Part 13. Claire.



	Amy's day had been a long one.  Henry the Grape had devoted his entire
day to her training.  Her training regimen had been fairly simple.  Obey or be
tortured.  By the end of the day, she was even more thoroughly terrorized than
on the previous day.  She was afraid to breathe without permission.  It was a
great relief when she was finally chained in her stall for the night.

	When morning came, Amy was awakened and fed.  Breakfast consisted of a
bowl of something (she didn't want to know what) shoved under her face.  She ate
lying on her stomach with her wrists bound behind her and her face in the bowl.

	Amy remained bound in her stall for a considerable time after she was
fed.  Her stall door was closed but she could hear the sounds of hammering and
sawing coming from the main hall.  She shivered in fear.  She hoped that
whatever it was that they were building was intended for someone else.  It made
her feel guilty to hope someone else would be tortured, but not guilty enough to
volunteer.  In spite of all the noise made by whatever they were doing out
there, it seemed unusually quiet due to the fact that no one was screaming at
the moment.

	Amy heard a stall door open and a clink of chain.  She sagged in relief
at the sound of someone else being led from her stall.  Amy had just started to
relax, her fear slowly draining away, when her own stall door was opened.  She
was gagged, then her ankles were untied and she was led forth by the chain
attached to her collar.

	A wooden beam was stretched horizontally across the hall.  A woman she
didn't recognize was chained by the neck to the center of the beam.  Amy was led
forth and chained next to her.  Grace and two other women were led from their
stalls and chained to the beam in the same manner.  All were gagged.  This was
unusual.  Henry the Grape seemed to get off on the sound of women in pain.  Gags
were not often employed.

	The women stood facing a small table in the center of the hall which
bore a camp stove upon which a kettle of water boiled furiously.  All five women
eyed the boiling pot fearfully.

	Sebastian was there.  Although she knew he must be around somewhere,
this was the first time she'd seen him.  It had been he that led three of the
women out and secured them.  Henry the Grape had tended to Grace and Amy.

	Sebastian left through the far door.  Amy was frightened of that door. 
She had never been through it, but the noises that came from there were
appalling.

	"Ladies, if I could have your attention, please," said Henry the Grape,
striding to the center of the room.  "As I'm sure you all know, we guarantee our
work.  If any of you fail to give complete satisfaction, you may be sent back
for additional training.  We further guarantee that if you do come back, you
will very much wish you hadn't.  And that brings us to the reason for our little
gathering this morning.  For the first time, we have had a young lady come back
to us for remedial training.  Her owner is not completely satisfied and we are
determined to honor our warranty.  We have worked with her over the last few
days to impress upon her the advantages of total obedience and today is her
graduation exercise.  We think it will be an educational experience for all of
you.  After today, we hope you'll be more motivated in your studies and less
likely to have to visit us again."

	"Okay, bring her out," Henry the Grape called over his shoulder. 
Sebastian emerged from the room leading a woman on a leash.  She was naked, her
wrists were tied behind her, and her ankles were shackled with less than a foot
of chain between them so that she followed Sebastian at a shuffling quick step. 
Her hair was matted and stringy, her body was covered by a large number of welts
and other marks.  Her sunken eyes and hollow cheeks caused Amy to think she had
been bled dry of tears.  Despite her startling appearance, there was no doubt
who it was.  It was Claire.

	Amy couldn't believe it.  Owner?  What owner?  Henry the Grape's remarks
indicated that she had been in the possession of her "owner" until rather
recently.  Did he mean Malcolm?  Had Malcolm kept Claire secreted in his
building the whole time he was pretending to help her look for her sister?  Amy
struggled and tried to shout through her gag, but was ignored by Claire.  She
did, however, call Henry the Grape's attention to her.

	Henry picked up a short springy whip and lashed Amy 4 or 5 times across
the breasts with it.  "Believe me," he told her, "you don't want to join her." 
Claire didn't look up.

	Sebastian led Claire over to Henry the Grape and handed him her leash. 
Claire looked at the assembled audience and Amy tried to catch her eye, but her
gaze slid over Amy without apparent recognition.

	"Some of you already know Claire," Henry the Grape announced, "and I'm
sure all of you wish her well in the task she is about to undertake."

