Chapter 3

The girls were glad to wake up to a bright, cold morning after the unpleasant scene they had witnessed last night. They rose and stretched themselves savoring the fresh cool wind as it blew across their bodies and cleaned away the feeling of being soiled by what they had witnessed. To get the circulation going, they wrestled in a friendly but energetic manner for twenty minutes or so, gaining a couple of falls apiece. Finally, Jessica sat on her friend’s stomach and smiled down at her - both girls were pink all over and a sheen of perspiration covered them from head to toe.

“Time to make a move. I reckon we should be at the cottage in an hour,” said Gwendoline.

“No, sweetie, you’re staying where you are for a bit!” laughed Jessica as she felt her friend deliciously writhing beneath her in her attempt to get free.

“Don’t be a rotter, Jess. I give in - OK?”

“You’ll give in when I tell you to...”

And so, the struggle resumed until Gwen was sitting on top of a laughing Jessica. She bent down and kissed her, moving off her stomach and lying next to her, her arms around her darling friend and her hands resting lovingly on her buttocks.

“Maybe we don’t have to go just yet.”

Finally, the two gentle antagonists reluctantly contrived untangle and tear themselves away from each other, making tracks for the cottage and a much-delayed breakfast.

They had to wait for an hour hiding behind some bushes, while a pair of engineers did some work on the telephone lines in the road outside the cottage. They cursed as the men decided to have a tea break before leaving. It was cooler today and they were getting hungry. Finally, the coast was clear and the pair let themselves into their refuge.

“Just our luck if the key had gone missing,” said Jess.

After satisfying their hunger and thirst they made themselves comfortable on the sofa and resumed caressing each other.

“Gwen?”

“Jessie?”

“I love you, but you could do with a shower.”

“Ugh! So could you! Smelly cow!”

“Hot or cold?”

“Silly question - what are you a woman or a wimp?”

And so, they went up to the bathroom and gasped as the icy cold water cascaded over their bodies. They dried each other off by going into the garden and resuming their wrestling. Finally, a triumphant Gwen rolled off her willingly defeated friend and they lay side by side in the anemic October sunlight until the cold began to get to them and they went indoors.

It was by this time about two in the afternoon.

“Can’t we go up to bed, Gwen?”

“At this time - you tired already?”

“Not tired - silly, just can’t wait to get at you!”

“MMMM”

As an enraptured and exhausted couple were drifting off to sleep a few hours later, the front doorbell rang.

“Shit, Gwen - who the fuck can that be?”

“Who knows? We’ve a right to be here - and a perfect right to be undressed if we like in our own home. Let’s go and see who it is.”

With a little trepidation, Jessica opened the front door and there was Harriet, smiling all over her face to see her two friends again.

Her smile turned to a look of horror as she saw Jessica’s bruised face and battered body and Gwendoline’s black eye.

“Bloody hell, you two - what the fuck’s been going on since we last met?”

“Oh, we had a fight with five lobos a few days after we left you and then took part in an illegal underground bare-knuckle prize fight - all such super fun!” laughed Jessica.

“Sounds it. Why are you so much more marked than Gwen? I always rated you a smidgeon better - not that we ever knew since you were always too fond of each other to put it to the test.”

And so, they brought Harry up to date on all their adventures. She listened open-mouthed.

“Golly I wish I could have been with you to see you fight all those people - you really upheld the honor of the old school. Good for you two! That General sounds a lovely old man - my Daddy’s met him a few times. But that witch thing last night - that must have been scary.”

They prepared a meal between the three of them and then relaxed in front of the TV.

“You two seem a lot more friendly together in the last few days! I’m not surprised - we all guessed it would come to that in the end. I’m so happy for you both - you look radiant somehow! I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a happy couple - you’re so bloody lucky!” And here Harriet brushed away a tear.

“What’s up darling Harry?” asked Gwen going over and putting her arm around her shoulder.

“It’s Bill. We had a row and he won’t answer my calls and won’t let me in to his house when I go over to see him. I’m so bloody lonely and miserable! Can’t I come along with you two? I could be a help - I’m not bound by the same rules.”

“Oh, yes you would be,” said Gwen and Jessie together.

