We were still a long way from our destination. We had filled up at dusk and now it was in the early hours of the new day. We were moving along I-40, the coach eating up the miles. Our departure from Las Vegas had been swift and the direction was not what we originally planned, but this trip was important for Mickey. That was enough of a reason to do everything in my power to accomplish what she needed

The lights from the instrument panel illuminated the cockpit area and Mickey's face as she handed me a mug of coffee. It was heated in the microwave but the strong taste along with the caffeine was welcomed. As I set the mug down in the holder, she laid her head on my shoulder and gave me a squeeze. I reached up and patted her.

"We should be there in the morning and you will know more then."

She sighed and held me tighter. "I know we're getting there as fast as we can, but I still worry. Kaitlyn and I are very close. We took care of each other a lot and now I don't know what is wrong."

"You'll find out soon enough. You and your sister took care of each other? Didn't you say your mom was always home?"

"Yeah, but she never would talk to us about the things that teenage girls need to talk about. I once asked her about something to do with sex and she yelled at me for thinking about such things. Then she told my father when he got home. I got a whipping and never asked her anything again. That's why my sister and I are so close."

She sat down on the step that led to the main part of the coach. Even in the dim light I could see her face was showing her anger and sadness of the events as she replayed them in her mind. It was several minutes before she spoke again.

"My parents were always distant as far as love to us girls went. We had to be perfect whenever we were out in public. We weren't allowed to wear the clothes the other kids did. It was always dresses that went past our knees, with socks that covered our bare legs. We could not speak up even to defend ourselves in the house. Mother saw Kait kiss the boy next door and washed her mouth out with soap. She told her that it was a sin to kiss anyone but her husband. That scared me so I never kissed a guy until I got into high school."

I thought if she kept talking, maybe she wouldn't be worrying about her sister. "So did you ever get any real sex education?"

"Father made sure that we didn't get into any of those classes. He is the preacher of a small church, and is very opinionated on sex education. He tried to shut the entire program down and replace it with some material from Focus on the Family. The only time he said anything about sex or love was to scare us into waiting for our husbands."

I remembered the white marks that I had seen earlier. "Honey, I saw some white lines on you thighs. Did he..."

"Yeah, he did. He and Mother would consider any breaking of the rules as a sign that we were being 'worldly' or under the influence of the devil. We had a ritual that we had to go through. When we were to get a spanking, we were made to stand at the back of the couch and lean over. My dress would be lifted and my panties lowered. Then we would be lectured about what parts of the Bible that I had sinned against, as Father would lay into my butt. When he finally got tired we would have to stand and apologize to him for the offence, then kneel and pray until he figured we were repentant. As we got older, things progressed from a hand to a belt. He did stop lowering my panties after the time I was on my period and he spotted the pad.

"Those marks came from when Father caught me and a boy in the church basement. Charlie was my first crush and he had finally noticed me. We started sneaking away from the youth meetings at the church. I didn't know anything, but Charlie taught me how to kiss, and how to enjoy him touching me. I didn't understand what I was feeling, but I knew it was the best thing in the world. He got me hot enough that I let him put his hand under my dress. His fingers touching my panties were enough to bring me off. Then he pulled them to the side, and pushed his fingers into me. He went too far and broke my cherry, but I was so far gone that I hardly noticed. I knew I was in love.

"We continued for a couple of months, meeting every Wednesday. Right after the Bible study, we would sneak out. The last time we were kissing and he had his hands on my breasts, outside of my clothes. Charlie had taken my panties off and put them in his pocket, but we had not gotten so far that his hand was on my pussy. I knew I was in trouble as soon as the door opened. He literally threw Charlie out of the room. Father dragged me up the stairs by my hair. I had never seen him so mad. He threw me into the car and drove home with me in the back seat, crying. I knew I was in a major degree of trouble.

"We got home and Father shoved me into position over the back of the couch. When he raised my dress and saw that my panties were missing, he seemed to go crazy. The closest thing at hand was an extension cord. He wailed into me with everything he had. After about a dozen licks, the pain was so intense, I passed out. I woke up on the floor bleeding and hurting bad. I crawled up to my room and didn't come out for 3 days."

