Seated at her desk in the New York office of the FBI, Sandy picked up the ringing phone, her mind still on the report she was typing up for her boss, James Vessor.

"I'm sorry Maam, but Assistant Director Vessor is in conference right now and cannot be disturbed. I would be happy to take a message and have him call you as soon as he is free, or perhaps I can refer you to someone better suited to helping you?" she said after the perfunctory greetings. What the caller said next was enough to tear Sandy's attention from her typing.

"Excuse me Maam, but can you state your name again?" Sandy asked, her eyes growing wide. The name was repeated and Sandy glanced at the closed door of her boss's office. She wondered if she should put this call through despite his orders not to be disturbed.

Sandy took a deep breath.

"Can you hold please Maam, and I'll see if he can speak to you...yes, I'll tell him Maam." Sandy punched a button putting the caller on hold, and held a finger over the button that would buzz the intercom on James Vessor's desk.

He didn't give orders lightly, but Sandy felt that this was one she had to break. She pushed the button.

In the office, Vessor was sitting with Special Agent Mark Wilson and two other Agents from Washington that were briefing the Assistant Director on a criminal case that affected both cities.

Vessor was somewhat annoyed when his intercom sounded, but knew it had to be important for Sandy to interrupt this meeting.

He punched a button. "What is it Sandy?" he said gruffly.

"Amanda Mann on line one for you Sir, she says it is very important."

It took only a second for him to place the name and his heart almost stopped. The only reason it took that second was that it had been years since he last heard it. He glanced at the other Agents in the room and saw that they were still in conversation.

Vessor was tempted to ask if Amanda Mann could call back when he had some privacy, but he knew full well that the only thing that would make his ex-wife call him at all was something so important that it overrode her intense hatred of him. Something that important you didn't put off.

"Gentlemen," he said to the other occupants of the room, "I need a few minutes of privacy."

With a curious look Wilson stood up and the others followed more slowly. "That's fine Sir, I'm sure we could use a break to get some coffee."

Vessor nodded appreciatively and waited for the room to clear before picking up the phone.

"Hello Amanda." he said to a woman he hadn't talked to in over a decade.

"What are you doing to find her?" demanded the woman on the phone.

"Find who, Amanda?"

"What do you mean find who, asshole? I just got paid a visit by two of your people who just told me that my daughter got kidnapped in a bank robbery!"

"Chastity?"

"Glad you remember her name!"

Vessor sat back, images of a small girl flashing through his head. Chastity must be what...in her early twenties now.

"I hadn't heard." he said automatically.

"Well you had better hear about it, and soon. Get those men of yours to do some work for a change instead of sitting around eating doughnuts. My daughter's life is at stake here!"

"She's my daughter too."

"Not according to the courts she isn't. You gave up the right to be a father to her a long time ago."

Vessor felt a jab to his heart with that remark.

"Let's not fight about it now. Just tell me what the Agents told you and let me do my job."

Vessor could hear his ex-wife breathing hard on the phone. He knew she was angry at him, her anger toward him was fueled by something deep he couldn't understand. But she was also frightened for their daughter and that was the reason she had called. Vessor suspected that the Agents that had visited her had not given her much hope that Chastity would be recovered alive. "They didn't tell me much..." Amanda eventually said, and she went on to relate how the day before a bank in North Dakota where Chastity now lived was robbed and their daughter taken away by the robbers. "Do you know, those men of yours had the nerve to ask if Chase was in financial trouble? They suspect her of being in on the robbery!"

"That's their job Amanda, they have to suspect everyone until they prove they weren't involved." Vessor told her.

"Bull! Chase is doing fine, she has no reason to rob a bank!"

"I'm sure you're right Amanda, but I had better go if I'm to get on top of this."

"Jim," said Amanda softly, "you will find her wont you?"

"I promise." James Vessor said just as soft.

"You bastard. Like I could ever believe a promise from you again!"

The line clicked and went dead, Amanda had no doubt hung up.

Vessor looked at the phone for a moment and thought again about the little girl he used to put to bed at night.

"Damn." he said.

He buzzed Sandy.

"Yes Sir?" she said over the intercom.

"I have a case I want details of immediately. Call the North Dakota office and have their senior Agent call me. Then put a priority request on any files and information to do with a bank robbery in Hastings, North Dakota yesterday."

"Yes Sir. Agent Wilson and the Agents from Washington are here, shall I send them back in?"

Vessor was about to say no, but realized that it might be a while before he heard anything from North Dakota. At least he could finish this meeting, it would keep his mind occupied.

