Philippa stooped over her crystal ball. It had been a rattling good show last night! She had gone contentedly to bed after watching the unbeliever Roberta fight the bandit Alfonso and nearly die, her naked body sliced up time and time again before she forced the coward to give in, even though he wasn‘t hurt nearly as badly as she. She was without doubt a great fighter - quite the very best. Whatever weapons she used, sword, arrow, her own body or the whip, she always prevailed. But she wished the woman would become a believer. If Roberta did she might be inclined to help her and maybe save her from a bit of grief along the way.

Rodolfo came to back of the cave and greeted the elderly seer.

"How  goes, it Philippa? What progress are the brave Roberta and her faithful Paula making? They should have been back at the palace weeks ago. Even on foot they should be back by this time!"

"She keeps being distracted, Rodolfo! And the newly formed and exceedingly  active Ladies' League for Truth and Decency make her life a misery wherever she goes, egging on the Councillors and Mayors to work her half to death and then put her on display and whip the hide off her. She, the proud woman, refuses to dress in decent apparel and is whipped from pillar to post! The burning fiery leather kisses fall thick and fast upon that strong back and her torment has not finished yet!"

A reedy and malevolent cackle issued from her withered frame.

"How many times have they thus assaulted the person of one of the King's trustiest servants?" Rodolfo sounded angry. He was angry. Extremely angry - totally pissed off. He had thought Roberta’s painful exoneration should have been the end of her troubles with the whip, not the start.

"She has been flogged three times since leaving us behind. And if you take her recent duel with our colleague Alfonso into account - four. One community flayed her twice, despite the help she gave them out of the goodness of her heart. Quite a victim of injustice is our good Roberta! HE HE HEE HE HEEE!"

She started wheezing helplessly and looked close to collapse.

"Well, I don't like it! She needs our help. I'll ride in the direction she took and ensure she meets no more such disgraceful indignities. I’ll teach those confounded Decency and Truth Ladies a lesson they‘ll never forget! Flog a few of them and see how they like it! I'll go and pick out a dozen good riders and we shall be with her inside a week! Then she shall have an escort back to the Palace and suffer no more."

It took the cunning Philippa a couple of fainting fits and a threat to bewitch the entire bandit company to dissuade the chivalrous Rodolfo. With sadness in his heart he contented himself with saying a few prayers for the heroic Golden Guard and her travails in a world where the dreaded Ladies League was going from strength to strength, their spies lying in wait to track Roberta's progress and have her hauled before the magistrates at whatever place she stayed.

He guessed, correctly, that the ostensibly respectable League was in alliance with the rebels. Their supposed Puritanism was merely an excuse to shred the long suffering Roberta’s  back time and time again. In time they hoped to get the entire Golden Guard either disbanded or fully clothed, either of which eventuality would be a disaster. He cursed these dreadful people. And if he couldn’t go to Roberta’s aid himself he would send a couple of his best men to see what they could do to help.

He gave them their instructions late that night and they stole silently out of the camp while Philippa still slept. But one had to be up very early in the day to get the better of Philippa! Philippa might be asleep, but her watchful Black Cat was wide awake and taking notes!

As soon as she awoke in the morning, Tiddles (her Black Cat) leapt onto her bed and warned her of Rodolfo’s continuing concern for Roberta. She cackled again. Fond of evil cackling, was Philippa!

******************************

INTERLUDE

“Twenty Five”

WHOOOOOSH!! CRACK!!!

The latest impact of Roberta’ swishy and well used cane, as it came thundering down on to  Paula’s red, sore arse echoed crisply in the frosty air through the verdant woodland grove.

“Thank you, Slave!”

Twenty Six”

SWISH!! CRACK!!

“Thank you Slave! That will be all for now!”

“Twenty Seven!”

SWISH CRACK!

“Ouch! Are you deaf!”

“Twenty Eight!”

Whoooosh CRACK!

“Fucking stop it this minute, Slave! “

“Twenty Nine!”

