After Deirdre’s parents passed and her brother perished overseas, people said it wasn’t safe or seemly for a young woman to live alone so far from town, especially a young woman as attractive as Deirdre. But solitude seemed to agree with Deirdre, and the townspeople, not seeing her for months at a time, mostly put her out of mind.

It was driving back from town with a load of provisions that Deirdre spotted the young man walking the roadside. “Would you like a lift?” she asked.

“‘Preciate it,” he said. “Hain’t seen hide nor hair of no one for hours.”

“It’s pretty lonely out here,” Deirdre allowed, and she turned into the tiny rutted road that led to her place. “Would you like some spirits before you resume your journey?”

When the young man awoke, he found himself naked, spread-eagled on the bed, his hands and feet bound to the bedposts. “Comfy?” Deirdre asked. The man couldn’t answer because a pair of cotton panties filled his mouth. “I think you’re gonna like this,” Deirdre told the man, showing him the feather.

Deirdre discovered he was especially sensitive just beneath the rim of his penis and in the space between his anus and scrotum. “Now be careful,” she warned, when she noticed his penis slit opening and a spot of gleam welling up. “I don’t want my bedsheets messed.” But the feather was too much for the man.

“Drat,” said Deirdre. “Now I have to get new linens. I should be back in a couple of hours if the store’s still open.”

On the drive to town, Deirdre encountered another young man with his thumb out. “Where you headed?” she asked.

“Anywhere there’s a job,” he replied.

“Good,” Deirdre said. “Get in. I’ve got some man’s work for you.”