Chapter 11

(In which Clementine completes a third dreadful year)

Rashumba came with James to celebrate the start of Year Three. Clemmy stood tied to the wall as usual.

"My! How you stink, Clemmy! When did you last have a shower? When it last rained, I suppose! Sorry it's been so long since we last met. I had to go to Spain for my health. The winters here don't agree with me! No more escape attempts this April?"

"I was in that cage for a long time and I was weak as a kitten from atrophy of my leg muscles, Madam."

"The legs are nice and strong again, I hope."

"Thank you, Madam. They are." And ready to kick you, you bitch was what she wanted to say!

"Make sure you don't use them to run away again! You won't, will you?

"If I think I stand a chance, yes I will! And if they shot me, I'd be better off dead." Clemmy couldn't lie and Rashumba must know that escape was still her chief aim in life.

" Still fucking that Alexia, or do you stink too much for her to get near you or has she got sick at being loved by a girl with a scarred back like yours?"

"I thought it better to call it off for her own good, Madam."

"Very sensible. Well - I now think the time has come for me to wish you a happy anniversary in the usual way! Still remember the drill?"

"Yes, Madam. Am I to be told how many?"

"No. Let it be a pleasant surprise when it finally stops!"

Rashumba looked again at that awfully scarred back. The girl had not been whipped much since before going into the little cage for the second time and if she had started to heal, it was not obvious to Rashumba, who had a keen eye for these things. Time to get the cow jerking and twitching again!

"SWOOOSH!! CRACK!!

The bitch hadn't lost her touch! She was getting better, if anything. The agony made her almost swoon. This was her first punishment for eight weeks and her skin had got just a wee bit too soft for her own good. This was NOT going to be fun!

"ONE, THANK YOU MADAM"

She got three hundred. Instead of leaving, Rashumba waited until a guard arrived to take Clementine back to the cage.

"Get something to tie around this bitch's neck!" ordered Rashumba. "I feel like walking the dog around the yard before she goes back to lick her wounds. Now get on all fours, Dog!"

Clementine obeyed, not wanting more flogging for the time being. Soon the guard returned with a rope which was tied around Clementine's neck and Rashumba took the other end.

"Walkies, doggy!"

And Clementine was led several times around the yard on all fours. Although it was cold and Rashumba was feeling it by the time she had finished, the sight of that proud tall girl crawling behind her in such a humiliating way made up for the discomfort. She completed the misery by making Clementine lick and kiss her feet. She lifted each foot in turn and Clemmy was forced to lick the soles clean, sucking on each toe to clean between them all. Then she kicked Clemmy hard in the stomach and was disappointed to see that it had little effect, if any, even though she repeated the kick many times making herself sweat and pant with the effort. All it did was to turn Clementine's hardened belly red, but the muscles held out well against the onslaught.

Finally Rashumba tired of this and ordered Clemmy to spread. She aimed the next kick straight between her victim's obediently opened legs. Clemmy obviously felt this and so Rashumba gave her ten more hard kicks to the hated rival's suffering crotch, and then another ten, and another and another and another, not stopping until her foot was covered with Clemmy's blood. When Rashumba finally let her go back to the cage, Clementine was close to tears and scarcely able to stand. She staggered over to the horrified Alexia and weakly sank to the ground, realising that there were still many fresh depths of pain and mortification for her to plumb before she reached rock bottom.

Before Rashumba left she promised Clementine an extra hundred lashes next year and so on, year on year, until she got twelve hundred on her last day. Probably would be her last day in more ways than one. Hell! She would be thirty years old by then, her youth wasted away. But she wasn't a bit sorry for winning Viola and still had hopes of seeing her again, and long before her thirtieth birthday!

Year Three (continued)

"Please don't ignore me, Clementine. I don't think that cow Rashumba wants to separate us any more and I also think she doesn't have so much power here as she did. She overdid it with putting you in that awful little cage and leaving you to suffer for months on end. They got no work out of you in return for your food and keep. What's more they even had to be nice to you for a bit to get you better, which must have really upset them. Let's be lovers again - you know you want it as badly as I do, or almost!"

"Rashumba still got to whip me on my anniversary the other day. And make me crawl around the yard like a dog and kiss her feet and then kick my cunt until it bled. Look at the state of me, Alexia! Look at my back after what she did to it the other day! She has a lot of influence even now."

"I expect it was the being led around on a rope that hurt more than the lashes." Alexia still sobbed for her friend when she recalled that.

