Chapter 1

She received the post on Monday and she tore the envelope open excitedly. She had been waiting for this for what seemed like forever! Quickly she read through the letter, searching for the answer she hoped was in it. There it was, she had been accepted!

Chelsea Bell had applied to a well known college in the United States to study. She had chosen this school, partially for its reputation for having a good sociology program. She wanted to become a criminal sociologist.

But she had also chosen a school in the United States because she wanted to get out of Great Britain. She lived in the small town of Farnborough all of her life, and she longed to escape. She wanted to see the America she saw on her “telly” – her television. The America she had read about in school and in stories.

She was pretty good in school in England. She had gotten good grades there, and didn’t think she would have much trouble in an American college. Sure, there would be the typical troubles of putting away the Metric system and learning the American ways of measuring, weighing, and so forth. But that would come with a little period of adjustment. She was excited to be leaving England and starting a new adventure “across the pond” in America.

So two weeks later, she was at the bus stop in Farnborough getting ready to leave the only life she had ever known. It would take a forty five minute bus ride to get to London’s Heathrow Airport. The next part was the longest, an eleven hour flight to JFK International, followed by a three hour connecting flight to Chicago.

After that, it was an hour long bus ride to get to the college itself. A long trip to be sure, but one she was excited to be taking. Chelsea got on the bus and settled in for the ride to Heathrow. She had been to London many times, but this trip was special. She looked at the English countryside, taking it all in as if it was the first time she had ever seen it. She wasn’t sure when, or if, she would ever see it again.

As she watched out the window, she heard a man’s voice behind her. “Where ya headed to, love?” She turned to see an older gentleman, who was clearly a fellow Brit, speaking to her.

“I’m off to America to go to school,” she said, “Chicago to be exact.”

“That’s a bit of a trip, then!” he said, smiling.

“Yes it is,” she agreed, then turned back to look out the window again.

“How long will you be gone?” he asked.

“I, I don’t know,” she said. “It’s a four year Master’s degree, so hopefully at least that long.”

“Well good luck to ya. I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

“Thank you,” she said.

The bus arrived in London, and Chelsea took a cab from the bus depot to the airport. And after 20 hours, two bus rides, and two airport layovers, she finally arrived at the college! And just in time too, she was just able to get into admissions in time to get processed in and get a dorm assignment! So she had a place to sleep that night. And she needed it – Chelsea hit the bed and was asleep before she hardly had closed her eyes!

The next morning, she got up and went to her first class at the school. It was a class on psychology and her instructor, Professor Diederich, was a former psychologist himself. Chelsea found a seat in the center of the classroom close to the front. She wanted to make sure she could get everything possible from the class. Chelsea took her classes serious, and she got good grades over in England. She wanted to make sure she did the same in her new school.

The first couple weeks went by pretty quickly. Chelsea had a lot to absorb and get used to. Not only was she going to college now, but it was college in a foreign country. She had to learn the language, learn how to deal with money and measurements, and a host of other things in her new home. All this made her workload harder than most of the other students in her class, but she handled it well and the time flew by.

Professor Diederich noticed her work as well. He was impressed how Chelsea seemed to be fitting in. And even with the extra burden of being a foreigner, she was keeping her grades up in the B to B+ percentile. One day after class, Professor Diederich stopped Chelsea as she was leaving the classroom.

“Excuse me, Miss Bell. I’d like you to stay after class for a bit. I want to talk to you,” he said.

“Sure Professor,” she replied, “what’s the matter?” As the last of the students left the classroom, Professor Diederich closed the door and came back to his desk.

“Nothing is the matter, Miss Bell. I just wanted to talk to you about how well you are doing so far. I know that it is especially hard for someone who is not of this country to come here and have to deal with American ways of doing things, much less taking college classes to boot. But you are doing remarkable. I just thought you should know I am impressed.”

“Thank you, Professor. It has been an interesting experience, that’s for sure. But I am doing okay. I have made some good friends here, and they have helped me to adapt,” she said.

“Well, the other thing I wanted to ask you is if you would be willing to become my assistant for this school year. Every year, I pick one student who shows more initiative, and ask if they would like to be my assistant and help me with grading papers, setting up work projects, and other things. Not that you need it, but there is extra credit involved for you.”

“Wow, Professor, I am flattered! I would love to be your assistant!” she said, excitedly.

“Then consider it done. Can you come by after school today and we will discuss what you can do to help me?”

“Sure, Professor. My last class ends about 2:00p.m., is that okay?”

“That will do nicely. I have a free period starting at that time, so we will have some time to talk.”

“Okay, I will be here a little after 2:00 then,” she said, smiling. Chelsea left for her next class, excited about her meeting with the Professor. She wondered what kinds of things she would be helping him with.

Chelsea enjoyed Professor Diederich’s class, the subjects he taught were interesting for her and the way he presented the information made it easy for her to understand. She also liked his voice and the passion he had for his work. He wasn’t the dry monotone type of instructor that she had had so many times before. She had no trouble staying awake for his classes!

