Summary:
Chelle travels to Scotland for a history class trip but mystery awaits. Meanwhile, Lin helps Reinhard with his medical problem and Jenn has a challenging first date with Richard.
This story has parts taken from A Tale of Two Snoops.
It also uses content from Lisette and the Cyber Geeks Chapter 16 written by the famous Brian Sands.
Adult bondage but only on an adult.
“You slept with Bethan and had an orgasm?!” Lin exclaimed.
“I’m not proud of it,” Jenn remarked with a slightly depressed look.
“Well, there’s nothing really wrong with experimenting with your sexuality. You really don’t like guys? Anyone one from school?” Jenn shook her head.
“What about…” Lin’s statement was cut off as Chelle entered their headquarters panting. “Sorry, did I miss anything?”
“What’s the problem? And isn’t it half term?” Chelle was in her school uniform with an added school jumper on.
“Last-minute school trip to Scotland. I’m going to some 17th Century castle somewhere south of Edinburgh, “She explained.
“Luckily my history trip is to the East Midlands and but during the school week,” Jenn remarked. “At least you’re travelling within the UK and can bring gadgets unlike me in Paris,” Jenn remarked.
“Oh yeah, any new gadgets?” Chelle asked her East Asian classmate.
“Here,” Lin produced a pair of spectacles. “Press the sides near the hinges and you get light shining out. ”
“Like the pen torchlight?”
“Yes, but the unique part is that others in front won’t spot the light if they are 100 metres or more,” Lin added. “Just don’t leave it on for long.”
“Ok, that’s great,” Chelle checked her watch. “Got to go, meet up when I return.”
“Jenn, why don’t you go out with Richard?” Lin re-continued.
“Richard?! He’s my debate rival.”
“Well, you share that in common. He rescued you in Paris and he seemed the part.” Lin’s phone buzzed. “I’ve got to meet my guy. Think about it.”
Chelle was quite tired not from the rush to meet up with her class but as she was on the first day of her period. The class took a long train to Edinburgh then a charted bus ride to the castle.
“Wow, it doesn’t look like a normal castle,” one classmate remarked. The castle had a triangular top and towers were not visible, the walls looked like they had a new coat of paint.
“It certainly is not your generic castle, ” a red-haired bearded man who introduced Alastair Murray their guide for the castle. He led the class into a side entrance and Chelle despite her lethargy, noticed a van with darkened windows and a pair of men carrying a long crate out.
Reinhard and Lin discussed the latter’s captivity last time. He noted she forgot to apply the facial cream she invented that would loosen tape gags. Lin noted, remarking that she was too busy focused on shopping with Natalie. Just as he was about to change subject, a text message appeared on his phone.
“Damn, the results of my blood and urine tests; I went to check as I lost some weight. I’ve got diabetes and have to head to collect medicine from the specialist.”
“I’ll accompany you,” Lin responded. Forty minutes later, the couple emerged with Reinhard carrying a small bag. “Diamicron,” he read the packet. “Take two a day before a meal.” The other items were a pocket-sized blood glucose meter, a lancet and a pack of strips. The doctor’s order was him to use the lancet to prick any of his fingers, attach a strip to the meter and place it against the blood oozing out. He was to send daily readings to the endocrinologist.
“I can’t believe I’ve got diabetes at mid-teen,” He complained. “I guess it’s because I’ve been eating too many sweet snacks and drinking too much Coca-Cola.”
“Hey it’s Type 2 diabetes right? I’ll help you get cured,” Lin squeezed his arm.
Jenn was wondering if Lin’s suggestion was ridiculous. Go out on a date with Richard?! She only brought him in to the detective group due to his Eidetic memory not for her liking him. He and his debate team have defeated mine many times. Why should I… Jenn reached for her phone and sent him a WhatsApp message not asking for a date. She instantly received his reply with several suggestions where to head to.
Chelle’s history class had a long tour of the Castle’s interior and immediate outside then received a serious of questions and an essay set by their history teacher. Despite still feeling tired, she completed the assignments and rested in the assigned guest room. There was water to drink but no hot drinks. Sighing, she headed back out but the Castle interior was a maze. “Hey,” she spotted the guide Alastair. “Where’s the hot water here?” He gave her a detailed set of directions. Chelle took the first few steps, however the steps she took brought her to the end of a dark corridor. Wait, he said to take a left turn but there no turning. She retraced her steps but only found a narrow corridor leading to the right. Taking a few steps, her foot suddenly caught a loose floor panel.
