Lament
by Tes Staylace, in collaboration with Phil Boarder
- ©2003 Tes Staylace
- provided for use on SirJeff's Ponygirls by the authors.
- do not use without the authors' permissions.
- see more of the authors' work, and many other wonderful corset stories, pictures and more at
The Long Island Staylace Association, recognized as "Earth's Largest and Complete Corsetry Site".
CHAPTER SIXTEEN - COMPLETE
Cassie looked over at Chickey as she was helped from the frame. She stumbled a little, but she was a vision in taut white leather. The smile never left her face as she proudly walked around the room in her incredible outfit. As she turned, Cassie could see how tight the corset was. There was no gap at all in the back, and the waist and chest seemed to be compressed beyond imagination. The maids still fussed behind Cassie as she felt the first tug of the laces. The ring on the front of the corset stopped her from being pulled back by the force; she could feel their fingers working on the laces. Her breath became shallow as she calmed herself. Chickey had endured the dressing and now it was her turn -- She was the stronger of the two. It would be OK, she told herself. Feeling the fingers through the laces, she guessed they were nowhere near closed like Chickey’s and it seemed there would be no compromises here. The corset was very tight now, and her ribs had become numb, her hipbones starting to ache. She took quick gasps.
The men dropped the rope over the front of Cassie’s head and lowered it down to her waist. As they pulled from each side, she felt the laces on her back fall loose. This was soon taken up and the rope moved up to just under her breasts. As the men pulled again on the rope, Cassie thought her ribs would break. The laces were tightened and the poor woman felt no relief when the rope was then moved down to her hips. The process was repeated from the top of the corset to the bottom until the Colonel was satisfied. Cassie began to panic a little as he walked around her, trailing his cane across her body. The cane rattled across her corset like a boy running along railings with a stick. She was helpless to a man who would be the death of her. He moved his cane from flesh to leather, enjoying the contrast. “You are the best yet.” He whispered in her ear. “Your dark skin compliments the leather so well. Please spend the day with the maids. They will take care of your hair and make up. You will be belles of the ball tonight.”
Cassie looked as best she could to the window to see the sun rising through the mist. The morning of the ball had arrived. The colonel left the room as Cassie was helped down from the frame. She felt steadier than yesterday as the corset gave her a strange rigidity. She walked towards the balcony to see Chickey standing, looking out across the plantation. She walked over to her and placed her hand on her waist. It was so hard it almost made Cassie jump as her fingers touched the stiff leather. She then touched her own waist and could not believe what she was feeling. The curve of her hand between her thumb and index finger matched the diameter of her waist. This was going to be some night.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - ABE
The
maids attended the girls all day taking care of their every need. They scrapped
back their hair and placed tight leather caps with plumes of feathers rising
like a crown above their heads. Their nails were painted white and their make up
applied with care and attention to detail. As they admired each other,
they knew this was the best they had ever looked. The only doubt in Cassie’s
mind was would it be the best she would ever look.
At four in the afternoon they were taken down to the stables. The two men who had taken part in the lacing carried them down the stairs and out into the yard. They walked over to a stable as directed and wondered how on earth they where going to pull a carriage. The door opened and they walked into the blacksmith’s shop. The exertion of walking in the corset and boots had made Cassie feel a little dizzy.
This must be the wrong place. This was not a blacksmith’s shop; it was far too clean. As they looked around, a huge man walked in behind them and closed the door. “Hello Ladies. We have not met before but my friends call me Abe.” He did not turn to wait for any acknowledgement as he walked by them over to is workbench. “This may be a little uncomfortable for a moment. But, trust me. it will help in the long run.” He picked up the hoop Cassie had seen in the garden when she was told by Amy her fate. Cassie’s hands moved up to her throat. The neck corset was so tight, if the band were to go on top, she would not be able to breathe at all.
Abe saw the look on her face and how she touched her neck. He laughed out loud. ”Come on over here and get fitted up. It's not your neck you should worry about”.
He bent over the hoop and took it in half, a detail she had not noticed in the garden. The hoop was, in fact, two semi circles of bronze, polished like gold. The band was about two inches high and ¼ of an inch thick. At each end of the arc was a flat plate at right angles to the band with a hole for the bolt. The hoop fastened together around Cassie’s waist with the bolts passing through the plate. As Abe reached for the spanner and nuts, Cassie cast her eyes over to Chickey who was wandering around the room without a care in the world.
Cassie flinched as the first bolt was turned. Slowly the plates came together, forcing her waist into a vice. The boning in the corset spread the additional tightness up her torso and down on to her hips. “Almost there,” explained Abe in a workman like manner. Cassie had never felt so constricted -- even the rough old corset she wore at Hawkins Plantation did not feel like this. Her cheeks glowed as she steadied herself. Abe tightened the bolts and walked over to the corner to fetch the connecting rod.
“This will join you up to the carriage,” he mumbled, as he fiddled round the back of Cassie. One end of the one inch diameter rod was threaded, the other a hook to fasten on to a carriage. The threaded end screwed into a hole on the hoop in the middle of Cassie’s back. Abe screwed it in until Cassie tried to step forward. The screw hole allowed the rod to pass completely through the band and was pushing into the laces on Cassie’s corset. If he had carried on screwing…well, Cassie did not wish to imagine. Abe dropped the other end of the rod to the ground causing Cassie to gasp in pain as the hoop twisted down at the back. The weight of the rod unsupported pulled the front of the band up into her ribs and the sides down on to her hipbones. “That should keep you still for a while,” whispered Abe as her turned his attention to Chickey.
Cassie stood as still as she could -- the weight of the rod unbalanced her as she was on tiptoe inside the boots. She looked over at Abe working the bolts on Chickey’s band. He was steady and sure as he tightened each bolt in turn, squeezing Chickey's waist smaller and smaller. He then fitted the rod and dropped the end with a bang.
"Right, you too, let’s get up to the house. The Colonel is waiting," said Abe as he picked up the end of each of their rods and pushed them towards the door. As they walked in front of him, side-by-side, he followed with one rod in each hand. If they slowed on the gentle slope up to the house, he twisted the rod on its screw, forcing the rod further into their back. He was very good at moving them along at a steady pace. The afternoon had drifted into the early evening as the girls approached the house. Lamps flickered down the drive, lighting the route to the house as the girls were pushed to bottom of the steps. They turned to each other as best they could in puzzlement as Abe pushed and twisted the rods for them to climb the steps to the house. ‘Where was the carriage?’ they asked themselves.