Anne was asleep in her stall one morning when she was awakened by a kick to her rear. She looked up to see Lise preparing to deliver another one with Helene at her side, and knelt in the hay at their feet.
Helene fed her and took the two girls outside to the yard. The rusty pickup with its wire cage awaited them; there was field work to be done. Lise crawled in first and knelt on the cardboard, and Anne squeezed in back. She kissed Lise's thighs to distract herself from the hard ridged floor. Helene started the engine and they drove off.
"Higher," said Lise. Obediently Anne moved upward and began kissing her buttocks.
Once at the field, Anne knelt in the road and had the pleasure of watching Lise back slowly out of the cage.
There was no one at the tool shed today; it would just be the three of them. And there was no plow; instead, an old drag harrow stood at the edge of the field. It looked hard to pull, and Anne wondered at the single harness.
Helene explained. She would be guiding the harrow while Anne pulled it and Lise wielded the whip, it was what each of them needed. Reaching into the shed she handed a long bullwhip to Lise and a denim jacket against the cold morning; Anne would keep warm with exercise. And whippings.
She fastened Anne into the harness and Lise cracked the whip overhead, a little tentatively. Anne struggled in the traces and they began to move. The ground was hard and rough beneath her feet; she paused to skirt a large rock and felt the whip on her rear. "Harder," said Helene and Lise applied it more forcefully. Then once more on her own initiative, harder still. Helene voiced her approval.
Helene encouraged Lise to use it whenever Anne faltered or slowed, and soon she was swift to apply it. Anne learned to proceed with all her strength, and when she fell to rise again quickly and continue as strokes from the lash rained down on her.
By midday they had done more than Anne thought possible. They returned to the shed, and Helene let Lise feed Anne from her hand. Lise was plainly growing into her new role. Anne bent to the water trough and Lise petted her as she drank, her touch lingering at traces of the whip on Anne's thighs.
By the end of the short winter day, Anne had harrowed the entire field and felt a sense of accomplishment. She returned to the farm alone in the cage; Lise rode up front next to Helene. That was good; Anne was becoming a little afraid of the girl who left all those marks on her today.
And it gave Helene and Lise the opportunity to watch her back out of the cage this time. Lise made a joke that Anne did not catch and Helene laughed. That was good; she lived to please.
Outside the barn Helene told Lise to hang Anne up and rinse the dirt off her. Lise had returned the denim jacket and was now as naked as Anne, but cleaner. She turned the hose on. Anne shivered under the stream of frigid water until she was done. The sun was low in the sky; its horizontal rays warmed her a little.
Hector and Amelie came out and inspected her. Helene said Lise showed promise and did very well today, then led Anne (mostly dry now) back to her stall and chained her in place after pouring out a dish of feed.
A half hour or so later, she returned with Lise. She leashed Anne and led her to the birthing shed.