Etc. etc,

*****************************

“Fifty five”

CRACK!

“That’s all for tonight, Mistress! But I think I’ll leave the Mistress tied up for the night. Sleep well, Mistress Paula!”

Roberta threw a blanket over the naked and red bottomed Paula, who rubbed her wounded posterior for a few seconds before falling asleep. Even before the caning had got out of hand, she had not been feeling too great for some reason.

Then Roberta opened the saddle bags and went through Paula’s possessions. She paid particular attention to the couple’s store of money. There was quite a tidy sum here! Roberta’s hard work had certainly gone some way to fulfilling Philippa’s prophecy of wealth and happiness! But this store of gold pieces, sizeable though it was, could hardly be called a fortune. And Paula, despite the way she always got to sleep in comfort when they stopped off at various towns along the way, was hardly that happy. She guessed that Philippa’s forecast referred to a time after the journey was over. Not that she believed all that hocus pocus in any case!

Roberta was satisfied that they had enough here to last for almost a year at the rate it was being spent. The grateful father, for whose daughter’s sake Roberta had almost died in a suicidally unequal struggle, had given them a lot - far more than he could afford - and she had tried in vain to refuse his offer.

There was no need for Roberta to offer her powerful body in exchange for more money. Nothing seemed to be in the way of getting on with the journey and restoring her good name.

 But, as the attentive reader will have gathered, Roberta still had three more good, solid whippings to endure before we get to where we came in at the beginning of chapter six. (She didn’t count the fight with Alfonso, and nor should we). And who can say what further troubles are still in store for her, even then?

In the morning Roberta went to get the pair some breakfast. It was two days since they had left the grateful father. This gentleman and his friends had made both girls very welcome for three very pleasant weeks. Roberta, when she had recovered sufficiently from her wounds, had asked to sleep outside at night and the understanding townsfolk had agreed, allocating a fenced off section of the village square, providing her with privacy as well as fresh and freezing  air!

Paula had become rather too well used to comfort, though. Getting back to normal was not exactly a welcome experience. Roberta had just caned the little girl, partly because Paula liked it and partly because she was beginning to resent her airs and graces. Damn it all, she was only a jumped up parlour maid with a bottom His Majesty liked pinching!

Having got a nice breakfast of fried fish, Roberta went to waken her. She was horrified to see that Paula was shivering  and seemed not to recognise her Mistress/Slave. When she felt her forehead , Roberta realised that she was burning up with fever. The girl needed to be taken somewhere warm - and quickly.

It took Roberta, cursing herself for mistreating her beloved so cruelly the night before, only seconds to get Paula on the horse. She had to hold her to stop her falling off and she never loosed her grip until they were in the town they had been hoping to bypass but now needed to visit urgently.

“Will you give my friend a room? And she needs a physician and nursing through her fever. We can afford to pay you well.” she asked the innkeeper.

The host’s wife helped Roberta put Paula, now  in a  raving delirium, to bed.

“Why are you naked? Are you her slave? Or have you been attacked and stripped by robbers? You have been wounded many times. You must be the notorious Roberta who fled the King’s wrath and this is Paula his favourite whom he seeks with forgiveness in his heart.”

“You seem to have got the general drift of things! I was accused of treachery but was guilty of no more than stupidity. I hope to clear my name. I did not know Paula was in the clear. If I had I would have sent her back. The rigours of life on the road are clearly too much for her. Look after her well. I will be back to see how she is in seven days. One way or another, her fever will be over by then!”

“It’s best you leave the town if you won’t wear clothes. You could be in for a whipping, a week in the stocks or both. Return to your camp and wait there for a messenger to bring news of your Paula.” The man’s voice was kindly and full of concern, making what followed later that day even more of a shock.

Roberta went back to where the pair had spent the night, after first leaving enough money to pay for Paula’s accommodation and care. She also left all of her friend’s clothing and other possessions. On her way back to the clearing she cursed again. It might have been the same whether she had caned Paula or not. But she bitterly regretted the violence to her little companion’s person.