Lin’s plan to cure Reinhard of diabetes was rigorous but, in his view, strict. It involved exercising twice, not once, a week and absolute abstaining from sugary food and high carbohydrates. After a swim with her covering more laps than he was used to, they ate at a Cantonese outlet. “No, you can’t eat those, ” she stopped him from taking the Char Siew Bao. “There too much starch in the rice flour. Here, take more of the meaty dim sum.” I really wish I could eat that, he thought. For dessert, Lin had mango pudding while he received just oranges that weren’t too sweet. “Fruits are good for you,” she remarked. He was a fan of mango pudding and wish he was struck with this condition.
“Hey Jenn,” Richard greeted her with smile. He was dressed in all blue from jacket to jeans. “Glad you choose the bookstores option; I love to immerse myself in old books.” Jenn only nodded wondering if she made the right decision. Jenn did find the three bookstores helpful and purchased books for her GCSE Literature and some for her own pleasure. Grudgingly, she accepted a lunch with him and it was worse that she had to sit side-by-side as the lunch crowd was packed.
As Richard finished most of his fish and chips, he turned to her and asked, “Jenn, why do your always wear jeans and never skirts?”
Jenn threw down the rest of her sandwich and turned annoyed. “Why you think girls must always must wear skirts?”
Richard calm, replied, “No, I’ve just always seen you outside your school uniform wearing skirts. Remember the debate on feminism your team won? Your speech showed mentioned how skirts are a symbol of female power.”
“That was debate; I hardly believe in what I argue in debate.” With that, the pair launched a heated argument.
As Jenn and Richard were arguing, Chelle stopped after feeling the loose panel. Her thoughts of getting hot water were quickly replaced by her inquisitive detective mind. Chelle kicked the panel twice and there was a soft creaking sound after the second kick, revealing a fairly dark entrance to a passageway. She recalled the tour guide never saying there were any secret tunnels here. And he was the one who gave me directions to nowhere. She stepped inside, finding a not-so-dark passageway. She activated the pen torchlight which gave her enough light. The first part of this unknown area was wide enough to walk through but soon it narrowed and her school skirt caught a protruding part from the sides. It took her several minutes to dislodge it however part of the skirt was torn. Oh, how I wish I had changed to practical; the teacher won’t like this.
As Chelle walked through the narrower passageway, part of her mind told her mission was to find hot water while another told her this area was really exploring. As she paused to debate, she heard a soft sound from the wall to her left.
“I can’t lift that!” Reinhard protested. He and Lin were in a local gym. They were the dumbbell section. She wanted him to lift weights 10kgs more than he had before.
“I’m sure you can. Larger weights are great; can help you regain you weight.”
Reinhard tried but couldn’t lift and wanted to give up, however, she told him to try again and gritting his teeth, he managed to. “Good work, continue to your usual number.” He did, but stop five less, finding it stramineous. He shifted to the leg press which he loved.
“Try the barbells,” Lin suggested.
“I’ve never used that. How do you…”
“I’ll show you,” she told him to lie down on the bench press and fitted a not-so-heavy set of weight press. She showed him how to position his arms and she’ll lower the barbell when needed.
“You’ve done this before? “He starred up at her, loving the shape from her sports bra.
“Yup, now lift.” The first tries were difficult but he was fine with the rest. Ending at eighty lifts, he was grateful that was it. They both ended on the treadmill and he declared he was famished, though knowing it would be a sugar-less meal.
“This meeting is over!” Jenn declared, throwing down her sandwich. Glaring at Richard, she said a curt ‘thank you for the meal’ storming off. How dare he suggest I wear skirts and dresses more often. Women and girls today aren’t fixed on stereotypical clothing. How dare…Jenn repeated those angry thoughts as she made her way to the train station. Jenn was going to wait at the platform when she thought. That was still a little unfair on my part. I should have just argued normally not show my temper. Jenn ran back and spotted Richard in a music store at the oldies section.
“Returning to vent your view on jeans?” Richard’s tone was calm.
“I shouldn’t have thrown my temper,” Jenn replied.