"Send them in, and put that call through as soon as it comes in."

"Yes Sir."

Special Agent Rhianna Summer lay panting on the floor of her apartment, her arms cruelly bound behind her, her legs tied together and brought up until her ankles almost touched her elbows. The stress on her body was incredible but she kept her calm as she tried to bring her bound hands up to the hem of her jacket.

Just a little further, she thought.

The phone started ringing and she swore.

On the couch, reading a book, Tonya looked up and smiled.

"Want me to get it?" she asked.

"Yeah, if it isn't a bother." panted the Agent.

"No bother at all!" laughed Tonya, and she went to answer the phone.

Rhianna had almost reached the file she had hidden in the hem of her jacket when Tonya came back. "It's your boss."

"Ask him if I can call him back." Rhianna said.

Tonya repeated the request to the caller. "He wants to talk to you now."

Rhianna nodded, and stopped her struggling. She wasn't quite getting it anyway, maybe a short rest would help her build up her strength for another go.

Tonya came over and held the phone to Rhianna's face.

"Agent Summer." Rhianna said, trying to contain her heavy breathing.

"My office right now Agent Summer," said the voice of James Vessor, "I expect you in thirty minutes."

"Sir, this is my day off!"

"This WAS your day off." he replied and he hung up.

"Shit." said Rhianna. "Tonya, you're going to have to untie me."

"I thought I wasn't supposed to untie you until lunch!"

"Lunch will have to wait. I just got called in."

"Does this mean I win?"

"Tonya!"

"Okay, okay. I guess I can help you with your bondage practice some other time!" laughed Rhianna's friend, and she began to loosen the knots she had only tied a half hour before.

"Escape practice." Rhianna told her for the umpteenth time that morning.

"Yeah, whatever!"

Looking a little out of breath, Rhianna stepped into James Vessor's office. Her boss motioned her to a seat before tossing her a thick file folder. Without saying a word he turned and looked out the window. He knew when Rhianna found the picture when he heard her gasp.

"Vincent Bates." she said.

"Yes, caught on camera while robbing a bank. Not exactly his usual crime, but what followed is more to his nature."

"He took a hostage." said Rhianna, reading the file.

"Yes, a female hostage. No doubt she is suffering the same fate as Vincent Bate's former victims by now." Vessor couldn't face Rhianna right now, not while talking about what could be happening to his own daughter.

"I see that all the stuff on Bates is included here." Rhianna said. "It looks like the case is pretty well covered by the local office and the state police. I don't see anything I can do to help."

"There is something you can do. Go visit Cynthia Parker-Booth and pump her for information regarding where Bates might be hiding out."

"She hasn't been too cooperative about giving out any information so far." Rhianna reminded him.

"Until now there wasn't a pressing need. Now a young woman's life is at stake. Go see her Agent Summer, and don't come back without a decent lead."

"Yes Sir." Rhianna stood and waited, uncertain as to what to do since the AD hadn't looked at her since she came in.

"Dismissed, Agent Summer." Vessor said.

Rhianna nodded and walked out.

As she did, Vessor watched her go and his eyebrow raised in surprise. On her wrists which were almost hidden by the sleeves of her suit jacket, were the unmistakable signs of rope marks.

At her desk Rhianna Summer made her travel arrangements before calling the valley to let them know she was coming.

Peter Brown answered the phone and told her that road construction had blocked off the highway and that the driveway was unreachable. He gave her specific directions to one of the other gates they were using in the mean time.

"Just park your car at the gate and we'll be there to pick you up!" he told her.

Several hours later Rhianna made the last turn according to her instructions and after driving a short distance along a gravel road pulled up to a group of other parked vehicles. She recognized all the cars but one, a rental like her own. She didn't see the group waiting for her on the other side of the gate until she go out of the car. Her mouth dropped open.

"Hi Rhianna, it's nice to have you back!" said Peter, smiling from his seat.

"Er..." was all Rhianna could manage.

Peter Brown was sitting in a two wheeled, tubular framed cart with two seats. Attached to the cart were three nude women. They were outfitted identically with a leather body harness that wrapped around them. Their mouths were gagged with bit gags and their faces were obscured by a big leather blinder that crossed in front of their eyes and nose. On their feet were what looked like boots that had horse shoes built into the soles, and their arms were bound behind their shoulder blades. Rhianna could also see that coming out of their rears were tails that hung down to about mid thigh. Rhianna recognized the harness and head gear to be similar to what she had once worn at a place called the "Kennel" back in New York, but the rest was all new to her.

