Jane -- The coming of Carol.

Jane lifted a dirty hand to brush the sweaty fringe of hair from her eyes and looked with satisfaction at the end result of her labours of the last few weeks. Solid and sturdy, it looked smaller than she'd expected but she knew it would seem larger from inside. She walked around it, pausing at its door to work its lock several times to reassure herself of its fail-safe operation, before putting away her tools, each in its proper place, and leaving the barn for her kitchen and a well-earned drink. Behind her, in the hot, still air of the barn, the steel bars of the newly constructed cage gleamed in the sunlight flooding down from the skylight in the roof above.

Once in the kitchen, Jane lost no time in removing her sweaty overalls and taking a large bottle of fruit- flavoured mineral water from her refrigerator. Standing naked on the cool tiles, she opened the bottle and took a deep drink, sighing with pleasure as the cool liquid slid down her throat. The wall-clock showed twenty minutes short of noon; she wasn't hungry, and impulsively she went over to the wall where the complicated timing apparatus she'd built over so many months hummed to itself. Switching it to battery operation, she checked the battery levels in the timer, then in the mitts she took from the shelf where she kept them, and finally in the collar which never left her neck. None of the batteries was fully charged, ensuring the failure of the various electrical locks and switches they controlled within six hours at the most. Swiftly, she set the timers; the one controlling the door lock on the cage, the one which operated the tiny locks on her mitts, and, last of all, and with trembling fingers, the timer which would switch on the power to the steel studs in her collar. She stepped back and checked the settings carefully. Satisfied of their accuracy, she glanced at the clock again and saw that she had ten minutes before the timers switched on simultaneously. On an impulse she placed the little plastic gag between her teeth and bit down upon it, feeling her usual thrill as it gently trapped her tongue beneath it before going out into the yard.

''Plenty of time!'' she thought, but she hurried her steps through the hot sunlight back to the barn just the same, her mitts in her hand, eager to test her latest creation. Inside the barn, she stood for several moments doing a quick mental check of the arrangements for her short forthcoming confinement and her subsequent release -- especially the latter! Happy with her conclusions, she kicked off her sandals and entered the cage, feeling the dry, prickly straw under the soles of her feet. Pulling the door closed behind her, she slipped on her mitts and hurriedly went down on all fours. Then she waited for the series of clicks which would announce the beginning of her short period of caged helplessness. They came; the noise of the solenoid bolt thudding home into its hole in the door-frame much the loudest. But Jane had also heard the tiny electromagnetic locks on her mitts click shut, and the faint sound of the switch controlling the current to the studs in her collar closing, ready to inflict agonising pain should she raise any part of her body more than about thirty-three inches above the straw-covered floor.

Jane relaxed. This was her first Bondage session since that terrible four months of last year, and she was glad that particular ghost had been laid at last. No longer did she wake in terror from dreams of Towser; and now she could even endure the occasional meeting with large unleashed male dogs on the street. It had been a long haul, she recalled; remembering a day in late December, nearly three months after she'd been freed from her slavery to Towser, when she'd had just such a meeting. The day had been warm, she'd been lightly dressed as she preferred, in only a thin frock over her skimpy underwear, and the dog had been of a size and mixture of breeds very similar to those of Towser. Even its shaggy coat was of the same pattern, and when it walked towards her as she crossed the deserted car park to her vehicle she had halted obediently for it to sniff her shoes. It had sat and stared up at her, and she had dropped her eyes submissively before the gaze of its deep-brown eyes. Encouraged by her passivity, the dog had raised its head and poked an inquisitive nose into her crotch, and Jane, enduring its attentions with her arms dangling loosely at her sides, had waited obediently for the familiar little yelp, peremptory and menacing, with which Tower would command her to go down on her elbows and knees and raise her rump for him to mount her. But the dog had withdrawn a pace or two, puzzled by her supineness, and Jane, remembering that she was a human being, had lightly cuffed its head when it tried to resume its attentions. Afterwards, with the passage of further time and the resilience of youth, she had become ready for new adventures.