“I shouldn’t have forced my views on skirts and dresses on you. You can wear what you like.”
The two debaters looked each other then Jenn broke the ice. “You like oldies?!”
Richard gave an embarrassed grin. “Yes, well my parents loved them and always played it since I was born. I’ve caught the love for the music. Not the exact music you would expect a teen to like and I get teased for that.”
“Oh, my mum music’s taste made me love oldies. Which artist is your favourite?”
He showed his selection of Beatles albums including With the Beatles. Jenn scanned the shelves and picked Spirits Having Flown, an early Bee Gees Studio album which her family did not have. The pair discussed other bands and singer-song-writers until Richard glanced at his watch. “It’s getting late. A pretty nice outing don’t you think?” He extended
Despite our heated argument over how I dress she thought. “Yes, it was nice.” She shook his hand and they parted.
The sound stopped for two seconds then Chelle heard it again. She pressed her ear against that section of the wall yet the sound was faint. It came and the pattern identified that it was human-made. “Hello? Is someone there?” She repeated the call yet no voice responded. Chelle moved further inside the mysterious tunnel but she quickly found a wall blocking her directly. Chelle shook her head. It’s so cliche, Chelle thought stopping detectives with literal dead ends. She exactly the wall made of cement though some parts appeared to be wooden. Chelle struck and kicked the wall at various parts but it did not move and she ended up slightly hurting her hands and feet.
I’ve got to return to my room, Chelle sighed and turned back. As she walked back, a thought struck her. If she accidentally found the loose panel to open up this hidden area surely there must be another panel or something to struck. She dashed back near the wall and searched around. She finally spotted a minute stick protruding out from the left side wall. Gently pulling it, the wall creaked then lifted up. Elated, Chelle moved in but found herself in a pitch-black area. As she fumbled for the pen torchlight, the floor beneath her opened and she fell.
Chelle had fallen down small holes in children’s indoor parks before, but this hole was many times large and she hardly managed to break her fall when she struck the ground. Ow… Chelle cried out. She did manage to get up and rubbed her bum. As Chelle started to move, a same creaking sound emitted and she surmised that the wall she got open now closed. Great, alone deep inside some hidden chamber. You a teen detective another voice told her. Investigate. The problem was the pen torchlight she used was damaged. Lin’s not going to like it, she thought twisting a James Bond phrase. Pulling out the spec’s her fellow detective just made, it gave her enough light to proceed. There was only one place to head: the open archway in front of her. As she entered, she found herself on a narrow walkway with an evident chasm below. Carefully walking – it was far not easy with her school skirt – yet she managed to reach almost the end until she heard the sound again. It was now much louder and Chelle didn’t take long to identify that it the sound from someone gagged.
Ahead of her, the ‘bridge’ parted into two: one longer route and the other, a smaller route. She tried the longer route and the muffled sounds grew closer. There was one larger door ahead but the lock was rusty and easily broken. As she entered, she gasped.
Reinhard gasped as the reading on the blood glucose meter reading was high. endocrinologist just told him to get it down. After complaining to his girlfriend that he didn’t eat any with sugar or starchy, she suggested he should take the sample a little later. “Your body needs time to absorb food.”
“Since when did you know all this stuff?”
“I previously read up. Would you like meet for a run this afternoon? The weather seems nice.”
“Err, how about a swim?’ She agreed. He secretly was interested in seeing her in her swimsuit as even her one-piece was really sexy on her body.
Dress code: formal. Jenn read the last part of Richard’s text message over and over again. He had invited her to see The Phantom of the Opera at a high-class theatre in Birmingham. Jenn had seen this musical before only once when she was six and it was one of her favourites – did he know that? One voice told her she should reject the offer and stay home. Another told her it wasn’t anything wrong and he shared the love of oldies music with her. Jenn silently weighed her choices then opened her closet. She had few dresses that matched the dress code. She finally selected the maroon short-sleeved one. Jenn couldn’t recall the last time she wore this dress but it wasn’t dirty. Along with it she added her only pair of nude 40 denier tights for the weather not for looks.