She was crying now that the memories coming back. I reached down and grabbed her hand. "Honey, nobody is ever going to touch you like that again. I'm not into things like that and anybody else will have to go through me."

She smiled up at me. As much as she succeeded in being her own woman, strong and independent, she still craved comfort and protection. I was glad to be that person. We drove along that way in a relative silence, comfortable in each other's company. Soon, I saw a truck stop just off the highway. I was feeling tired so we pulled in off to the side and went back to take a nap.

Three hours later, we were back on the road. We were in west Texas and headed to her parents' place just west of Amarillo. I roused Mickey from the couch so she could tell me where we were headed. We made it through the city and were soon sitting in front of a nice bi-level home in one of the better subdivisions. Mickey decided to go in by herself at first to find out what had happened to her sister. I could see the dread in her expression, but she squared her shoulders and went to the door.

As soon as she went inside, I made a pot of coffee and went to the bathroom to shave. I had just sat down with a cup when there was a knock on the door. I looked out to see a man about my size, probably in his mid fifties looking at my rig. I opened the door and asked if I could help him.

"Yes what are you doing parked in front of my house?"

"You must be Mr. Kirk, Mickey's father."

"That is Reverend Kirk and I had a daughter named Michelle. She ran away and turned from the Lord. Who are you?"

"David Robbins."

I offered my hand which he took reluctantly. I offered to let him in for a cup of coffee, but as he was refusing, Mickey came out of the house.

Seeing her father brought her up short. Her demeanor became very stiff.

"Hello, Father."

"Hello, child."

"Please sir, I would like to get inside so we can go to the hospital and visit Kaitlyn."

"At least you remember your manners. Go on. But your mother would probably like for you to come back."

"Yes sir."

The way Mickey was acting reminded me of a young errant child. With what she had explained last night, I could understand why. But it pained me to see her treated this way. She was very quiet as we moved out to the hospital. I knew she would talk when she felt ready so other than her giving me directions, the trip was quiet. As we neared the hospital I pulled over.

I got out and walked up to the vendor on the corner. I climbed back in the coach carrying two dozen red roses.

"Your sister should have some flowers, and I couldn't get some for her without giving you some as well."

She gave me a kiss and a hug. "Did you know this is the first time anyone ever bought me flowers?"

"You didn't get any from your prom?"

"I was not allowed to go to the prom. That was a sin according to Father."

"I'm sorry, Honey. You deserved a lot more from your teen years than what you got."

"Yeah, but I am making up for it now." She grinned up at me.

"We both are. Now let's get to the hospital so you can see your sister."

When we walked into the room I was struck by the young woman lying in the bed. She was a double of Mickey. A little shorter and without Mickey's curves, but I imagined that she was what my lady looked like at that age. The only other difference was the bandages on both wrists.

But to Mickey, this was of little importance. She rushed into the room and hugged the girl, tears streaming down her face. "Kait! I am so glad to see you. I have missed you so much!"

They spoke quietly for a few minutes, then Kait looked over to where I was by the door. She whispered something to Mickey, who whispered back. Whatever was said caused Kait to giggle. Mickey motioned for me to come over.

"Dave, this is my sister Kaitlyn. Kait, this is my boyfriend Dave."

I smiled at her and set the flowers on the bed. She looked at the roses, then back to me.

"I always bring flowers when I meet a beautiful woman for the first time."

The blush that crept from her face to under her hospital gown was amazing. Mickey was trying to keep from laughing. I stayed just a few minutes more and then announced that I would be in the bus whenever Mickey was ready. Kait told me to come back soon and I left the room.

In the bus, I grabbed a Pepsi and settled in with the laptop. I connected to the Internet and checked my e-mail. Then I transferred some funds into one of my checking accounts so the ATM would be available. Paid off what we had charged in Vegas and contacted the card company to check on the status of Mickey's charge card. With all the business done, I logged off and started writing on the sequel to my latest novel.

I was napping on the sofa when Mickey came in. She was relieved to see her sister, but it was overshadowed by anger that she had bottled up. Since it was mid afternoon, I pulled out some stuff for sandwiches and made one for her. As she finished her lunch, I asked if she was ready to talk.

