looked across at the store gossip who was still watching the scene, satisfaction written over her face, her foot tapping an irregular staccato beat on the wooden floor.

‘Go away. Get yourself dressed,’ said Douglas in an unusually commanding voice. ‘You’ll have to do some driving this morning. A shipment has to go out. We can’t afford to have it sitting here gathering dust.’

The woman’s manner changed instantly. ‘Y-yes, Sir,’ she stammered in a surprised voice, and fled down the steps towards her room.

Douglas turned back to Simone. His hand reached out and stroked a lock of hair from her face. He continued stroking her head absently. His hand was gentle. Simone felt like a puppy or a cat. It was not an unpleasant feeling.

‘Take it easy, Simone. Try to handle the pain you must be feeling in your arms and legs. I’ll try to do something about it later, not too long I hope.’

Simone looked up at Dougie with incomprehension in her eyes. Why was the man being so nice to her? Was it some sort of trick?

Douglas continued, ‘I won’t make the gag tighter, if you promise not to try to push it out of your mouth.’

Simone nodded eagerly.

‘Of course that might change when Madame comes back in, but wait and see. Okay?’

Simone nodded again.

‘Good. Just lie still. The less you struggle, the less the bonds will hurt.’

The man turned, for half a minute he stacked more wood on the fire, then he left the room.

Simone lay on the rug, her back warming as the wood caught ablaze, her eyes fixed anxiously on the door through which she expected Madame to walk at any moment. Her thoughts were a jumble. She was experiencing conflicting emotions: fear as the pain from her bonds coursed through her body, but also anger towards Madame and her callousness, and relief that the newly built up fire was making her warm, and a sort of warm though very puzzling feeling towards Dougie. The man obviously had a soft spot for her, and he was not such a wimp as she had imagined, kowtowing to Madame’s every whim. But the way he handled that other unreliable, betraying woman! He’s no fool, she thought. Is he going to help me, somehow?

She had had such a brief taste of freedom, a chance to follow the dictates of her own will, and she had muffed it. If I hadn’t taken so long dressing up, she thought wryly, I might have slipped out the door before that woman came and trapped me. Now she was helpless again, at the mercy of others, with no free will of her own. That free will was taken from her by the agonising bonds at her arms and legs, and by the gag in her mouth. She could spit it out, but that would be a very foolish thing to do. It would provide Madame with another pretext to further vent her cruelty on her. Even the freedom to get rid of the gag was illusory. No, she had to lie still and be brave. She had to take it on the chin, the vulnerability of her nakedness, and the punishment of the ropes, also the growing discomfort of the gag that was becoming saturated with saliva and pressed leadenly uponher tongue. The trouble was, Simone did not feel brave.

When she re-entered the room two hours later, Madame was dressed for the weather in dark woollen tights beneath a pleated tartan skirt that just covered her knees, and a black skin-tight top with sleeves reaching almost to the mid-forearms. A wide red belt complemented the austere but stylish outfit. It was in sharp contrast to Simone’s near-nakedness where she lay clad only in a half-slip, her arms rigidly fixed behind her.

With her hands on her knees, Madame bent over her captive, who raised her head and looked up fearfully into the older woman’s baleful eyes.

‘You have not tied her gag in place, Dougie,’ said Madame accusingly.

‘No need to,’ the man replied laconically. ‘You have her thoroughly cowed, don’t yer see? Better for our little prisoner to cooperate in her bondage.’

‘Ahh.’ Madame exhaled in satisfaction. ‘A very good observation, Dougie. But I think we’ll do it now. Let her stew a little longer while we’re having brunch.’

The Lady in Black stalked across to the open clothing box and returned with a short chiffon sash in her hands. She knelt beside Simone and with a quick movement tied a knot in the centre of the band of cloth, wedged it firmly into Simone’s mouth over the satin panties, and drew it tight with a long steady movement until it seemed that she could not make it any deeper. The young woman made faint retching sounds as the panties were forced towards the back of her mouth. Madame then tightened Simone’s wrist bonds. The young woman had not believed that they could be made any more secure than they were already.

‘Come Dougie.’ Madame exited the doorway towards the kitchen.