Gwen continued, “You’d be more than welcome, but it’s absolute barefoot nudity and it’s getting colder already. We’re getting used to it, but you’d be thrown in at the deep end. We can telephone Harold and get him to have some clothes ready for you when we arrive. Think about it. Our feet are pretty well hardened by now, but the first days were very painful. You’d have to keep up with us; we’ve a daily schedule to maintain.”

“You mean you’d really let me come - you’re not kidding me on. You mean I can really truly join you?”

“Long as you don’t mind our love-making, Harriet. I warn you it’s getting pretty heavy - lots and lots of bodily fluids being exchanged and we love exploring each other. You won’t have to sleep alone though - we’ll all keep together at nights - lovely and cozy!”

“And we live off what we can find to eat or get offered to us along the way. No begging. It can get a bit tough and your stomach’s going to rumble a lot.”

Harriet removed her clothes and shivered a little in the unheated house. She was taller than the other two and her newly exposed breasts were fuller and more voluptuous, though with all the firmness of early youth. She looked at her feet and felt the soles, hardened by her preference for a shoeless condition - no worries there. Only the cold would be a worry.

“Golly, this is going to be different - but if you two can do it, so can I!”

“We’re not sure we two can, actually - we’ll see in November.”

“Course we will. We’re the Three Musketeers now. All for one and one for all!”

“Nasty rotten Harriet,” sulked Jessica -” NICE Gwen!” and Harriet went to get the breakfast ready whilst the other two did lots of truly nice things together! Let us leave them to it. I do not encourage voyeurism.

As Harriet busied herself with preparing what might be their last proper breakfast for days, she wondered at her rashness in joining this pair. There was a wildness about them - as Mark had already delightedly discovered -and that probably meant that Harriet would have an epic struggle defending her honor. Was it such a great idea coming on this enterprise just out of desperation at the loss of Bill? It wasn’t too late to back out.

“No - I’ve crossed the Rubicon. Never look myself in the face again, if I didn’t go through with it. And they ARE nice looking girls. I was always very fond of them! Most popular pair in the school and I’m lucky to be joining them.”

After Harriet had been introduced to the trauma of her first cold shower, the three repaired to the lawn.

“Why can’t we use a towel to get dry?” asked a puzzled Harry.

“Cause a towel is a form of covering - like in that internet story we were discussing with Bill the other day. That girl was given little mini towels to dry herself with, but as I said, this was in America and we are in England - so we get dry by doing lots of exercises.”

“What exercises?” asked Harriet.

“Two-against-one wrestling of course, but we’ve got to catch you first.”

And a squealing Harriet was chased around the garden by the other two until she was finally cornered and grappled to the ground. She was a strong girl, though, and not about to submit easily. She soon broke out of the hold and pinned Gwen to the ground for a short time until Jess got her arm around her chest and pulled her off, allowing Gwendoline to get hold of her legs and try to hold her down.

Harriet’s free arm swung up and Gwen was given a mighty slap across the face which caused her to loosen her hold long enough to allow Harriet to break free.

“That’s not in the rules,” said Jessica. “You started the hitting and now we’re going to finish it. Grab her shoulders, Gwen.”

Harriet was held in a full Nelson long enough for Jessica to punch her hard in the stomach, causing her to collapse in a gasping, breathless agony and the fight was over.

The three lay on the ground recovering.

“You certainly play it pretty rough, you two - I’ll need to improve my style if I want to stay in one piece.”

“No - we’ll take turns to be the victim - that’s only fair,” said Jessica.

“You certainly put up a super show against us. How’s the stomach feeling?” asked Gwendoline

“Fine, thanks Gwen,” replied Harriet. “Let’s us two starts on Jessica now!!”

They finally left the cottage in the early evening, leaving it in the same neat and tidy condition as they had found it.

The original pair were pleasantly surprised at the ease with which Harriet was able to keep pace.

“I grew up in Africa, before my parents had to get out to escape Mugabe, and we kid all walked around barefoot there. We even went to school barefoot only wore shoes on Sunday to Church. I just carried on like that when I came to England. Never wore shoes in the holes, even in winter.”

“What sort of things will you all do when you start your female Freemasonry thing?”