“I won’t touch her again!” she vowed as she led the horse away. For some reason she didn’t want to mount her friend’s steed. Her place, both as a Slave and as a warrior,  was on foot. The Golden Guard had never been mounted and, on those long powerful tireless legs, could cover many miles in a single day, keeping up their relentless running for hour after hour - as Paula had so admiringly seen on that day that their eyes had first crossed. How she missed the Guard, the camaraderie, the hard work and harder discipline! A soon as Paula was well again she would press on and allow no more distractions to impede her progress.

Hardly had she settled herself back into the encampment and prepared for a long stay than twenty men came crashing through the undergrowth, armed with sticks and swords. Without any warning, Roberta was clubbed to the ground and beaten unconscious. She tried to fight back but it was quite hopeless against so many.

When she came round she was tied face up to Paula’s horse, her body painfully arched backwards and her hands and feet tied together under the animal. In this very painful position she was taken back to the town. It would seem that the Ladies’ League had struck again!

But it was not the puritanical women who were responsible for Roberta’s arrest. It was Paula, as Roberta soon found when she was taken to a cellar and strapped to a table, her hands and feet secured to each of the four corners. In a niche was a brazier and a pair of bellows. In the coals, being heated white hot, were two irons. Roberta had been through this before, as her belly and chest still bore witness!

One of her captors removed one of the white hot irons and held it before her face. She felt the heat even though it was a foot away from her. The man touched her chest, exactly where it had been seared more than a year ago in the torture chamber at the Palace. She smelt her flesh being scorched and saw the blue smoke rise from her body. The pain was worse than a thousand floggings! Three more times she had the iron held against her writhing body and the iron was put back to be re-heated. The second iron was taken out of the flame. After five applications of that, Roberta fainted.

On recovering consciousness she found herself in a body shaped cage, scarcely large enough to hold her, and suspended from the ceiling. Her stomach and thorax hurt from the many terrible burns and she felt weak and sick. Not a single word had been said to her by the silent and masked torturers, but she knew why she was being tormented. And she knew they had hardly started on her! And she knew that, as a disobedient Slave who had physically assaulted her Mistress, she deserved it!

The physician had examined Paula carefully and seen the marks on her bottom. These were clearly the result of a vicious and wickedly unmerciful caning. The plight of this sweet little girl angered all who saw it. Had they known that the caning was consensual, all might have been well. But Paula started talking and shouting.

“Stop, Slave! Beat me no more. Stop it, Slave!!”

Immediately a posse was despatched to seize the wicked and disobedient Slave and make her pay a hundred times over for what she had done to her Mistress, obviously a great lady.

*********************************

Paula woke up. She was in a strange room  and in a strange if comfortable bed.

“Suzie!!” she said. But this was not that room. This was a larger and more airy and light chamber than the cosy room at the inn where the cat had been so affectionate. A woman sat in a chair, asleep. She woke at the sound of Paula’s voice.

“I’m not called Suzie, Paula! We have nobody called that here! You look better suddenly. My word, but we have been so worried about you! I’ll call the physician!”

An elderly man soon hurried in and looked at the patient. He felt her forehead and smiled.

“We are well on the mend this morning! You have had a terrible time, Paula. Terrible!”

“Where is Roberta? Can I see her, please. My darling Roberta!”

A worried look passed over the kindly physician’s face.

“Your darling Roberta? Surely you cannot mean that cruel woman and rebellious slave who beat you so badly?”

“How dare you call her cruel! There is nothing cruel about her. She is the best and kindest of friends! And she’s not a slave! That’s just a silly game we play! As for the caning - that’s my idea. Call me weird, but I like it! Now, where is she? What have you done with her?”

The doctor hurried out. Half an hour later, a pale and hardly recognisable Roberta was brought into the room. Two men were holding her. Without their aid she would have collapsed. Her upper body was covered with horrible burns and she seemed not to have eaten for days. Paula screamed at the sight of her and leapt out of bed, running across the chamber and embracing her darling companion.