"Ever see a set of Ponygirls before?" Peter asked her.

"I've heard of them, but never met any in person. Maria, is that you?" she asked one of them.

The Ponygirl nodded with her whole upper body, and Rhianna could see that it was her friend who occupied the center position. She also recognized Lisa to Maria's left but didn't know who the girl was to her right.

Peter climbed out of the cart and wrapped the reins around the top of the gate.

"You're right on time, we only just got here. Do you have any luggage?"

"Yeah, but I was planning on getting a hotel room." Rhianna replied, unable to take her eyes off the Ponygirls.

"Nonsense. You're staying with us. We have plenty of room."

"Sure, if you aren't put out. The bag is on the back seat."

Rhianna walked forward to examine the Ponygirls more closely. "You guys having fun?" she asked with a smile.

Maria nodded and Lisa giggled. The three women kept shifting their position, stamping their feet and pulling at their bondage, but they evidently weren't in distress, just enjoying the situation.

Now that she was closer Rhianna could see how the reins were arranged. Each girl had the reins attached to their bits. The reins then passed downward through their nipple rings and their labia rings and back to the driver. It was obvious to Rhianna that all three women were turned on by this arrangement. It was also obvious that they had been working out, they were all sweating in the sunlight.

Peter came back with Rhianna's suitcase and her briefcase.

"You like huh? Maybe we could get you to try it while you're here." he said, putting the bags in a little rack behind the seats.

"Oh no. I don't think so. Besides, I'm here on official business."

"Cynthia?" said Peter, climbing back into the left hand seat.

"Yes."

"Well climb in then, and lets go see her."

Rhianna gingerly climbed up into the other seat and watched as the girls adjusted to her weight.

"Are they alright with this?" she asked.

"This cart was built for two passengers and the three of them can pull us very easily. Don't worry about them."

"I hope you didn't go to all this trouble just for me!"

"Actually no. Until the construction is done we have to come here if we need to get in and out of the valley. Having the Ponygirl set up has saved us a lot of walking. At least those of us that get to ride, right ladies?" Peter laughed and the women groaned. Rhianna doubted that any of them got to ride much.

Peter flipped the reins and the women started a careful trot, following a downhill trail to the valley floor.

"Can they see okay?" Rhianna asked.

"Enough not to trip, but I have to be their eyes. There's a lot of trust needed here to do this, we've been at it all summer."

Rhianna watched quietly as the women jogged, the butt plug tails in their ass's waving from side to side. Apart from the noises the women made as they ran, their heavy looking shoes thudding the earth much like a real pony's would, the ride was a quiet and surprisingly comfortable one. The big bicycle wheels the cart rode on absorbed most of the shocks from the dirt trail.

"Where's the baby, how is she?" Rhianna asked.

"She's doing fine, uncle Jo is baby-sitting right now."

"Uncle Joe?"

"Joe Booth. He's here for a few weeks vacation. That's his girl in front of you, Stacy. He figured that while they were here she might as well learn how to be a Ponygirl too."

"Joseph Booth is here?" repeated the Agent. She thought that maybe she could interview him too.

"Yep! Just wait until you see him, he's walking again. Not well, but it's a great improvement."

Rhianna said nothing. She watched the girls and wondered how her stamina would compare to theirs. Rhianna thought she did a lot of running, but she had never run nude with her hands bound behind her shoulder blades while pulling a cart. She noted that the harness they wore included some support for their bare breasts, something that means a lot to a running woman.

"Can I ask what the case is about?" Peter asked her.

"It's...tell you what, I'll brief you later." said Rhianna. She was reluctant to talk about Vincent Bates AKA Apollo where Maria could hear her. Rhianna looked down and saw that the metal tubes the girls were harnessed to were painted at one point in different color rings. She saw that the rings were actually painted on a tube that slid into another one that was attached to the cart proper. As the women ran, the inner tube would slide in and out, revealing or hiding the different color stripes. Rhianna asked Peter about that.

"It's so we can see who might be slacking off." Peter explained. "The shafts are connected by a spring inside each tube. The colored stripes indicate how much pull is on that spring. With a shaft for each girl we can see by the colors that are revealed how much each girl is pulling. We want each girl to pull evenly, so this tells me who I need to apply a little incentive too."

Rhianna could see that Stacy didn't seem to be pulling as hard as the others, not nearly as many stripes were revealed on the shaft she was attached to.