Chelle’s gasp was due to the woman she found. The woman was hooded with her orange hair sticking out underneath. Her wrists were bound to rings screwed to the wall with cable ties. Her ankles were likewise secured to rings on the floor. “Hang on,” Chelle rushed over, untying the hood. It revealed a tired as well frightened face, the lower half covered with a thick black duct tape all around her head.
Chelle worked of that but even her nimble fingers took time to peel the tape away. The woman half spat and Chelle grimaced as she pulled out a saliva-soaked stocking.
“Thank you,” the woman croaked in a slight Scottish accent. “They sent a school girl to rescue me? Oh, you’re one of the Croonford teen detectives?”
Chelle nodded as she started work on the bindings. Those came off faster with the aid of her laser pen and Chelle help the woman up. After introducing herself, the woman replied, “Elspeth MacGregor, the owner of Castle Macgregor.”
“Let’s get out of here, Elspeth.” Chelle wondered if they had to walk back through the narrow path.
“Follow me,” Elspeth noticed Chelle’s look. “I grew up exploring this hidden area.” She proceeded to the opposite wall, pushed a brick and a door opened. As they entered, Elspeth explained King Duncan I built this underground network and the hidden doors so his troops and family could hide here during any intensive conflict. Chelle quickly changed topic asking Elspeth how she came to be captured. “This morning, two men surprised me as I got out of my residence. They gagged me as you saw, hooded me, restrained me and I felt myself in some vehicle. Shortly after, I was carried out and restrained as you found me.” Chelle immediately knew that was what she spotted earlier.
As Elspeth pointed to another passageway, Chelle continued asking if she knew who was behind her capture.
Elspeth pulled up her broken dress and cleared her throat. “Oh, I definitely know one of them is Fred, my head gardener. He’s the only employee who knows the layout of the underground besides me. The other could be his assistant Blair or another employee.”
Chelle followed her up and around another passageway. A gardener may have some beef against her employer yet there to be a main goon. Catching up with Elspeth, she asked if anyone held a serious grudge against her.
“Oh, you are really a detective. This Castle is worth millions. Others have tried to buy it. Others have fake birth certificates claiming they are MacGregor. The worse is my younger twin sister Edine who has been trying to claim rights to the castle. She doesn’t.”
Jenn didn’t feel right as she entered the theatre. “Oh, evening Jenn, beautiful dress,” Richard greeted. He was in a dark blue suit with an equally blue tie with yellow stripes.
“You don’t have to flatter me,” Jenn tried to reply in a neutral tone. “Exactly how did get tickets for this expensive theatre?”
“My dad got tickets for them and I was to join him. This morning he fell sick so one ticket is available. I’m paying him back.”
“So, you’re treating me.” He nodded.
“Alright. It must be a coincidence Phantom is my favourite musical.”
“I love several of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Cats. Shall we?”
They walked to door and Jenn expected him to reach for her hand but he didn’t. Some people were chased away as they were casually dressed. I wearing this damn dress to meet the dress code, not to show off to Richard. The pair watched silently but Jenn couldn’t help but mouth the words to Music of the Night. She was engrossed and silently felt this outing was fruitful after all.
“Do you fancy another beer, Rich?” The bearded man asked.
“Nah, how much can you drink Fred?” These were the men who had captured Elspeth. Rich was the Castle’s chief repairman.
“Och, what’s the harm. We did what the real boss wanted us to do. Can’t wait to check my bank account.” Just then, his mobile buzzed.
“The boss lady is coming over. Wants to see our ‘work’ we did the girl.”
“Does she think we literally rough her up?”
“Don’t think crude.” Just then, a woman in dressed in all black looking exactly like Elspeth but with a scar on her forehead appeared. She curtly demanded to see her sister. Fred led the way down, taking a different route that Chelle initially did also a different one that she and Elspeth were escaping from.
Just as they stepped into the chamber, all they saw was the hood, the soaked stocking, pieces of tape and broken cable ties.
“What? B-but that’s impossible! She was right here I swear we saw head drop down like falling asleep,” Fred shouted.
“Well, she’s bloody missing,” the woman or Elspeth’s sister Edine shot back with an angry look. “Find her!”
“The two henchmen though strong nearly dropped at her roar. They scrambled around, looking for clues where Elspeth escaped to. Edine picked up the broken cable ties and curtly asked “Did you not search her?”
“Er she was just in a dress. We dumped her handbag outside her quarters.”