	Amy turned a sharp eye upon Grace at Henry the Grape's use of the plural
regarding Claire's acquaintances.  If Grace knew Malcolm did she know Claire? 
Did any of the others know her?  She wondered how many of these women had been
sent here by Malcolm.

	Henry the Grape untied Claire's wrists and her arms dropped to her
sides.  Then he dug into his pocket and pulled out a quarter.  He showed the
coin to Claire, then tossed it into the pot.  "I dropped my quarter.  Get it for
me."

	Claire looked around the table.  "No, Claire, there are no utensils. 
Just reach in and get it.  If you're quick, you'll get by with only second
degree burns."

	Claire hesitated a moment, then timidly extended a hand toward the
roiling water.  She withdrew as the steam burned her arm, then reached forth
again.  She plunged her hand into the water about half way up her forearm,
fished about for a moment, then screeched and withdrew it reflexively, holding
it to her face and blowing on it.  She had failed to retrieve the quarter. 
Claire extended her hand again, then pulled away.  She turned and reached toward
the pot with her uninjured hand, but couldn't bring herself to put it in the
water.  She made two more half hearted attempts, then sank to her knees sobbing,
cradling her burned hand.

	"It looks like you don't graduate today," Henry the Grape said.  He
turned to Sebastian.  "Let's make some space here in the center."

	Henry the Grape unfastened Amy from the beam and Sebastian released the
woman next to her.  The men moved the two women to opposite ends of the beam,
leaving a large gap in the center.  They grabbed Claire by the arms, hauled her
to her feet, and dragged her to the open space they had just created.  Claire's
collar was fastened to the beam, then her arms were extended and tied to either
side.

	Once Claire was secured to the beam, Sebastian and Henry the Grape
carefully picked up the table with the pot and set it in front of her. 
Sebastian produced two large soup ladles and handed one to Henry the Grape.

	Each man dipped his ladle into the pot and then poured the boiling water
slowly over Claire's shoulders.  Claire shrieked hideously as the men refilled
their ladles.  This time the water was poured onto her breasts.

	"Stop...please stop," Claire cried.  "I'll do it. I promise I'll do it. 
I promise."

	"No, Claire," Henry the Grape said, "we aren't going to stop.  You had
your chance.  You know what happens when you don't obey."  He dipped his ladle
into the water again.

	"Help," Claire screamed in desperation, jerking frantically against her
bonds.  "Help me.  Somebody help me.  Oh, please help me."  Fresh ladles of
water were lifted toward her body.  "Don't...please don't.  I'll do what you
say.  I'll do whatever you want.  Please."

	Sebastian pulled Claire's hair aside and the water was poured down her
back.  Claire ceased her begging and reverted to incoherent shrieking.  This
seemed to annoy Sebastian.  He produced a gag and forced it past Claire's lips,
securing it behind her neck.

	The only effect of the gag was to lower the volume.  Claire continued
shrieking and trying to beg, struggling frantically against her bonds as each
new ladle of water burned a fresh patch of skin.  Henry the Grape and Sebastian
continued her torture until they had used all the water.  They covered every
inch of her body below the neck.  With the last two ladles, they grasped her
ankles and jerked her feet from beneath her, leaving her hanging by her arms as
they poured the boiling water onto her upturned soles.

	Having exhausted the water, Sebastian released Claire from the beam,
tied her hands behind her, reattached her leash, and led her away.  It was a
painful trip for Claire, as her ankle chain forced her to shuffle along on her
burned feet.

	"Well, ladies, I hope you've learned something," Henry the Grape
announced, then began returning the women to their stalls.

	After what seemed like a long time, Sebastian opened Amy's stall and led
her forth.

	"I'll be conducting your training today," Sebastian informed her. 
"Manfred is going to be busy."

	"So that's his name," Amy thought.  She decided that she would continue
to think of him as Henry the Grape.

	As she was led through the main hall, Amy's thoughts were interrupted by
screams issuing from the room at the far end.  Even though she knew who it was,
the voice was barely distinguishable as Claire's.

	"...and be quick about it," Sebastian commanded.

	Amy had been distracted by whatever was being done to Claire and had
missed the first part of Sebastian's command.  She had no idea what he had
ordered her to do.  In short order Claire's screams were drowned out by Amy's
own.