I must have briefly passed out at some point. When I came to I realised that I was no longer suspended but was lieing on my side, the cool stone of the dungeon floor beneath my body. My gag had been removed. Later I was to discover that my captors had been concerned at my apparent loss of consciousness. Whether this was concern for me, or for the fact that Arianne had paid a considerable sum of money to buy me from Gerd I had no idea. Eventually it was Arianne that released me from the ropes, the two women had had their fun for the evening. Sapphira returned with a stainless steel dog bowl in each hand and placed them side by wise on the floor. One had the mass of grey porridge that appeared to have become my staple food, she poured water from a bottle into the other. They stood side by side and watched me as I ate and drank, my hunger and thirst such that my humiliation at my situation of being fed like an animal was easily overcome.
When I had finished eating Arianne pointed to the crude fold down wooden bed that was attached to the wall by two chains. "You will find a blanket and a pillow, that should be adequate, we don't believe that it is appropriate for a slave to be kept in luxury." Sapphira then said something to Arianne in French. The two women seemed to converse in either Dutch or French making it impossible for me to follow what was being discussed. I gathered however that she was making the suggestion that I should be incarcerated in the tiny cell built into the wall of the dungeon. I heard Arianne say "D'accord." I knew sufficient French to realise that she was in agreement with the younger woman's suggestion. Sapphira walked across to the cell and removed the steel locking pin before swinging the heavy cast iron barred door open. The bare, brick lined interior was hardly any bigger than the sort of cage used to hold a large dog. Her long leather gloved index finger pointed into the bare brick cavity as she looked at me. "In", she said curtly.
She watched as I folded my body into cell. The principle of this medieval device was that the occupant should be closely confined in a manner that allowed for no movement whatsoever, unable to stand, unable to stretch. Sapphira pushed the heavy iron door shut before sliding the long steel pin into place to secure it. I looked out at the two women standing side by side as they watched me, searching for the slightest glimmer of pity on either of their faces. I saw none. On the contrary Sapphira's face showed her satisfaction at having suggested this ramping up of my punishment. I looked forward only to a long night with my limbs forced into a cramp inducing position.
The night went incredibly slowly, sleep within such confinement being a total impossibility. The one saving grace was that I am not affected by claustrophobia, had I been then the confinement within the cell would have been sufficient to make me lose all reason, which was no doubt in the mind of the inventor of this cruel method of punishment. Eventually, when my misery had carried me to my lowest ebb the dungeon door was opened and Sapphira walked in. She was dressed in her day clothes, black riding jodphurs and a sweater. Despite the cruelty of her treatment of me I was forced to admit that she was a very attractive young woman. She stood, arms crossed before the cell, regarding me in my pathetic condition before eventually sliding out the locking ion and releasing me, stumbling out stiff limbed onto the floor at her feet. I was leashed and led behind her up to the kitchen where I was given another bowl of the bland porridge like food that was clearly my staple as a slave.
Arianne sat at the kitchen table, a coffee cup before her, the bright morning sun streaming in through the long glass panelled doors playing on her rich auburn hair. After I had eaten Sapphira ordered me to stand in the corner as they now began to discuss me, this time in English. "He appears strong and healthy, he should be capable of giving us a very good chance of winning this year." I had no idea as to what Sapphira was referring to but after breakfast I was to find out. I was led by the leash attached to my collar out behind the house where the large red brick outbuilding that I had seen from Arianne's study was situated. Once inside I began to realise their intentions for me. The garage was well lit with a neat grey painted floor. To one side stood a pair of small carts with bicycle style wheels. The larger of the two had a black leather upholstered bench seat big enough for two passengers while the smaller was in the style of a Roman chariot, a metal platform separated the wheels where the driver would stand. It was a design that I was to become familiar with, one that the two women referred to as a "slave racer".