“Well, these are burnt marks,” she held up one cable tie, “Either she has some high-device on her or…someone came to free her.”
“Hey boss, there’s a hidden door here. She must have escaped via it,” Rich pointed.
“Oh, this mysterious complex. Chase after her, no I recall there’s should be another passageway,” Edine pressed the various walls and found a second door. “If I recall, this should lead you to the surface. That’s where she would have gone. Go!”
“Like Act One?” Richard asked as the exited during the intermission.
“Oh, it was lovely! They may have changes actors but the version of The Music of the Night and All I ask of You was perfect!”
Jenn really has changed, Richard thought. We’ve found common in old music and in musicals. She may not be keen on dresses or skirts but that’s not a matter. Are these just outings or are they dates?
Fred and Rich hurried up the stairs of the hidden passageway less than incur more of the wrath from Edine.
“You sure this leads us up to the surface?” Rich wondered.
“Aye, I know remember this layout,” Fred insisted. “It isn’t a long route. The route she’s taking is longer and we’ll catch her.”
“Ya sure?”
“Why the doubt? The bitch Elspeth taught me this place when I was a junior gardener. I want to see her suffer,” Fred pulled his companion aside and held his finger to his mouth. “They are near.”
Chelle and Elspeth spotted a hatched that was locked. “Usually there’s a key. Hand me the laser item you used to cut my bonds.” As Elspeth worked on the lock, Chelle was thankful they were almost free; she needed a good drink of water and a change of clothes, especially her underwear. The sun shone through the open hatch and just as Elspeth attempted to climb up, strong hands grabbed and yanked her up. Chelle tried to snuck back but a second set of hands also pulled her up.
“Fred! I knew it was you!” Elspeth exclaimed as she struggled in Fred’s tight grip. Twisting her head, she shouted. “And you Rich! How could do this!”
“We ain’t working for you anymore,” Fred snarled, holding a crowbar in his hands. As if on cue, Edine appeared.
“Well, well looks like sis can’t escape. Remember how you failed to escape in all those games, from childhood to university orientation?”
“Why are you doing this?!”
“I’m claiming what rightful mine. You aren’t the castle owner anymore.” Edine gave a signal and Rich gagged Elspeth with a cloth and a long piece of duct tape. Her wrists were secured behind her back with a cable tie.
“Now who do we have here?” Edine looked at Chelle who had failed to run off. “So, you were the one who played heroine and tried to rescue my horrible sister?”
Before Chelle could answer, both hench men bound and gagged her except without a mouth stuffing. “Nice work. Wait,” Edine frisked Chelle who yelped but couldn’t find the laser gadget on her. “Let’s take them below and secure them separately.”
Rich was ordered to secure Chelle in a smaller room next to the one where Elspeth was found. Elspeth was half-marched, half-dragged to another room. By now, after being gagged and re-gagged, breathing was a continual difficulty for her. Her wrists, retied, were sore as the cable ties bit further into her wrists. As Elspeth wondered, she decided to fake choking.
“She’s in spasm! Get all that gag off her. We don’t want her dying on us, Sometimes I think you then overdo things.” Edine ordered.
“Jawohl,” Fred who was half-German replied and roughly tore away the tape and yanked out the stocking. Edine felt a little relief but Fred made her kneel down on stone floor.
“Now, now Fred, I give the orders here and we don’t overly abuse people,” Edine waved her finger.
“Th- Thank you,” she said softly, “I- I see a different side to your character,” Although Elspeth didn’t mean what she said.
“Ha, your thanks mean nothing sis.”
“Why don’t you leave that girl Michelle out of this? She’s just a student, a teen. It’s between”
“You don’t order me around sis ever,” Edine eyes narrowed.
“How can you…”
“She ought to be gagged keep her trap shut!” Fred snapped.
Edine ignored his advice and ordered her bound sister to get up. Elspeth struggled to her feet, the skirt of her dress to flutter down over her legs but with one strap broke free of the tie, her black bra was exposed.
“Good. Over here. Don’t think you can overpower me, by the way.”
Elspeth had little strength anyway. She walked unsteadily towards the other wall of the chamber When she drew closer, she saw what had not been visible in the shadows. There were chains on the wall, and metal rings as before. Her captors followed, a large blanket suddenly in Edine’s arms.