"Dave, I am so mad! Mother wouldn't tell me why; she just said that she had tried to end her life. Kait told me what happened to her. She had been out on a double date, since that was all that our parents will allow. They went out past town after the movie. The other couple took a blanket and went over a small hill to be alone. Kait and her boyfriend were making out, and she got really turned on, but when he started to put it in her she got scared. She tried to fight him off, but he went ahead and shoved his dick in her anyway. After he came in her, he rolled off. She was sitting there crying when the other couple came back. The other girl consoled her and helped her get herself back together."

"The boy did that to her? Did she call the police?"

"No, that happened a couple of months ago. She couldn't say anything for fear that Father and Mother would find out. Last week, after she had been feeling bad for several days, she went to the family doctor. The nurse ran a pregnancy test and it came back positive. Kait was terrified. She had tried to call me in Pagosa Springs, but found out the phone was disconnected. She didn't know what to do. She called the boy, but he denied everything. She couldn't face the wrath she knew would come from Father. She said she felt that she had nowhere to turn so she went into the bathroom, got into the tub and slit both wrists. Mother found her and called the paramedics.

"They patched her up and then let our parents in to see her. Mother was weeping that she didn't understand and Kait wouldn't say why. Finally the doctor came in and told Kait that the blood loss had not hurt the baby. That was when the cat was out of the bag.

"Father went ballistic about how she had shamed him by being a slut and a whore. She tried to tell him that she had been raped, but he wouldn't listen. He just went off about how she had tempted the boy by being alone with him. That bastard even went so far as to suggest that Mother should have let her die for being a fornicator."

By now the anger was starting to take its toll on Mickey. As I sat and held her, I could feel myself getting more and more angry. Anyone who would treat their daughter in such a way deserved to have the same heaped upon them. I wanted to throttle him myself. And any mother that would allow their child to be treated like that doesn't deserve them.

Mickey saw the anger building in me and she started looking scared. I suddenly realized that the anger reminded her of her father.

"Honey, I am NOT angry at you. Your parents are another story. Has Kaitlyn thought about her options?"

"She wants to keep it. Dave, I feel like it is kinda my fault. If I had been here, or if she would have been able to get hold of me... Maybe I could have helped somehow."

I pulled her tighter into my arms. "Mickey, there wasn't a thing you could have done. Now that you are here, maybe you can help her out. I don't know how, but maybe we can think of something."

We sat there holding each other, her thoughts obviously on her sister and mine on how to make her feel better. In the end, neither one of us accomplished our goal.

We ended up going back to her parents' house. This time I went in with her. Her mother invited us in and we sat at the dining room table. Gladys Kirk was a small woman, her once brown hair going gray and tied up tight to her head. Her face might have been pretty at one time, but now was pinched up into a constant scowl. She was polite to me, as I was to her, but you could almost cut the tension with a knife. She questioned Mickey on how we met, and what had been happening in her life. Gladys went into the kitchen to bring out some cake, then asked Mickey to help her. The ploy was as transparent as glass and I smiled as I saw Mickey roll her eyes.

At first I heard Gladys' voice but not her words as she asked about our relationship. Mickey's voice was not so quiet. "Yes Mother. We have been together for several weeks. Dave saved me from freezing to death on that mountain."

More whispers, then, "No, I am not a kept woman as you call it. I stay with Dave because I want to. We love each other, even if you can't see that."

They came back in and Mickey moved to sit right next to me. Gladys was once again playing the concerned and helpful mother; smiling at both of us even though the strain was there in her face and body movements.

Mickey finally brought up the subject of Kait. "Mother, when will Kaitlyn be released from the hospital?"

"The Doctors say she will get to come home day after tomorrow. They want to check then to make sure that the child she is carrying is still all right. I suppose I will have to ask your father to pick her up, but you know how busy he is with church business."

I spoke up then. "Getting her home will not be a problem. We can bring her back here."

"But it would inconvience you to have to do that. After all, I didn't think you would be staying that long."

"It would be no problem at all. Mickey, I mean Michelle, will probably want to be there to see her anyway. And if that is where she wants to go, that is where we go."

"I see. Well, you must stay here until then. Michelle can stay in her old room, and I'll just make up the guest room for you."

Mickey then spoke up. "That will not be necessary. The bus is very comfortable. It is just like a home on wheels." She could see some doubt so Mickey invited her to go out and see it for herself.