Padding over to the door, she looked up at the gap between it and its frame. She could clearly see the bolt thrust into the door frame against the powerful spring that would pull it back once the current was cut, and she knew that she was trapped. In sheer high spirits she rolled around in the dusty straw, only stopping when she broke into a fit of sneezing. Panting, she lay down full length in the straw and stared up through the bars at the raftered ceiling high above.

She was woken from a deep and contented sleep by the pressure in her bladder. Rising to all-fours, she stretched luxuriously before crawling to a corner and squatting. While she urinated she wondered drowsily how it was that she could be so thirsty at one end of her body, and so eager to release liquid from the other, and she smiled at the thought as she always did. Then she curled up in the straw and prepared to spend the remainder of her brief captivity in sleep. She was wondering just how much time had passed when something brought her awake as if a bucket of icy water had been dashed over her.

She'd heard a noise, a simple, everyday noise; the noise of a car engine labouring up an incline. Frozen in apprehension, she lay and heard the noise of the engine increase as it came nearer, then heard the swish of wheels as the vehicle it powered drove into the yard and came to a halt. The engine stopped. Jane kept as still as she could, scarcely daring to breathe. Then came the sound of a car door closing and the sudden patter of soft footsteps. A girl's clear voice rang out. "Jane? Jane? Are you there?" Jane, rigid with fear, racked her mind to explain the presence of this stranger. "Jane?" the voice came again. "Jane; it's Carol! Where are you?"

Carol! Jane brain reeled. It was her cousin, Carol; whom she'd last met ten years ago, and who had written to her a few weeks ago asking if she could call and see her. Jane had written back, and they'd fixed a day on which to meet. Jane now realised that she'd completely forgotten the appointment, isolated as she was and obsessed with building her cage. What on Earth was she to do? The footsteps faded, evidently Carol had entered the house through the open kitchen door, and Jane imagined her wandering diffidently around in there searching for her absent hostess. She ground her teeth in mortification, guessing that her cousin would, very soon, having drawn a blank in the house, begin to explore the sheds and outhouses of which the barn containing the cage was the most prominent. Coming to all-fours, she stared fearfully at the barn's full-width double doors. They were barred from the inside, but, to her horror, the little Judas door through which she'd entered was ajar, allowing a patch of sunlight to flood through. Jane groaned silently as she heard the sound of footsteps again. Soft at first, their slow patter increased in volume as they neared her refuge. "Jane?" This time the voice was very near, just beyond the doors, and Jane froze in terror. With horrifying inevitability a shadow fell across the threshold and the little door slowly opened to allow a figure to enter the barn. Jane closed her eyes in shame and embarrassment, feeling the colour mount hotly in her cheeks, as she heard the footsteps stop just beyond the bars and the tiny gasp of surprise her cousin gave at the sight before her. Burning with mortification, and frantically wondering what possible explanation she could offer for her predicament, she heard her cousin speak.

"Ah; there you are, Jane! Wow! This is a lovely cage; did you make it yourself?"

Jane eyes fell open in surprise. Of all the possible responses to her cousin's finding her locked in a cage, naked and on all-fours, this was not one she'd envisioned. It wasn't just the everyday words her cousin had used, it was the tone of interest and even admiration in which she'd uttered them. She stole a glance from beneath lowered lids towards where she thought her cousin was, and found her a few feet away, examining the tools neatly arranged on the big work bench which ran all along one wall. She was unable to look away before Carol turned suddenly and tripped back to the bars, smiling broadly. Jane stared fixedly at the floor, her face crimson.

