by Sarah Veitch
'It'll have to be another birching then,' Roberta replied with pretend regret.
Kerri began to protest but Roberta's next words stopped her.
'Walk to the back wall now - or I'll have to get David to carry you there.'
Kerri gulped, remembering how David had carried Louise over to the hot chair in a fireman's lift, her bare bottom trembling. Obediently she hurried to the stairs and climbed out of the sunken tub. There were several wooden pegs set high in the back wall and she walked to them, sure that she knew what they were for.
'Take hold of a peg and keep holding it whilst I give you six strokes,' the naked and dripping Roberta said, coming to stand behind her.
'Yes, Mistress,' Kerri murmured obsequiously, hoping that a fawning manner would commute a harsh punishment into a lesser one.
David had left the tub to bring the birch to Roberta. Kerri hoped he was as wrinkled as a prune by now. Then she forgot all about David's skin tone as the twigs whistled down upon her naked cheeks.
'Aaaah!' she cried loudly, letting go of the peg and clutching wildly at her soreness.
'Didn't you know that a wet bum hurts very much more than a dry bum?' her punisher said.
Kerri kept holding her heated orbs as she stared fearfully back at Roberta. 'Are you really going to give me another five, Mistress?' she asked in a shocked low voice.
'For climaxing during a punishment bathing? For refusing to let me wash your cunt when I wanted to? Yes, I think another five is fully appropriate.'
There was no arguing with an Amazonian like Roberta. Marshalling her courage, Kerri forced herself to stretch up and grasp the peg again.
This birching hurt more as the twigs now fell on her previously-punished soft spheres but at least she was prepared for it. The third one was slightly less intense - but the fourth more than made up for it. Again, Kerri involuntarily let go of the peg and cupped her anguished posterior, trying ineffectually to rub the severe sting away.
'Back into position, there's a good girl,' Roberta said encouragingly. Kerri got back into place and howled through the remainder of her punishment.
'Now return to the tub,' Roberta said.
Snivelling, Kerri walked down the steps into the water. The warmth stung her buttocks and she cried out and stood swiftly up again.
'Sit down. I want to take my time washing your cunt,' Roberta ordered, staring lasciviously at her pubis.
'Concentrate on your own cunt, you sex mad bitch,' Kerri snapped. Roberta entered the water to remonstrate with her so Kerri raced up the stairs and ran towards the glass door. She reached it and turned the handle, only to find that it was locked.
David and Roberta were now gaining on her. In a sudden fit of rage, she took hold of the trestle and tried to ram it through the nearest glass wall. She watched as the crowd on the other side of the glass scattered, their faces showing sudden shock.
'Have you gone mad?' David grabbed her and hoisted her over his shoulder.
'No madder than that bitch,' Kerri muttered, kicking at him ineffectually with her toes. She expected the overseer to strap her down on the trestle which Roberta was now righting. Instead, the two of them started to discuss her fate as if she wasn't there.
'She's a security risk,' David said.
Kerri was facing over his shoulder as he held her firmly in place, so she couldn't see Roberta. But she inferred from the conversation that the other woman had nodded her assent.
'It's not the first time she's caused problems,' Roberta added. 'She ran away and almost died of exposure on the mountain one night.'
'Shall I take her to Jeff now and see what he wants done with her?' David replied.
'Yes. He already knows about the Peeping Tom episode so he's probably as concerned as we are,' Roberta explained.
Kerri lay quietly over David's bare shoulder listening to the exchange. Hell, she hadn't really tried to break the glass. She'd just felt she had to do something to avoid looking defeated after she found the door locked.
'Couldn't you just birch me again and be done with it?' she muttered but no one replied.
David - who must have been working out seven days a week - strode towards the exit with Kerri over his shoulder. Roberta hurried before him and entered a code on the security panel. The door slid open.
'Want me to come with you?' she asked.
David hesitated. 'No, I know how much work you have to do here. Just send a rider to find Jeff and tell him what's been going on.'
