When Anne was not needed she was stored out of the way in the cellar, but sometimes there were changes in the routine. On cooler days they walked over to the campus where a sheltered alcove offered a bench for Francesca and a patch of ground for her girl.
In a far corner of the park was a lawn. Francesca led her there for games, removing her leash but leaving her hands bound and throwing a ball for her to retrieve. Anne trotted over, took it up with her teeth and brought it back for her owner to throw again. At the end Anne got a cookie, and sometimes Francesca let her carry the leash in her mouth all the way back to the cellar. Anne's body began to fill out with her new diet and exercise, and her pale skin developed a warm glow.
Once Anne prepared a lunch for her owner and knelt beside her on the roof with the town spread out at their feet. She lapped up water from a bowl and ate feed pellets out of Francesca's hand.
Francesca told her that Frieda managed to rescue Denise back in November. "Do you want to know about it, Anne?"
"If you want me to, ma'am."
Mr. Schuyler wished to keep the girl - some of his clients liked her and he was a bit partial himself - if Frieda could reform its pride; but he expected quick results so she applied a drastic cure. Gathering the staff of the estate together on the lawn she brought Denise out and stripped her clothes off in front of them. She put a garrote on her neck just above the collar and said it was up to her whether she lived past tomorrow.
She fastened the girl's bracelets behind her and pushed her over a large round boulder. Then she produced a wooden paddle and let the female staff use it on her. Nearly all of them had been the object of Denise's superior attitude at one time or another, and they lined up for their turn. The audience applauded when a powerful stroke made her cry out, but she grew weaker over time and offered less sport.
When they were done, over twenty of them, Denise's buttocks were a bright red. Anne remembered her own spanking at the leather-goods store that catered to "women's special needs". In time she came to crave it, but how hard it was at first.
Next it was the men's turn; each of them spread her burning cheeks and mounted her from behind. A young gardener even got back in line for seconds.
When they had all taken their pleasure, Frieda led her to the frame and told her to grasp the hook that dangled from it. If she let go it would be her last act. For the better part of an hour she worked Denise over with a riding crop while servants came and went, pausing to watch the entertainment. Anne was grateful to her owner and Frieda for tying her up when they beat her; she did not think she could hold on.
Frieda set the crop down and placed a hand between Denise's legs, probing her until she fainted. She held up a bottle of water for Denise to drink from and led her out to an ornamental garden beside the main house.
In the center of the garden was a bare dirt circle. Several large anthills around its edge held colonies Mr. Schuyler imported from Africa and South America. With the help of a male servant she spread the girl on her back, pinning her wrists and ankles to stakes in the ground. While Denise watched with alarm Frieda took a jar of honey and applied it to the fleece between her legs, working it in and spreading it down the inside of each thigh. After adding smaller amounts to each nipple they left her until morning.
A few women visited her that evening. Some expressed sympathy for her but others thought her cries were mixed with passion as she submitted to the ants and flying insects stimulating her most intimate places.
When Frieda returned after dawn the next day the honey was all gone and the insects with it. The ground about her was wet. Frieda invited a kitchen maid to leave her muddy footprint on Denise's soft pink belly. Denise groaned a little and was silent.
Frieda released her and told her to kneel. The maid leashed her and she crawled on her hands and knees to the river. They descended to the water where Denise bathed in the chilly water before crawling on to the kitchen. There she spent the day scrubbing the floor with a bucket and a brush, and was fed vegetable peelings at midday.
In the afternoon the maid led her out again to the frame where Frieda awaited her. She knelt and kissed the ground at the trainer's feet.