Peter handed her a long stiff whip. "Give Stacy a swipe on the butt for me will you, it's hard to handle three sets of reins and apply correction at the same time."

"You must be kidding, I'm not going to whip her!"

"It isn't whipping, just incentive. It's like getting spanked, only on the run."

"I can't do that!"

"Sure you can. I know you have a thing about whips, Rhianna, but this isn't the same thing that you went through. Honest. Do you think that we would do something like that?"

Rhianna considered what he was asking her. Looking at Stacy she could see that her butt already had a few red marks on it, but none of them looked bad and she hadn't complained while they were at the gate.

"I don't have to hit her hard?" Rhianna asked.

"Only hard enough to get her to run faster, and her butt is sore enough right now that it wont take much from you to get her to do it."

"Why don't you just yell at her to run faster?"

"Couple of reasons. First, she, like anyone in her position would respond more quickly to the whip then to a voice, and second, apparently the whole Ponygirl style thing is to train the girls to respond to unspoken commands. Signals given only with the reins and the whip. We had a guy spend a week here a couple of months ago who gave us all lessons on Ponygirl training. I hadn't realized there was so much to it. The women have found it enjoyable and to be honest so have I. We've even been training Cynthia, not that she cares for it much. We'll have to give you a dressage demonstration later. Now go on, do what I ask!"

Rhianna took the whip and tentatively gave Stacy a tap on her bare cheeks. Stacy yelped and Rhianna could see that she picked up the pace a little but still wasn't pulling as hard as the others. Rhianna hit her again and soon the pull was even.

With mixed feelings Rhianna set the whip back in it's holder.

"Thanks. The other girls would thank you too if they could." Peter said.

Rhianna said nothing.

Peter slowed the girls down to a walk by pulling on the reins and then turned them into the tree belt that followed the river through the valley. Rhianna was amazed to see the three Ponygirls change their gait from a fairly normal one while they ran to one that made their knees lift up high. It looked very unnatural to Rhianna, but the three women seemed to take pride in raising their knees to waist height before placing them deliberately down. After a few steps all three women were synchronized and a steady clomp, clomp accompanied them the rest of the way.

"Now they're just showing off." said Peter with a smile.

"You ARE enjoying this. I always had the impression that you weren't too enamored of BDSM." Rhianna said to him.

"Well, living with Maria this past year has been an education, even if we couldn't do much with her first being pregnant and then having the baby. There's still stuff I wont do, but Maria is happy to take it easy and just do little things for the time being. This Ponygirl stuff is the only big thing we've done since Heather came and I have to say I appreciate it's beauty." He waved at the three undulating ass's in front of them and the tails that swung back and forth.

Rhianna shook her head. Men!

They followed a path that wound through the trees until they came out into an open area next to the river. Rhianna recognized the place and was surprised at how much it had changed. It had been the area of the mud slide that Cynthia had been sentenced to cleaning up, and it looked great! All the debris was gone and so was most of the excess mud and soil. The place now looked like it was being landscaped and turned into a small park.

Rhianna could see two nude figures working on flower beds at the far side. Peter pulled the cart to a stop and climbed out, Rhianna followed suit. As he tethered the reins to a handy post probably installed for just this purpose, he asked the women if they were okay.

They were all breathing hard, but didn't signal any distress.

"Come on!" Peter said to Rhianna and he led her to the women working the flower beds.

"Is that Angel?" Rhianna asked. "What's she doing working? I thought she was just supposed to watch!"

"Angel got bored just watching Cynthia work, so she asked Rob to let her work as well. Robert said she could if she allowed herself to be outfitted just like Cynthia. Angel agreed without missing a beat. The two of them have come a long way with this place haven't they!"

"Yes. It looks great!"

Angel and Cynthia both saw the approaching couple and stopped working. They remained on their knees in the black earth of the flower bed. Each of the women had a bit gag in their mouths.

As she drew closer Rhianna noticed that both women had been pierced since she was last there. They each sported rings in their nipples and labia.

"Angel," said Peter, pulling out a set of keys and unlocking the little padlock that kept her bit gag on. "Go take the blinders and bits off the ponies will you, and see that they all get some water and a rub down."

"Yes Sir." said Angel once the gag came out, and she jumped to her feet.

Rhianna saw that a long chain attached to a tree on the edge of the park was also attached to Angel's ankle. Another chain was attached to Cynthia in the same way.

"Do you want her ungagged?" Peter asked Rhianna.

"Yes, then leave us to talk."