“What have they done to you, my sweet. What have they done!”

**********************************

“No, Paula! I will not cane you.”

“Just a few gentle ones? Pleeeeease!”

“NO!”

It was ten days after Roberta’s release from the torture chamber and as usual she had made a miraculously rapid recovery, but the memory of all the nasty things they had done to her was very fresh in her mind. In view of the trouble it had recently got her into, the very idea of caning that delightful backside again brought her out into a cold sweat!

Even after she had detailed all the things they had done to her, Paula still wanted to be chastised. Selfish girl!

For all of seven days Paula had been ill and raving and for that same seven days they had kept Roberta in that dreadful room, giving her no respite from pain, day or night. Last time she had been tortured she had hardly known what was happening because of her drugged condition, but this time her mind and perceptions had been razor sharp and crystal clear. It had not been fun!

After the burning with white hot irons she had fainted. On waking she had been in a coffin shaped cage and hung from the ceiling. A deep bath had been placed directly under her and heated until it was scarcely bearable to be immersed in it. Needless to say, Roberta had been lowered into the nearly boiling water, gradually feeling the scalding hot liquid cover her entire body. Countless repetitions of this treatment had taken up most of the remainder of her first day.

Next day they had subjected her to the near drowning experience from which the King’s Chief Torturer had derived so much simple pleasure over  a year ago. The Village Tormentor, a master of his craft, had been interested to see how long Roberta could spend with her head under water and live to tell the tale. He had a theory that people could be got used to longer and longer immersions over a period of time. Roberta had been his far from willing guinea pig in this interesting experiment. After her release he had told her, his eyes shining with mad enthusiasm, that she had been able to last over a minute longer at the end of his programme of experiments than the beginning.

Roberta was convinced that her thumbs were far flatter than she remembered them before the thumbscrew experience, although Paula assured her that she could see no difference in shape.

“You let your imagination run away with you, darling!” she had said. “You should get out more!”

Roberta had got to know the rack extremely well during hat long and painful week.

“I’m inches taller, Paula. Inches! And it still hurts all over.”

“You look the same height to me, Roberta.   Your posture is better, though. You’d been inclined to slouch recently. In the Guard they’d have pulled you up for it. You really do make the most of all your troubles, don’t you?  I never met such a one for complaining!”

 And now the silly girl wouldn’t cane her any more. Just because of a few days pain! There were times when Paula almost lost all patience with her!

As a gesture of good will the council had refunded all of Paula’s living costs and medical expenses, giving her a handsome purse full of gold pieces into the bargain. Roberta had been fed on wholesome food and allowed to sleep in the Chief Tormentor’s garden while Paula continued her recovery. Surprisingly, in view of the pain he had caused her, Roberta got on very well with this cruel gentleman and they shook hands warmly when the couple departed.

“You are the first of my customers who never cried out, Roberta. What a wonderful girl you are! A pleasure doing business with you! Some of my clients make a terrible fuss with their shrieking and groaning. It can be very upsetting to one so sensitive as I!”

“I always try to show consideration to other people!” replied Roberta with perhaps a tinge of sarcasm in her voice!

She promised to give his regards to the Chief Torturer at the Palace when she next met him.

*****************

“Does my illness and your torture count as an adventure, Roberta?” asked a slightly sulky Paula when it became clear that she would get no more lovely caning from her “Slave”.

No! In view of the fact that I wasn’t whipped, we must think of it as  more of an interlude than an adventure!

“I do hope we have a real adventure soon, Roberta. One where you get a really imaginative whipping and I’ll get to stay in some nice hostelry and maybe meet another cat. And you don’t mind a bit of hard work at the same time, do you?  Just so long as you’re out in the fresh air!”