Seconds later he was striding through the streets with a naked Kerri cringing in place. She was very aware of his large hands on her birched arse.
'Are you really going to complain to Jeff about me?' she muttered plaintively but the hulk didn't deign to reply.
A few minutes later they reached a large bungalow. David pushed open the door and walked into a room containing two chairs. Matron was occupying one of them.
'Where's Jeff?' David enquired.
'He's taking care of other business,' Matron explained, looking at Kerri. 'So he asked me to sort out this naughty girl.'
David set Kerri down then sat in the vacant chair. She stood there, ashamed of her nakedness.
'I'm very disappointed in you, Kerri,' Matron said.
Kerri tried to look unfazed. 'Because I picked up a trestle?'
'Because you were prepared to break that glass and endanger dozens of lives.'
'I didn't try very hard.'
'You were lifting a hard object on a slippery surface. You could have lost control of it and injured Roberta or David.'
The twenty-six year old shrugged. 'Well, I didn't.'
'That's sheerly through good luck,' Matron explained.
Kerri shifted her weight from one foot to the other, unsure how to reply.
'You've been utterly selfish from day one,' the matriarch continued. 'First, you hit out at an innocent horse then you ran away, endangering our mountain rescue team. You lie and cheat so that other residents are wrongly punished and now you're sneaking around at night peering into private homes and scaring the inhabitants.'
'I was bored,' Kerri said shortly.
'Bored because you've used so few of our amenities. Where's it all going to end?'
'When you let me go back to Britain?' Kerri suggested, wondering if she'd played up sufficiently to be granted her freedom.
'No, it ends now that we're transferring you to Zone Two,' Matron said.
'Zone Two? But it's...' She looked at the older woman pleadingly. She'd been told that the whippings there were truly terrible.
'Severe?' Matron nodded knowingly. 'It certainly is if you transgress,' she said.
'Can't I repent or something? You know, let Roberta soap me for a few hours?' She looked deliberately at David's crotch. 'Or...?' She ran a tongue around her lips.
'The puppy seems to be thirsty. Make sure she's given a nice doggy bowl of water when she reaches Zone Two,' Matron answered dispassionately. She pressed a buzzer on the intercom then spoke to someone for a few minutes then turned back to David. 'They'll get two horses ready for you.'
'What about my clothes?' Kerri asked, feeling further panic. Suddenly she didn't want to leave everything that was familiar, couldn't believe that her life was changing so fast.
The woman looked at her coolly. 'You can put on one of Jeff's shirts for the journey - but David'll tie it up around your waist to keep your bottom bare.'
Kerri took her time selecting one of Jeff's shirts from his modest wardrobe. She kept hoping he'd come back and stop this transfer. Surely he wouldn't want her to leave?
'Time to go, sweetheart,' David said, entering the room and picking her up again.
'Please don't do this!' Kerri squealed as he carried her into the hall.
'It's for your own good,' she heard Matron say with clear satisfaction as she was carried out the door. Kerri reached for the door jamb and tried to hold on, to keep herself in Alpineglow, but the man was too strong for her.
Soon they had left the b
ungalow far behind and reached the foot of the nearest mountain where two horses were waiting with a guide.
'What a pity you've been birched so recently,' he said, setting her down on her muscular steed. 'You're going to have such a tenderising ride.'
He wasn't kidding. Her horse followed his up the path and Kerri groaned as her buttocks were repeatedly bumped against the saddle. If she leaned forward, the sun beat down on her birched quarters. Each movement also caused her braless breasts to rub cruelly against her only garment, Jeff's oversized shirt.
'Is it far?' she asked after the first ten minutes.
'Trust me, you should be in no hurry to get there,' the overseer said with feeling. 'On a still night you can hear howls from Zone Two all the way to Alpineglow. Bad girls really beg.'
She, Kerri, had heard that story too but had hoped it was apocryphal. Now she was going to experience their austere justice for herself.
Chapter Fourteen
All too soon they descended a steep path and reached a hidden door in the mountainside. David operated a concealed lever and they rode in, then the aperture slid closed again.