“Here,” the woman tossed the blanket down near her sister. “You may wish to lie down, although I doubt whether you will find that comfortable after what I am going to do next.”
It was obvious that Elspeth was going to be tied up again, and anchored to the ring in the wall somehow. She sat on the blanket with her knees drawn up to one side and looked expectantly up at her captors. Edine ordered Fred to remove the cable ties and Elspeth used the freedom to re-tie her dress strap though her modesty was not covered . Her captors guffawed softly but said nothing.
Edine walked to a large cabinet near, opened it, and returned almost immediately with items that were metallic. She squatted down beside her sister.
“Turn around. You should know the drill.”
Lisette turned and put her arms behind her back. She looked over her shoulder, trying to see what her evil sister was holding.
“These are manacles. They’re from the era from just after King Duncan, bet you didn’t know that? but I assure you they’re working fine, actually got newer versions, not rusty.” Elspeth shuddered as she felt cold iron settle around one wrist. “You see,” continued her sister as she inserted a screw and began to tighten the broad ring, “This place used to be a museum of medieval torture. And when the property passed hands, this little dungeon stayed almost as it was left, with the original displays carefully stored away in that cabinet. You are going to learn how it feels to be shackled, like they did to women in ancient times.”
The second band of iron was screwed in place about Elspeth’s other wrist and a short chain of three links now clipped into place to join both wrist bands together.
“There, that will hold you, little Miss Houdini.”
Elspeth moved her hands experimentally and found that she could not budge them. Her sister chuckled, then she squatted near Lisette’s feet.
“Ankle shackles or leg irons. Much better than the cable ties, no?” Fred didn’t react but thought those were good enough restraints.
Elspeth found her voice at last.
“So … You’re going to leave me here?”
“I’m glad to you discovered that at last,” Edine cackled.
“Look, I can give you half of the Castle’s land. I can give you more than half my bank account.”
“Too little. Now time to really shut ya up.”
Edine rose to her feet and held up what looked like a metal helmet. Elspeth shivered apprehensively.
“It doesn’t look appealing does it, dear? That’s because it isn’t. It’s very practical, but it’s also somewhat ugly and, I’m afraid, a very uncomfortable fit.”
“Wh- What is it?” But Lisette already had a very strong suspicion of its nature.
“This, sis, is what they call a scold’s bridle. It’s a particularly inventive metal helmet designed to force the wearer, a woman of course, to hold her tongue. Used to punish women in the 1500s. You never Scottish history?”
“You’re not going to put that thing on me?”
“But of course, I am. I am expecting you to be cooperative. This is iron.” Edine held it up and manipulated some of the links. “If you struggle, you’ll risk chipping a tooth, or having your face cut on parts of the metal. This part, see, goes in your mouth. It’s a particularly nasty but quite effective metal gag, I am most interested in seeing its effect on you.”
Lisette licked her lips nervously. “I guess I don’t have any choice.”
“No, you haven’t. I’ll be as gentle as possible when I put it on. Hmmm.”
“What?”
“This thing.” She indicated a flat tongue of metal that was folded over at its end to make a bulge. “I’m not out to torture you, just to make you uncomfortable. I think I’ll pad this …”
Edine looked down at her sister’s dress, delved into the pocket of her shirt and came out with a penknife. She grasped Elspeth’s dress by the hem and drove the point of the knife into the side with a ripping sound. Involuntarily Lisette drew her legs up. The cloth strip was now wrapped around the metal tongue , a couple of layers also going over the ends. When she was finished, the contraption had a stump of thick cloth protruding from it.
“All right, sis, open wide.”
Elspeth could scarcely get her mouth around it.
“Keep trying, dear. You’ll gag on it first, but soon you’ll be able to close your mouth a little, when it’s all in.”
Elspeth had to stretch her jaws wide before the thick wad of cloth could slide into her mouth. It penetrated past mid-way, almost to the back of her throat, and stayed there pressing down on her tongue. She heard a faint metallic squeal as her twin turned screws at the back that tightened the helmet around her head and face. The broad metal band with the silk-wrapped gag passed across her lower face to the back of her head, and to it was attached another band that went over her head vertically. It was bifurcated to pass on either side of her nose and, when the screws tightened, drawing those bands together. Her lips were uncomfortably close to the metal, but all that she could feel on her tongue was the soft wedge of silk that filled her mouth.
