Chapter 21

John sat in the chair watching the false dawn break over the horizon. He stood and walked into the middle of the yard. Loading the lancet, he waited for the wind that would mark true dawn. When the morning colors dimmed and the sky turned blue, he put the pen to his finger. He felt the first tendrils of the morning wind and pushed the button. The sharp pain let him know it worked. Squeezing the finger, he forced a drop of blood to form on the end of his finger. With a little flick, he threw the drop of blood to the ground. He said, “for the Goddess.” The wind stopped as the sun broke over the horizon.

He turned to find Beth standing naked on the patio watching him. She said, “You do that every morning.”

“Yes, I do.” He turned back to face the sunrise waiting for the early rays of morning to strike him.

“You won’t tell me why.”

“It’s a blood sacrifice to the Goddess.” Beth looked blank. It didn’t mean anything to her. He added, “That’s as much explanation as is required.”

“You aren’t yourself, today. You haven’t been yourself for a week. Why?”

John took a deep breath as the sun finally reached him. His morning ritual was over. He answered, “Something bad is going to happen. Something really, really bad.”

“What kind of thing?”

“I don’t know.”

“Where?”

“It’s far from here, very far from here.”

“When?”

“Not for a while yet. A week from now, maybe two.”

“What are you going to do about it?”

“I’ll go there and take care of the problem to the best of my ability.”

Beth stood there watching him. She recognized his mood. He would say that he was trying to hear something from far away. Usually it only lasted for a short time and then he would leave to perform some feat of heroism. This had been going on for a week and it worried her. He shook his head and said, “I’m not getting it. Maybe tomorrow I’ll know in what direction to go.”

He turned and looked at Beth. He nodded in approval. She looked better today than she had in ages. He asked, “How are you doing?”

She shrugged her shoulders and answered, “I’m better. I can get through the work day now.”

“You’ve been working for six months now. You only missed a week.”

“I meant without crying.”

“Oh. Are you ready to be touched?”

“No,” Beth replied. She was terrified of admitting to love again. The death of Betsy had broken something deep inside her. John didn’t know if she would ever heal. He watched her as she stood there naked. She had no problems walking around naked and staying in the house, but anytime he even went to touch her she lost all control. It was difficult living with a naked woman that wouldn’t let you touch her. The only time she dressed was to go to work. He had to order her to go to work. Kelly told him that at work Beth was a complete professional.

He hadn’t had sex since Betsy died and felt he was being false to Betsy’s memory. She would have wanted him to get on with life. It was time for a change. He had the feeling that someone was coming that could introduce the change. He cleared his throat and said, “We will have company today.”

“No, I won’t allow it.” Beth declared. She could deal with only one person at a time. If they had company that meant she would have to deal with John and someone else.

John advanced on her. She stood defiantly with hands on her hips. He frowned and said, “Slave, get into the living room and assume kneeling position two.”

Beth went into the house. He knew without watching that she was following his instructions to the letter. She would follow instructions exactly as ordered. The only exception was anything that involved any kind of emotional attachment, even the most minor. She required orders to do everything now. That included eating, drinking, and sleeping. He wondered if she thought that by being the perfect slave she could bring Betsy back somehow.

He walked around the outside of the house and sat on the front porch. He waited for one of two things to happen. Either Ed would come over or his unknown visitor would arrive. He hoped Ed would come over now that he was between semesters. He needed someone with whom he could talk. Beth couldn’t hold much of a conversation anymore.

John was in a quandary. Several weeks ago, he defended his dissertation and was now Dr. John Carter. Although he wasn’t a student anymore, he needed to get some work done. He had only planned half of the lessons for this coming semester and it was starting in three weeks. Something horrible was going to happen in a week or two that would require his attention. Beth needed help that he couldn’t provide.

He looked down the street and noticed an RV pass the end of the block. He got up and opened the front door. He called in, “Slave, make eggs with salsa, toast, bacon, and coffee for three.”

“Yes, Master.”

He turned and sat back on the porch. He had recognized the RV when it passed. It was five minutes later that it turned down his street and moved slowly towards his place. He stood up and walked to the curb. The driver spotted him and sped up. He waited for the driver to exit.

“Hello, Lily.”

“Hi, John.”

“I was wondering who was coming.”

She laughed and said, “I wondered where I was going.”

He motioned towards the house with his head as he said “Your patient is in there. Her name is Beth, but she’ll probably run if you call her that. If you want her to stand still, call her slave and tell her to assume standing position one.”

“Aren’t you going in?”

“No. She can’t stand having more than one person around at a time. She’ll run out the back and head to the hills. It’ll take us hours to find her if she does.”

Lily looked at John for a minute trying to decide what to do. She preferred to have more information on the situation that triggered the problem. John didn’t seem to be too forthcoming.

She asked, “What happened?”

“I met a wonderful girl. Her name was Betsy and I was going to marry her. She came here for a visit and Beth came by. I had discovered that Beth was a natural submissive by accident and she wanted to explore that aspect of herself. Betsy took charge of the situation and the three of us ended up having a wonderful time. Beth fell deeply in love with Betsy. Betsy left shortly thereafter. She was killed in the Middle East. Beth flipped out and hasn’t been the same since.”

Lily nodded her head. She suspected there was more to this story than John knew. She was about to go in when Beth called out, “Master, breakfast is ready.”

He answered, “Slave, fix my plate and take it out to the patio. Then return to the kitchen and fix two more plates.”

“Yes, Master.”

Lily looked at him with concern and asked, “Why did you have to be so explicit?”

John answered, “If I don’t tell her to eat, she doesn’t. She won’t sleep without a command.”

“Wow.”

