Maria hung against the sides of the confession box. Her white bra straps had fallen off her shoulders and were tight against the tops of her outstretched arms. Her white panties had pulled up tight between her buttocks and were cutting into the soft edges of her cunt. Caleb let the skirt fall from his face then turned over and, lying on his back, stared up between her legs. Maria felt giddy and tears blurred her eyes.
Father Thomas bent down and picked up Caleb's staff. He reached the point forward and pressed it against the small of Maria's back. She felt the pressure of its tip. Then Father Thomas slowly slid the point up her back. He held it against the taught strap of her bra, then, with a sudden movement, he pulled it upwards and sliced through the thin material. Her breasts were completely exposed and she felt disgusted and defiled.
Still on his back, Caleb slid forward on the floor and worked his way between her legs. He looked up over the mound at her crotch and ogled at her small, firm breasts. Her nipples were hardened and the tops of the bra cups hung from them loosely.
"Tie her! Ankles and wrists."
Caleb drew back and jumped up and grabbed hold of the cords he had brought. He leapt up onto the wooden seat and started to wind slip-knots around Maria's wrists. One he secured to the brass coat-hook and the other he wound around the sliding lattice-work grill. He pulled them tight and Maria gasped with pain as she was hoisted up on them; she stretched up on her toes to relieve some of the pressure.
Then Caleb jumped down onto the floor and tied her ankles to the legs of the wooden seat. Again he pulled them as tight as he could and this time Maria cried out in pain.
"Oh, please Father, please!"
"Do not worry my child, I will save you. You are in safe hands."
"Please Father, I can't stand it. Please let me go, please, please."
"Shut her up Caleb. The bitch has got too much to say."
"Please Father, please, I can't stand it, please let me go."
Then her words were stifled as Caleb smacked the tape across her face. He pulled it tight and unreeled it so that it went behind her head and back again to her face. He wound it around several times then tore it from the reel. Maria's long hair was caught in it and she could not move for the pain.
"That will do you for the moment, I think," said Father Thomas. "I will give you some time to think over your sins my child, and to think about how you may be saved by appropriate punishment. Come Caleb, we have other work to do."
Father Thomas picked up Caleb's staff and handed it to him. Caleb took it eagerly then closed the door to the confession box and fell in behind Father Thomas. They both disappeared into the depths of the church, Caleb skipping behind Father Thomas's flowing robes as much in excitement as with a need to keep up.
Maria hung on her bonds, tears streaming down her face. As she stared at the wall she could see the reflection of the flickering light of the candles that burned on the altar. She felt like a sacrifice and sobbed.
She watched as candles burned lower and lower as the night went on. She dreaded them going out altogether; the flickering of the candles gradually got lower and she drifted into a light doze. Her head lolled onto her shoulder as a light mist of unconsciousness crept closer. Then the last candle flickered out and Maria was left, hanging on her bonds in the profound darkness of the empty church.
CHAPTER 4
Maria awoke with a start as a glimmer of sunlight flashed through a high stained-glass window and reflected on the wall outside the confession box. She was slumped heavily on her bonds and instantly felt a terrible pain in her wrists. Her hands were swollen and red and she eased herself up a little to try and relieve some of the pain.
"I see you are awake my child."
Father Thomas was standing behind her with Caleb by his side.
She could only turn her head slightly, her neck was stiff and her shoulders were sore with the strain of hanging all night on the tight cords around her wrists.
"Cut her down Caleb."
Caleb jumped forward and jabbed his staff towards Maria. Her eyes widened with fear as he stabbed the staff forward and, one by one, sliced through the cords at her wrists. As the first one gave way she slumped to one side then, as the other one was sliced through by the point of the staff, she dropped to the floor of the confession box in a heap.
"Bring her!"
Caleb pulled at her shoulders, grabbing and pinching her aching flesh. She winced in pain but slowly allowed herself to be lifted. She clung to the back of the confession box, hardly able to stand. Her eyes were wide with terror as she cowered in the shadows. Her bra hung loosely below her breasts and her white panties were pulled up tightly around her cunt. Caleb pinched the soft skin of her arms and coaxed her out.
Father Thomas walked ahead as Caleb dragged Maria down the aisle of the church. When she stumbled and grasped the sides of a pew to keep from falling, Caleb pinched her arms and drove her on with his sharp staff. When they got nearer to the altar, Caleb ran forward and unhitched the heavy rope that hung loosely in front of it. He prodded Maria with his staff and drove her through into the altar chapel then clipped the rope back onto its brass hooks and ran up behind Father Thomas.
Maria stood limply in front of the altar, her white panties pulled up into the crack of her cunt.
"Here!" ordered Father Thomas pointing to his feet. "Here!"
Maria moved forward slightly but was uncertain what he meant. Caleb ran forward and started prodding the backs of her legs with his staff. He urged her forward then poked her stingingly in the shoulders and drove her down onto her knees.
She knelt obediently in front of Father Thomas and Caleb crouched by her side, looking quizzically into her eyes.
"I have thought long and hard about your sin, my child. Your punishment will be long and arduous, there is no easy remedy for your terrible sins, you will have to suffer much humiliation before you can be cleansed of your wretchedness. You will have to learn complete obedience before you can even think of being saved."
Maria thought she was going to faint, she felt so thirsty and she had not eaten for ages. She began to heave with nausea and felt panicky at the thought of being sick with her mouth gagged by the tape. She looked away from Caleb as he pushed his face close to hers.
"Look at him!" shouted Father Thomas. He stared intensely into her tearful eyes. Then he reached towards her, grabbed the loose end of the tape and pulled it roughly until it started to unwind. As he ripped it away from the back of her head it pulled her hair and made her moan.
"I will now introduce you to the first instrument of obedience, my child. Come."
Father Thomas smiled, reached down and took her hand gently, then led her towards the altar.
"Bend over the altar and we will begin."
He let go of her hand and she bent obediently across the front of the altar. There seemed so much suffering to relieve her awful sins. She pressed her bare breasts down against the white cloth on the altar and looked at the large candlesticks that stood around her with their candles already renewed, flickering and bright.
"This is what will remind you of your obedience my child."
Something smacked down in front of her face and her eyes snapped shut with shock and fear.
"Do not turn away my child, look at the instrument of obedience."
She opened her eyes slowly and looked at the bamboo cane that was tapping on the altar.