Day Thirteen
 

“How was Joanne” asked Frieda.

“Still pretty rough, I’m afraid. Can’t expect much else after that…..you know…. I mean - all that lovely smooth skin of hers that was starting to look so nice again - and now it’s all raw like a slab of meat. At least she’s not bleeding any more but she’s lost a lot of blood Frieda. That bitch! I hope Jo kills her when she gets out.”

Frieda said nothing at first. Then she answered Francesca. “I’ve seen plenty of girls take worse than that Fran, including Angela herself on one occasion and I have taken quite a bit of stick myself. These are brutal times and Joanne has got to learn to live with that. Believe me, if she’s any good, she’ll pull through and if she isn’t she doesn’t deserve to and will be no loss.  The same with Annie, dear thing that she is! I got worse at her age, much worse. They just have to take it, Fran.

“But Annie’s OK - she’s taking it the right way, I can see that,  growing up fast and finding out things about herself that are surprising  her. She reminds me of when I was her age and getting it in the neck just like she is now. Joanne should be proud of her!  Sorry to be so hardhearted! I know you three are fond of each other, but it’s a brutal business, this freedom struggle. If you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.”

“Rubbish, Frieda. We aren’t fighting to install a regime as brutal as the one we’ve already got and you know it. Joanne’s a civilised, intelligent person as well as a very brave one; she doesn’t belong in that cage rotting away like that. And as for Annie, she’s not here because she chose to support our cause, but because of being with Joanne at the wrong time.  She’s different from the rest of us.

Frieda smiled at this.

“I agree with you up to a point, Francesca, but only up to a point. As long as we are outlaws with a price on our heads we have to be strong. Your friend was weak and fell asleep. I agree with Angela. After all I’d heard about her I was disappointed in Joanne - really torn to shreds inside, if you must know - she‘d long been my heroine and still is in a way.  She belongs where she is right now and for all of twelve long weeks - do her good!  And she deserved every last lash and the thirty she’s due for at the end.  You must know I‘m right. I‘m sure Joanne does.  As for poor little Annie,  what‘s done is done. She’s one of us now, and she’s finally coming to terms with that - she’ll surprise us all!”

“Angela‘s a fool in lots of ways, but she saw right through to Joanne’s weakness and the way to deal with it.  I saw her face when she was being whipped, Fran and there was peace there  as well as pain.  Just stick out these weeks without her,  Francesca.  Angela‘s hard, but she‘s fair, much as it surprises me to hear myself saying  it! And I‘ll have to report what you have said to me, as well as my own act of weakness in touching Annie. Sorry about that,  but we‘ll be going through it together - that‘ll be nice!.”

The pair went over to the helicopter and Francesca tried the controls.  She started the engine and the thing took off.  Francesca performed a few manoeuvres and set it down on the beach.

“As I thought, Frieda - no problem! But it is a bit low on fuel. If we fly over to the mainland we may manage to refuel.  We’ve still got those Inspectors’ uniforms - lucky they’re not  full of holes!  Should be able to pull the wool over someone’s eyes with a bit of luck! Let’s get back to Angela and see what she says.”

They found a few lengths of twine and some nails and wood, as well as a toolbox. With all this they hurried back to Angela. Frieda lost no time in incriminating them both.

Angela was not pleased. She ordered both of them to be flogged immediately and watched as the sentence of fifteen apiece was carried out. Both Francesca and Frieda were secured side by side and two of the stronger girls were told to deliver the lashes. With Angela’s eyes boring into their backs, they gave of their best.  As Francesca felt the whip hit her back and heard Frieda being chastised beside her, she recalled Frieda’s words. “We’ll be going through it together. That’ll be nice!” And it WAS nice to think that each was experiencing exactly the same sensation as the other, side by side. Francesca found that the ordeal was over all too soon.

 “Well, we’ll leave it at that, shall we girls?” said Angela. “ Slate’s wiped clean!  Now get some rest, the pair of you. Moroni, I’ll need your help in the morning.  - you did well to stand up to that! Quite remarkable considering it was your first time. Try to make it the last!”

“I’ve something to confess to you, Frieda” said Francesca as they  made their way back to the cave. “I was really getting off on that - big time. Something about the sound of the lashes on you and the feel of them on me and knowing we were both in it together. It might seem weird, but I loved it!”

Frieda giggled. “Same with me, Fran. I only have to think about it and I get all sticky down here” she pointed at her red bush.

“Me too”, replied an excited Francesca. “Let’s get alone somewhere nice and quiet,  Frieda and start thinking hard together!  Two juicy pussies need licking out!”

As soon as they had recovered their composure after a very enjoyable time, Fran started to look at her new and increasingly beloved friend’s back.

