The Tithe That Binds (8 page)

“How dare you.” Lucy seethed.

Abram ignored her, while the enforcers scanned the pages of clan law. Gabrielle was right. It had been almost five decades since such a horrendous infraction was perpetrated, and that had been by a man. They had to go back further for law concerning an unfaithful wife.

Lucy watched nervously while two of the enforcers smiled and Charles shook his head. Abram stood. “Lucy McEnroe, you have been…”

“Tilson.” The words dripped like acid from her mouth, and she straightened. “I am Mistress Lucy McEnroe Tilson, and I refuse to abide by enforcement law. The elders can judge me.”

Abram smiled wickedly. “Shut up, Lucy. The Preacher has already ruled and the elders have stricken your name from clan registry. Your union with Holden is no longer valid, and that
does
put you under enforcement law.”

Lucy staggered and shook her head in disbelief. It had not occurred to her that Holden would dissolve their union, and she thought she had been sent to the enforcers to witness Eddie’s punishment and to scare her. Now, she was scared all right. The enforcers were feared because of the sadistic sentences they imposed. Their punishments were never questioned, because the work camp was such a volatile situation. Their judgment had to be considered final to keep control over the criminal former clan members.

While the shock of Holden’s decision sank in, Lucy did not notice Jason walk in. He leaned down and whispered to his uncle, “Mom and grandmother want me to tell them how she is sentenced.”

Abram laughed under his breath. Even with Gabrielle’s new tithe to distract them, the women wanted to be the forbearers of gossip with intimate knowledge of Lucy McEnroe’s fall from grace. “Stand by the wall and keep silent until we ask for your help.”

“Thank you, Uncle.”

Lucy caught his movement and she glared at Gabrielle’s son. “You tell your mother, boy, that she had better watch out for me.”

Jason smiled and replied, “I sure will, Miss McEnroe. Though, mother doesn’t make it to the work camps too often.” He added, “She might make an exception to see how you’re doing.”

Lawrence had to tighten his grip on her collar to keep her from attacking the young man. He finally slapped her to keep her from shrieking at him. Lucy shook as much in anger as fear, and she snapped at Abram, “Get it over with, then.” Lucy figured she was in for perhaps a light whipping, and then she would be sent to the kitchens or laundry. She would have no problem manipulating the stupid shrews into doing most of her work.

Abram was still standing, and he began her sentencing again. “Lucy McEnroe, you have been found guilty of the charge of infidelity. Your union with Holden Tilson has been dissolved and your name has been stricken from the registry. Under enforcement law, you are sentenced to two years service to a camp division.”

Lawrence had to hold her up to keep her from collapsing. “No.”
Oh dear god.
“Abram, no. Put me in the kitchens or the laundry.” She searched the enforcers for an ally and picked out Sherman again. “Please. I’ll die there.”

Sherman shook his head. “Not likely. I think you would have screwed all of us to get out of sentencing.”

Abram closed the law book and said, “Strip her for preparation.”

“No,” Lucy screamed. She twisted and turned while the men stripped off her clothes and dragged her to a stone table.

Abram locked thick, permanent restraints on her, and the enforcers laid her down, scratching her bottom while they dragged her into position and secured her spread eagle on the hard, rough surface. “Jason? Want a shot at gagging her?”

Jason strode towards the table and looked down at the fighting woman. He was muscular, like his uncle, but he had Eli’s height. The blonde hair seemed at odds with his black eyes, but he had already inherited Abram and Elijah’s sadistic gleam to them. He took the gag and grabbed her jaw, easily keeping her from turning her head. He began squeezing her with his tremendously strong grip until she wailed and he slipped the ring behind her teeth. Jason stared at her face with her gaping mouth, and he decided she never belonged in the settlement to begin with.

Without ceremony, they slathered the exfoliate over her pussy. The herbalists made the concoction stronger for the work camps, and Lucy felt the fire within seconds. Instead of letting the plants slowly work their magic, Charles began scrubbing her labia with a stiff brush until her hair ripped out. They rinsed her with freezing water and small blisters formed where her follicles had been.

Abram slapped her when he saw her trying to drift into shock. “You will stay conscious while your sentence is being carried out,” he demanded.

Lucy shook her head in misery, sobbing in pain and despising the aroused smile on Jason’s face. He would tell Gabrielle all of it… how they denuded the red curls from her pussy, and how she screamed and cried. Lawrence knelt over her head, squeezing his massive thighs and holding her still. Lucy tried to concentrate on the hint of leather she was smelling, a residual scent from his chaps he had taken off when they had returned from the flatlands.

