Chapter 3

"He's learned a new trick," Susan said, inspecting Laura's mouth. Her palate and tongue were badly lacerated, the gums swollen and red. "This will hurt," she warned. She swabbed the inside of Laura's mouth with Listerine. It was the only disinfectant she had.

Laura eyes watered. "Ouw!" she cried. "Id ingz!" She closed her mouth, grimacing. Susan dabbed the corners with Vaseline. "That hurts too," she said, smiling bravely.

"I bet."

They were in the bathroom, Laura sitting on the toilet, Susan administering aid. Beyond a sliding glass door to Laura's left was a large jacuzzi, built into a cedar deck. A ledge of imitation marble - she assumed it was imitation - bordered the jacuzzi on three sides. The fourth side was open, with a pair of stainless steel railings leading down. Surrounding the tub were two wooden deck chairs and a chaise lounge, and a circular table with chairs, also of cedar. An open umbrella gave shade.

"Nice house," Laura said.

Susan smiled. She was smaller than Laura, barely five feet tall, thin, with almost no breasts. Laura outweighed her, she guessed, by nearly twenty pounds. Still, Susan was a beautiful girl.

Opening a container of wipes, Susan pulled free half a dozen and set about cleaning Laura's face. It was a challenge. A plastic headband kept Laura's tangled hair out of her way while she worked, and Laura watched her with cheerless eyes.

"That should feel better, huh?" Susan said. She removed grit and perspiration, bark from the tree and ruined mascara. The clean wipes turned black.

"You just don't know," Laura sighed.

They had entered through the back door, into a rustic but modernly equipped kitchen. The cabin was impressively large- -twice the size of Laura's - with all the furniture new and well chosen for comfort. Area rugs covered burnished hardwood floors throughout most of the house; Susan's room was carpeted.

"Thank you for saving me," Laura whispered.

Susan shook her head. "I still can't believe I heard nothing," she said. "I've been here all day."

Laura thought of her ear-splintering wails, Tonto's howls. Her face reddened. "Most of the time I was gagged with the rock," she said. I didn't get it out until..." she shrugged.

Susan paused in her cleaning. Disquiet crossed her face. "I almost drove to the camp store," she said. "I have a friend who's teaching me to repel." She looked through the sliding glass door and down the gravel driveway. "We climb Annapolis Rock - the base of it anyway - about ten miles farther down the road. I wouldn't have been back until late." She shrugged. "If at all."

Laura's stomach clenched. "I'm certainly glad you didn't," she said. She followed Susan's gaze out the glass door. "What changed your mind?"

Susan's brow furrowed. "That's the weird thing. I heard a wolf. What I thought was a wolf. Sounded like the biggest wolf in the world."

Laura blinked. "A wolf?"

"Yeah. It woke me up."

Then she did hear, Laura thought. If not herself, then Tonto.

"For a time I just sat by the window, looking out." She laughed. "I locked all the doors."

Laura lowered her eyes. "It was the dog," she said.

"The dog?"

Laura nodded. "He saved my life. I guess. He got the bandana off my mouth and undid my feet. It was his howling the woke you up. If not for that him, I'd still be there."

Susan removed the headband and worked Laura's hopeless bangs with a comb. "It was the dog that howled?"

"Ouch! Yes."

"Sorry," Susan said, picking up a brush instead. "Anyway, he scared the crap out of me." She unthreaded one especially bad knot with her fingertips. "I'd like to meet this dog. He sounds amazing."

Oh no, you wouldn't!

Laura changed the subject. "I can't remember it ever being this bad," she said, peeking upward through her hair. "Even when I don't wear a helmet."

"You ride?"

"My brother has a Honda."

"One of those space-rocket bikes," Susan said, with disgust. "I've seen it. I hate it when guys blast past me at a hundred miles an hour. Even in the back seat I pee my pants. They need to be outlawed."

Laura said: "You ride?"

Susan disentangled another clump. "Only with Bruce."

Laura hesitated. "Your ten year old brother?"

Susan paused. Her eyes went momentarily dark. "He's not as young as you think," she said, touching Laura's shoulder. She paused again. "He's twenty-six."

Laura shook her head. "Were not talking about the same person," she said. "This was just a boy."

Susan stepped back. Looking at Laura for a long moment, she said: "You're not the only one he's done this too." She unbuttoned the top four buttons of her shirt, turned sideways and showed Laura her back. It was scarred.

"Oh my God!" Laura whispered. She put her hands over her mouth.