As he trailed behind her, Dougie paused and winked at Simone in what the girl decided was meant to be a note of reassurance. He knows how to butter up that woman, thought Simone. The man was good for small comforts to his prisoner, but what more could he do when Madame was on the scene? Simone could not stifle a faint moan as she lowered her head and tried to relax in a futile attempt to lessen the constriction of her bonds. There was no longer any feeling in her hands, pins and needles ran up and down her arms, and her shoulders were on fire from being drawn so far back for so long.

When the couple returned, Simone was bathed in sweat, tears flooded her eyes, and her hands were puffy and suffused with blood. While Madame watched in gloating silence, Dougie knelt beside Simone and with a clasp knife sawed carefully through the bonds at the young woman’s wrists, removing the cords that hogtied her as well. The elbow ties were the next to be cut away, followed by the cords at Simones knees and ankles. Simone’s arms fell uselessly to her sides and renewed tears flowed down her cheeks to be absorbed by the gag as circulation returned. She was propped up in Dougie’s arms, the strip of chiffon embedded between her jaws cut through, and the panty gag gently extracted. Simone coughed and almost passed out from the relief.

‘Rest there for a few minutes, then you will be punished some more,’ said Madame callously. ‘Do you think she’ll look good in one of these, Dougie?’

‘Yers, me-dam.’

Madame was holding a tangle of leather straps with what looked like a red rubber ball mixed in with them. Simone remembered the arrangement of straps that had been used on her before and had a horrible suspicion that something like that was going to be put on her again. But she was almost too exhausted to care and, when Dougie laid her back onto the rug, she folded up limply, closed her eyes, and fell into a swoon.

Simone regained consciousness to find Douglas bending over her. The man’s face was unreadable as usual. The only flicker of emotion had been that moment when he winked at her. Simone tried to sit up but Douglas placed his hand on her shoulder, holding her down effortlessly. She resided to the rug, a faint sigh of compliance on her lips.

‘Stay there,’ said Dougie. ‘Rest a while longer an’ make the best of this. Modom’s going to put you through the ringer again, soon.’

‘You- you’re helping me?’

‘Yers. But ...’

A thick silk scarf was drawn quickly over Simone’s head and bound tightly and efficiently over her mouth. She did not resist. Instead, she put her arms behind her back and crossed her wrists without waiting to be told to do so. Without another word, Dougie bound her hands and ankles and left the room.

A few minutes later Simone heard the sharp clack of Madame’s high heels as the woman re-entered the house. Madame swept into the living room. She was swathed in a large fur-lined coat and wore a Russian-style furred cap over her dark hair. She stood above the young woman’s recumbent body and clicked her tongue with satisfaction.

‘I see Dougie’s taken precautions. Good for him ... Dougie!’

‘Yers?’ The man reappeared from the direction of the kitchen.

‘Excellent work on our little captive, Dougie. Bound neatly, a temporary measure to make sure she’s not going anywhere. But now I think we’ll allow Miss Simone her bathroom privileges.’

‘Ver’ good Modarm. Thank you Modarm.’

‘Get her ready. There’s time for her to use the shower, but no bath luxuries. Oh yes ...’ Madame turned to Simone. ‘You may keep that little silk nothing you’re wearing, my Dear, but leave the stockings and shoes in the bathroom. You’re not going to need many clothes.’

Not need clothes? thought Simone with a leaden feeling in the pit of her stomach. What were they going to do with her? If they left her in the house, bound and naked, surely she would freeze to death. That would also be her fate if they took her with them, although the car would probably be air-conditioned. But not the trunk! She had a horrifying image of lying in the darkness of a car’s trunk slowly growing colder.

Madame left the room and Douglas hauled Simone to her feet and hopped her over to the sofa. The scarves were removed from the girl’s ankles and wrists. When the gag came off, Simone started to speak, but Dougie swiftly cupped a hand over her lips and shook his head warningly. Simone subsided and sat still, watching her captor’s face intently. Dougie gave nothing away.

‘You heard Mad-em. There’s half an hour you can have, which is more than enough. You’ll find brush and comb, and a make-up kit in there. Make the best of it.’

Simone nodded gravely.