Charles held a thick needle and Sherman gripped a heavy gauged ring. Jason stepped forward and shoved two thick fingers up her runny nose and pulled her nostrils towards her forehead. It felt like he was tearing them. That was nothing compared to the feeling of the needle piercing high inside her nose, and Sherman twisting the large ring into place. Abram cinched the two open ends together, and turned the raw edges so they would seal inside her when she healed.

The last adornment of her disgrace was her brand. Abram actually had to search for the iron, buried behind others that announced various infractions. She shrieked in terror and stiffened when he approached her pussy with the red hot metal. It was two circles, one of them open and hanging to represent her infidelity and the breaking of her union vows.

When it pressed down on the top of her blistered bared mound and the top of her lips, she felt nothing… at first. The searing burned through her nerves and her eyes rolled back, only to have Lawrence toss a bucket of cold water on her head while Jason threw one on her crotch. As Abram demanded, she would not be permitted to lose consciousness.

Lucy could not stand when they freed her from the stone, and Lawrence and Charles each took an arm and dragged her behind Abram towards the camp quarters.

Abram decided to place her in the loggers’ division. The men were strong from working the forests, chopping and stacking the wood from dawn until dusk. She would not be going to an easy position where the men were exhausted and fell asleep shortly after being fed. It also placed her directly across from Eddie’s camp quarters for the wheel.
Let the two of them glare at each other and remember what the hell they did to deserve it.

Lucy was barely coherent, but she recognized the quarter’s stockade. She was bent in half over a thick beam and her legs were spread so that her ankle cuffs could be attached to the support legs. Her arms were spread and her wrists attached to a horizontal beam in front of her. Lastly, the ring in her nose was attached to a chain hanging from the ceiling, keeping her head tilted back and arranging a straight path down her throat.

For the next two years, during the day she would work the camp kitchen and laundry for the men in her division. At night, the enforcers would secure her to the posts, leaving every orifice available to the ten men who shared the cell.

Abram held Jason back when the other enforcers left to gather the divisions and return the workers to their quarters. When the loggers were led in by Sherman there were hoots and hollers of approval. Abram said, “Thad, you’re in charge of the whore. If anyone causes damage that the herbalists declare make her permanently unable to be enjoyed, you and whichever men are responsible will be returned to the wheel for three months.”

Thad turned to the other men. He stood six inches taller than most of them. “If I suffer the wheel, you all will. Is that clear?” There were silent nods of agreement and Thad was pleased. He knew they would temper themselves. “Thank you, enforcer.”

Abram nodded. It had been three months since the division had a permanent whore. They had gone with weekly relief by sharing a slut from another division. He knew Thad would go first, and he noted the other man taking position. It was important to keep track of the hierarchy within the divisions.

Thad looked into the woman’s stretched face, and his eyes rose in shock to Abram. The enforcer nodded again, and Thad knelt down between the posts and pushed the woman’s thighs to see the brand. It was one he had not seen before, but the message was clear. He stood back up and announced to the loggers, “Quarter more wood tomorrow, loggers. The enforcers have given us a former Mistress of the clan.” His broad face smiled, and he said, “Lucy McEnroe… formerly Tilson,’til she couldn’t keep her legs together,” he chuckled.

Abram watched one of the men look uneasily at the whore. “Don’t let it batter your conscience or keep you from taking your turn, Roger. You’ll see your brother Eddie back on the wheel tomorrow.” Although Abram did not understand the incestuous streak within the McEnroe lineage, it was something he had routinely witnessed within the criminal element in the work camps. An inordinate number of the workers had McEnroe blood.

“Shit,” Thad spat. He had been pleased for Eddie when he had been promoted from hard labor. Roger was the only McEnroe that ever carried his weight with the loggers since Eddie had been promoted out of the division.

Michael stepped back from his position between the woman’s legs. “First honor goes to you, Roger. If it wasn’t for your brother, we wouldn’t have us a whore.”

Roger’s eyes narrowed on her ass, and he sloughed out of his work pants being led by a dripping erection. Lucy felt a cock thrust into her dry channel and she moaned. Strong hands gripped her hips while he jerked in a frenzy. Over her face she saw Thad’s thick shaft centering on the ring gag. The heat in the big man’s eyes was terrifying, and he shoved himself into her mouth and all the way down her throat. Through her gagging, she heard him say, “I guess we should thank your cousin Lucy, too.”