“Quite, Paula! It’s the confinements I can’t take! Might I remind you, by the way, that in our second port of call I spent days and days on end in a filthy stinking cellar in near pitch darkness! It isn’t all fresh air for me when we have our adventures. Being chained up in that noisome hole was even worse than being tortured. At least the Village Tormentor kept his Chamber of Horrors sparklingly clean! Very house proud! I think maybe he was gay!”

“Like us, you mean?” giggled Paula, sticking her finger, first into Roberta’s cunt and then into her mouth .

Roberta frowned at this.

“We’re different! …….. aren’t we?” she asked.


THE FOURTH ADVENTURE

The Area Convenor of the Ladies’ League for Truth and Decency stood in her back yard in the charming hill town of Rockwell Green. She had her eyes fixed firmly upon the heavens, not only because of her high minded and otherworldly righteousness of soul, but because she was expecting a message from the said heavens, to be delivered by a pigeon. Soon the winged messenger came swooping down and settled in its box.

With trembling and eager hands, Sister Amelia removed the message from the bird’s leg. It read simply.

“The whore Roberta and her companion Paula are heading your direction STOP They hope to bypass your village, in the same way as they have avoided the last five on their way STOP Vital you intercept STOP Philippa MESSAGE ENDS.”

Sister Amelia hurried to the house of her assistant and fellow bigot, the Mayor’s nagging wife, Clarissa.

“Our chance is coming, Clarissa! Whore Roberta, whose juicy cunt drives men wild with filthy desire, including our husbands, is coming this way. We must inveigle her into the village.”

“Exactly how are we supposed to do that, Amelia? Roberta is a big girl and she knows how to use that sword. And the men are no help. The first sight of that naked whore, with her big tits and succulent cunt, and they are putty in her hands. Let her pass and thank our lucky stars she gave us a miss!”

“No, Clarissa! Where is your sense of moral purpose? Where is the zeal you once possessed? Shame on you! Some of the men will do as we tell them. My husband for one. I’d like to see that wimp even think about disobeying me! That’ll be the day!  Round up the entire Chapter and five men with axes. We‘ll be having Whore Roberta as our unwilling guest tonight. Are the stocks ready?”

“No, Amelia. They are still away being serviced!”

“Curses! Foiled again! Never mind, we’ll think of something just as good - or bad - for her. But no burying her underground in a cellar this time! She must be confined in such a way that all can see the utter powerlessness of her and her reactionary degenerate kind before the mighty forces our movement has unleashed! Come, sister! We have not a second to lose!”

*****************************

“Did you hear something, Roberta? A sort of crashing sound?”

“Yes. It came from up ahead. We’ll soon enough find out what it was. Hand me my sword belt and the rest of my gear. Best be prepared. Put on your dagger, Paula! If there is any trouble we’ll fight our way out. No more diversions from now on!”

“That’s what I like to hear, Roberta! A bit of action! I can’t wait!”

Coming round the next bend in the winding road that led through the forest the couple soon saw  what the noise had been. Three trees had been felled and lay right across the narrow road, blocking their path.

“What insolence!” exploded Roberta. “Blocking the King’s Highway! Never mind! We’ll soon get this mess cleared. Two of the trees are small and light enough for me to move and the horse will see to the other. Get out the rope, Paula! Then I‘ll ride into the town and seek out those responsible!”

“Are you mad, Roberta? Can’t you see that’s just what they want? They’ve blocked the road to make us go through the town, where they’ve got something painful planned for you!”

“I am the King’s servant, Paula! I must do what I can to bring those responsible to justice. I have no choice.”

“A King who would have you put to death if he could catch you! Remember that, Roberta!”

“Not if the proofs of my innocence are still in the Palace as you claim.”

“If the Ladies League get their hands on you, it’s going to be bad this time - really bad. You won’t be coming out of that town for ages. You know the score, Roberta! Six weeks hard labour with a whipping half way through and another at the end. You don’t need any more lashes, Roberta, and what’s more you can’t spare the time. We need to finish this journey and expose the true villains. You know that! Let’s just be on our way once we’ve cleaned up this mess!”