Hot water and the opportunity to apply a light touch of make-up did wonders for Simone’s morale. She considered the half-slip and experimented pulling it on over her breasts. The white silk fell only to the tops of her thighs, but that was better than literally nothing. A little like a baby-doll dress, she thought with a grimace of distaste. She had to be satisfied with the cleft between her breasts and their rounded tops peeping above the waistband. The Empire line, like in those movies about Russian countesses or French courtesans, she thought, a touch approvingly. Regretfully, she placed the shoes and the stockings on the bathroom chair. She did not wish to give Madame a pretext to punish her any more, if it could be avoided.

She opened the door from the bathroom to the living room softly so that it was half an inch ajar. She had heard the murmur of voices when it was closed and now she was able to catch some of the words. Madame and Douglas were in earnest discussion.

‘... keep her on?’

‘No Mi-darm. Someone willing to betray their employer so easily is just as likely to betray another. I say let her go when she’s delivered the goods.’

They must be talking about that store chatterbox, thought Simone. She felt a sneaking satisfaction and listened more intently.

‘And the girl?’ It was Dougie’s voice this time.

‘We’ll let her go too, as soon as the goods are out of the way, like we promised. But I intend to have a little fun with her first.’

‘Is it wise to take more time here than we need to?’

‘Why not? The storm’s still at full peak outside. And nobody can know where she is. It’s Wednesday and they’ll be expecting her back. But how many people worry when the boss doesn’t turn up? They’ll take it easy at the store.’

‘Yers. Right as usual Mer-dam.’

Simone shivered. Have more fun with her? She did not like the sound of that. But she could not stand in the bathroom forever. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open and walked through into the living room. Madame and Douglas looked up at her expectantly. For a fleeting moment, Dougie’s face registered approval at Simone’s dress style.

‘Well well,’ said Madame as she rose to her feet, ‘Quite the resourceful one aren’t you? But you were not given permission to cover those firm ripe breasts, and we’ll put a stop to that right now. Take it off!’

Simone complied, letting the silk slip flow softly to the floor around her feet.

Madame was now wearing a one-piece black leather cat suit, and in her hands she held the broad red belt that she had matched with her earlier outfit.

‘Turn around, Dear.’

Simone obeyed, placing her arms behind her back as she did so.

‘My, we are cooperative aren’t we?’ cooed Madame as she came up to Simone and began to turn the belt around the girl’s wrists. The leather was soft to the touch. Madame looped it three times and buckled it tightly. Simone’s wrists were trapped. There was no way she could slip them out against the soft yielding hide.

‘Dougie?’

‘Yers.’

Something was handed to Madame. Simone learned very quickly what it was.

‘Open wide, Dear ... Good girl.’

The thing was brought over Simone’s head and she found a red rubber ball against her lips. Another horrible gag, she thought helplessly as she opened her mouth little by little until the scarcely yielding rubber was forced in behind her teeth. Madame buckled the gag firmly in place with a single narrow leather strap. The ball was small enough to go all the way into Simone’s mouth, allowing her to almost close her lips together.

But Madame was not yet done. The arrangement of broad leather straps came into view and in a very short time Simone found her head and face trapped in another set of broad leather strips. A soft leather band imprisoned her mouth and jaw. Madame tightened it by slow degrees until Simone thought her head would burst. Her lips were enclosed and pressed tightly together. The masking gag compacted her jaws and cheeks around the ball already in her mouth.

‘There, Dearie. Nice and quiet I think ... Now, let’s have a fashion show. Aha-ha.’

Madame and Douglas sat back in the sofa and watched as Simone, utterly naked, her wrists strapped together behind her and her mouth sealed under the leather mask, walked up and down the room, turning for them at every command. Madame clapped ironically at each turn.

‘There you are, Dougie, a naked woman must suit your taste don’t you know?’

‘Yers.’

Dougie was in rapt attention, sitting on the edge of his chair unable to take his eyes off Simone’s lissom figure. And Simone rebelled. She walked straight and proud, her arms straining indignantly at her bonds and her eyes flashing daggers at her captors.

‘She’s still not tamed, Dougie,’ said Madame a touch listlessly.

‘Don’ worry, Mer-dim,’ murmured the man unctuously. ‘Leave her to me while you see to the vehicles.’

‘I suppose so. Dougie, make sure she’s bound very tight. I want to be pleased with the result.’

‘Yers.’