Arianne walked over to the larger cart. "You see boy, every year we compete in a very special type of event. This one is our leisure sulky for rides out, but that one," She pointed to the smaller one, "that is our racing cart and it is our intention to train you over the next few weeks so that your performance may be good enough to win us the coveted Equus cup." This came as something of a shock as the realisation dawned on me that Arianne's use of me back in England had been a sort of trial to see how I might perform under race conditions. I had evidently passed the test. She turned to Sapphira. "Ok, harness him up, we will give him a run out."
I was given training shoes and a pair of brief black leather shorts. Once I had put these on i was soon pinioned between the shafts of the larger sulky cart, my forearms held to the metal projections by a series of buckled leather straps. Sapphira then strapped me into a wide saddle leather waist belt that served to anchor me even more firmly into place. A leather head harness was strapped around my skull with an attached metal bit that slotted behind my teeth and was pulled deep into my mouth, a most effective method of control. After both women had donned expensive looking pairs of black leather boots Sapphira selected a riding whip from the wall rack and attached a set of leather reins to my head harness giving her an easy method of commanding my movement from the seat behind. Arianne picked up the electronic control and the garage door rolled upwards to reveal an expanse of clear blue morning sky. They both climbed into the seat. "Walk on!" The curt command came from Sapphira. I felt the jerk of the metal bit followed by the tip of her riding whip brushing across my shoulders and took up the weight of the sulky. It was surprisingly easy to pull along the paved track once we were under way and I headed out along the tarmac drive that led down between white painted picket fences to a gate. From there a further jerk of the bit turned me onto a small road on the right that ran parallel to the canal. I maintained a decent pace quite easily despite the weight of my two passengers and the sulky cart. I could see a small group of buildings in the distance and these now drew closer as I trotted along the road at a brisk jog. After perhaps fifteen minutes at this pace we entered a village and drew up onto the forecourt of a small shop. We had passed one or two people who acknowledged Arianne and Sapphira with either a wave or a nod of the head. Evidently the sight of them being drawn in a cart pulled by a semi naked man was something that they were quite used to.
Arianne went into the shop and emerged a few minutes later with a morning newspaper and a small bag of groceries, taking her place back in the seat behind me. "Giddy up boy!" Sapphira's whip brushed my shoulders once more and I turned for home back along the road. "Allez, allez." Her command accompanied by the whip being laid across my back in an enthusiastic manner made it clear that she wanted more speed and I soon built up to a fast trot. We were perhaps half way back when the lashes increased further in intensity. Sapphira was evidently keen to test my speed and endurance and I was soon running as fast as I could manage. My lungs felt as if they were bursting, despite the fact that I played football regularly and had been a passable distance runner in my teenage years, I still regarded myself as very fit but I was being pushed to my limits now. I slackened my pace slightly, only to be encouraged by more cuts of the whip, making the final few hundred metres with the last of my strength. We turned back into the drive of the house and came to a halt beside the garage, I was totally exhausted and sagged to my knees as the two elegant ladies dismounted.
Club Equus Nederland was a most exclusive club. The members were all very wealthy. Amongst their number were businesswomen, industrialists and media personalities. Twice a year they held what was known as a "trotting event". This took place on the country estate of one of the founder members, Grietje van der Horst, a well known personality in The Netherlands. She had presented an evening news program on television for many years before setting up a publishing firm that was apparently very successful. She spent the week in Den Haag and owned a property that was close to Aachen on the border with Germany, the estate was unusual in Holland in that much of it was on high, undulating land, some approaching three hundred metres. Grietje was a well known horsewoman who competed in many events and fifty hectares of her estate had been developed into an equestrian complex. Most of the year this was used exclusively for horse riding but on two week ends the site was taken over for the Equus Games, an event where men replaced horses and the club members competed against one another to drive their carts through the estate. The course wound for just over a kilometre along the shaded paths that ran through the woods and it was here that the ladies of Club Equus would compete for the silver cup once every six months. The record time for the course was just a few seconds over six minutes. It was a record that Sapphira had set her sights on, and it was me that she expected to win the cup for her in the upcoming October event.