It was three days after the start of Clementine's third year. Two years in this ghastly place and freedom seemed as far away as ever. Clementine's back still bore the marks of Rashumba's recent three hundred lashes, all of which had been laid on with all that lady's considerable strength and focused ferocity. And her spirit bore the marks of the humiliation that had followed the whipping. Alexia, sensing Clementine's anguish had sidled up to lover not long after the evening meal. She had put her hand on her friend's shoulder and felt the girl move closer to her as if by instinct.

Soon the pair kissed and a friendly cheer went up from the others. They were glad to see that the couple were together again. The two were far and way the best looking women in the cage and when they made love they put on a fantastic show and the others got to see their every tongue touching, pussy licking move. They did not disappoint today. It was Clemmy who seemed the more frantic as she dived into Alexia's sweet and fragrant pussy, noisily sucking those darling lips once again. Alexia responded eagerly and the other women watched enviously as this young and attractive couple writhed and convulsed oblivious of all the watching fellow prisoners.

Alexia had obviously been pining badly. What was even more obvious was that Clemmy needed the human contact. The thought that, after two long and painful years, she was no nearer getting out than ever had begun to wear her down and rob her of all hope or desire to go on striving.

She still never stopped looking for ways to escape, but the guards obviously had instructions to be extra vigilant. When James had heard just how near she had been to getting out of the country, he had had a very bad few days. If his bosses in Paris had got wind of it, that might have been the end of him. Only his infatuation with Rashumba prevented him from having Clementine eliminated. He determined that it would need only one more attempt and she would be, so it was lucky for her in a way that her weakness had prevented another run for freedom. Even if she had known of this, she would still have taken the risk.

Clemmy was not afraid of dying, in fact she would prefer it to this continuing humiliation at Rashumba's hands. The physical pain was horrible enough, but the mental torment was worse and getting harder to bear each time they spoke. Clementine was still the proudest of women and the need to address this tormentor as "Madam" was dragging her down further each time. She hoped she would not see her again until her next anniversary, but doubted her wish would be granted.

A week after Alexia and Clemmy's getting back together, another fight evening was arranged. The same open air venue was chosen. This time, Clementine was picked to fight Olga and three other fights were put on the bill. They were given a week to prepare to put on a good, hard fought and preferably bloody series of contests. All of the women were keen to put on a good show, but not all had the same skills as Clemmy and Olga and these two supervised evening training sessions for all twenty women, half of whom had joined the cage sorority since Clemmy had arrived.

Three women had died last winter, while Clemmy was confined in that tiny cramped cage and unable to get the women organised. The savages had reverted to type without their leader. The three dead women had all been "frozen out" as the result of petty quarrels, which Clemmy would have sat on very firmly if she had been around. Others had either been released or sent to the indoor cells. Clemmy had been told that she would spend all her sentence out in the yard, naked. It was highly likely that a really severe winter would kill her off and this was James's hope by this time, although Rashumba still wanted her loathed victim to go on suffering for the entire balance of her sentence. As far as Rashumba was concerned, death was way too good for Clementine.

Rashumba and James discussed the latest fights on their way home. They were pleased up to a point, but anxious to improve the quality of their "product". Clementine had fought and beaten Olga. The former leader had given Clementine a hard time for a couple of minutes and drawn blood, but in the end had no answer to the blonde girl's superior strength and skill.

The second fight had featured Alexia and Sveta. This was a more evenly contested match and had been the longest of the three, lasting nearly twenty minutes and leaving both girls exhausted. Alexia had won, knocking Sveta off her feet with her final piece de resistance. The third spot had been filled by an older pair. These were two tough and hard women but they had lacked the skill and verve of the other fighters. As Rashumba tartly observed, being a violent criminal is not the same as being a good fighter.

"We need some fresh blood, James. Those women are not good enough, except for Clementine, Alexia and Olga. And I don't like that arrogant bitch being on the top of the heap. That's not what I had her put in there for - to queen it over the others the way she does."

James nodded. If Rashumba wanted someone to supplant the hated Clementine, then she would have it. The problem was finding someone who was at one and the same time capable of beating Clementine and a criminal. He sighed to himself. It looked like he would need to frame someone and that sort of thing cost money.

As luck would have it, the pair found a couple of new companions for Clementine only days after this conversation. They both went to a club that had recently opened in the city centre. The atmosphere was very congenial with an excellent band - for this part of the world - and they felt they were almost back in Paris, which both were longing to revisit. They were gazing romantically into each others' eyes, when they were disturbed by an altercation between a group of women, who seemed to have had far too much to drink. Two of them obviously had some serious difference of opinion and decided to settle it with their fists. James was about to usher Rashumba away when she put her hand on his arm and told him to sit down.

"Let's watch this little brawl, James! I think it might be worthy of our attention!"

