Scarecrow Pt. 05
The hoarse voice of a young man comes again in the near-dark.
Scarecrow crouches low in the shadows along the fence, feels her heart thumping, wipes the tears from her nose and cheek. She tries to calm her breath, wills herself to be composed. As composed as a girl can be... like this! Naked, whipped, sunburned, sore and sniveling, a humiliating mess!
The young man stands silhouetted a few meters from where she hides. In the bluish light of the moon, she cannot make out his features.
"Don't mean you no harm," he says. "You still buck nekkid?"
Scarecrow swallows hard, shakes her head in something like disbelief. The crickets in the grass along the tractor road are silent. There is only the whine of mosquitos at her ears, the sound of her breath, her racing heart. She crouches even lower, biting her lip to fight the pain at her rear. Wishes she could disappear.
"It's okay," he reassures her.
She readies herself to run. "Hop the fence and head across the field if he starts toward me," she tells herself. "I can run faster. This shouldn't be happening. Why is he here?"
She dries the tears off her cheek with the back of her hand, surprised to find that her hand is trembling. Feels suddenly the force of her new, confused and helpless reality.
"I saw what they done to you. I'm sorry."
Scarecrow shudders. Seen me naked? Seen the tall woman and Mule with her whip? Seen me counting out each stroke?
"Name's Tanner. Folks own the next farm over. Came to see if you were okay. You got a name?"
She looks quickly across the field to the tall woman's house darkened on the horizon. Megan—Miss Maggie—and Mule if they are there should be sleeping now. But what if they aren't? What would they do if they caught me breaking rules? What if they're watching right now?
"Hello?" he says.
She looks back to see that he has not moved; shifts on her haunches to ease the sting of her well-whipped backside. And because silence does not seem like a good idea and because she does not know what else to say, answers, "Elise."
"So, are you okay Elise?"
She feels a surprising and comforting warmth at the familiar sound of her name, her real name, spoken aloud by a man. Her breath catches in her throat.
"Don't mean you no harm."
"Okay," she says, finding some courage, "that actually means —"
"Means I'd never hurt you like they did. You don't need to be afraid."
"Who says I'm afraid?"
"Figured you were. Otherwise... I mean, I already seen you nekkid so there's no reason to hide, right?"
"We can talk this way just fine," she says.
"Come out here on the road so I can see you."
"I'm not going to do that, Tanner."
"You bend over for them but you won't come out to say hello to someone who wants to help?"
"You can't help me."
He falls silent. Scarecrow waits, kneels to ease the pain and stiffness of squatting. He too seems to be waiting, then says, "I brought you something to eat. Better than what they give you."
Silence.
"'Is that maybe interestin' to you?" he says.
Scarecrow wets her lips. Maybe he does have something or maybe he is lying to have me come out there, she tells herself. But what has he not seen already? And if he wanted to force the issue, he could have come right up to me at the fence from the start.
"Can you leave it?" she says.
"It's dark. You might not find it."
"You can put it on the fence post."
"Reckon I'd rather hand it to you."
Silence.
"Come out, Elise."
At first, it is a stand-off but he seems to know he can wait her out and that frustrates Scarecrow. And the being-crouched and hiding by the fence, and feeling the shame of her nakedness and the soreness of the whipping, and being made to stand naked in the field all day, and yes, the hunger, brings Scarecrow fully to her feet. She steps from the fence and onto the gravel tractor road. Takes five steps toward Tanner and stops about three meters from him.
Moonlit, buck naked with breasts jutting, beautiful hips and strong legs, Scarecrow takes his breath away. For a moment.
"Gosh yer pretty," he says.
She can see him now too. He's in his early twenties, overalls, a mop of dark hair, hands jammed in his trouser pockets.
"Okay," she says, suddenly all too aware of her vulnerability and the impulsiveness that has brought her to stand exposed before him. "I'm here. So, what did you bring?"
"I got a Snickers and Oreos. You like being nekkid in the field?"
"I'm... the Oreos. I'll take those. Please."
From his left trouser pocket he takes out a pack of the cookies, glances at it as he holds it out to her. "Kinda mushed it a little. Here."
Scarecrow decides in an instant, steps up to him and snatches the package from his hand, steps back.
"Okay, thanks," she says.
Not even thinking of her nakedness any more, she tears open the package, crumples the wrapper, eats ravenously as he watches and even licks the crumbs out of her palms like some sort of animal.
"I can't stand another oatmeal dinner," she says, "stop looking at me like that."
But Tanner does not stop looking. "You can have the Snickers too."
At nearly the same instant, they both step toward each other and Scarecrow finds herself less than an arm's length away from him. She stands in the full moonlight now, not the shadows from the trees. Tanner can't seem to stop gazing at her breasts, her outtie like a little knot and back again. He remembers the Snickers, fishes it out of his other pocket and presses it into her hand.
Holds her hand when she tries to pull away.
"Just don't cross her," he says with feeling. "Don't think you can split her and Miss Maggie or the other way round. Do what she says no matter what. Just do it and don't think about it."
"Mule?"
