Epilogue

"We can't even think about it in this heat!" said Stella as the exhausted women were nearing the prison after another hot day. She rubbed her bare back, where the whip had struck it several times. Megan nodded. She, also, had been hit many times that day. The guards had clearly been given orders to be particularly unpleasant to all in Clarissa's cell. Miranda was still stretched out in the sun all day and had been like this for weeks, along with Wanda whose help to Clarissa had cost her so dear.

Melissa, the poor woman in the cage had gone through a phase of pleading with the guards to let her go and promising never to step out of line again. Her collaborator continued to be pinned down on her own, silent and apparently resigned to years of misery.

As they neared the prison, Stella noticed something different.

"There's nobody in the watchtowers, Megan! That's the first time I've ever seen that!"

When they reached the gates, hastily and not too expertly repaired after Clarissa had demolished them over a month ago, they were not opened by the usual guard, but by a man - and a uniformed man at that. When the truck came to a halt, the tailboard was lowered and a male voice said. "Off you get, girls. Let's get you all to hospital for a check up. You're all free!"

The stupefied prisoners clambered down and saw that the Warden and the entire staff were all lined up in the sun under the guard of a mixture of State police and F.B.I men. Several helicopters were dotted about the compound. Obviously there had been something of a lightning raid during the day. Come to think of it, there had been some kiind of noise in the distance, but Megan had paid no attention to it. Megan looked across to the administrative building and saw someone she recognised.

"Daddy! Oh, darling! Am I ever glad to see you"

She ran towards him, but came screeching to a stop just inches away from him as she became aware that she was still naked. But he ignored this and embraced her, both of them sobbing. One of the rescuing party walked over to them and coughed discreetly.

"I think we can cover you up, Miss, unless you've got to like being like that! I assume you are Megan! Good to see you looking well, if battered!"

"How did you learn about this place?" asked Megan, hoping and praying that she would get the answer she wanted.

"Your friend, Clarissa told us about it all, but not for some weeks, hence the long delay. She lost a lot of blood after being wounded by these criminals." he gestured towards the Warden and her staff, all wilting in the heat as they were made to stand in the same discomfort they had inflicted on the inmates for so long. "And then she developed a very serious infection and almost died. It was only two days ago that the doctors would let us speak to her. Before passing out, she managed to tell her rescuer that she had been kidnapped but we had no idea where she had been kept and the truck she was driving had false registration details and we got nothing from that. But she's getting rapidly better now and is on her way home as we speak, together with her father and mother,. You'll be joining her today!"

"I'm staying here!" replied Megan. "I'll not go home until I've given evidence against these scum and seen them all put way for life! And I won't take no for an answer!!"

This last remark was directed at her father, who had clearly been hoping to take his long lost daughter home as soon as possible, but he soon got over his disappointment.

"Of course you want to stay and play your part in convicting these bastards! In the meantime, I'll arrange for rather more comfortable accommodation for you than this!"

Later that day, Stella and Megan were reunited with Miranda, who was recovering in hospital after her ordeal. She was in the next bed to Wanda, who had not been arrested with the others. Clarissa had told of her assistance and she was never charged, having agreed to be a prosecution witness.

Three months later Megan returned home and went to the Police Training College. Clarissa was already at Cambridge, studying Law, and Miranda had started her delayed Medical training. Clarissa kept in contact with her lover for a year and then the correspondence gradually dried up, finally ceasing altogether as both young women applied themselves to their respective careers.

Clarissa had a couple of affairs, both with nice young men, at University,. But both romances fizzled out and she gained a reputation as a serious and career oriented woman with little or no time for socialising.

When she bumped into Miranda in the Strand, Clarissa had almost forgotten about the woman whose body had made that nightmare in the desert bearable and in many ways a delight. All week, as she waited for Friday night, she went over all that the two had meant to each other during those long weeks. None of her associates had any idea of her emotional turmoil as she got through the remaining three days.