“There, that wasn’t too bad, was it?”
Elspeth tried to reply, but hardly a sound came out. With those words, the two captors left. The medieval gag felt embedded in her mouth, pressed against her upper palate, pushing down on her tongue, and threatening to choke her. All she could do was to bite on the thick cloth. She tried to move her hands. Nothing happened. She could move her fingers and legs a little, but the cuffs were locked tight and secured to rings on the wall and floor.
The scold’s bridle weighed heavily on her head. Maybe it was more comfortable to lie down. At least the weight would not be so unbearable. Carefully, she lowered herself to her side, falling helplessly the last foot, and tried to arrange herself with her knees curled up and her head on the other end of the blanket. But her weight pressed the bridle against the floor and made the angle of the shaft with the protective cloth shift in her mouth. It brought on a fit of choking and she had to raise her head to relieve the pressure.
The fresh tears streaming down her face almost caused her to miss the dull gleam of metal near her shoulder. She had to lift her head a little further back. And all the time the metal frame pressed down on her head, giving her a headache, making her thoughts disjointed and leading her into despair.
Meanwhile, Rich had cuffed Chelle to fetters secured on a wooden beam. Chelle continued to scream despite a dry throat and kick. “Oh, stop it lass,” he growled. Pulling out the last cable tie he had, her ankles were secured together. Suddenly, he reached under her skirt, yanking down her tights causing Chelle to yelp. Caught by the cable ties, he cut them off. Chelle’s tape gag was temporarily removed and her tights wound around her head before a fresh tape was applied. “Nice legs girl,” Rich remarked and began to touch them.
“Nice musical?” Richard asked as they exited the theatre. Jenn was humming the tune to Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again and recalling the Acts, especially the crashing the of the chandelier.
“Huh, oh yeah lovely!” she snapped back to reality, realising who she was with.
“So, are these meet ups, outings, or dates?” Jenn looked up at him. Her answer came less than a minute later. “They are dates. But I want to think before I say ‘girlfriend’ Richard.” He extended his hand but Jenn, for the first time in her life, hugged him. That embrace was interrupted by her phone buzzing.
“No Mark, I can’t go up to Edinburgh. But Lothian and Borders detectives are handling it. I know they are very capable,” Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Nikki Heath informed him. She was referring to DCI Amy Robertson and Detective Sergeant (DS) Bobbi Rainsbury. The pair wasted no time preventing anyone from leaving the castle and interviewed everyone. That excluded Rich the repairman, whom Edine said he was on sick leave.
“Don’t buy that Amy,” Bobbi remarked. “You could see her eyes move, her face twitch. I’m going to search for this repair guy.”
Elspeth started twisting her arms as much as she could. She was aiming for the laser pen Chelle had given her. After four twists, she got it and with her fingers, managed to cut away her wrist manacles, then her ankles and slowly cut off the painful scold’s bridle. Leaving the room, she heard muffled cries and found Chelle, who was still being caressed by Rich. With one large swing, Elspeth knocked out the repairman. With in minutes, Chelle was freed, not before she squirted ink from the special gadget. “Ok, leave him, let’s get out of here.”
The pair found DS Rainsbury who doubted their story but escorted them to her superior.
“So, who are you then?” The two detectives asked Edine, who shout she was the owner. Suddenly, Fred and dirtied Rich appeared and attempted to attack Elspeth. The tussle was short and the detectives arrested Edine and her henchmen.
“More good news,” Reinhard informed Lin over coffee. “My blood sugar levels have dropped to normal. The doctor says it’s incredible how I recovered. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” After finishing, she asked for a kiss but he gave her on both cheeks.
“Lips?” She asked when they were out.
He just stood there.
“You love me?” That broke his stare. Remembering an Ally McBeal scene, Lin twisted the lines. “Kiss me! Put your lips where you mind is!” The shorter boy tiptoed and gave her a mouth-to-mouth kiss, finding her lips tasting like berries, not of the coffee earlier. He held it there for a minute and a half, the most amazing time in his life.
Michelle, Lin Ling, Jennifer, Mark and Richard will return in ‘Drama Crisis’.
Croonford Detectives 
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