Chapter 5

"Hi, Penny! Meet my friend Miranda"

Penny looked at Pat's friend. Her first thought, illogical perhaps, was that she looked very little like a Miranda ought to look. If she had been asked what a Miranda should look like she would have been hard pressed to say exactly, but it would have included femininity and a hint of Latin fire. It would not have been a description which included short, almost spiky hair, a hard and lived-in face and a body which looked both spare, hard and gracefully supple all at the same time.

"Had a good look? So you're the female Bruce Lee! Glad to meet you!"

To say that the above was uttered in a sarcastic tone would have been utterly to fail to convey the combination of irony and sneering dismissiveness. Penny was already more than a little frightened by this woman. She was a few years older than herself, perhaps, but an age ahead of her in terms of her obvious and arrogant self-confidence. And it was an arrogance firmly based on realism. This was not a woman to trifle with!

Miranda turned to Patric.

"OK, Paddy! Piss off! Get lost, mate! We've girl things to talk about and girl things to do. I'll lock up."

A grinning proprietor ambled back to his office and a few minutes later reappeared dressed in his coat - it was beginning to be a trifle chilly at nights - and left to spend a few convivial hours at the Crown and Anchor before pushing off home.

Miranda turned her attention again to Penny.

"OK Wonderwoman! Get undressed, and make it snappy. We don't have all night!"

Again, the ironic contempt in this woman's voice was not lost on Penny, who began to feel very apprehensive.

She took off her jacket, blouse and skirt (she'd have to in any case, if she were to run home rather than catch the train) and stood in her panties, shoes and bra, shivering slightly in the unheated gym.

"And the rest! Everything!! Those sensible undies and nice smart shoes and tights. I want to see this fearless naked avenger in the raw, like Patric did earlier!"

Tremblingly, she complied and stood naked, barefoot on the cold stone floor, while the hard-faced Miranda inspected her closely.

"Soft! Flabby and soft! And I bet you're both those things, through and through in every aspect of your feeble little life!"

She emphasized her meaning by grabbing at Penny's stomach and administering a painful belly claw, kneading and pulling away at her soft and ample flesh. She sneered and closed her hand harder, making the poor girl squeal in pain. Then she relaxed her hand and withdrew her grip, smiling in a friendly way, giving light and warmth to her face and making Penny all at once feel a whole lot better about her strange new friend.