"Sure."

Peter unlocked and removed Cynthia's gag and walked back to the waiting pony cart. Rhianna knew he was curious about the case, but she needed to talk to Cynthia first.

Cynthia was working the stiffness out of her jaw, but otherwise remained in position on her knees.

Rhianna looked down on the naked woman with a little pity.

Cynthia didn't look at Rhianna at all.

"How are things here, are you being treated alright?" Rhianna asked her.

Cynthia laughed. "They're not beating me if that's what you want to know, but what would you know about living like this?"

"More than you would think." replied the Agent, quickly loosing her sense of pity in the light of Cynthia's attitude. "I have some questions for you, important questions."

"You can ask, Dear, but there's nothing that would make me answer."

"I hope I can change your mind. It's about Vincent Bates, Apollo."

Cynthia smiled. "You still haven't caught him have you."

"Yesterday he robbed a bank in North Dakota, kidnapped a woman while he was at it. We need to know where he might be holding her. Did he tell you anything about where he used to live?"

Cynthia looked up at Rhianna, a thoughtful expression on her face. "I might know a few things. But you haven't given me any real reason to tell you."

"What about saving the life of an innocent woman?"

"What about the life of the woman right in front of you? I could tell you where he might be, but in return I expect to be set free."

"I can't promise that." Rhianna said.

"Then we don't talk."

"I could have you up on charges of accessory to kidnapping."

"Then I would be forced to tell all about this little summer camp you have arranged for me here. I don't think that many people would want that to become public knowledge."

"You would really risk the safety of another woman for chance at freedom?"

"After a year here, wouldn't you?"

Rhianna's anger was welling up inside her. She turned and walked toward the group on the other side of the park.

"Hi Rhianna." said Maria, now free of bit and bridle. She was still in the rest of her pony bondage but looked happy enough, as did the other two women with her. Lisa said hi also and Stacy nodded, embarrassed to be seen nude by a stranger.

"Hi guys. It was a fun ride, thank you." Rhianna said.

"Pete's right, you have to try this. It's great exercise. It helped me get rid of my pregnancy weight in no time." said Maria.

"Are you implying I need to loose weight?" laughed Rhianna, her anger fading now that she was among friends again.

"I don't know, that suit you're wearing is awfully bulky. Aren't you embarrassed at being the only clothed woman here?"

The women laughed.

"Laugh it up guys, but I'm the one who's riding back to the house." said Rhianna with a smile.

"She's right ladies." said Peter, "lets get those bridles back on!"

The women moaned, but allowed Peter and Angel to put them back into their head gear. Then Peter locked on Angel's bit and walked over to Cynthia to secure her's.

When he climbed back into the cart and they were on their way again, Rhianna leaned in close to whisper in Peter's ear. "I want to talk to you, Robert and Joseph Booth in private as soon as possible."

"Is this something you don't want the women to hear about?"

"Right now, I just want to keep it to the fewest people possible."

Peter nodded. "I'll arrange it for tonight."

In town at that moment, a Greyhound bus pulled away from the curb and continued on it's trip. It left behind a worn looking woman in a shapeless black dress. The woman had no luggage and walked awkwardly to a pay phone she had spotted on one wall. In her hands, which she held at her sides, was the little change she had left over from buying her bus ticket. She reached up and lifted the handset to her ear, smiling at being able to do so, and inserted her money. Hoping that the number hadn't been changed she dialed the phone and waited for it to be answered.

The voice that answered the phone was unfamiliar, and she thought she had gotten the wrong number.

"Hello?" she said.

"Yes, hello. How can I help you?" said the man on the other end.

"Does...is Maria there?"

"Maria is out right now, can I take a message?"

The woman let out a deep sigh, she hadn't realized she had been holding her breath.

"What about Lisa, or John?"

"Lisa is also out, and no one named John lives here. Can I ask who is calling?"

"It's Melissa." she said after a pause.

"Melissa? Melissa Hunt? My God! I thought you voice sounded familiar. This is Joseph, Joseph Booth. Where are you?"

"I'm in town, I was hoping for a ride home. I'm at the bus stop."

"Yes, of course! My word Melissa, you've had us all worried for a year, where have you been?"

"I've been...traveling. Just tell them I'm here will you, I'll be waiting."

Melissa hung up the phone, afraid of the questions she had been asked. She knew the questions would be coming, and she had yet to decide how to answer them.

Spotting a bench nearby she walked over to it and sat down to wait, thinking about how she was supposed to lie to her friends.