"That's why I want you to call the police. Let someone else deal with him."

"He did that? Your brother?"

"How was he dressed?"

"Uh - "

"Black and white cowboy outfit with a ten gallon hat?"

Laura stared.

"Six guns on his hips?" She touched her own hips.

Laura nodded.

"That's my brother."

Laura shook her head. "But he's - "

"Young?"

Laura shook her head, then nodded.

"Twenty-six. Six years older me."

"But - "

Susan asked bluntly: "Did he show you his penis?"

Laura blinked. "Not exactly," she muttered. She felt herself redden. "I saw it through his pants."

"Typical of a ten year old, you think?"

Laura shook her head. "I can't believe... I mean - "

"Would you like to see something?" Susan said.

Laura wanted nothing but to go home, but she nodded.

"Come on." Susan helped her up by the hand. "This you will just love."

They went down the hallway to Susan's bedroom. It was a bright and airy room with pastel wallpaper on three walls, the fourth wall painted a soft blue. Windows in two adjoining walls admitted plenty of light. A trim double-size bed sat beneath one window with matching end tables and lamps either side. A vanity with mirror sat opposite the bed, an expensive looking oaken dresser and wardrobe against the other. A Compaq computer complete with printer sat atop a table in one corner, a wide screen TV in the other. Laura was surprised by the room's fastidiousness. Her own bedroom was festooned with discarded clothing and paper plates. She'd be embarrassed to have it seen.

They crossed to the bed and Susan lifted the head covers and Laura gasped. Dangling from the headboards thick wooden post was a leather strap, a wrist cuff attached. Made from leather and lined with yellow fur, it was obviously well used. "Oh, my God," she whispered. "Susan!"

Kneeling on the mattress and reaching to the opposite side, Susan brought up an identical leather cuff; they were at the foot of the bed also.

Laura backed away, hands over her mouth. "Susan!"

"Welcome to the Adirondack's, Laura."

Chapter 4

"I don't know what to do," Laura said.

They were back in the bathroom, Susan drawing a hot bath. Laura leaned against the bathroom wall, terribly exhausted.

"If you won't go to the police," Susan said, "the least you deserve is a bath." Susan looked up. "You need a good long one too."

Laura pushed back her hair. She needed a lot of things. "I could never - " she began. She swallowed hard. "You don't know the things I did, Susan. What happened today."

Susan added a lid full of bubble bath and stirred the water. Pink foam blossomed beneath the faucet, spreading quickly across the tub. "Maybe not," she admitted. "But it can't be worse than I think."

Laura shook her head. "You're wrong."

Susan rose and shook off her hands. "I fucked a wolf," she said. "And a horse. Can you top that?"

Laura's jaw dropped and her eyes popped wide.

"You've known Bruce one day," Susan said, leaving the rest unsaid.

Laura whispered, "I am so sorry."

Susan wouldn't meet her eyes. She bent and turned off the water. "I'm sorry too."

Laura crossed the room and put her arms around Susan's waist, hugging her tight. Susan gripped her back. "I'm sorry for us both," Laura said, crying. "How long has this been going on?"

"As long as I can remember. Six, maybe before."

Laura was aghast. "Six years old? You've never told?"

"Just you."

"What about you're parents?"

Susan went stiff. "Gone since I was twelve. Bruce was eighteen." Her face became hard. "He applied for custodial care and the court turned me over. We've been alone ever since."

"Susan! An eighteen year old? How could they?"

"They shouldn't have," she said resignedly. "But you don't know Bruce. What Bruce wants, Bruce gets. Always."

Laura considered her next question. "You're parents?"

Susan sighed again. She held Laura's forearms. "Disappeared. Here one night, missing the next." Her face became weary. "Bruce said they ran away."

Laura only blinked.

Susan nodded. "No one's seen them since."

"Are they..."

Susan shook her head. "California, last we heard. LA. Bruce tracked them down with a private detective. That's what he says, anyway."

"You believe him?"

"I don't know what to believe."

The blanket of pink foam had began to settle and Susan dropped Laura's arms. "Into the tub, girl."

"Will you stay?"

"If you want me too."

"I don't want you to leave."

Susan nodded, lent a small grin. "Let's get this dress off you. It deserves to be burnt." She undid the left shoulder strap and Laura released the other. "I'll turn around if you like."

Laura was beyond embarrassment. "Don't be silly." She lowered the front of her dress.

Susan inhaled sharply. "Laura!"