Kerri stared at the town before her. People were strolling along the sidewalks and loitering outside shops and pavement cafes. She could also see small figures working in the faraway fields.
'It's busier than Alpineglow,' she said.
'It certainly has a larger population,' David agreed. 'But nearly all of them are regular people. Only nine of them are miscreants.'
'I'm the tenth?' Kerri stared at him in consternation.
The overseer nodded. 'The other nine will be very pleased to see you. As you can imagine, their backsides have a very hard time.'
Kerri cleared her throat. 'And does this place have a Dance Bar like Alpineglow?'
'Two of them - and all of the patrons have implements to liven up the dancers.' The overseer patted his horse and it snickered softly. 'Trust me, sweetheart, your gyrations will be much in demand.' He looked at his watch. 'Let's take you to meet Sherr now. She runs this place.'
'Cher as in the singer?' Kerri asked.
'Well it's a different spelling. S-h-e-r-r,' David explained. 'Though with her black hair and pale skin she looks similar.'
'And does this place have a name?' Kerri asked faintly as a guide took the reigns of her horse and she dismounted.
'The residents call it Nemesis,' the man said with a sadistic laugh.
Kerri followed him to a yellow stone building with turrets. A girl of around twenty answered, wearing a white housekeeper's pinafore over a black dress. She'd obviously been crying - and when she turned her back to usher them in, Kerri understood why. The dress and pinafore were backless and the girl's bare bottom bore several livid stripes.
'Who did this to you?' Kerri whispered as she followed the maid into a large sunlit lounge.
'My Mistress, Sherr,' the girl replied softly. Seconds later a thirty-something woman entered the room and the girl curtseyed low.
'David - so nice to see you again,' the woman said, walking up to the overseer and shaking his hand. Then she glanced at Kerri. 'Is this the girl that's been causing so much trouble at Alpineglow?'
'Uh huh - she endangered many people by trying to break through a glass wall,' David said.
Sherr looked Kerri up and down. 'So, do you want to strip her or shall I?' she enquired.
'Mistress, I can undress myself if you wish,' Kerri said quickly, keen to avoid further hands on her extremities.
Sherr's stare intensified. 'Very well, take off your clothes.'
Aware that all three adults were watching, Kerri untied Jeff's shirt from above her waist then unbuttoned it. The maid stepped forward and took the garment from her. 'Follow me.'
A naked Kerri feeling ridiculous, they walked into a little dressing chamber. Laid out on the bed was a minuscule pair of white panties, stiletto heels and a collar with metal studs.
'Put them on now if you're to avoid a whipping,' the maidservant begged.
'Okay.' Trying to look indifferent to this latest disgrace, Kerri shrugged into the scrap of white cotton. It barely covered her pubic crease. The shoes also said fuck-me, for when she wore them she found that she had to take tiny helpless steps. Her sunkissed curves jiggled slightly with each movement and she felt like a whore on display.
'And the collar,' the girl urged.
'Christ, I hate these things.' Kerri buckled it in place. It felt alien and heavy.
'You have to wear it every time you go out,' the maidservant explained.
'Why?'
'So that anyone can clip a leash to it and lead you to the square for a public thrashing - or take you home for private punishment.'
Kerri felt a low rush of shock race through her belly. 'But surely I have to wrong someone?'
The younger girl shrugged. 'The slightest infringement counts as wrongdoing here.' She lowered her voice. 'Sherr sends out a weekly newsletter detailing each miscreant's misdemeanours. If she's been too busy to correct us she makes it an open season for other residents to enjoy.'
Kerri teetered about in her tiny pants as she digested this latest information.
'So where does everyone live?'
'I live here with Sherr. You're to live here too, help me look after Sherr's guests. The other wrongdoers stay with various overseers throughout the town.'
Kerri nodded. 'I heard it's called Nemesis. Doesn't that mean retribution?' She adjusted the collar in an effort to make it more comfortable.