"Oh, Jane! You ARE clever! And SO lucky, too; having this place to play in!" The voice was wistful, and Jane heard the words with astonishment. She turned her head to regard her cousin for the first time since she'd entered the barn, looking up timidly to see a slight, fair-headed girl smiling down at her, clad in a simple sleeveless linen dress of a light-brownish hue matching the light tan of her fair skin. Her slim legs were bare, and sandals protected her otherwise bare feet. Carol turned away suddenly, picked up the small three-legged stool

-- relic of the days when the barn had been a dairy -- and placed it next to the bars. Then, with a quick and graceful movement of her arms, she pulled the thin dress over her head and stood naked in the patch of sunlight coming through the little door. Jane heard her give a sigh of voluptuous relief, and her cousin said "That's much better! I've been wanting to do that all day!" Then she sat upon the little stool and regarded Jane through the bars with friendly interest, a smile upon her face which Jane found herself returning. "Fancy the two of of us having similar, er, interests!" her cousin began. "It must be fun in there, Jane. I wish I could try it out!" she added wistfully. Jane, her spirits recovering at the matter-of-fact -- and even envious -- reception her predicament had received from her cousin, attempted a reply. But she'd forgotten her gag, so used to wearing it as she was, and the only sounds she could produce were the usual animal-like gurgles and whines. Carol looked at her in momentary surprise and concern, then her face cleared. "You can't talk?" she asked. Jane nodded, and Carol sprang lithely to her feet, went to the cage door, and examined the lock. "A time lock?" Jane nodded again. "How long is it set for?" Jane looked at her helplessly, and she frowned and re-phrased her question. "Will it open today?" Jane nodded. "At eleven o'clock tonight? Ten o'clock?" By counting downwards Carol discovered that the timer was set to release Jane at four o'clock. "That's only half an hour away, " she told Jane cheerfully. "Can you survive that long?" At Jane's nod, her cousin resumed her seat, and an odd and one-sided conversation struck up. Carol asked to examine Jane's mitts, and expressed her admiration. She looked at her cousin, now sitting doggy-fashion on the other side of the bars, frowned, and asked her if she could stand up. At Jane's emphatic negative shake of the head, Carol frowned again, seeking the reason. Her eyes lit up when they fell on her cousin's collar. She asked to examine it, and Jane obligingly tilted her head upwards to allow Carol to run her slender fingers around it, both inside and out. "Oh, Jane! How clever! You must tell me how to make my collar keep me on all-fours, too!" At these words Jane looked closely at her cousin for the first time and noticed what her shyness and embarrassment had prevented her from doing before. Sure enough, under the smiling face looking down at her, a plain leather dog collar sat around the base of her cousin's slender throat. Carol noted Jane's interest and touched her collar self-consciously. "I bought it for myself last year," she said selfconsciously. "I only take it off to wash and shower." Just then they both heard the loud click of the door bolt being pulled back from its socket, freeing Jane at last.

The cousins crossed the yard together, Carol carrying her dress and Jane's sandals, Jane still wearing her mitts and with her gag still in her mouth, somehow reluctant to discard these last reminders of her recent helplessness. She removed them in the kitchen and poured them both tall glasses of flavoured mineral water from the 'fridge. Carol picked up the little gag from the table and examined it curiously before popping it into her mouth. Jane smiled at her as she tried to manoeuvre it into place over her teeth. After a few false starts Carol succeeded in trapping her tongue. She tried to speak and her eyes widened at the uncouth, animal sounds which were all she could utter. She worked her mouth, trying to dislodge the gag in vain, and her eyes lit up with joy. Hooking an index finger under the plastic, Carol pulled the gag from her mouth and looked at her cousin with open admiration. "Please show me how to make one of these for myself!" she implored her cousin.

Before Jane could answer Carol leapt to her feet in consternation. "Oh!" she cried. "I'm so sorry, Jane! Here you sit, sweaty and dirty -- and I'm sweaty, too. I'm keeping us both from a much-needed shower! Come on!"

Impulsively, she took Jane by the hand and led her into Jane's downstairs bathroom, apologising for having found it while she searched for Jane on her arrival. The shower was large, with plenty of room for two people to shower together between its white-tiled walls and glass door, and the two girls splashed and soaped each other, giggling in sheer high spirits. At last, Jane, after a warning glance at her cousin, turned the shower to cold. They endured the icy water for several joyful, shrieking seconds before dashing breathlessly from the cubicle to swathe themselves in the large, fluffy towels Jane liked so much, and to vigorously dry them themselves under their comforting softness.