Laura touched her swollen nipples. The left was twice the size of the right and bruised purple-black. Teeth marks were visible around the base and bruising reached halfway down her breast and left most of it yellowed. She removed the remnants of her panties and sat down on the commode. Urinating was fine in front of Susan, but definitely odd in front of the sliding glass door. There was no curtain.

What an odd place to put the deck, anyway, she thought. But in a way it made sense. The bathroom was a perfect adjunct, offering access to towels, the potty, the shower.

"You want something in that?" Susan offered, indicating Laura's Diet Coke. She had gotten it earlier.

"What?" Laura asked, liking anything to deaden the pain.

"Vodka?"

Laura smiled. "Please."

Susan went out and returned with a bottle of Smirnoff and two cans of soda. She topped off both their glasses, then added liquor to both. She crinkled her nose.

Laura reddened, flushed the toilet before getting up. "You weren't supposed to know," she said.

Susan laughed. Unbuttoning her shorts, she unzipped and lowered them to her knees. Then she lowered her panties. She also was hairless. "Hold this?" she said. Slightly embarrassed, Laura took her tumbler and watched as Susan took her place on the toilet, urinating in a loud, powerful stream. "I thought I would bust!" she said, laughing. She wiped herself, flushed the toilet, stood up and replaced her clothing.

Laura handed her the drink.

Susan said: "So what really happened, Laura?"

Laura could not speak.

Saying nothing, Susan turned Laura around and examined the angry welts - some half an inch high - on her back and shoulders. They were surrounded by myriad small cuts. Where the rope had encircled her wrists, flesh was worn off, leaving Laura with twin bracelets of red. Her ankles were equally raw. On her right thigh were two purple rope burns, one atop the other, and where Tonto had savaged the cord, half a dozen bite marks. Her left thigh was better.

What held them both silent and embarrassed, however, were the claw marks painting Laura's tummy, her thighs and her groin. For a time they looked at each other, then Susan helped her Laura into the tub. Laura settled to the bottom.

"This feels so good," she said, letting out a huge sigh.

Susan wound Laura's hair in a ball, rubber-banded it on top of her head. "Okay?" she said.

"Yes. Thank you."

"Let the bubbles do their thing, kiddo," Susan said. From the sink counter, she retrieved a bottle of Evian water brought from the kitchen. She removed the cap. "Drink this, okay?"

Laura gulped the water greedily down. She hiccupped. "I could drink five of these," she said, rolling the cool bottle over her forehead. "I'm dried out like a prune."

Susan said, "I'll get you another." She began to rise but Laura grabbed her arm.

"Don't leave me! Please."

Susan gripped her hand. "I won't." Then, with a sad grin: "We're inseparable, okay?"

"Promise?"

"Like Siamese twins."

Laura lay back and closed her eyes. "This is a horrible thing to ask," she said, keeping her eyes closed. "But did you ever want to screw your brother?" She looked over quickly. "Don't take offense? I just have to know."

Susan looked at the floor. "I always want to screw my brother," she said, sounding miserable, but unhurt by the question. "I can't not want to." She looked up. "With Bruce you have no control over what goes on in your own mind. He says to blow him and I can't wait to get on my knees. Tells me I'm bad and it's off with my jeans and over his lap to get spanked." She raised her eyebrows. "I've done that in public, you know. I've sucked him in public." Her mouth curved down in a dreadful grin. "I've even fucked him in front of my friends."

Laura felt her revulsion. "Jesus, Susan."

Both girls were quiet. Then Laura said: "I did a dog today."

Susan said nothing, but her eyes held pain.

"And a goat, Susan. And I wanted to."

Susan shook her head. "You don't have to do this."

"I do!" Laura cried, rising from the water. "I'll go crazy if I don't!" She burst into tears. "How could I want to do that?" she wailed, tears streaming down both cheeks. "With a dog? A goat!" She began to blubber. "I am so ashamed!"

Susan held her while misery racked Laura's chest. Speech was impossible. She could barely breathe.

"Believe me, Laura, you couldn't help it. Bruce does things that are impossible for a human being."

Laura hiccupped loudly. "But how?"

"He's - wait. You're supposed to be relaxing."

"I want to know!"

"Later. Right now, relax."

Painfully, Laura leaned back and settled to her chin in the bubbles. Susan stroked her forehead, held her around the shoulders with her left arm. Slowly, the swirling images began to drift away, and as her breathing deepened and slowed, Laura slept.