'Sure does. They've been rebuking me since I came here,' the younger girl said. She lowered her voice. 'It's not like Alpineglow - Jeff's a reasonable man but Sherr loves to completely control us. Sometimes she makes me lap at her anus for half an hour until my tongue's so sore I can hardly lick.'
'So Sherr just rules you?'
'No, she rules the whole town - well, we wrongdoers.'
'That's enough whispering in there,' came a female voice - Sherr's voice.
The maidservant jumped up and raced for the door. Kerri followed, her bare breasts jiggling.
'Sorry, Mistress,' the girl said, curtseying all the way to the ground.
'You will be, Marian,' the sophisticated woman replied. 'Now parade young Kerri around the town.'
Marian bowed her way out of the room and Kerri followed.
'Will she punish you when we get back?' she murmured, trying to hitch up her little pants.
The other girl shrugged. 'Sometimes she just details my errors in her weekly newsletter and others carry out the punishment.'
Kerri felt surprised. 'Doesn't she like doing it?'
'Oh, she loves it, but she's away half the week.'
'So we have the house to ourselves?' This sounded more encouraging.
'Yes,' said Marian, as they began to stroll along a tree-lined sidewalk. 'But she has cameras in every room.'
A man in his forties was approaching them. As he reached Kerri, he went into his briefcase and took out a leash.
'Can I take her home with me? I've just received a nice new belt from the seamstress at Alpineglow.'
Kerri took an instinctive step backwards and was very glad when Marian shook her head.
'She's new. She hasn't done anything wrong yet. Mistress just asked me to display her around town.'
'Well, put my name at the top of the list for when she errs,' the man said matter of factly before giving Kerri's almost-bare bottom another lascivious look.
The girls walked on. 'I feel ridiculous in this. Is Sherr always so sadistic?' Kerri asked, keeping her eyes open for any kind of clothing shop or washing line where she could find a garment.
Marian nodded. 'She comes down really hard on us. I suppose it's understandable when you think that she's...' She broke off abruptly and put her hand over her mouth.
'She's what?' Kerri demanded, intrigued.
'Nothing. I'm not allowed to talk about that,' the maidservant replied.
'Oh go on - it'll be our secret.' Kerri touched the smaller girl light
ly on the shoulder but the girl flinched away.
'No, she'd cane me if I told because she knows I especially fear the rod.'
At least they were agreed on something. For the rest of the hour Kerri followed Marian through the streets, aware of many curious glances. Kerri wondered out loud why each garden contained a little glass house, and Marian explained that these were where girls could be publicly whipped. 'It's less formal than a punishment in the marketplace, but more embarrassing than a totally private flogging,' she explained.
'And residents whip us a lot?'
Marian shuddered. 'All the time. There are only ten of us wrongdoers - including you - in Nemesis and dozens of dominant residents, so we're always being bared and thrashed.'
'And there's nothing we can do to protect ourselves?' Kerri queried, noticing that each resident who walked past her had a riding crop or tawse strapped across their body. Some had several implements.
'Just try very hard to follow all the rules,' Marian said.
For the rest of the week Kerri managed to follow the rules. She rose early each day and donned a new pair of tiny pants and a clean collar. The shoes also varied, sometimes being stupidly sparkly or having huge bows on them, but always having impossibly high heels.
Her tasks also varied. One day she had to clean the house. On another she had to work in the garden, her scanty apparel ensuring that she soon had a crowd sitting on the boundary wall, cheering. Her third day was given over to working in Sherr's stables whilst the fourth was spent behind the counter of the zone's main grocery store, the customers coming in to stare at her rather than buy.
Her costume was humiliating and she missed the familiar faces at Alpineglow but at least she was avoiding the birch.
All that changed on her fifth day when Sherr left the house carrying an overnight case. Kerri rejoiced that she could at last enjoy some freedom. She'd figured out how to dupe the camera's footage so that it looked like she was there even when she was not.
'I'm going to the shops to buy groceries for the household,' she called loudly to Marian, knowing that the cameras and sound equipment would pick up on her words and movements - and that when she returned she'd replace part of today's footage with yesterday's.
