Chapter 35

They found Andy hanging from the bracelets on her wrists. Two small pools of blood had formed, one below each foot. They had formed as the blood from the myriad cuts across her body had slowly flowed down her body to her legs, then down to her toes to drip onto the polyethylene below. Since her legs were still held spread wide apart by the ankle bracelets attached to the torture frame, two separate pools had formed. There was also a small pool of urine beneath her. Andy's head was pitched forward with her chin nearly on her chest. Ken gasped as he looked at the girl. He had seen nothing nearly this bad since he had cut the Trang sisters down from the scaffold. But, he thought, the Vietnamese intended to kill the sisters. What happened here?

Before he could utter the words aloud, Kathy picked up a small envelope lying on the floor just in front of the polyethylene sheet. It was addressed to her and she opened it. "My God!" she exclaimed, "It's to me from Andy. She says she has received over 100 lashes. Most are for not returning home at the appropriate time, but a few are for making an unauthorized telephone call.

"Since she knows how much I hate to beat her, she made her own arrangements so I wouldn't have to." She looked up at Ken with tears pouring from her eyes and added, "She doesn't think she'll be able to kiss the whip so those strokes will be added to the next time!

"My God!" she wailed, "what are we going to do?"

"As a first step," he said softly, "How about if we get her down from there? Any idea how long she's been hanging on that rack?"

"What time is it now?" she asked. When told it was almost seven-thirty, she replied, "This is dated today at three o'clock. My God! She's been hanging suspended for over four hours!"

Ken asked Mike for help. Together the two men lifted Andy's weight from the hooks permitting Kathy to unfasten them. Meanwhile, Judy had gone to the second bedroom, took the bedspread off the bed, and pulled down the covers. As gently as they could, the two men carried Andy between them to the room and laid her on it.

Blood covered both men when they stepped back because Andy's body was bleeding from everywhere. The only unmarked part of her body was her face. There were lacerations on her breasts, her belly, her loins and her arms. Her legs had been whipped on all surfaces with particular emphasis on her inner thighs. The result was there was no way to carry her without touching a number of the still-bleeding cuts across her body. There was not a single square inch of her flesh that wasn't marked.

Judy came back with a pan of warm water and two washcloths. Giving one to Kathy, the two girls worked as carefully as they could to wash off the blood and lymphatic fluid that covered her body. In addition, it was apparent that the woman had been sweating profusely during her ordeal and there was a great deal of dried salty sweat all over her body. As they carefully worked with the men watching, the new pain seemed to partially revive the injured girl.

Kathy was working on her shoulders and chest as the girl suddenly tried to get up. As gently as she could, Kathy held her down and whispered, "Relax, darling Andy. It will be all right!"

"I have to get up," the girl gasped in a husky voice. "I have to clean up my mess!" Her eyes opened and searched the room, finally fixing on Kathy's face. "Mistress, I tried to hold it in. Honestly, I did. But I finally lost control and urinated on the floor. I must lick it up before it dries..." The girl again tried to rise while tears of sorrow poured from her eyes.

"You're staying in bed, Slave Andy!" Kathy commanded firmly. "Now tell me what happened. Who beat you?"

Slumping back the girl whispered hoarsely, "I beat me! It was no one else — just me! Mistress, I broke every rule and needed to be punished. I just made the arrangements, is all." Again she struggled to rise and again Kathy held her down. "But Mistress," she protested, "I must make your dinner! I'm not sure how much more punishment I can take right now."

Kathy didn't know what to do, but then she had an idea. Since Andy was still wearing the leather bracelets on her wrists and ankles, she asked Ken to get a length of clothesline she had seen in the pantry. When he gave it to her, she cut a piece and attached it to Andy's left wrist, then tied the other end to the head of the bed. After cutting another piece, she tied it to the strap on Andy's right ankle and then tied its other end around the lower leg of the bed. She made sure there was enough slack for Andy to move but not nearly enough to permit her even to sit up.

Then she heard the girl mutter, "Water ... Could I... ? water..."

Her heart went out to this poor tortured woman, who couldn't even bring herself to ask for water, although she was certainly dying of thirst. Judy shot out the door and in moments was back with a pitcher of water and a glass. After pouring, she gave the glass to Kathy. As carefully as she could, Kathy lifted Andy from behind her shoulders. In spite of her care, Andy involuntarily gasped in pain because Kathy's arm was across a number of terrible bleeding welts across her shoulders. Disregarding her cry, Kathy brought the glass to the girl's lips and let some water trickle into her mouth.

She swallowed, then swallowed again. When she drained the glass, Judy refilled it and Andy drained it again. Finally she gasped, "Thank you, Mistress! You are too kind to your slave..." Then her body just went limp.

Kathy couldn't tell if she had gone to sleep or fainted, but she gently lowered the girl's head to the pillow. Although they had done nothing at all to clean up the girl's back, she and Judy concluded that they had done as much as they could. After turning off the lights they left the room.

Kathy was sitting in a chair by Andy's bedside the next morning, reading a book. Judy, who had driven Mike back to Pendleton the night before and then returned, was downstairs making breakfast. Early that morning, Jack Fletcher had called and told Kathy what had happened. He was in tears and could scarcely talk. She assured him that Andy was as good as she could be but certainly was in no shape for visitors yet, but perhaps he could see her late that afternoon. Sensing some movement in the corner of her eye, Kathy saw Andy's eyes flutter and then open.

When she moved to get out of bed, she found that her wrist was tied down. Looking around she saw Kathy and smiled wanly. "Mistress," she said softly, "may I get out of bed to go to the bathroom?" Tears came to her eyes as she remembered the events of the previous evening and added, "I can't wet the bed, too."

