THE SECOND TRIP
Things settled down in their lives after the first six months.
Relatives no longer were on their doorstep every Sunday. Ike was
nearly joyful in his work, being able to count on his regular
hours, every day. He took particular delight in declining the
overtime. It was still required, but he said he could just as
easily retire, and so the superintendents subsided. Oh, he did
work the occasional overtime, more as a favor to his fellow
workers who might have something planned; that is, he gave favors
when he and Mary did not have something planned.
Mary got a new mini van. She wanted to get a Masserati, but that
was considered impractical for the suburban Mom, picking up and
dropping off kids, shopping and filling all the other roles she
had to fill.
And, of course, Ike had fulfilled a long held wish: they both got
motorcycles, big brutish machines. Mary didn't like hers a whole
lot, since she felt she wasn't strong enough; but Ike blew her
off with a comment about all the muscle building she had been
doing over the years. It pissed her off to no end that he was
right! She could handle the beast. Of course, if she ever had
to lay it down, she was pretty sure she'd never get it up by
herself, but Ike promised he'd help. Still, as often as not, she
was on his buddy seat.
Eventually, they went house hunting. Some years before, they had
been riding around the area and found a home that advertised it
had a dungeon. They went looking for it, and found it. But it
wasn't for sale!
Disappointed, they decided to keep looking. Eventually, they
went to see a realtor. They described their needs, but they
emphasized they were not interested in an estate. As they
talked, the realtor began to pick through several files, and then
offered one house that might meet their needs. Five bedrooms,
three of which had its own bath, with a Jacuzzi in the Master
Suite. Living room, dinning room, country kitchen, den, family
room and a full basement. There were fireplaces in the family
room, living room and Master Suite. The realtor stopped, and
then looked up, slightly embarrassed, to say there was a walled
off portion of the basement that was labeled dungeon on the
listing. Neither Ike nor Mary said anything, and then with a
masterpiece of acting, Ike reached for the listing, and sure
enough it had a picture of the house they wanted.
In the fullness of time, they bought it. The owners would not
let the realtor show the dungeon, but they called Mary and Ike
one nite and invited them over. When they arrived, they were
greeted cordially and made comfortable in the Living Room. After
ice-breaking chit chat, the female owner said you know about our
special room in the basement? Mary countered that the realtor
hadn't been able to show it to them. The male owner said that
had been at their insistence. The female owner said she supposed
Ike and Mary knew what a dungeon was, and both nodded, Mary a
little more enthusiastically than they had planned. Well, then,
the female owner went on, they could have the room as is or it
could be cleaned out. Ike inquired what was in there, and the
male owner said they weren't going to say -- the option was to
take it as is or totally cleaned out. Ike looked to Mary and she
smiled and nodded, so Ike said they'd take it as is. Both owners
stood, followed by Mary and Ike. Hands were shaken all around,
and then the male owner handed Ike a key and the female owner
handed Mary a key.
Three weeks later, Mary and Ike took possession of their new
house. Both of them had a special key in their pockets, that
just seemed to be burning a hole, but since the girls were with
them on this visit, they couldn't go near it.
Moving in was an horrendous time. Still, as is the case,
inevitably, it was done.
At breakfast the morning after their first nite in the house,
their older daughter inquired about a locked door in the
basement. Now parents, over the years, get quite good about dead
panning in front of their children, so neither paid much
attention. Then, with just the right amount of casualness, Ike
said he seemed to remember it and would check it out later. The
elder then volunteered that it might be a wine cellar, but the
younger opined that it could be a dungeon. Before Mary or Ike
could say or react to that, the older girl said that Mom would
like that, and she grinned impishly at her Mother. The younger
smiled too, but then the conversation of the girls went on to
other things, leaving Mary with a fast beating heart and a gleam
in Ike's eyes.
Finally, the girls were off to school, and Mary and Ike got the
opportunity to go look at their dungeon.
The key worked smoothly, but the door was double thick and swung
quietly on well-oiled hinges. There was a light switch on the
wall that produced subdued lighting to reveal a nice size room.
Three steps led downward to give the room greater height. The
temperature was just right, and the humidity was fine. It was
clear that this room was set apart from the systems for the rest
of the house. As they entered, the door swung shut behind them,
and they could hear the lock click.
Surveying the room, they saw a pillory, an X cross, a gallows, a
rack, a T cross, a whipping bench, and, in the middle of the
room, a solitary pole. On the walls, hung chains and manacles
that were imbedded in the stone walls. The floor was carpeted.
In the far wall, the outside perimeter wall of the house, there
was a rough wooden door. That door opened onto a rather dark
corridor, lighted by only one low-watt bulb. Two other doors led
off this corridor: on the one side was a normal sized door, that
opened onto a cell, which had a cot and a sink, and very many
chains.
The other door was considerably smaller, and opened onto another
cell, but it was a cramp cell: the occupant would not be able to
sit, stand or lay down; and there was no sink or cot, just a
floor drain.
And then they noticed at their feet a trap door. When they
opened it, they peered down at a circular pit, maybe two and a
half feet in diameter. A tiny ladder permitted a person to climb
down, where s/he would just stand, able to do nothing else and,
when the trap was closed, able to see nothing.
Tuned to a very sharp focus, it was Mary who said she had to see
what that was like. Quickly pulling off her t-shirt and jeans
(which, of course, left her naked), she sat at the edge of the
pit, and then carefully turned over and began the descent of the
ladder. When her feet were on the bottom, she looked up. Her
expression spoke volumes, but Ike understood and he gravely
lifted and then lowered the trap, sealing his wife in the pit.
When the trap was down, he noticed some pegs and a sledge hammer.
Taking one of the pegs, he put it into the handle and then drove
it home with the sledge. No way would Mary ever be able to get
out of the pit by herself.
Later, when she had been freed, she complained about the length
of time Ike had left her in there; but when he said it had only
been fifteen minutes, she was stunned. She said time just stood
still. She found she could turn around, even wedge her body
against the walls and she imagined, in time, the person in there
would sleep. But it would be incredibly bad for someone with
claustrophobia. Ike nodded, and then asked if it had been a turn
on -- and Mary smiled.
Saying there was no time like the present, they began to
experience the various devices in the dungeon.