John nodded his agreement and said, “Yes. I’ll go around back and start to eat. I’ll order her to get the door and let you in. From then on, you’re on your own. I’ll be in your RV after I’ve finished eating.”

“Okay.”

John walked around the side of the house to the patio. His plate was on the patio. At least he had beaten the ants to it. He called out, “Slave, open the front door and let her in. You will follow her orders as though they come from me.”

John dug into his breakfast only to realize that she had failed to bring out his coffee. He was about to order her to bring him a cup and remembered that Lily was here. He couldn’t interrupt them now. He finished the breakfast without coffee. He cleaned the plate as well as he could and set it on the chair.

He opened the door of the RV and sat inside watching his house and Ed’s house. Undoubtedly everyone in town knew that he had a visitor. He wondered which of his neighbors would be over to investigate first. He was fortunate that Ed was the first to come out.

He stepped out of the RV, crossed the street and waved as he called out, “Hi, Ed.”

“Hello, John. How’s she doing today?”

“I don’t know. She’s still strange.”

Ed pointed to the RV and asked, “So who’s your visitor?”

John smiled at the lack of embarrassment about his curiosity and answered, “Lily. She’s another servant of the Goddess. She’s a healer.”

Ed looked at John with a funny expression. He pointed to John’s chest and asked, “You mean she has one of those?”

John nodded. Ed had figured out a lot on his own over the past few months. John asked, “You wouldn’t happen to have some coffee, would you?”

“Sure. Come on over.”

It wasn’t long before they were sitting in Ed’s living room drinking coffee. John decided to bring up a topic that hadn’t been discussed since the day they all went to the university. He asked, “How’s Kelly taking all of this?”

“Not very well. She’s been very upset about Beth.”

“Does she still want Beth as a wife?”

Ed looked out the window for a minute thinking about it. Kelly had not talked about that subject for several weeks now. Each time she saw Beth, some small part of her died. Ed answered, “Well, she hasn’t talked about it lately. As far as I know, she still wants Beth for her wife. I think she feels guilty right now. She’s afraid that she’ll take advantage of Beth’s condition.”

“I can understand that. I’m terrified that I’m abusing her in some fashion.”

Ed said, “Do you know how hard it is when I watch over her while you’re gone? She’s running around naked and all I can think of is doing it with her.”

“Tell me about it.”

Ed laughed at the expression of misery on John’s face and said, “You must have the worst case of blue balls in the world. Why don’t you come over here and visit Kelly sometime?”

John shook his head and answered, “I’m not sure that’s a good idea right now. Speaking of Kelly, any idea who she’s identified as a second husband?”

Ed blushed for the first time that John had ever seen. It was clear that something embarrassed him. He wouldn’t look him in the eye as he answered, “You ask tough questions. I think you’ll have to ask her.”

John looked puzzled for a moment and then the light went off in his head. He was the prospective husband. He said, “Well, if it’s the person that I think it is, then you two will have to move very slowly. You can’t really start until Beth is better.”

Ed looked relieved. He really didn’t know how to broach the subject with John. He couldn’t imagine John being interested in them, but Kelly thought differently. He answered, “That’s our thinking, too.”

John nodded and said, “Wise move. I guess I had better get out to the RV and wait for Lily. I have no idea how long this is going to take.”

Ed asked, “Do you think that she is going to help?”

“If anyone can, Lily can. I met Lily over four years ago. I didn’t call her, she came here. She didn’t even know I was here until she pulled up in front of the house. Something called to her and she came.”

“Wow.”

John returned to the RV.

Days passed while John watched his own house. He could see activity over there and knew they were both alive, but he had no idea what was going on inside. He ate all of his meals in town. He slept on the bed in the RV.

Then, in the middle of the night a hand touching his shoulder woke him. He looked up and saw Lily. She looked tired, but she smiled down at him.

She said, “You might want to go in the house with me. She’s up.”

John slowly climbed out of the bed. He felt dirty. The shower in the RV was very small and it was difficult to wash effectively. He had worn the same clothes now for almost a week. He followed her out of the RV and into the house. Beth was sitting on one of the patio chairs that had been brought into the living room.

She smiled up at John when he entered the room and said, “Hello, John.”

“Hello, Beth,” John replied examining her closely. She was clothed and her hair was combed. Her eyes sparkled again. Her smile was genuine. He added, “You’re looking good.”

“Thanks,” Beth said. She looked over at Lily for a minute and then said, “I guess I’ve been a pain in the ass.”

“I would prefer to say that you weren’t yourself, for a while.”

Beth sat there for a while as though searching for something to say. She took a deep breath and said, “I was waiting for her to return.”

“I know. We all knew.”

“I want to thank you for not taking advantage of me. I remember everything you did. Most importantly, I remember the things that you didn’t do. It must have been hell living here with me naked all of the time.”

“Just remember that we love you.”

“We?”

“Yes, we.”

“Who are the others?”

“Ed and Kelly.”

“I hardly know them. I know they took turns watching me when you were gone. Kelly took me to work in the morning and brought me home at night. I don’t think they love me, though.”

John suggested, “Next time you see them, watch them closely. They both love you very much. More than you can imagine.”

Beth frowned and said, “They only saw me at my worst.”

Lily interrupted, “Beth, you might want to talk to them, tomorrow.”

John added, “I think that would be a very good idea.”

They talked for a little longer about different topics, all of them trivial and non-threatening. Finally, John suggested that every one get to bed. He offered the ladies the bed in the bedroom. He would sleep on his sleeping bag after taking a well-deserved shower.

When he had finished his shower, he walked past the open bedroom door. The lights were out, but he could see both women wave goodnight to him. His sleeping bag was in the dining room. Settling onto it, he had the best night’s sleep since Betsy died.