Sharon and Tracey left the teachers the following day, although they had hardly began to recover from either their trudge through Buggery or from their beatings by Tiger Lilly. A dark blue (nearly black) bruise had swollen up around Sharonâs eye, and both girlsâ legs were criss-crossed with scratches and discoloured by more bruises. They could barely stand up as they tottered by the door to the cottage, in the unfamiliar flat plastic sandals theyâd been given in exchange for the shoes theyâd worn the day before. Despite their looks, the two girls were showered with affectionate kisses from Primrose and Chrysanthemum. Somehow this in no way fully compensated for their treatment from Tiger Lilly. Tracey was almost sure that she would never want sex with anyone ever again, and Sharon certainly didnât feel like it today.
They took with them a cheap printed map of Buggery that Primrose lent them. It was one which she had in stock for her Geography lessons and was an official map of the country. It showed roads, woods, rivers, lakes, towns and villages; but large patches of the map were left suspiciously blank: lacking all colour or contour. No clues were given by the map as to what they were, but nearly one quarter of the map was left like this. Chrysanthemum explained that although it was impossible to be sure, most of these blanked out areas would represent the private lands of the monarchy and the rest of the aristocracy. Though it was possible that they also included areas of military significance and the mysterious breeding centres. Of the parts of the map that was clearly outlined, the most distinct were the capital city and the Tourist spots. However, there werenât many of the latter on the road to Gomorrah.
âAlthough the boundary line signifying the border with Gomorrah is very clearly marked on the map, I wouldnât really trust it,â warned Primrose. âDuring a war the border is bound to shift as one side makes advances and the other retreats. After all, territorial advantage is what itâs all about. However, I donât know for sure, but I believe the border might actually be significantly nearer than the map says. Of course all the official news we get from the front says that Buggeryâs really doing well, and making significant gains which bring closer the promise of final victory and the settling of the nationâs grievances. However, from what few signs we get, and this is only speculation, I donât think things are going that well. The good news is generally unsubstantiated and implausible. Thereâs rather a lot more about Gomorran atrocities than about Buggerian advances. And you may have noticed that there arenât many men about.â
âIndeed,â corroborated Chrysanthemum with a broad grin. âAlmost all them are out on the front, fighting for King and Country; leaving us poor helpless girls to fend for ourselves and to make do with whatever we can.â
âI think that your walk to the front will be rather less than the one hundred kilometres on the map,â continued Primrose, âbut before you get there youâll have to cross a war zone and thatâll include some sort of no-manâs land where you could very easily get killed. But put it into perspective. Although you might get killed crossing the front, the longer you stay in Buggery the more chance that youâd get killed anyway.â
This was scarcely comforting news, but it was this news that the girls took as they walked away from the teachersâ cottage. Their advice was to avoid walking along the roads where they could be easily picked off by the police. In fact, the road to Gomorrah took them away from the dry barren plains of the district where the teachers lived to a more hilly landscape where there would be more than enough woodland for the girls to walk out of sight of the main road. Or at least to dodge into if they saw them. It was unlikely, Primrose reasoned, that the disappearance of two tourists from Pederasty would have gone unnoticed for very long. Already everyone whoâd seen them would have been interrogated, and possibly tortured, by the police. Tracey shivered slightly thinking of the young courier, Little Pussy, and the boy theyâd had come to their room. However, although the police were brutal, Primrose explained, making sure that Tiger Lilly wasnât within earshot, they were remarkably inefficient at actually doing anything other than intimidate people. As an investigative police agency, they were absolutely hopeless. They had had no impact at all on the smuggling of hard drugs and guns that happened around the countryâs border. And they had had no capacity to deal with the many deserters that kept away from the towns and villages. The semblance of law and order was only held by the fact that no one who was caught was ever likely to re-offend.
Their breakfast of fruit and orange juice was really not enough to sustain Sharon and Tracey on their long walk. In fact, being fairly exhausted before theyâd even started walking, they were certainly no better after an hour or more of trudge along the featureless dry roads. If theyâd seen any police there was nowhere to hide as there were no trees nor even bushes to retreat to. After a while, however, their walk took them up a steep incline and soon they were in the very welcome shade of some woods. The goal which comforted on their despairing walk was the small town of Butterfly Grove which they could see marked on the map, and finally to the delight of their sore feet, they could see in reality.
It was not a very picturesque town, despite its name. Although surrounded by a thick forest of trees, it was a dry unprepossessing place composed mostly of small hut-like houses with a small market in the middle. They walked towards it with the hope of something to eat, or at the least something to drink. They soon found that the Buggery Dinar went considerably further in Buggery than it would have done in Throb, and much further again than it would have done at home. In fact, they found that they were carrying a relative fortune around with them.
It wasnât that easy to find anything edible to buy though. Both of them had mostly subsisted on take-aways and microwaveable dishes at home here, and the only thing on sale they knew what to do with was the battered and unappealing fruit they could see. But they managed to buy some apples, oranges, a packet of tasteless biscuits and a couple of bottles of distilled water on which the Kingâs face was prominently displayed. There was no Coke. Or even Pepsi or Dr Pepperâs. There were no hamburgers, pizzas, hot dogs or doner kebabs. Not even a pasty or a bag of chips. But what they had was undeniably food and it certainly filled some of the hole they could feel in their stomachs.
What was even worse, as they discovered to their cost, was that there was nowhere selling any ciggies. Not only were they no decent ciggies like 5th Avenue or Edinboroâs, but not even rollies like Gold Cup or cheap tabs like Old Street Plain. They had half a packet of Windsor & Maidenheadâs Silk Tip between them, but it was clearly not going to last them very long. The days were definitely going to stretch ahead now they had to cope with withdrawal symptoms as well as hunger.