Carol, rubbing dry her wet hair with her towel, stepped over to the floor-length mirror to examine her reflection. Jane joined her, her hands likewise raised high, employed in the same exercise, and they stared at each other's reflections in astonishment and innocent admiration. They saw, to their surprise, two virtually identical young women; both with short, fair hair -- now fluffing out in twin golden halos as it dried - both petite, but with broad shoulders, taut young breasts, narrow waists over flat stomachs flaring out to generous hips and firm haunches over shapely, tapering thighs -- and they marvelled at each other's beauty.

"Oh, Jane! You ARE pretty!" Jane heard her cousin gasp. She said nothing, but her expression made it clear that she thought Carol no less. They continued to gaze at their reflections in fascination; apart from the collar around Jane's neck, they were difficult to tell apart. Carol took her own collar from the shelf where she had placed it, hesitated, and handed it to Jane before bowing her head for her cousin to buckle it around her neck. They were both flushed when Jane's gentle fingers left her cousin's throat, then, when they returned their eyes to the mirror they were really identical in appearance.

Later, Jane sat outside on the weathered wooden bench in the sun, unselfconsciously naked except for her sandals -- or Carol's sandals, it made no difference -- luxuriating in the unaccustomed feeling of the warm, soft air on her bare skin. Carol had banished her there, insisting on putting together refreshments for them both, and Jane could hear the cheerful noises her cousin was making as she bustled about in Jane's kitchen. Carol came out to her, triumphantly bearing a tray on which stood a teapot, along with cups and saucers, milk and sugar, and even a plate of biscuits, and she put them down on the wooden table and took a seat on the wooden bench opposite her cousin.

For several minutes there was silence as the two girls ate and drank with healthy young appetites. Carol made and brought out fresh tea, and they drank it in a comfortable silence. Carol put down her cup and stretched out a slim arm to touch her cousin's collar. "Do you never take it off?" she asked admiringly. "Can you wash and bathe wearing it comfortably?” she added, gently running a finger around the inside of Jane's collar to test its fit. “Nice and loose. I don't think collars should be tight; they aren't worn as a punishment." She withdrew her hand and waited for her cousin's reply.

Jane sat in silence for several moments, her hand straying to her collar before she spoke. “No,” she said at last. “I never take it off.” She paused, guiltily aware that she'd almost told the truth – that she couldn't take it off, not now, not ever. “I don't even notice I'm wearing it now.” She flushed a little as she went on. “You're quite right, Carol; collars shouldn't be worn as a punishment, but to show the world that the creature wearing the collar is under the control of another person....or another...." She stopped. A vision of Towser flashed into her mind; Towser with that yellow glare in his eyes, summoning her to go down on her elbows and present her upraised haunches for his pleasure yet again, and she gave a tiny shiver unnoticed by her cousin who was tracing the outline of her own collar with idle fingers.

They sat long into the evening, exploring each other's tastes and marvelling at the complete similarity they found. Although Carol had come totally unprepared to stay the night it went without saying that she stayed the night -- just as it was taken completely for granted that she would continue to stay indefinitely. There were plenty of bedrooms, though none ready for the guests Jane had never had, and, in the end, they shared Jane's bed, giggling like schoolgirls until they went to sleep in each other's arms.

Woken early the next morning by the sunlight flooding into their bedroom through its large window, they stumbled drowsily into the warm kitchen where they immediately made tea, working together like as a well-trained team. While drinking it at the kitchen table, they continued their conversation of the night before. They found to their mutual delight that their tastes in Bondage were exactly the same; Animal Role Play. Jane had much more experience in playing roles over much longer periods of time than her cousin, of course -- though she didn't mention the longest session of all -- but Carol had done 'pony-play', something Jane had always wanted to try. “But I really enjoy being a sweet little doggy most of all!” she laughed.