Both of these ladies were young and both tall and strong. Both sported very short haircuts and had a decidedly butch appearance. Rashumba correctly guessed that they were lesbians quarrelling over a third girl - a slight and pretty woman of maybe nineteen.

"Two butch dykes fighting over little Miss Pretty! And she knows just what she's doing! Look at her!"

James looked. He saw what Rashumba had spotted. The little girl's eyes were alive with excitement as she saw the others fight over her! Finally Rashumba had seen enough.

"Call the police, James! Your special tame police! Then let's get this pair somewhere where they can fight properly - after they have sobered up! I see definite possibilities here!"

Within minutes the club was raided and the two angry disputants bundled into a police van and driven away. The pretty one, who had caused the disturbance, was told to make herself scarce. She looked frightened to death and scuttled away fearful she was about to join the other two in custody. In the morning the two sobered up women were driven to a piece of level ground in a private estate belonging to James and Rashumba. She ordered the police to free them and leave the couple alone with her.

"OK you two! Let's see how you fight in the cold sober light of dawn! Come on! Fight!"

They were about to start, their animosity clearly not lessened after a night in the cells, when Rashumba raised an imperious arm.

"Not so fast. Let's see you both stripped! Come on. STRIP!"

It was not warm, being late November and the two showed some reluctance but there was that in Rashumba's eye that commanded obedience. They were soon naked and standing before Rashumba who critically looked them over.

"Yes. You look the part! You both keep very fit! Those are two very nice bodies - trim and hard. I think I know ways of making them harder still! You'd both like that, I'm sure! You should put on a pretty good show, both of you! Fight now! Feet and fists."

The pair needed no further encouragement and were soon swapping kicks and punches with much the same aggression as Rashumba and Clementine had done. Rashumba listened appreciatively to the sound of shrewd and telling blows landing on toned hard bodies. She went inside the house and joined James at a window overlooking the garden

"They're pretty good, James! Both as big as Clementine and both born fighters. We'll be going now, but tell the police to let them fight to a finish - then get them thrown into the cage with Clementine. One of them will beat that cow. They're good - very good. What are their names?"

"Ira and Alexandra. They run a gym and are both trained fighters. Leave it to me. I'll have them banged up tonight!"

"Let them have a day or two to get over this fight first, darling. I want them in good shape to meet our friend in the cage!"

Ira beat Alexandra, but she had a hard time doing it and after her victory she sank to her knees next to her unconscious foe and looked ready to pass out herself. Then they were both taken back to their cell and allowed two days to recover. If the two had known that neither was going to see the object of their lust for a very, very long time, if ever, they might have fought less fiercely. But they did not know what Rashumba and James had in store for them and saw themselves spending no more than a few days behind bars - if that.

A week later the two were thrown into the cage after being sentenced to five years' hard labour for malicious damage and threatening behaviour. They had both been forced to stay stripped after the fight, even for their court appearance and were adjusting to the prospect of being two very chilly-in-winter, burnt-in-summer, perennially weather-beaten girls for the next few years. They had been briefed about Clementine and tempted by the promise of early release - just as soon as Clementine had been knocked out by one or other of them and then made to spend a few weeks being systematically degraded and humbled so that she would never be leader of the cage women again. Not wishing to stay in this place a minute than they needed, they approached Clemmy as soon as the guards had closed the cage behind the new occupants.

"You in charge, then!" asked Ira, as if she didn't know! Clementine was still the only fair-haired woman here, although her hair was filthy and its golden colour sadly not as lustrous as it had been when she first arrived.

"I am head prisoner, yes. Welcome to the cage. I hope you're not here for too long. It's not a lot of fun, to put it mildly!"

"When I'm head prisoner it might not be so bad, with Alex as my deputy! Why should some dumb blonde foreigner be in charge anyway? Prepare to take a back seat, bimbo!"

With these words she lashed out at Clemmy with both fists and then spun around to give her a ferocious kick right in the jaw. It would have laid her out there and then if she were not such an experienced fighter herself. As it was, she staggered back temporarily dazed. The other women gathered round to watch. Would this insolent newcomer beat Clemmy, or would the guards separate them and whip the new girl as Clemmy had herself been whipped on her first day?

"Shall I separate them?" asked the watching guard.

"No. Let Ira knock Clemmy out and then have the cow whipped as soon as she comes round!"

"That hardly seems fair. It was Ira who started this, and it will be she who gets punished." said the guard firmly. Rashumba looked at the guard as malevolently as only she could, but said nothing.

"Clementine's good, Rashumba!" said James after the fight had been going for a couple of minutes and Ira had lost her early advantage. "I think it may be up to Alexandra to finish her off. Ira's not doing too well at all!"