"Her name's Fran. But yeah, Mule. She wants you to fight. I tried to help her too. At the start. Then she burned down my family's barn. Just because—"
"Because you were nice to her?"
"Reckon 'cause I pitied her. She don't take to pity. She ain't ever going to feel sorry for you. Miss Maggie, she seems to do the disciplining but it's all matter-of-fact and she don't seem to be happy or sad about it. It's just something that needs doing. Mule, she actually likes shaming you. She likes hearing you beg."
Scarecrow gives an involuntary shudder. Tanner lets go her hand and she crosses her arms across her chest, the Snickers held tight.
"What can I do?" she says after a moment and in a soft voice.
Tanner shrugs. "Whatever you do, don't be fake. Be yourself. Mule ain't going to be here forever. All the girls go after a time. Truth is, I mind my own business. Just saw you was in the field. Had to see if you needed anything. You know, to get you through... whatever this is you all do here."
"There's an Agreement. We all have Agreements. For a year."
"You like bein' whupped?"
"I have to do it."
"They shouldn't whup you."
"I don't want them to."
"You can leave."
"It's not that simple. What can I do to stop Mule from ... what she does?"
Tanner shakes his head. "Heck if I know. I seen her..." and he trails off as if he realizes what he is about to say is better off unsaid.
"Seen her what?"
"Seen her break girls. The one before you. Rode her nekkid like she was a pony. Cropped and spurred her, round and round the corral. Her name was Anna." He stops himself.
"What happened to Anna?"
"There was a guy who came to watch. Used to sit top the corral fence. At first, Anna dint want nothing to do with him but after all the ridin' and breaking in she'd nuzzle up to him like a horse does. And one day, he came and they hitched her up to a little cart and he took her away. They even stuck a tail up her ... shoot, I shouldn't be telling you all this."
Scarecrow takes a breath. "I think—I think it is good to know," she says, the trembling starting up in her hand again.
"Maybe go ahead and eat the Snickers," he says, "it'll do you good."
"I was going to save it."
"I'll bring you more tomorrow. You should eat it so as I can take the wrapper. You don't want them finding wrappers."
Scarecrow eats to hide the tremor in her hand, to drive the image of Anna the horse from her mind. Tanner watches at his respectable distance.
"I think you're goin' to be okay, Elise," he says when she is almost done. She hands the wrapper over, and the crumpled Oreo package too. Finishes chewing.
"Thanks for the treats."
"Sure. I'll bring -"
And Scarecrow takes a step closer, no longer embarrassed by her nakedness or her funny-looking reddish nipples that are dark brown in the night. "You can't," she says. "Please. I appreciate the help but... I can't mess this up. I have to go through with this. Please understand, Tanner."
"You mean, alone?"
"I don't want to be punished. I can't fail."
"I don't want them to hurt you."
"I know," she says. Takes a deep breath. "I know that."
A silence between them as he looks at her and she at him. He shrugs, jams his hands in his pockets again. "You sure?"
Scarecrow nods. "But could you do one more thing for me? Say my name. I like when you say my name."
"You mean, Elise?"
"Elise," repeats Scarecrow and that same feeling of warmth fills her.
"I can come again and say it tomorrow."
"Tanner, please."
"I'm gonna come anyway. I'll stay in the trees yonder. No one's gonna know and you need company I reckon."
Scarecrow shakes her head slowly 'no' but her eyes say something else entirely. No one will know, she tells herself. He'll be in the trees.
She sleeps fitfully that night. Wrapped in the blanket Mule left her, sprayed down with bug spray, the incessant whine of mosquitoes troubles her. She finds that if she rests on her side, the pain is bearable. She resists the urge to masturbate that comes on her when she thinks how she has been naked in front of a strange man.
In the morning, she takes her breakfast of cold oatmeal from the ice chest and eats it slowly. She thinks on Tanner and wishes the day were over so she might talk with him again. But the day is there before her. Onward and forward!
She relieves herself over by the fence and as the sun appears on the horizon takes up her position in Miss Maggie's field. Her butt is sore, her back aches, her legs are stiff but she settles her bare feet into the dirt and stands very still. She thinks on Miss Maggie and her contract, thinks on Mule with her whipping stake, thinks on Anna made into a horse, and Tanner somewhere out in his fields.
In the afternoon, the wind kicks up and dark clouds gather on the horizon. She sees approaching flashes of lightning and hears the thunder rumble of a first Spring storm.
And Miss Maggie comes up the tractor path holding in her hands something that turns out to be a leather horse bit.
https://www.tse-tse.it/coppia-esibizionista-incontri-trasgressivi/
https://tinychat.com/room/lomudumu#
https://blog.ulifestyle.com.hk/blogger/kuyuhoci/2020/03/the-first-casualty-when-war-comes-is-truth/
https://www.turnkeylinux.org/user/1156738
https://turkcealtyazi.org/member/222511.html
https://forum.turkanime.tv/profil/58470-guyinufe/
https://www.turistika.cz/turiste/profil/271647
Комментарии
Отправить комментарий