Over the next few days, they enjoyed themselves enormously. They thought and spoke as one, and they continued to share the same bed. Carol was used to going naked whenever possible, as her light, all-over tan indicated, -- and it was possible all the time in this isolated place -- and Jane, in whom shyness about her body had been a lifetime embarrassment, was encouraged to follow suit. She found it odd at first, but soon came to enjoy the sense of freedom her nakedness brought her (now that it wasn't enforced) and she soon gladly imitated her cousin in never wearing anything beneath the thin dresses they both preferred, and they would occasionally break into fits of infectious giggling at their own daring as they walked through the village, hand in hand like children. The villagers, who had long known 'Miss Jane', as they called her, had taken to her cousin with open arms, and they enjoyed the spectacle the two presented of fresh, innocent, girlishness. As for their odd habits of always wearing what seemed like old dog collars around their slender necks; well, it was known that such fashions were common in sophisticated places like South Molton and Bampton – to say nothing of Tiverton and Barnstaple, where anything went as was well known -- and the local girls imitated the cousins in this eccentricity, some what to the disapproval of their more strait-laced elders. But everyone agreed, when all was said and done, that it was a harmless habit.

The only flies in the ointment, as far as Carol was concerned, were her cousin's occasional bad dreams and her sleep-walking. Sometimes, she would be woken by the restlessness of her bed-fellow, protest drowsily, and fall asleep again. Then she would wake at their usual hour to find Jane curled up asleep on the floor, with no covering of any kind. But the dreams were worse. Asleep in her arms, Carol would be woken by Jane's urgent movements; her cousin would mutter and groan in her sleep, then she would thrash about for a few moments before becoming quiescent. Then she lie unmoving for a minute or so, and Carol would breathe a sigh of relief. But then Jane would open her eyes and slip out of Carol's arms and out of their bed to the floor. There, under the sleepily astonished gaze of her cousin, she would stand on all-fours before going down on her elbows and staying in that position, her rump upraised, for a few moments. She would utter a deep sigh, then lie on her side, curl herself up against the cold, and fall deeply asleep. Carol, who had learnt from somewhere that sleep-wallkers should never be woken, would lay a covering upon her oblivious cousin, but, when she woke in the morning, the cover would have been discarded, and Jane would be lying naked on the hard floor. Carol would leave her to wake of her own accord; Jane always did a few minutes afterwards, and she would join her cousin in the kitchen with an air of perfect normality and without any reference to the night's events.

But, as time passed, Carol became quite used to this minor eccentricity of her cousin's, and one day she had a happy inspiration. Saying that she had a surprise for Jane, she bundled her impetuously into one of the Land Rovers and drove her off to the outskirst of Bristol, to the large Retail Park newly opened there. They crossed the large car park hand in hand; two identical figures in simple, light-tan dresses, bare-legged, and wearing sandals on their bare feet. As they walked along, they giggled as usual at their own daring, for they were naked under their flimsy dresses, and they suspected that many of the men who paused to in honest admiration to watch them pass were considering wistfully clipping leashes to the collars around the slender, sun-tanned necks and leading them away before shrugging off the attractive notion as an impossible dream. Jane, who had given up enquiring of her cousin where she was being taken, giggled and blushed as she recognised the the place they were heading for as a large branch of a world famous Pet Store.

Once inside the enormous barn-like structure of the store, they wandered around, blushing and giggling at the array of collars, leashes and other doggy paraphernalia under their eyes. Then Carol, with a determined air, led the way to the section devoted to dog beds. A fatherly, middle-aged assistant hurried to their sides, his face wreathed in smiles.

"We want to buy a bed for our dogs," began Carol. "A comfortable one," interpolated Jane, who had now guessed the nature of her cousin's surprise. "For our two dogs," Carol added.

"How large are your dogs?" he asked them, looking in amusement from one to the other "What breed are they?"

They giggled in unison, as though sharing a secret joke.

