Lesley seemed to be having a heated argument with the man she was calling Kirk, and Maria watched as she banged the table between them with her hand then shook her fist at him, shouting his name and swearing at him. Maria had seen Lesley's anger before – she was very dominant and, indeed, had been a prefect when they had both been at the same school and had beaten her. She was frightened when Lesley banged the table so hard some papers fell off the edge, which put her into even more of a rage. She pointed angrily to the door.
As Kirk left, his golden hair swirled across the side of his face and, as he turned, Maria saw that it was indeed the man who had beaten her. He sneered at her, then stamped out and went down the street.
Lesley came out of the office and drew back in surprise when she saw Maria leaning against her desk. Maria noticed a puzzling mixture of compassion and anger in Lesley's eyes as she asked her to come into the toilets to 'sort things out'.
Maria followed her like a lamb.
"You look terrible!" said Lesley as she helped Maria sit on a small stool which stood by a wash-hand basin in the back room. "What on earth has happened to you? Here, let me dry your face, you poor thing."
"I'm alright really, really I'm alright," Maria stuttered, still shocked by the sight of her attacker but not daring to ask what he had been doing there.
As she tried to sit down she winced and had to hold herself away from the chair.
"You don't seem alright at all. What's happened? Are you in pain?"
"Well, yes."
"Here, let me look… My God!"
Lesley hurried for a flannel and ran some cold water over it. She got Maria to bend over the small stool and gently dabbed the wet flannel across Maria's bruised bottom. Maria felt safe in Lesley's hands and let her put the flannel wherever she wanted. After a while, Lesley stepped back, rested against the basin and looked again at Maria's naked bottom.
"Now, what is all this?"
Maria was too ashamed. She just shook her head.
"Oh well." Lesley shook her head, "At least I'll go and find you some fresh panties – hand on, I answer the phone first."
The telephone call was a very angry one, with Lesley shouting and banging on the desk, but when it ended she came back and gave Maria a pair of skimpy red panties. They felt smooth as Maria pulled them up over her stinging buttocks.
As the day went on the stinging subsided, but the fear of what lay in store when she next visited Father Thomas caused Maria's stomach to ache with a pain that mixed terror with anxious excitement.
That evening, Maria stood with Lesley as she locked the door of the agency. Lesley put her arm around Maria's shoulder and gave her a squeeze.
"Where are you going now?"
"To the church near my flat."
"Why?"
"To confess."
Lesley smiled. "Make sure you go straight there then. We don't want you to get into more trouble do we?"
"I will. Oh, I will."
CHAPTER 5
It was not long before Maria arrived at the church. She stood at the huge door and held onto the large iron latch without turning it. For a moment she thought of turning and running away, but she knew that was pointless, she had started on the road to her salvation and she had got to see it through. She pushed open the heavy door and went inside.
Father Thomas was standing inside and Caleb was crouched by his side holding his pointed staff.
"We have been waiting. Do not be late in future or I will not be able to let you out again."
Father Thomas turned and Caleb prodded Maria with his pointed staff. She twisted to avoid it, but he still managed to stick it into her calf. It was sharp and she winced but did not cry out. Father Thomas led the way to a small chapel behind the altar. Against one wall was a small table upon which stood some candlesticks and in the centre was a low wooden bench. Just above the bench hung the ends of a slender rope which was pulled through a large iron hook bolted to the ceiling. On one of the walls there hung some shiny metal rings. Candlelight flickered on their burnished surface and gold coloured cords dangled loosely down from them.
Father Thomas reached beneath the small table and took out a black leather whip. It was quite long, plaid from shiny leather strands, with a smooth, thick handle and a plain, sharp tip. He flexed it between his hands then suddenly smacked it down on the table. Caleb giggled and Maria felt her body filling with fear.
"Now, your first lesson with the whip, my child. You have tasted the cane but the cane is only the whip's gentle brother. The whip is violent and uncontrollable, see how it flexes in anticipation of the pain it can administer."
He flexed it again. She saw how strong it was and how eagerly it wanted to return to its natural straightness. Then he smacked it against the top of the bench and Maria's body shook at the hard unforgiving sound it made.
"You have not been truly beaten yet. You did not need to be tied down for the cane, you could bear its thrashing without bonds, but not so with the whip. The whip is too hurtful to bear without firm bondage to keep you in place. For the whip, you must be tied down tightly. The whip is too savage to bear without restraint."
Maria stared at him, waiting for her instructions. She heard his words but could not really believe that this could be more painful than the cane. This time, she thought, she would not struggle, she would accept her punishment gladly.
"Caleb!"
Caleb jumped to attention with his staff by his side.
"Bring her!"
Caleb pointed his staff at Maria's legs and shepherded her towards the wooden bench.
"Down!" ordered Father Thomas. "Down on your knees. Get down you fucking bitch!"
Maria was suddenly frightened by Father Thomas's angry words, her composure was disappearing and her fear was mounting. Perhaps the whip was more painful, perhaps it would be too much for her to bear? As the thoughts came so did a wave of fear that quickly turned into a desperate desire to escape. She fought hard against it, but her terror heaved through her in floods of nausea.
"Down, you fucking bitch. Down on the bench! Crawl onto it. Now you will be tested. Now we shall see how much you can really suffer. I am going to test you with the whip. I am going to give you pain you never thought existed. Get down! Crawl!"
Caleb prodded her and she moved to the bench, bent down and rested her hands on it then looked up at Father Thomas for her next instruction. She looked weak and defenceless, like a fawn.
"Get on your knees! I am losing patience. Get on your knees!"
He flexed the whip impatiently between his hands. Maria lifted her legs and knelt on the bench. The wood felt hard against her knees and she squirmed them about. The ends of the rope which hung from the hook in the ceiling draped loosely across her back and against her waist.
"Tie her Caleb."
Caleb ran across to the rings on the wall and drew out the gold coloured cords, then, twirling them around like lassoes, rushed back to the bench where Maria was crouching in fear. He grabbed her shoulders roughly and thrust them downwards towards the bench. The abruptness of the movement hurt her neck and she dropped onto her elbows and gasped. Quickly Caleb wound the cords around her wrists and secured them beneath the bench, then he put his foot on its edge, leaned back and pulled on the cords so tightly that she cried out.
"Please… Stop… Oh please…"
But he took no notice and kept pulling until they cut deeply into her wrists. She felt tears forming around her eyes.
"How does that feel bitch? Do you want it tighter?"
"No… Please… No…"
"Silence you fucking bitch! Silence!"
Caleb ran around to her legs and wound the cords around her calves but this time he let the other ends dangle free at the sides of the bench.
"Hoist her up, my servant!"
Caleb began to dance around the bench, darting in front of Maria's face, performing a curtsy, then running on frantically in giddy circles.