Junie had barely come to live with her new owners when ugly reality intruded on their idyllic world. Her search for a Master had caught the attention of a serial killer and she had barely escaped being his next victim. He was caught and facing trial; but now Junie had to testify. The whole idea of leaving her new home was more than she could bear to think about.
But she had to do it. Not only was there a subpoena, there was Monica. Her new friend, Monica, the only other woman to escape with her life, was a tiny fragile thing. Her body was barely healed from the horrific trauma of her assault and if Monica could be brave enough to face court and the man who had mutilated her, Junie knew she had to do it too, for Monica's sake.
Junie knew she was not going to have to do it alone. Her owners, Bob and Donna, were going to be there with her every step of the way. She knew she couldn't do it without them.
Chapter 1: A Trip to the City
Junie was so tired; she felt a little drunk as Donna drove the SUV down the road. She ran her tongue over her teeth and realized she had not brushed her teeth or combed her hair. Her hands reflexively jerked up to touch her hair, to see how messy it was, and the handcuffs rattled and reminded her that she was restrained in the car.
Forbidden the use of her words, she looked over at Donna and blinked dopily. Junie sighed and leaned back, letting her eyes drift shut. She was still exhausted from her ordeal the night before. Junie had no idea how long she had slept last night, but it was definitely not enough. Her whole body felt sore and her mind was foggy and numb, like she had no energy to devote to anything but letting the waves of sleep sweep over her.
The sound of the crop hitting her breast made her eyes fly open just as the pain hit her. Junie squealed, "Ouch," and involuntarily lunged against her bindings. Her eyes were huge and wet as she realized that Donna had the crop in her hand.
"No sleeping, Junie. And remember," The crop snapped into her breast again, "no talking." This time, when she was expecting it, Junie did not cry out. She nodded and clenched her hands into fists, blinking furiously to keep the tears from spilling over. Pressing her lips together she told herself that her Mistress's apparent cruelty was there for a purpose. She was doing everything in her power to keep Junie from descending into abject panic. The long ordeal the night before at the hands of their Master was crafted to keep her exhausted, off balance, too tired to think about what was looming on the horizon.
They were going to Portland. They had two things they were going to do there. In the back of the hybrid SUV was a ten-week-old Golden Retriever puppy that Junie wanted to give to her friend, Monica, and then they were going to the District Attorney's office to discuss Junie's testimony she was subpoenaed to give at the trial of Sam Card. Donna was a lawyer and there was no question that she would be there with her the whole time. But Junie had always been pathologically shy and the series of events leading up to the trial had pushed her off the deep end. She had been experiencing panic attacks and had pleaded with her Master and Mistress to help her. Her Master, Bob, had responded by telling Junie she was going to go into a deeper state of submission to her Mistress, depending upon her for everything.
Donna's voice got softer, "This is not going to be easy for you, Junie. On this ride, I am going to talk with you about some things you are not going to want to hear. The only things you can do are to listen and obey. There will be times when I will expect you to answer questions and, if you do not answer correctly, I will help you."
Donna took a deep breath, "Junie, I told you I would tell you what was going to be happening at the trial as soon as I knew. I have been talking to the assistant district attorney, Lurleena Benson, and she has informed me that the judge has ruled that Sam Card's defense team can pursue a line of questioning that will attempt to convince the jury that you and Monica were both consensual partners of his."
Junie whirled and looked at Donna in disbelief. "But..."
Donna swung the crop and struck Junie again, this was the third time on the same nipple and it really was beginning to sting. "Silence, girl." Donna gave her a warning look, "Don't make me stop this car."
Her voice returned to her explaining tone, "You and I both know that this is ridiculous. The district attorney's office thinks that they are doing this in an effort to make Monica and you refuse to testify to avoid embarrassment. Or maybe they are hoping they can distract the jury with enough lurid, kinky, sexual details that somehow they will be distracted from the fact that he nearly killed Monica. Either way, the judge has ruled that your past sexual histories will be admissible evidence and the defense attorney can ask you about your online relationship with Sir James. There is a distinct possibility that they are going to try and make it look like you had somehow agreed to give yourself to Sam Card and they are going to try and make it look like you two had been lovers."
Junie said one word, "Puking."
Donna barely had time to pull over, and hold up the trash basket, when Junie lost the contents of her stomach. When she was done, Donna gently stroked her hair back out of her face. "I had thought we might avoid this by not giving you anything to eat or drink before we left." She wiped Junie's mouth and gave her a sip of water to rinse her mouth. "I think we will not give you too much to drink until we are more used to talking about all this."
Donna stepped out and tipped the vomit out beside the road and rinsed the container. She peeked into the back of the SUV at the puppy that Junie had named Happy. When she climbed back into the car, she commented, "Sleeping like a baby. Bob gave her a mild sedative."
As Donna pulled back out onto the highway, she continued, "So you need to be prepared, Junie. You need to be in control of yourself. You have to be clear in your head exactly what the truth is and in control of your emotions. In that light, we will spend a lot of time practicing answering all kinds of questions. I want you to keep in mind that these are the kind of questions that they will be asking you on the stand, in front of a courtroom full of people."
Junie could not help but make a strangled sound of protest as she fought down the words that welled up inside her. Every fiber of her being was screaming there was no way she could do this.
"Remember that I will be there to support you and Monica will be there watching you. She will need you to be strong. Her ordeal is going to be much more difficult than yours." Donna made an angry sound and muttered to herself, "I cannot imagine how they are going to try and make it look like she was asking for what happened to her." Donna took a deep breath and forced her tone back into the lecturing timbre, "The district attorney's office wants to be sure that Monica and you do not speak to each other about your experiences, but that does not mean you cannot support each other emotionally."