Chapter V

Jason relayed the whole scene to his mother and Minerva, and promised Holden would never get the details from him. The wisdom of the enforcer’s law was obvious. No wonder more women had not cheated.

Jason’s eyes kept wandering to his mother’s new tithe. She was kneeling beside her, and silently staring at the floor.

“And she got two years?” Minerva asked. Lucy would be lucky to be sane when it was over. She kept the pleased look out of her eyes, and said, “Hardly seems fair. Holden had to put up with her for almost twenty, only to be disgraced like this.”

Mara studied the planks of the porch, half disbelieving the cruel torture they were discussing. If this was the clan’s idea of punishment, she was determined to try to do as her Mistress requested and stay out of trouble. Mara realized she did not know the rules here, and that their system of justice was extreme.

Jason said, “Charlotte and I are getting married in August.”

Gabrielle caught him studying her tithe. “Mara is not being bred, Jason.”

“What?” Jason turned to his grandmother. “I’ll need…”

“It’s taken care of, Jason. The tithe is responsible for the acquisition of a new bloodline. The widows are training her, and you, my grandson, get the honor of breeding her first,” Minerva said proudly.

“Oh, grandmother. Charlotte will be so pleased. A new bloodline?” Jason rose. “I need to tell her mother.”

Gabrielle smiled when he strode off the porch. He understood how important gossip was to the women, and Charlotte’s mother would be thrilled to have such exciting news to spread. “He’s getting so big.”

“You’ve done a fine job with all four of them, Gabrielle,” Minerva replied. “Why don’t you cage your tithe and we’ll visit the breeder? You haven’t seen her yet, have you?”

“Just her picture. I guess we should see how the widows are doing with her.” Gabrielle had been anxious to see the girl who would carry her grandchildren. She rose and locked Mara back in her cage. While they walked towards the widows’ cabin, she said, “I don’t want Mara exposed to her until she’s settled in better. I had Elijah tell the girl that Debra set her up to come up here. It should help cause friction to keep them separated.”

“Oh, yes. Much too distracting,” Minerva agreed.

Jason was just stepping off their porch. Gabrielle should have figured he would want to see the girl, too. “Mara’s half McEnroe, right?” Jason asked. He thought of Lucy and Eddie. Damn, they needed to get rid of that line. “New blood is just what we need up here.” He walked towards Charlotte’s cabin with a smile on his face.

The door opened and an aged woman smiled through her wrinkles. “Gabrielle and Minerva, how can we ever thank you? Shirley and I were so surprised. Oh, oh my goodness. Come in and meet her.”

Minerva smiled at her giddy friend. “How is she doing, Bertha?”

Bertha shook her head. “Very disrespectful.”

Gabrielle’s eyes dropped to the crop looped around her wrist. “I’m sure you’ll get her under control.”

“Shirley? Shirley? Gabrielle and Minerva have stopped by to see… to see our
slave
,” she said proudly.

“Have you named her?” Minerva asked. The girl was not a tithe, so there was no binding name for the girl.

“We’re deciding,” Bertha said.

Shirley walked into the main room, leading a gagged, sobbing girl. Her wrists lashed behind her back and secured to the hobble attached to her ankles. It was obvious that the widows were taking no chances with the riches that had been bestowed on them. “Bossie or Elsa. Which do you think is best, Minerva?”

“Elsa, I think. Bossie makes her sound like she can take charge.”

“Oh my, I hadn’t thought of that,” Bertha said. “We go with your name then, Shirley.” Bertha reached down and grabbed the girl’s chin. “Elsa it is.”

* * * * *

When Jill first got to the farm after spending two hours looking for the damn place, Sarah told her Debra had gone out with her father and would not be back until late. At least she suggested she could spend the night, and she put her in a downstairs bedroom. After the long drive and heavy meal, Jill had quickly fallen asleep. The next thing she knew, two men were waking her up, and then Henry, Debra’s Grandpa, was helping them shove a horrible sponge in her mouth and tie her up.

They stripped her, and Jill was terrified they were going to rape her. Instead, a man with black eyes dug his fingers inside her, stretching her pussy until she hurt. He placed his hands on her hipbones and pressed down, making them begin to bend.