“Not too bad, but I have some ointment somewhere. Belongs to Joanne, really, but I’ll put a bit on that and you can see to me. Hurts like hell, apparently, but works like a charm.”

After she had treated Frieda and been treated in her turn and the pain had abated, she thought about Joanne. Poor Joanne with her back, so much worse than either hers or Frieda’s.

“Hell, Frieda - we don’t need this that badly. But I know a girl who does!
 
With this Francesca strode down to the shore, where Angela was drilling a group of girls. She walked up to her.

“Permission to speak, Commander?”
 
“Granted, Moroni”

 Francesca extended her hand, containing the tube of ointment. ”I’ve only this much left. I remembered the girl I owe my life to  - I mean Joanne, our leader and my very dear friend. I want to take her this ointment and rub it in her poor raw back. May I, please?”

Angela looked dumbfounded for a few seconds and then she smiled. It was a rare and surprisingly lovely smile for such a hard bitch.

“Permission granted, Moroni.  As you say, she needs it! You’d better be off with you. Spend the night there, if you wish, but no talking. I heard what you said to Prisoner Esterhazy the other day, and any repeat of those very nice pieties will be very painful for you!”

“As if I would know about it if you did talk to her, but you won’t, I rather think.” she muttered at Francesca’s sore and retreating back.

Francesca found the way up to the cage the most difficult part of her nocturnal journey. Apart from dropping the precious ointment and taking ages in an increasingly desperate search for it, the remainder of her cross island trip was uneventful.

She lowered Joanne to the ground and got the door open,  motioning the prisoner to turn herself round to present her back to her. This took her a long time - she was getting stiff in the joints already. The ointment certainly was painful, thought Francesca, as she applied it to the whole of that torn surface and saw and heard its effect as Joanne cringed and gasped. When she had finished, she closed the door and raised the cage again. She had said not a word during all this and been deliberately rough in her handling, sending the cage swinging with a blow of her hands just to prove she was being a good girl - by Angela’s standards!

JOANNE

Joanne had fainted from the pain very early on in the treatment and only recovered after the cage had been raised for some minutes. She soon felt better and wondered whether Francesca would get into trouble for what she had done.  She owed her, in any case. When she was free, those two, Fran and Annie, were going to be her right hand women.  Then she thought again of the time that lay ahead. Eleven weeks and four and a half days!  It might just as well be for ever. Why had she muttered that about the whip and antagonised her hard natured new leader, as if the original sentence hadn‘t been bad enough?

Well. It was a bit late to cry over that particular spilt milk! She smiled at this observation and looked down, seeing that Francesca was sleeping below her. When dawn came the other girl got to her feet and left. Joanne saw with some surprise that Francesca’s back was sore and red.  So Angela was continuing to rule with a rod of iron!

Fran had brought no food or water  - the understanding having been that the ointment had been in lieu of nourishment. Joanne’s stomach rumbled angrily and her mouth was very dry. It was worth it, though,  to have her back on the mend. That ointment was remarkable, once it started to work.  The pain of it had gone and her back started to itch as the healing process accelerated.  All day she went into and out of unconsciousness.

The night was cold and she woke soon after the sun had gone down  Out to sea, she could see the inky blackness with the odd bit of phosphorescence here and there. Lights twinkled on the mainland. They were the lights of a small seaside town she knew well, having spent many childhood holidays there, going up and down with her bucket and spade, pretending to be a geologist or marine scientist, silly, solemn self important little thing that she had been in those days!  She laughed out loud at the memory.

That child  had often looked out to this island, knowing it to be a bad place, but not knowing why.  She knew now - and how! How many others have passed through this place, she asked herself. How many had languished like her in this devilish contraption?  This last question brought her back  with horrifying immediacy, to her own predicament and she felt blind panic rising up inside her as she became vividly aware of her helpless condition. She fought this down with great difficulty, mentally slapping herself across the face as she had seen hysterics treated in the past. She mustn’t go mad in here!

She HAD to stay sane! She must stop thinking about herself, or she certainly would become raving long before her time was up. She thought about Annie and all the nice things she was going to cause to happen to that sweet person just as soon as she could. This eased her distress and, her mind relatively calm again, she slipped into a deep sleep, despite the cold. When she woke, the sun was up, somewhat pale and wintry  now, in January,  but still welcome and warming.

In five hours, she would have got through her fourteenth day and Annie would be half way through her time.  When she saw them come and release her, it would make a great difference.  She hoped fate would cause her to be facing the right way when that happened so that she would get a good view of that longed for happy event! Once  Annie was no longer suffering, Joanne’s agony would be her own to cope with herself and everything would be more bearable.