As Kathy untied the cords, she asked, "How do you feel, Andy? Do you feel well enough to try to take a bath?"

When the two cords were untied and Andy tried to get up, she screamed in pain. During the night, scabs had formed on the dozens of cuts on her back and legs and attached themselves to the bed sheet. As soon as Andy realized what was causing the pain, she just sat up in a quick motion tearing the scabs off her back, then lay back down again while she raised her legs together. Again she involuntarily screamed as the scabs on her legs were torn off, too. Lowering her legs, she was again sitting up. Then she spun her body to swing her legs over the side of the bed. When she did, she almost fainted from the pain coupled with the wave of dizziness that came over her.

Recognizing what was happening, Kathy called out to Judy who came running. Then the two women stood beside the bed and Kathy said, "Andy, I think it would be easier if you supported yourself on us rather than us trying to hold you. Want to try?" Reaching out a hand to each girl, Andy pulled herself to her feet. When her weight came down on her feet she screamed again.

Hearing it Kathy said to Judy, "The bastinado: It's probably the most painful torture of them all although it doesn't sound like it is. A heavy stick is used to beat the victim on the instep of both feet. I think it was discovered during the Inquisition. Anyway, that's what it is. Judy, she can't walk. It's impossible."

Moving close to each side of the girl, they each took one of her arms and put it over her shoulder so the girl could largely suspend her weight on their shoulders. In that fashion they were able to get to the bathroom where Andy gratefully sank down on the toilet seat. After she relieved herself, Kathy asked her just to remain seated and took the opportunity to wash her back. Judy helped as soon as she realized what Kathy was doing.

Then they filled the bathtub with warm water and again helped the girl into it. Gratefully, she sank down in the tub. Kathy gasped as almost immediately the bath-water turned pink and then just continued to darken as so many of the again-open cuts on Andy's back and legs continued to bleed.

As she gratefully soaked in the warm water, Andy looked at Kathy and said, "Mistress, the punishment for failure to perform my duties is two lashes for every hour missed. I guess I'm up to another twenty-four about now. Since I'm really not in good shape, could you let me work them off at the rate of ten strokes a day? I don't think I could make it if I had to take forty-eight each day. Could we, Mistress?"

Hearing Andy's request, Kathy's heart turned over again. The girl was so sincere and so brutally beaten it made Kathy heartsick. Together with Judy, she finally got Andy cleaned up and even managed to wash her hair. Recognizing how painful any movement was for her, they fed her while she was still in the bathtub. Finally, using the same technique they had developed earlier, they helped her back into bed.

A little after four-thirty, the doorbell rang. When Kathy opened it, she found Jack Fletcher standing there. He introduced himself and she led him into the living room. After he sank into a chair, Judy offered him a drink which he gratefully accepted. She disappeared and then came back with his, as well as drinks for Kathy and herself.

Then Kathy asked, "Jack, what happened? Do you want to tell me about it?"

When he looked at her, Kathy realized she had never seen such tormented eyes in her life. Moreover, Jack looked awful. It appeared he had not slept a wink and she later found out that he had not. He told her about meeting Andy on the steelwork and about their date that night.

"Then, Mistress Kathy, I made a disastrous mistake: I asked Andy to spend the night with me. When I asked her, I saw something flash across her eyes that I didn't recognize. Now I do. It was pain. You see, she knew exactly what was going to happen. Because she did, she made me swear to do her a favor last night. She said it would be painful for me, but bearable."

Looking at her he began to cry like a baby. "I don't know how I did it. Mistress, after every single stroke of the whip do you know what Andy did? She looked at me with all of her love in her eyes and said, 'Thank you, my darling.' After every one! As the beating continued, her voice became more hoarse and fainter, but until she passed out, she thanked me every time. Can you believe it?"

He saw great pain in Kathy's eyes, too, as she replied, "Knowing Andy, I certainly can. She's a remarkable woman, isn't she?"

"You don't know the half of it," he replied. Then, very diffidently, he asked, "May I see her? Would it be all right?"

Kathy took him upstairs to the room where Andy was still sleeping. Even though she had not made a sound opening the door — Ken had oiled the hinges so they operated silently — it was as if she sensed Jack's presence.

Instantly her eyes opened and locked on him as she said in the most loving voice Kathy had ever heard, "My darling Jack, I love you so very much!"

Then turning to Kathy she asked, "Mistress, if I swear to stay in bed, would you please untie me so Jack can make love to me now? I've been thinking about it all day and I can take him if I can be on top. I know this is another fifty lashes, but it's worth it to me. Please?"

Hearing the girl's words, Kathy almost broke down in tears. Instead, she just weakly smiled, untied her wrist and ankle and then left the room, closing the door behind her.

Looking up at Jack she said softly, "Darling, this will hurt a bit. So please ... give me a kiss first? Will you?" He went to the side of the bed and very gently put his lips on hers. It was not the kind of kiss Andy had in mind at all. Now that her arms were free, she put a hand behind his head and pulled his face down towards hers, hard. As she did, she mashed her lips against his and then worked hers softly against his as she felt the wonderful electricity flowing between them again. When he finally pulled away, he saw the most beautiful smile on her face he had ever seen. Again she whispered, "My darling, I love you so very much!"

Completely ignoring the pain and what she was doing to her back and legs, she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Jack was utterly beside himself. It was obvious how painful it was for her to do what she had just done. It was equally obvious that she wanted him inside her at any cost, so when she asked him to get undressed, he complied. Stripping off his jeans and shirt, he then shucked off his shorts and lay back on her bed. When he did, he was conscious of wetness on his back from Andy's blood on the sheets.