After her last class let out, she hurried to Professor Diederich’s classroom, anxious to learn what her duties would be. She rushed through the hallways, going against the press of the other students trying to get out of the school buildings and on with their weekend fun.

Finally she arrived at the classroom and she paused at the door, wanting to straighten her clothes and check her makeup before going in. She wanted to show her appreciation by looking her best, after all this was a big honor for her.

“Hello Professor,” she said, walking into the classroom, “I’m here just as you asked.”

“Yes, Miss Bell. Thank you for taking the time. Now shall we discuss my needs for your assistance?”

“Yes Sir,” Chelsea said, “whatever I can do to help, Professor.”

“Good. Well, I will need you to help me set up for classes from time to time, I will need your help in grading papers and tests, and I will need your help in giving demonstrations when I need to. Do you think you can handle that?”

“Yes Sir. That sounds easy enough. I would love to be your assistant,” she said, smiling broadly.

“Good. Now aside from class-related help, I will also need your help in other areas. I can never seem to find the time to get everything done that I need to do. Would you be opposed to doing more mundane things such as picking up my dry cleaning and running other errands as well?” he asked.

“No Professor, I’ll do whatever you need done,” she said.

“Excellent. That will take a lot of the load off me, then. Thank you,” the Professor said.

Chelsea smiled. “It’s my pleasure, Professor.”

“Would you like to get a cup of coffee and we can talk further about class and what will be coming up?” the Professor asked.

“Sure! That would be great,” she replied. So the pair left the classroom and walked across the campus square to the coffee shop and talked some more about class, her goals, and how she will be helping him.

About an hour later, they said goodbye and Professor Diederich went to his car and headed home, while Chelsea walked back to her dorm room, quite happy with her new assignment as his class assistant. She had no idea just how much she would come to love her new job.

The following week would prove to be an important one for Chelsea. A turning point in the young girls’ life and the introduction of a whole new world for her – one she never knew existed. Professor Diederich held Chelsea after class that Monday to talk to her about a demonstration he wanted to give the class.

“Miss Bell, tomorrow I will be bringing in some antique criminal punishment devices to class, and I will need you to help me show the class how they were used. I will be bringing in a pair of antique leg irons, antique handcuffs, a pillory, and a few other things.

“I will need you to be the ‘criminal’ so the class can see how one would be put into these devices back in those days. Do you have a problem with this? I won’t be applying them to the same degree they were used on a criminal of course, I just want the class to get the general idea.”

“I suppose it would be all right,” Chelsea said a bit uneasily. She wasn’t sure of this idea of being a display. Chelsea was a bit shy and didn’t really like being the center of attention. But she had agreed to be the Professor’s assistant, and if this is what he needed her to do, then she would do it.

The next day Chelsea showed up to class as usual. She had all but forgotten about what she was to help the Professor with that day. That is, until she walked into the class room and saw the table at the front of the class with a dark colored cloth covering some odd shaped objects under it. There was also something tall and draped in a similar cloth standing next to the table. Chelsea took her seat, wondering if she hadn’t bitten off more than she cared to chew.

“Good morning class. Today I brought in some items to show you what the criminals of yesterday had to look forward to when they chose to circumvent the law. Back in the early days of this country, the laws were much stricter – we didn’t have all the freedoms we enjoy today. It was a different time and a different mentality.

“And the laws of that day were written as much to keep the country a God-fearing one as it was a civil one. And breaking these laws brought about consequences designed to punish rather than rehabilitate the offenders as we try to do today.

“Miss Bell here has kindly volunteered to assist me in demonstrating to all of you some of the devices and methods used back then to show the criminals of that period the error of their ways. Miss Bell, please help me demostrate if you would.”

Chelsea got up out of her chair and came to the front of the class. Professor took her over to the table and removed the dark cloth covering the objects on table, revealing what was underneath. Chelsea silently gasped as she saw what she was going to be demonstrating. Professor Diederich smiled knowingly to himself at her reaction.

“First off we will show you the typical handcuffs of the period. Note that they are considerably different than the ones you see today. These are what are commonly called the screw-type handcuffs. The key, seen here, doesn’t look like the normal handcuff key you see in today’s’ handcuffs,” he said. “Miss Bell, could you please turn around. I shall show the class how these handcuffs were applied.”

Chelsea turned her back to the class and put her hands behind her back. The Professor put the handcuffs on her wrists and adjusted them so they were snug, but not tight. “How does that feel, Miss Bell?” he asked.

“Fine Professor,” she said.

“Shall we try the leg irons now?”

“Yes, if you like.”

So Professor Diederich took the leg irons from off the table and knelt down to attach them to her ankles. The leg irons were antique as well with the same screw lock but with a heavy iron ball on a short chain between the two shackles.

“These leg irons,” the Professor explained, “were made short like this to prevent the wearer from being able to walk effectively. Anyone unfortunate to be shackled in them, had to hobble along using short steps. In addition this heavy ball would slow down any movement as well, making running away impossible. Try walking if you will, Miss Bell,” he said. Chelsea took a few steps and saw how difficult it was.