"Quite large!" said Jane. "No particular breed!" said Carol. "And they're both bitches!" they said as one, and they giggled again. The assistant smiled down at them, and said that wasn't important, before producing for their inspection one of the biggest pet beds in stock. He placed it on the floor for them to get an idea of its size, and they regarded it solemnly. Carol fell in love with it at once. She bent to feel its thick, soft circular rim which would make a comfortable pillow for their heads, and she prodded its thick base to test its firmness. As for Jane, she stared at it entranced, fighting the urge to lie down and curl up in its inviting interior, and she loved its colour scheme of velvety dove- grey imprinted with large, black paw-marks. Their guide pointed out the special feature of this expensive brand of bed; the little electric heater embedded in its base. This, he said, was backed by foil which reflected the heat upwards, keeping the bed's occupants warm throughout the coldest night.

"We'll take it!" they said together, looking up at the assistant with shining eyes. Infected by their high spirits, he laughed out loud as he made a note on his clipboard. Asked if they required anything else, they were about to reply in the negative when Carol surreptitiously jogged Jane's elbow to call her attention to a display of brightly- coloured , shallow, plastic trays a few yards away. She heard Jane gasp in delighted disbelief, and heard her murmur "Oh, Carol! We couldn't!" But her cousin had already turned to the store assistant and told him sweetly that they would take a large litter tray and several bags of litter. He smiled and nodded, and told them to drive around to the back of the store to load their purchases into their car, to which place he himself hurried to get their order together, smiling fondly at his mental picture of the two pretty young girls he'd just left, and wondering vaguely as to the cause of the deep blushing of one of them in the last few minutes.

Jane was still scarlet with embarrassed laughter when they drove away, especially as Carol had solemnly handed her the litter tray to stow in a safe place in the car while the store assistant was loading it. "Oh, Carol!" she giggled. "You surely don't intend us to keep that...that thing in our bedroom and...and use it?" "Why not?" replied Carol briskly. "We wouldn't have to make that long walk down that dark corridor to that old-fashioned up-stairs bathroom!" Jane blushed to the roots of her hair once more and laughed helplessly.

On their return, nothing would do but that they must first put their new bed in position, even before having a restorative cup of tea. Jane had thought of a better place for the bed than the bedroom they'd been sleeping in. A much smaller room, at the end of the upstairs corridor, it was totally unfurnished and eminently fit for the purpose, being directly over the Aga in the kitchen beneath. Jane pointed out to the enthusiastic Carol that, to do the job properly, they should eschew any covering of any kind and sleep naked in the doggy bed. (Though she didn't say it, she herself had no doubts that she would be able to sleep in comfort, but her cousin's ability to do so was not proven.) Carol agreed, and pointed out that some means must be found of locking themselves in for the night so they would have to use the litter-box at need. Nothing easier, declared Jane; adding that she would fit an electrically timed lock to the door later that day.

They occupied themselves about various tasks for the rest of the day, and spent the evening in their usual fashion, reading or watching one of their favourite DVDs. Carol's excitement at the prospect of spending the night in their new doggy bed was evident, though to her cousin, with her much greater – and painfully gained – experience of sleeping in canine conditions, it was nothing very exciting. Finally Jane stopped teasing her impatient cousin by deliberately taking longer than usual about her bedtime preparations, and they mounted the stairs together, hand in hand.

The little room was warm and cosy, despite the bare boards of its floor which Carol had thoughtfully covered with old newspapers against the possibility of them tracking litter from the tray onto it. The doggy-bed, its heater plugged into a socket in the wall, stood invitingly in a corner. Jane closed the door, and they waited in a silence broken only by Carol's giggles until they heard the click announcing that the timer had locked them in. Jane dimmed the over-head light, rather then switching it off, for she felt that some light would be necessary to enable them to find their way to the litter tray, should they need to. Then they got into the doggy bed together. It was every bit as comfortable and warm as it promised to be, and soon they were asleep in each other's arms, like twin puppies in a basket.