“Well, we’ll have to dress up at our meetings I suppose like the men and all stick together and help out when we’re in a jam. Sort of exclusive sisterhood, helping women to succeed in a man’s world.”

“Not restricted to gay women?”

“NO!! said Gwendoline. “Not on your life! Gosh we don’t even know what we’ll be in a year from now - I can guess, mind you! And all the other girls who joined are most likely as straight as you are! Anyway, you’ve already done enough to get admitted - so stop saying ‘you’ From now on its ‘we’; OK Harriet darling?”

“OK!!” And all three embraced, Gwen and Jessica thrilling to Harriet’s softness and warmth and Harriet feeling a little nervous at the groping of her friends.

It was already dark and the trio were striding across an open hillside, Harriet’s long legs were eating up the miles and the others were having a hard time keeping pace. The newcomer was surprised how easily she was coping with the cold night air. The temperature was dropping down to freezing and the cold just seemed to energies her and fill her with a ‘joie de vivre’ she had never experienced since camping under the stars in Africa as a child.

“Golly, girls, I’m glad I’m not missing out on this anymore. You’ve no idea how this feels for me! I’m not too sure about my fighting skills, though. I’ll let you do any fighting that comes along. I’ll just cheer you both on!”

“There won’t be any more violence. I can feel it in my bones,” said Jessica, “from now on this is a journey of Peace and Love for all.”

“I wonder”, thought Gwen and Harriet to themselves, “hope it doesn’t get too boring.”

The terrain became too rough and uneven to make much more progress in the dark and the three started to feel around for a suitable place to spend what remained of the night. The best bet seemed as so often before to be under the shelter of a stone wall.

“You lie down first, Harry and we’ll lie on top of you and keep you warm, since it’s your first night out in the open.”

“OK girls, but none of your randy little games, or I take my chances with the cold!”

“You can’t stop us thinking all sorts of nice thoughts about you, though,” giggled Gwendoline.

“She’s lovely and soft, Gwen! Let’s have her as our sweet little mattress for the rest of the journey. It’s worth waking up with a frozen back every night!”

And so, Harriet slept soundly under the body heat of her two companions and they were well satisfied to keep her warm even at the cost of not being totally so themselves. `After all,’ thought Jessica, `we’re used to it by now. We’ve got to look out for her. And she sure is lovely and soft - shame she won’t let us kiss her, though!’

With this thought, Jessica fell asleep herself and was shortly followed by Gwendoline.

When they both awoke, their backs and sides were like ice, and only their chests and stomachs were warm. They rose to their feet and moved away to be alone together, embracing tenderly. When Harriet awoke a few moments later, the two were in a world of their own and she watched them smilingly. She could only feel happy for them in this innocent and passionate affection but she felt keenly for her own lost love.

“She looks SO nice doesn’t she, Gwen,” said Jessica as the three lay together on the bed in the cottage.

“Scrumptious. Love those nice big tits - Yummy!!”

“Let’s give her a really, long, lovely wet kiss, Gwen - you take the mouth and I’ll explore that lovely juicy pussy.”

“Get off! Bloody madwomen - I’m not ready for this just yet, never will be, I hope. Strictly heterosexual and don’t you bloody forget it!”

Harriet had been a member of the group for three days and they had made reasonable progress along the upland route, crossing the M1 between Milton Keynes and Northampton. They had been quite certain, times without number, that they had been spotted in this most heavily populated region, and had been constantly obliged to take refuge in whatever cover they could find, travelling by night and resting by day - always with one on guard while the others slept.

A turn for the worse in the weather had severely reduced visibility and kept sensible people indoors. This had helped them remain unseen. Gwen and Jess were amazed how inured they had both become to rain and chill, after their weeks on the move, but poor Harriet was beginning to regret her decision to join them - not that she was backing out now! She was so very grateful that the other two were insistent on smothering her in their beautiful, soft warmth every night and she even came to tolerate their occasional amorous exploration of her private parts!

Having Harriet to look after and worry about seemed to bring Jessica and Gwen even more delightfully closer than ever. They had both been a little apprehensive at first that the newcomer might come between them, but these fears were soon forgotten in the pleasure of having someone else with whom to share all the pleasures and discomforts of the journey.