“She’s no virgin,” Elijah said. He was not surprised after seeing the halter top and tight jeans she arrived in. “Thanks, Sarah. Just so you know, the elders voted to give you another twenty year hold on the farm.”

“Oh, Elijah. Thanks so much. I really hadn’t even thought of payment. I just figured the clan could use the girl.”

“Yeah, well, don’t be surprised if Mason Elliott makes a trip to the flatlands to check out the place.” Elijah was pleased with the elders’ decision. Even after her marriage to Tommy, Sarah had remained a loyal clan member. Mason was nervous about courting her, and after so many years as a bachelor he had begun slyly pressing the Mistresses for gift suggestions he could bring to her.

Sarah noted the amusement in his eyes. “Is he still single?” she asked shyly.

“Never got over you, it seems. He’s a good man, Sarah. Helluva’ lot better than the one you tossed.”

When she was young, Tommy had seemed so recklessly exciting, and Mason was calm and deliberate, and he worked hard to build a future within the settlement. Now that she was older, her priorities had reversed. “What about my union?”

“You’d have to petition, but I think you’d get the elders’ vote. Between Chris and Tommy, the McEnroes aren’t too popular, right now.”

Jill was carried outside, screaming in fear and anger at Sarah. She was lifted onto a horse and turned to see another girl already seated in front of a man, and staring blankly towards the mountains.

Sherry had battled, and even her mom and dad had fought for her. Uncle George was so angry. He kept telling her how he hoped she would be placed with a cruel Mistress. Unlike most girls tithed to the clan, Sherry’s mother had explained to her what was happening to Barbra. Sherry had been thanking the stars for the scholarship that had kept her from such a horrible future.

Sherry saw the shock on her parents’ faces when a man named Abram walked in and picked up Jenny. He handed her to a young man, and said, “Run her on up to Vera, Jason. She don’t need to be more traumatized.”

Jenny was crying for their mother. Thelma had collapsed onto the floor. There was only one reason the enforcers would ride down, and she knew that Chris McEnroe’s plan had just cost her all three daughters and her life on the flatlands. This was more devastating than the knowledge that she would be spending the rest of her life working in the kitchens or laundry in the hills. “I want my union dissolved,” she stated flatly.

“Ain’t going to save you from punishment,” Abram told her.

“I know. I just don’t want to be forced to spend the rest of my life lying next to Chris at night. I’d rather be quartered with the single women.”

“Thelma,” Chris gasped. “You agreed to this.”

“No, Chris. I just didn’t stop you.” Thelma looked up and said, “I’m sorry, George. I knew this was wrong. I hope it didn’t cost you too much trouble.” She turned to Abram. “Chris lied to him, Abram. George knew the difference between the twins, but he did not know that Barbra was sick. Besides George, Sherry was going to be a rare accomplishment for their family.”

George took off with Sherry, Elijah, and the acquisitioners, to pick up Jill. Abram tied Thelma behind his horse, while Sherman led Chris. He spoke with her on the way up the mountain. Her situation was unfortunate because she had only tried to support her husband, but it did not absolve her from her primary responsibility to the clan.

By the time they reached the settlement, Abram decided to approach the Preacher for her. Chris cursed her when she was led to the singles’ quarters and she never looked back at him. He found himself tossed into a filthy cell. The men who worked the wheel were far too exhausted to consider cleaning up, and were never considered for the luxury of a whore. They needed to save their strength for the grueling work.

Chris wrapped his hands around the bars of the window and looked out at the work camp. Emerging from the trees behind it, Elijah appeared. He was leading the acquisitioners and his cousin George. Sherry was sitting in front of him, with the same dulled expression she had when she realized she was being taken.
Dammit, George. Why the fuck did you have to tell them?

Sherry finally snapped out of her shocked despondency when George pushed her into a small cell. A huge man and nasty looking girl began grooming her for auction. Sherry battled ferociously until the man whipped her for slapping his slave. It was not until after the girl had practically scrubbed the skin off her that it occurred to Sherry the other girl that rode up the mountain with her was not sharing her misery.

Jill was petrified when the other girl was led away. The man she was riding with turned his horse towards the street, and they stopped at a small worn cabin at the edge of the settlement. Two older women were waiting on the porch, wearing long dresses that had been out of style for decades. They were smiling, and staring at her like she was some unknown creature.

“Elijah, we are so excited,” Bertha squealed, clapping her hands.

