Ignoring Acacia, Helena hurried toward the bathroom, holding her teeth against the incredible pressure on her bladder. She couldn’t walk quite right, anyway, not after standing at attention like she had for so long. She made it to the bathroom right in front of Acacia, who whispered, “I’ve got to pee so damn bad it isn’t funny.”

“I’ve got it worse,” Helena said, hurrying.

“You first,” Acacia said. “My God, Helena, you deserve that much reward!”

Helena was too far gone to argue about it. In seconds she was on the pot, letting go of the pain and the urine she had held there for so long. It actually hurt to let it go, but it hurt so good! In seconds, after feeling that she must be at least a gallon lighter, she felt an ache down inside her bladder, the wonderful ache of an organ that had been stretched to its limits now relaxing. She didn’t even bother to pull her panties back up, but moved aside to let Acacia have her chance. “Ohh, my God, that feels good,” Acacia said, echoing her feelings exactly, then in a softer, reverent voice, “Thank you, Helena, thank you.”

“I got out of the way as quick as I could.”

“No, not that,” Acacia said softly. “For everything. I don’t see the Sergeant McCluskey persona often, and it’s never good to see. It only comes out when he’s real, real angry.” She sighed in relief again and said softly, “I never thought I’d see someone face Sergeant McCluskey down, and I never, ever thought it would be you. God, you’re courageous. I could never have done that.”

“I only tried to do the right thing,” Helena whispered back, not knowing if … uh, Sergeant McCluskey? … was listening or not. “He wasn’t thinking, he was being an asshole.”

“You did the right thing,” Acacia nodded, trying to catch her breath. “He could have broken you in half, but not without dishonoring himself by his rules. Then you did the right thing again, getting him in a trap.”

“Acacia, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Helena said, puzzled. “I just did what I thought was the right thing.”

“It was the right thing. He was all set to throw me out before you stopped him. If you’d demanded that you be punished in my place, I think he would have whipped you. He couldn’t have whipped both of us, because he might have thought that I’d enjoy it. That was hard, I hated every minute of it, and I think I’d rather have been whipped.”

“I was beginning to think I would rather have been,” Helena said. “I tried to slip into subspace, or whatever, and I just couldn’t do it.”

“Me either,” Acacia admitted. “You don’t go to it, you have to relax and let it come to you. At least that’s the way it works for me. I couldn’t relax my muscles enough to do the job. I think that’s why he did it that way.”

“I suppose,” Helena said, taking a washcloth and wetting it to wash her face, and try to clean up some of the mess the tears had made of it. “What do you think he’s going to do now?”

“I don’t know,” Acacia sighed. “Let’s pull ourselves together good, but make it as quick as we can.”

They took their time – not too much time, but it took a while, and some makeup, to get the puffiness out of their faces, and a hair dryer to dry the wet spots on their chests. Finally ready, she followed Acacia out to the pool, where they found Mr. McCluskey sitting at the umbrella table, smoking a cigarette. It was the first time Helena had ever seen him do that, but she wasn’t about to comment. Acacia walked up in front of him, and dropped to her knees, eyes downward, in high kneel – and, without thinking about it, Helena dropped to the same position beside her.

Helena could see him at the edge of her vision, see him frown, take a puff on his cigarette, and frown again, all the time looking at her quizzically. “Ms. Curtis,” he said finally. “I said the matter is ended.”

“Yes, sir,” she replied, without expanding – but without moving from high kneel, either.

“Ms. Curtis, I meant that to mean that you are no longer under my discipline.”

“Yes, sir,” she replied, still not moving.

“Ms. Curtis,” he said again, in that gentle voice that she’d come to like, but had heard little of today. “I am not your Lord and Master.”

“Yes, sir,” she said again, holding her position.

“Then may I ask why you are still in high kneel?”

It wasn’t a question that Helena could easily answer. She felt like she could examine it for a week and bore herself in the process, but it could be summarized in the words she spoke in immediate reply: “Because it feels like the right thing to do, sir.”

He looked at her kneeling there in front of him for several seconds. She could see him take a drag on his cigarette, exhale, and cock his head before he finally asked, very gently, “Feeling like you’re sliding down the slippery slope, Ms. Curtis?”

“No, sir,” she replied, then added, a little less formally, although she didn’t change her position in the slightest. “I feel like that’s what I’ve done for the last month. Now it feels like I’m laying at the bottom, covered in mud, and trying to figure out what to do next.”