“It’s nice to have a lovely redhead around as well as a lovely blonde and a plain brunette,” said Gwendoline one morning as they washed themselves in a convenient brook.

“Who are you calling plain - you fucking cow?” cried Jessica. “Come on Harriet - someone needs a good long cold bath this morning.”

And both girls sat on Gwendoline and kept her almost immersed in the cold water.

“You’re very sorry, aren’t you Gwen?” asked Jessica.

“Fuck off!”

“You didn’t mean that did you, Gwen?”

“Get fucking lost - you PLAIN bitch”

“Like the cold so much, do we?”

“Piss off - you ARE plain and I’m beautiful!! So there!”

“Sorry?”

“Plain bitch!”

A few minutes later... “Let me up, PLEASE - I’m bloody freezing here.”

“Say you’re sorry first.”

“Fuck off - you plain brunette bitch!”

Several more minutes later... “I’m not plain.”

“Yes, you bloody are - please let me up, Jessica! I’m fucking freezing here!”

“You stay here all day, if necessary - you’re going to take it back and say sorry!”

“Shan’t!”

“So, you can fucking well carry on freezing for a while!”

Ten minutes later... “OK - so you’re not plain-YOU’RE FUCKING UGLY!! - but I love you more than anyone else in the world!”

“That’s OK, then,” said a delighted Jessica. Get lost for a minute, Harry”

And Jessica lay on her back in the freezing cold stream next to her dear friend and they smiled longingly and lovingly at each other, their hands caressing each other’s breasts and exploring their dear, hidden places, until the cold finally became too much for both of them and they rejoined Harriet on the river bank.

“Feeling alright, Gwen?”

“Course I am, darling Jessie - I love a nice lovely ice-cold bath - you know that! - and you’re so absolutely gorgeously beautiful, you really are - the loveliest darling beautiful lest person in the whole wide world.”

“You two are mad as hatters!” said Harriet. “But it’s bloody good being with you! Can’t this lovely time go on forever?”

“You look SO nice dear darling Harry, now that your sweet little red bush is growing back”, said Gwen, “Why did you ever have it removed?”

“Supposed to be fashionable - blame it on Rio!”

“What I say,” Jess opined, “is that if men don’t like good, honest to goodness, hairy, REAL women, then fuck them! Who needs men anyway? WE don’t need the dirty, smelly, untidy bastards, do we darling Gwen? Oh, I do so love your lovely hairy armpits yum yum!!”

Harriet joined in the laughter at this, but inside she was not laughing. There was one man she needed, and she needed him more desperately with every passing day!

There were no fish to be had in such a fast-flowing rivulet and the trio worked their way downstream until they came upon a still pool.

“Oh! Look girls! Lovely juicy trout - look at our breakfast swimming around!” cried Harriet. “Watch me, girls!”

“Two of us can tickle trout!!!”

“Calloo, calla. Oh, frabjous day!!”

They chortled in their joy.

They all passed this day so pleasantly that the need to be pressing on to their goal took second place to the sheer unadulterated joy of being together, enjoying being young and fit, and ready for all that life can offer.

“I think we’ve lost too much time over the last two days,” said a serious Jessica. “We’ve got to try and do at least twenty miles today and for the next few days, or we’ll be falling to far behind to catch up. We keep having to make detours to avoid all the cities and towns. I never realized just how hard it was going to be at the start.”

And so it was that they set out across the hills and into the Fen country. They were between Sandy and Royston and becoming a little too confident for their own good when disaster struck!

“OK Ladies, I think we’ve got something to talk about, don’t you?”

The three friends had been trying to cross an open flat stretch of country with very little in the way of cover. They knew it was a risky enterprise but it was late in the afternoon and the rain had been falling heavily all day. Only a few more yards and there was a river to swim across - cold but not too wide - and the other bank seemed a much more hopeful prospect - emptiness stretching away into the distance. Just these last few yards to negotiate, and then disaster!

Three men appeared from behind a hedge and one of them was carrying a shotgun!

“We’re not doing any harm,” said Jessica, “Just going for a swim in the river - no one else can see us, except you and you wouldn’t have if you hadn’t been spying. Come on girls, let’s go!”