Elijah smiled when he saw a crop already looped around her wrist. He dismounted and pulled the girl off the horse. She was crying again. “She hasn’t put up much of a ruckus, yet. Don’t underestimate her, though. She’s strong.”

“Oh, we won’t,” Shirley replied. “Edna has lent us some equipment and she had a spare cage in her barn. It’s old, from when she had the cart girl, but Caleb said it was still sound. He put a new lock on it, for us.”

“Eli, the whole town has been dropping by with supplies,” Bertha said. “You’ve made us important by trusting us with the new breeder.”

Jill’s sobbing stopped abruptly. She stared at the woman, trying to understand her words.

“It’ll be a while before they get her. My boys and Abram’s get her first.”

“The midwife will be here in the morning to examine her. Judging by her hip structure, I should think it won’t be a long wait between pregnancies.”

“Still, she’ll have eight, just with my sons and nephews. You ladies sure you’re up to it?” Eli teased.

“You just watch what healthy grandchildren she gives you,” Shirley huffed. “We may be a little old, Elijah, but we certainly remember how to care for a breeder.”

“I’m sure you do, Shirley. Do you want me to cage her?” Elijah was tired, and he wanted to get back to Gabrielle. He was surprised she was not on the porch to greet him. It was not until he arrived at the cabin, that Gabrielle and his mother would apprise him of the situation with Lucy McEnroe.

“No,” Bertha answered. “I think we’d like to get to know her a bit first.” She clipped a leash onto the front of the trembling girl’s collar, and Eli mounted his horse and tipped his hat to Shirley, while Bertha led Jill into the cabin.

Jill was dazed by the conversation, and she looked around the neat little room. She turned in time to see Shirley close the door and walk towards her. Jill stumbled backwards into Bertha’s chest when Shirley reached out and grabbed her breasts.

In the years since their husbands died of the strange illness that claimed sixteen lives in the clan, the women had been forced to rely on the generosity of other Mistresses sharing their tithes. The elder and Preacher made it clear that the two widows could avail themselves of the breeder in aspects worthy of a tithe, as long as they did not impede or endanger her primary function to breed.

Shirley released the girl’s breasts, and she dug into the pocket of her dress for the ring gag. The widows were old, but not frail. They were both stout Clausen stock, with massive chests and strong arms. Standing five inches taller than their new slave, the girl would be easily maneuvered into whatever position they wanted her. Bertha gripped the back of her collar, and stuck fingers in her pussy and ass until she opened her mouth for Shirley.

Jill felt the stubby thick fingers enter her and she screamed. Pinned between the two women, she could not dislodge the hold. “Open you mouth, girl. I won’t have you biting my pussy,” Shirley hissed.

“Get away from me. I’ll have you bitches arrested,” Jill cried. “I’ll kill you.” Her eyes widened when another finger pushed into her rectum. “Ow. You bitch,” she screamed.

Bertha laughed. “I have two more, girlie. Ready to open up for Shirley?”

When the third thick finger began tearing at her hole, Jill shrieked and stretched her mouth open. The two old hags were brutal, and the bitch behind her pushed the fat digit inside her anyway. They kept her pressed between them while they shuffled towards a chair. Shirley sat down and raised her skirt, and Jill screamed at the site of her wrinkled pussy. It was sparsely covered in wiry gray curls, and she sobbed when the fingers inside her pressed her walls together and pulled her down to her knees.

Shirley gripped her head and pulled her drooling mouth against her wet slit. She rubbed herself against the girl’s lips. Bertha let go of her collar, and reached her other hand around to the front of the girl’s pussy. “We have to get her exfoliated,” she said.

“Mmm… tomorrow. I have an appointment with the herbalist in the morning.” Shirley kept rubbing, not really caring if the girl licked her or not. Once in a while, the girl’s tongue darted out in an uncontrolled spasm.

Jill smelled the wet stench of the old woman. It seemed her cream was dripping over her lips and into her nose. She cried, and she shrieked when the other woman separated her own pussy. Bertha’s rough fingers began stroking her, and the fingers pressing into her sore bottom began thrusting in and out. When the woman brushed over her clit, her channel tightened and began to get wet.

“We’re going to have to work on her arousal for the boys,” Bertha suggested. They’ll tear up her pussy if she stays this dry.” The thought of the treasure being damaged worried both of them. They planned to monitor the breeding closely, and keep the girl restrained so she could not injure herself.