Francesca decided to take Anne along on her next business trip. That morning she packed her suitcase and called for a taxi. The driver assisted her into the vehicle with her case and tied Anne's leash to a short chain in back.
Anne followed them on foot, her eyes on the ground careful not to trip and fall. Once she stepped on a sharp stone and almost cried out but stifled it; she did not want to call attention to herself and embarrass her owner. Enough people were staring at her already.
The driver knew his business; he drove the cab at a slow pace through town to the train station. If he enjoyed the sight in his mirror, he said nothing.
Once there, Francesca handed Anne over to an attendant who attached a tag to her collar. He took her to a livestock car at the back of the train and drove her in with a crack of his whip.
Anne saw a dozen or more bound women inside, reclining on the straw or peering out between the slats. The air in the car was fetid despite the slight breeze; Anne was glad to be making the journey now, and wondered how cold it got in winter.
Soon the car began to move abruptly, knocking her down on another woman. She apologized and was rewarded with a grunt of acknowledgment.
The inmates got no food or water on the first leg of the trip, but at a junction where the train waited for a connection they were driven out into a high-walled courtyard. The more experienced travelers quickly occupied the small shaded area under the south wall, leaving Anne to bake in the sun. The communal feed and water troughs were crowded, but she was not hungry in the heat. She lay down and tried to turn every few minutes to avoid sunburn.
After a while she lapped up some cloudy water, and soon the inmates were herded back to their car for the second half of the journey. The car had no latrine, and Anne became desperate a few minutes into the trip. She tried to squat; the train lurched and threw her forward to the amusement of several inmates.
One of them admonished her to use a straw-filled corner of the car where she could brace herself on two sides.
As she stood up she saw a large woman towering over her and lowered her head in deference.
"Kneel." Anne knelt at her feet.
"What's your name?" Anne told her.
"I'm Linda. Do me."
The woman lay on her back in the center of the car. Anne crept forward on her belly. Not knowing how soon the train would reach its destination, she proceeded straight to business after a few seconds of licking the inside of Linda's thighs. Soon she began to taste results, and after a minute Linda pushed her head away.
"Now you. Lie down." Anne did as she was told, and Linda (who knew how much time they had) took her more slowly. She writhed with pleasure as Linda's tongue penetrated her and forgot everything but the soft wet exploring object.
Finally Linda paused and withdrew. Drenched in sweat Anne looked up at a circle of women staring expressionless back down at her.
"Get up," Linda ordered. "Crouch over by the wall."
Linda sat on her like a footstool, braced against the back wall for the remainder of the trip.
Eventually they reached their destination. Linda got up and was the first out the door of the car where they were driven down a chute to another courtyard. Following behind her, Anne saw a small wiry middle-aged woman approach them.
Linda shrank visibly and knelt as the woman attached a leash to her collar before leading her away. In her other hand the woman carried a whip of knotted cords.
Francesca took Anne up and walked her outside. The hotel was not far from the station; she led Anne along city streets to its front entrance, handed her leash to a doorman, and went inside to register a room for herself and basement space for Anne.
On her return the two women accompanied a talkative porter to a side door leading down a flight of stairs. He assured them that accommodations for guests' girls were quite hygienic, and epidemics almost nonexistent since the last remodeling.
Individual cells were smaller now to accommodate more girls - in the past the overflow had to be chained outside to a wall in the alley, most unsatisfactory - but they contained "all the conveniences".
The basement was a large, low-ceilinged room lit from above by a pair of bulbs that glowed night and day. It was filled with cages, tall enough for Anne to stand in and just long enough for her to lie down. Anne was led into C35 and the door padlocked. Francesca tipped the porter, explained Anne's provisioning (high protein, half-size rations), and the two of them left.
Anne was pleased to see that her cage included a primitive sanitary facility set in the floor as well as a filled water bowl and an empty feed bowl.
The smooth concrete floor was no worse than she was used to at St. Agnes Academy, and she looked forward to a good night's sleep.
"Anne? Is that you?" She heard a voice from C34 and looked over to see Erika, an attractive woman in her thirties with long blond hair. The two met when they were at St. Agnes; they were chained together from time to time and became good friends.
"Erika! I haven't seen you since you were sold. Who bought you?"
"An agent for the Terminal Club."
"What is that?"
"It's a group of very wealthy men. One of them buys me for a while, then he sells me to another one. I've been traded twenty or thirty times in cities where they have chapters. I have to work hard to appeal to them at my age. If nobody makes an offer they terminate me, that's where the name comes from. They already told me how they do it."
"Oh, how?" The words were out of Anne's mouth before she realized what she had said; it was too late to call them back.
Erika told her while Anne tried not to cringe or shudder. "It's all in a soundproof room of course."
Anne was completely without words. The most she could do was say "Oh" now and then.
"And how are you?"
It took Anne a moment to gather her wits.
"Don't worry, everyone is shocked when I tell them. Take your time, they're not coming for me for a little while."
Anne briefly described her purchase by Mr. Schuyler at auction, her belief that she would be executed when he tired of her, and her rescue by Francesca.
Shortly after she finished, three large men approached Erika's cage. One of them unlocked the door and stood outside while the other two bound and leashed her. As they led her out she said goodbye but was hustled away before Anne could reply.
Anne closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Erika's fate could easily have been her own, struggling every night to avoid "termination" and knowing that sooner or later she would fail.
She heard rumors of the secretive club at the academy, but its bidders did not identify themselves at the auctions and no girls ever returned from it to tell their experiences.
Erika entered the academy later in life than most, sent there by her husband when he tired of her and seeking a new life. She must have known her career would be a short one.
Francesca arrived with a porter and signed Anne out; he turned the captive over to her and they walked outside.
"I want to take you to a little restaurant nearby and meet my friends. Anne, are you OK? You look pale all over. You haven't caught some bug already, have you?"
"No ma'am, maybe it was climbing the stairs; I'll be all right."