But Roberta was adamant and so, three hours late, the inhabitants of Rockwell Green were amazed to see a tall naked women with blonde hair, already beginning to be long again, galloping into the town. Across the saddle was the form of Sister Amelia. Amelia was screaming to be freed at once.

After the trees had been cleared, Roberta had spotted Amelia, who had not gone back to the town as had the others through secret forest paths. She had been too keen to admire the consternation on Roberta’s face as she realised that she must go through the town. She had tried to run away when spotted but Roberta was too quick for her and soon grabbed the fleeing bigot, tying her up and taking her back to the town to demand her imprisonment for vandalism.

Roberta, looking furious, asked for the Mayor. The chief citizen came hurrying out of his house. He was no lover of the Ladies League for Truth and Decency, having one of them for a wife. At the sight of Roberta with her magnificent, if somewhat scarred, young body he was all smiles and anxiety to please.

It seemed that the Ladies’ League had over reached themselves this time, and Amelia looked to be headed for the cells, when it all went wrong.

There was a commotion from the end of the street and a disconcerted Roberta saw Paula being escorted into the town by a bevy of women. The silly girl had disobeyed Roberta and her curiosity had got the better of her. She had approached too close and been captured.

“If you want your friend to be released you’ll free out leader!” shouted one of the women.

“Are you going to allow my friend to be treated like that? She has done no wrong, unlike me. Make those women let her go, put this woman in prison for malicious damage and I’ll surrender myself to you for being naked while suspended from the Golden Guard.”

The Mayor nodded. Roberta released the squawking Amelia into the clutches of the Town Constable and Paula was freed. Then came more drama!

From the other end of the town could be heard the sound of many riders. Soon Alfonso and a dozen well armed ruffians came up the party . He leered at Roberta.

“We meet again, my dear. I see you still bear the marks I gave you!”

“What brings you here, Alfonso?” Roberta guessed it was nothing good!

“I thought about your advice to find a new means of earning a living. And I and my men agreed with you. So now we have joined the noble struggle for Truth and Decency. This town is ours now! Mine, actually! Welcome to my town, Roberta!”

Had there been warning of Alfonso’s approach, Roberta might have organised a resistance as she had in an earlier adventure, but there was no chance in the present circumstances. She dismounted and handed the reins to Paula, who led the animal away to be stabled. She was sorry for Roberta. But she HAD warned the silly headstrong girl!

After Roberta had made the now familiar visit to the blacksmiths and been fitted with another fetching pair of leg irons she was brought before Alfonso, the new Acting Mayor, and Sister Amelia to be told her fate.

“It seems that previous experiences have failed to convince you of the error of your ways, Roberta. You are a Golden Guard no longer and your nudity is an affront to decency. In time all the Golden Guard will be punished for their shameless mode of dress. Now is the time to make an example of you. I hope that in the coming weeks you will reflect upon your moral failings and resolve to lead a new and better life in future.”

“Get to the point, you bastard!” snarled Roberta. When she was reinstated she’d pursue and destroy this swine if it took her the rest of her life!

“The sentence of the new Council is that you serve six weeks hard labour and receive three floggings, the first tomorrow morning, the second after three weeks and the third to send you on your way, knowing that the same treatment awaits you in every community you pass by or through! Do you have anything to say?”

“Let my friend alone and do what you will to me. Harm a hair of her head and I will kill you one day; and one day a lot sooner than you think!”

“Empty threats from an empty vessel. Put the whore on display for the night. All citizens are to assemble in the morning at first light to witness the justice of the Ladies’ League!”

***********************************

“What’s for lunch today, innkeeper?” asked Paula, who was feeling very hungry. Cold weather always did this for her and she had been forced, like all the other townsfolk, to watch Roberta being flogged several hours earlier. Paula hated to go out without a full breakfast inside her!

“Roast beef, followed by steamed chocolate pudding, cheese and biscuits.  We have a selection of fine wines.”