“Ms. Curtis,” he said, very gently now. “I cannot be your master. I feel barely capable of being Lord to My Lady. She has first claim upon me, in any case.”

“I am aware of that, sir.”

“My Lady,” he frowned. “I have great difficulty believing that this is the woman who faced me down a few hours ago with the ferocity of a mother grizzly bear defending her cubs. Did you have something to do with this?”

“I did not suggest anything of this nature to her, sir,” Acacia replied, holding her gaze down. “I am as surprised as you. But I fear that you and I both had a great deal to do with it.”

Mr. McCluskey took another drag on his cigarette, then flicked it off into the grass. He leaned forward, obviously thinking hard. “Ms. Curtis,” he finally said, even more gently. “Do I recall you saying that you came from a fairly strict family?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I also believe I recall you saying that you went to a fairly strict Christian college, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Did you make that decision, or did your parents make it for you?”

“I made it, sir,” she replied. “They were pleased with my decision. They said they were more comfortable with it than other places I could have chosen.”

“Were you comfortable with it? I don’t mean the decision; I mean being there?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Could you expand on that, please?”

“It was fairly strict as colleges go, sir. Not that strict, it wasn’t like I imagine the Marines to be. We did have curfews and rules like that. We had housemothers who, well, they gave us some direction and guidance.”

“So, really, you’ve only been out on your own for a few months, and you feel a lack of guidance and correction, am I correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And you you’ve watched with envy at the obvious joy that Acacia shows in her submission to me, even knowing that we do some things that seem pretty incomprehensible to you?”

“Yes, sir. And I watched the fear that she had this morning at losing them. I admit I know little of what you do, but that fear told me a great deal. Most of all, it showed me that the two of you have something that I cannot understand, but that I think is wonderful. You commented on my courage, sir. I could not stand by and watch that something get ruined. That was not courage, sir. That was doing what had to be done to try to repair the situation.”

He looked at her for a moment in … confusion? Sorrow? Frustration? It was hard for her to tell. His face settled into a frown as he stayed hunched over there. “Ms. Curtis,” he said softly. “How do you feel about this morning, as you were punished?”

“I did not like it, sir. But I realized then and now that it was the right thing to do. It would have been no different had you whipped me.”

“Ms. Curtis, if you’re trying to shame me, you have accomplished it. I am so awed by the courage of your convictions that I feel as if I should be on my knees before you.”

“That was not my intent, sir. I admit to being very confused about what I have learned about myself in the past month, and what I should do about it. It was good to grasp something that I knew was right.”

“You’re confused about some of the things that My Lady and I do, am I correct?”

“Sir, I think it fair to say that I am confused about most of them. Perhaps all of them. But there is something here that works for her, and I can’t deny it. I cannot help but wonder if they would also work for me. I have seen indications that they might, but admit to not knowing enough to understand it.”

“Ms. Curtis, do you know what a sea anchor is?”

“No, sir.”

“A sea anchor is something used in a storm in a small boat, in order that it can hold its bow to the wind, in order to ride out the storm until things are calmer. Ms. Curtis, some years ago, I happened across a girl who had been very battered by the storms of life. I was able to provide a sea anchor to her, so she could ride out the storms and put her life back together. I have found it to be worth the effort. Now, I think I’m detecting another girl who needs an anchor to ride out her own storm.” He glanced at Acacia. “My Lady, what do you think about that?”

Acacia kept her eyes down, as they had been throughout all of this conversation, and said, “My Lord, had you seen her as I found her last night, your suspicions would be even stronger.”

“My Lady, what would you think about offering to provide a sea anchor for her?”

“I would welcome it, sir.”

“Ms. Curtis, what would you think about it?”

“I’m not entirely clear I understand the specifics you have in mind, but in general I welcome the idea.”

Mr. McCluskey let out a big sigh. “You’re not alone in not knowing what the specifics are,” he said finally. “I confess that I don’t know, either, but I suspect we’d better work them out before we proceed. Ladies, I would appreciate it if you would put yourself at ease, and take seats at the table with me. My Lady, I think refreshments, and lunch might be appropriate. I also think we would find good use for a pad of paper and a pen.”

“Sir,” Acacia said, “I propose that I bring you the pad and paper, that you might sort out your thoughts while Ms. Curtis and I prepare lunch and refreshments.”

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