“Not so fast, my tough young friends! You think I won’t use this?” pointing to his gun. “Just try me.”

The girls paused - uncertain what to do. There was something creepy about this man. He looked dangerous and very nasty. His two friends were not prepossessing characters either. One was very old and grinning at the naked, dripping wet girls in a thoroughly sickening way. He gave a new depth of meaning to the expression, “Dirty Old Man”.

The other man looked every bit as determined as the one with the gun. He had very little hair and one eye was almost closed. A scar covered the right side of his face and he looked as hard as nails - the victor in a thousand brawls, which had left their mark on him.

The man with the gun was the tallest of the three, grey haired and distinguished looking. He had the looks of a film star - sort of Stewart Grangerize. Handsome and distastefully smooth.

Harriet preferred the rugged type, although not as rugged as Scarface! The other two preferred each other!

“You seem to spend a lot of time undressed, you two - and now we have a third! How does she rate as a fighter?”

“I don’t,” said Harriet. “These are the dynamic duo.”

Jessica recognized him now! He had been at the back of the crowd at the prizefighting and had left as soon as Jessica had dispatched her last opponent. He had very pointedly not joined in the applause as she stood there bleeding, bruised and triumphant, her aching, weary arms raised - smiling despite the pain. He had obviously lost a lot of money and was NOT happy!

“I suggest we adjourn to my house, which has the advantage of being both warm and dry. I desire very much to improve our acquaintance - don’t argue, ladies!”

And so, the trio of apprehensive girls were escorted across the field, through a gate in a high wall and into the garden of a large house.

“This way, please.”

They were led into some kind of windowless store room. In a corner was a small wire-mesh cage, which might be used for transporting some kind of animals - large dogs, or whatever.

“Get into the cage - you,” said the man to Harriet.

“Fuck off - I’m not getting in there - let’s go you two - he’s only bluffing. He wouldn’t dare!”

The man drew back the safety catch on the gun. “Don’t try my patience - you little slut. Get into that cage - FAST!”

Harriet obeyed. This man was not fooling around and he had a terrifying air of ruthlessness. There was barely room for her to crouch down inside the cage, which the man closed and locked.

He motioned towards the other two and the cage was picked up and carried out. The remaining two were left, locked in the windowless room.

“I don’t like this adventure, Gwen. Can’t we skip it and go on to the next?”

(‘Farid not - author)

Shortly after leaving them, the man with the gun returned and motioned the two anxious girls to come with him. He led them to a large, untidy room, which would have made a lovely lounge, given decent furniture and total makeover. As it was, it was a squalid mess.

“Don’t sit down ladies,” he said as he made himself comfortable on an old leather sofa - just about the only decent furniture in the whole room.

“I admired your performance the other night. I truly did. It was supremely wonderful! You girls possess skill in abundance. Better than that you have sheer raw courage, such as I have rarely seen before - if ever!”

“Thank you,” said Gwendoline.

“Yes, thanks awfully,” said Jessica.

Both girls had had politeness bred into them from their earliest years!

“Where is our friend?”

“She’s fine - and she’ll stay fine as long as you do what I ask of you - and you can all leave tomorrow together.”

“What do you want us to do - fight a few more people I suppose? We’re still pretty sore from the other night but that’s fine - just let our friend out of that horrible cage. We give you our word, we’ll fight any one you want us to, but PLEASE let her out!”

“Come with me, ladies”

He led them out into the garden and pointed up into a very tall tree. There was Harriet, still in the cage, which was suspended from the main branch and swaying slightly in the wind.

“She stays up there all night unless you do as I ask.”

“What do you ask, you bastard?” screamed a desperate Jessica, distraught at the sight of poor Harriet.

“When I saw you in action against those old has-beens, I wondered how you would both do against a really worthy opponent - I mean - against each other!”

“Oh. No. Not that. Never. NEVER!” said Gwen.

Jessie concurred, “We NEVER fight each other. We never will - forget it!”

“It’s going to be a very uncomfortable night for your friend up there. Maybe several uncomfortable nights. She comes down when your fight is over and not a second sooner. And you’d better make sure you don’t pull any punches - I can tell these things. My friends and I want to see blood and hear lots of good hard punches and kicks”

“Get lost,” said Gwen

“Yeah, piss off,” said Jessie.