“Yummy! Can’t wait!”

“I am relieved that madam has an appetite. In view of what happened to your friend I thought you might be off your food.” replied the friendly innkeeper.

This good man had watched disgustedly as Roberta had been savagely whipped by three of Alfonso’s men, each taking it in turn to give the poor girl her lashes. At present the victim was raising buckets of water from the well, walking in circles as she pushed the rotating mechanism, her wounds still bleeding. Later on she would be harnessed to a cart and made to transport supplies to all the houses in the town, there being no running water in this distant time. It would be long past nightfall before she was chained up for the night and allowed a few hours of rest.

“If that stupid girl had listened to me we’d be miles away from here by now. I have lost patience with her. We have a very important mission to fulfil and she keeps getting involved in sorting out the cares of the world. We’d cleared the road. Why couldn’t she leave it at that? Don’t worry about her! She’s amazingly tough, you know! She’ll sail through the next six weeks!”

“She did try to help us, madam! And it makes us ashamed that we can do nothing to stop her mistreatment! I doubt she will be here for six weeks. Long before then we will have moved against these horrible women and their bandit accomplices!”

“Those men will kill you all! They are really desperate criminals! Roberta has told me all about them! She’d be the last person to want you to court certain death for yourselves and a fate worse than death for your women and children. She’d sooner go through ten times what she’s going through today than see that happen!”

“You may be right. But it shames me all the same to think about it. I heard that Roberta trained the people of one town to fight back against marauders. Could she not do the same here?”

“If she were free, she could. But they guard her too well. Leave her to serve out her time. It may sound callous of me, but it’s the only way!”

Three days later, Paula had a walk around the town. People were keeping themselves indoors as much as possible. Alfonso’s men looked to be everywhere, lounging around and keeping their eyes open. She wondered just how much they were being paid for all this?

Roberta was looking much less distressed by now. She always recovered well after her frequent punishments. Today she was shovelling dirt from the street into a cart. Later she would be pushing the same cart to the tip a mile outside the town. Her next day on water duty was tomorrow. Today it was less the hard work that made Paula’s heart bleed, so much as the degrading nature of what she was being forced to do. She could bear to watch no more and knew it would make it worse for Roberta to see her friend observing  her brought so low.

Paula decided to walk a few miles into the woods where this particular adventure had started. She heard a whistle coming from a group of bushes and her name being called. A man stepped out and she recognised him. It was one of Rodolfo’s band!  What was he doing here?

“We were sent to watch over Roberta. Philippa was against Rodolfo sending any more than us two. In fact she was angry that even we should have been sent. It took us far longer to reach this place than it should because of that old witch, casting her spells and leading us a merry dance. Roberta has made a bad enemy there! I fear there is little we can do for her this time! I shall go back to Rodolfo and implore him to send sufficient men to save Roberta from as much of her ordeal as is possible.”

Paula shook her head.

“It’s pointless. I see it all now. Philippa has willed all these misfortunes for my Mistress! She is fated to endure whatever the old woman decrees. We can do nothing for her. Go back to Rodolfo and leave events to take their ordained course.”

The two men did as Paula said. But Philippa had been having second thoughts.  What right did she have to punish that brave girl further for her failure to believe? Poor Roberta had suffered enough. She decided to raise to more objections to helping her. As soon as the two men returned and told Rodolfo what was happening he despatched enough men to defeat Alfonso and rescue Roberta.

This party arrived  in Rockwell Green twenty four hours after Roberta had received her third and final whipping at the end of a very gruelling six weeks. Alfonso had made sure she was worked harder during that time, than even at the terrible Hell Island Prison. He had a score to settle after being bested in combat!

So she and Paula were on their way again. After chasing Alfonso and his band away and seeing that Amelia and Co. had been put in prison for conspiring against one of the King’s Golden Guard, the band set out in pursuit of Roberta and Paula, determined to escort them in safety back to their appointment with destiny at the Palace.