Chapter 76: Bernice: Friday

I detected Clarice’s and Alice’s scheming as soon as our discussions about ‘poaching’ moved onto other topics yesterday morning. Sure enough, Drippy was ‘poached’ by Clarice a few hours later, much to Melody’s disgust. Personally I’ve no sympathy for a mistress who can’t keep her Chattel slave out of the clutches of another mistress. However, Melody and Drippy are soft targets. Both are too kind and gentle to be taken seriously as a mistress and slave. I don’t doubt that Drippy is in Melody’s thrall, but neither of them are suited to the competitiveness among La Chatte Heureuse’s Mistress caste.

“Don’t let Madame Alice or Madame Clarice catch you with idle hands,” I warn Melissa as soon as we return to my suite. “I’ll not have you damage my reputation by allowing yourself to be poached.”

“I’ll do my best, Madame,” replies Melissa, clearly unsure how she is going to achieve my command. “What if I’m cornered during my two hours of free time?”

“As long as it’s in your own time, I don’t care what happens. However, I will not permit any mistress to use you as a tool against my position in the hierarchy. If I think you are complicit in any such action, then you’ll regret it just as much as the mistress who poached you.”

I allow Melissa her two hours of free time just after lunch, as I did yesterday. On reflection, I should have varied the timing of Melissa’s break, particularly after noticing Alice’s and Clarice’s scheming. Too late! I notice Alice hovering near the exit door as Melissa makes her way out of the building. However, Melissa isn’t blind to the trap that’s awaiting her, and she quickly changes course and disappears into one of the service cupboards that the duty slaves use when cleaning the suites.

I’m mystified by Melissa’s action. I’ve no idea what is in that cupboard but there can only be one door and it doesn’t look big enough to reach to the exterior wall. Like Alice, I wait patiently for events to unfold. After three or four minutes, Alice grows impatient and goes to the cupboard and flings open the door. From Alice’s actions, it’s clear that Melissa is no longer in the cupboard. How on earth did she pull that disappearing trick?

Alice wanders off after a few minutes looking frustrated at her failure. A ripple of pleasure flows through me, but I’m equally curious about Melissa’s means of escape. I casually go to the cupboard and check the inside. It contains nothing but spare bed linen and blankets. I’m about to resign myself to asking Melissa next time I see her, when I notice the hatch in the ceiling. Hah! Clever girl. But surely she’s trapped up there as much as she was in the cupboard. The mystery is solved when Melissa appears walking along the corridor, having come from the direction of the kitchen.

“There are twelve hatches that give access to the roof space above, Madame,” says Melissa in answer to my questions. “There’s lighting and a walkway up there that connects all twelve hatches. The roof space is checked periodically as part of the maintenance programme. I was enlisted to help with the routine check the other week.”

With Alice having given up on ambushing Melissa, I watch as Melissa makes her way to the administration building. Yet again, I’m impressed by Melissa’s resourcefulness, and I wonder why she is working on this island at all, especially as a manual labourer.