The girls were led inside and poor Harriet was left to endure a night of misery.

In the morning they were led out and saw how terrible their poor friend looked after a night in the cold and wet. Blue with cold and shivering - she was also obviously suffering from the cramped conditions in the cage. The wire mesh was digging into her knees and legs.

“Oh Gwen, how could we be so selfish letting her suffer like that? Let’s get it over with. I forgive you any harm you do me.”

“And I you, dearest! We’ll pay these bastards back twenty times what we’re forced to do to each other and what they’ve done to poor old Harriet.”

“Only twenty?” asked Jessie. “Let’s make it fifty!”

“Done!”

They separated after a long kiss and turned to their captors.

“OK - you bastard. You win, but please free her before we start. PLEASE!”

“Don’t do it you two. It’d kill you hurt each other. Don’t even think about it,” cried Harriet. “Don’t worry about me! I’m fine up here - marvelous view!”

“She stays up there until one of you is the winner. The sooner you get started the better for her.”

The girls embraced again - they were sick to their stomachs at what was to come and praying for a miracle.

“Don’t hold back, Gwen - think of Harriet - try to imagine it’s one of those bastards you’re fighting. We’ll give them a good show - plenty of action - lots of blood - loads of good thumping kicks and punches”

“Where do you want us to do it?” said Gwen to the ringleader.

“Right out here on the lawn - no hang on a minute ... and he shouted into the house. Show’s about to start, boys, bring out a large sheet”

The two others came out, the old man grinning as if Christmas had come early and the other looking meaner than ever.

They spread out the white sheet on the grass.

“Nice touch, this,” said the man with the gun, “It’ll show up the blood to perfection!”

Once more the two friends exchanged a brief kiss and hug.

“Keep watching out for that gun, Gwen. If we can get him excited enough - you never know - it might distract him - but I daresay we’ll have to suffer first, my sweet. Hitting you will hurt so much, much more than being hit by you.”

“Same here - good luck.”

And so, the two friends started to circle around each other, looking for the first opening and keeping an eye on the man with the gun at the same time.

Jessica struck the first blow, and left herself open to a counter kick to the side of the body right in the ribs. The sound of both blows could have been heard a mile away and the old man was beginning to salivate. His scar-faced friend was looking pretty happy, as well - and the man with the gun was starting to pay more attention to the fight than to his need to oversee the fighters.

Gwen caught Jessica in the stomach with a stupendous kick and followed this up with two punches to the face which drew blood in copious amounts.

“NOW, Gwen!”

And both girls dived at the shotgun, which the man had allowed to drop, pulling it away from him before he could recover his poise. He was soon lying on the ground with a very badly gashed head.

The other two onlookers took one look and started to flee.

The girls pursued them and caught them. The horrible old man soon joined his friend in unconsciousness and Gwendoline and Jessica turned their attention to the third. This tough looking gentleman turned out not to be so tough after all. Remembering their resolve to pay these people back fifty-fold, they proceeded to exact payment in full on his person.

There was blood all over the white sheet, but very little belonged to the girls.

The key to the cage was in the ringleader’s pocket and they soon got Harriet free.

“Let’s get her inside the house, Gwen and find some rope to tie these bastards up.”

After a very pleasant breakfast and a few cups of hot, sweet tea, Harriet was soon almost her normal self. Only the red lines on her knees gave any sign of her ordeal.

“Let’s go and look at our friends in the garden.”

The owner of the house was conscious again. Gwen and Jess proceeded to work him mercilessly over in a thorough fashion, regretting for once their lack of shoes. Finally, they locked him in the cage, threw the key over the garden wall and left him suspended and naked as Harriet had been. He looked more dead than alive.

“Goodbye, Sir. Thanks for the hospitality - lovely breakfast! Have a nice day!!”

And so, the three friends finally got to swim across the river and were soon lost to view. It was several hours before the other two could free themselves from their bonds and then they had to find the key to the cage. By the time Mr. Henderson (such was this gentleman’s name) was let out he was extremely ill. Later that day he was admitted to hospital, suffering from pneumonia and hypothermia. Sadly, he made a full recovery.