Surprise! Surprise!

Chapter 7: A Bold Move

"I hope you know what you're doing," remarked Jane as the two stood at the edge of the woods together, trying to gather enough courage to step out into the Hopewell yard.

"Me too," said Emily as she removed the last of Jane's bindings leaving her completely naked and unadorned in any way for the first time since the coffee shop. "Well here goes nothin'" And together they walked hand-in hand toward the house.

Bob met them at the bottom of the stairs to the porch. "Kneel slavegirls," he said in an authoritative voice. "Meg tells me that you wanted something in writing. Read this and sign it. Then bring it into the house with you." With that, he turned and went back inside.

Emily laid the document down and the two girls read it together, emitting little gasps at certain phrases or clauses. "willingly give my mind, body and soul" was one that earned a gasp. "understand that I will submit to anything required by my owners" was another. Most of it was similar to a slave ownership agreement that Emily had bumped into on the internet when she was studying her newfound obsession. It was during that research that she had stumbled onto pictures of ponygirls but she remembered that none of them had been as breathtaking as Jane in her tack.

It was obvious, though, that the document had been modified and tailored to her. It said that this was a one-week ownership and that it could be renewed for the rest of her life at the end of that week. It indicated that, by signing the contract, Emily also yielded ownership of her slave, Jane, for the duration of the term. A loud gasp came as they read about transferability of rights. It said that the girls could not be sold during the first week but that they could be sold at any time if the contract was renewed. It did, however, indicate that they would be sold together as a set.

Then there was a long list of items, some of which were already checked. Reading the top of the page, they learned that checked items would be prohibited but that any unchecked items were fair game during the first week. After the first week, all boxes would be treated as unchecked.

They read through the list and Jane gulped as she tried to imagine some of these things. Every manner of deviant sexual behavior seemed to be listed. The Hopewells had already checked off a dozen or so behaviors. Scatology, piercing, branding and a number of others were already placed out of bounds by their future owners. But there were still plenty of unpleasantries left. The instructions at the top of the page indicated that Emily could select five more items to remove from the list, which caused the girls to start chattering as they tried to verbally prioritize it in terms of offensiveness.

Meg and Bob watched them through the window and chuckled together as an occasional hand flew to a mouth in shock or as one or both of the girls started fidgeting nervously. "They look so cute out there," observed Meg. "Do you think they'll stay beyond the week?"

"I don't know," replied Bob, giving his wife a hug, "but I think they probably will."

Emily and Jane worked together and eliminated hanging, electric shock, mummification (they weren't sure what that was but Jane didn't like the sounds of it) and tattoos. But they wished that they had several more choices instead of just one more. There were still three items that they wanted to rule out: videotaping, minors and bestiality.

"I'm not fucking a dog!" exclaimed Jane.

"Relax. They don't even have a dog," replied Emily who inwardly knew that she also had no desire to have a dog or horse or monkey or anything else as a lover.

Back and forth they argued about which item was the worst. "I think it would be gross to have sex with a teenager," was Emily's view on minors. "If we allow videotaping, we can never go back to our old lives," was Jane's observation. "The clips would probably end up all over the internet."

"Together they finally agreed to check the box next to videotaping. Emily agreed that allowing themselves to be recorded would probably come back to haunt them later in life while the other two would only be unpleasantries for the next week. Plus, they reasoned, the other two were unlikely since the Hopewells had no children or pets. It never even dawned on them that they had overlooked an even more serious item in the list that they never even discussed.

They turned to the last page and read the remaining paragraphs, which described their rights as slaves: food, water and medical treatment, however, seemed to be their only rights. Emily picked up the pen and, with a shaky hand, managed to sign and date the document. There as another signature line below the first one but it was to be signed at the end of the week. Emily stared at that line for a long time knowing that it would seal her fate for the rest of her life and wondered if her name would ever appear on it.

Bob opened the door after he heard the knock and ushered the two naked girls inside. Emily held out the contract, which Bob accepted and looked over. "Interesting selections," he observed. Were they difficult choices to make?"

"Very difficult," replied Emily.

There wasn't a place for me to sign though, Bob," observed Jane.

"Well now, that brings up two interesting points. First, your signature was not required because you are already the property of Emily. Her signature was all that was needed to transfer title of your body, mind and soul to us." He emphasized his point by squeezing her breast as he said "body," stroking her temple as he said "mind," and placing his palm on her chest as he said "soul" causing Jane to tremble.

"As to the second point, for the duration of this contract, you are both to call us Master or Mistress. Understood?"

Jane gulped and nodded her head slowly. "Yes Master."

"Yes Master," whispered Emily.

Meg came up to them and commanded the two girls to kneel, which they promptly did. Then she bent down and encircled each neck, starting with Emily, with a woven collar. "You may rise and check out your new attire in the mirror." They quickly got to their feet and went to the mirror where they each emitted an "ooo." The collars were about two inches tall and appeared to be woven of metal or some kind of metal-coated fiber and formed a latticework appearance around their necks. Beneath each collar dangled a silver tag. Emily reached out and grasped Jane's, reading "Jane Ridley" on one side. Flipping it over she read "Property of Robert and Megan Hopewell." A shudder raced through her body as she realized that hers must be the same. Jane reached out and read Emily's tag, the only difference being that the front read "Emily Barclay." An identical shudder went through Jane's body.

"Do you like them?" asked Meg who had stepped between them, wrapping her arms around their naked waists.

"They're beautiful, Me… I mean Mistress," replied Jane.

"And very functional too," said Meg. "They are kind of like choke collars for girls. I guarantee that, while on a leash, you will not be resisting much."

"Come over here with me now, girls," said Meg as she turned them and led them to the couch. "Kneel now. We want to go over a few things with you." Both girls immediately lowered themselves to their knees. Jane had no idea what was going on in Emily's mind but hers was filled with excitement about the new experience and an acute fear about what Emily would decide in a week. It all seemed surrealistic to her that she now had an undetermined period of slavery ahead of her but that she found her incarceration exciting. Emily had no idea what was going through Jane's mind but hers was entertained by a combination of absolute thrill tempered by severe doubts and dreads. "What have I gotten myself into?"

"You already know how to address us," Bob spoke. "I trust that you will always do that properly. We also expect you to be posed appropriately. Many owners require that their slaves memorize dozens of positions and poses. We require only two: one for kneeling and one for standing. Meg will demonstrate your positions."

Meg slid off the couch and knelt on the floor. "Knees should be spread shoulder width. You should be kneeling upright unless you are told to relax. Then you can rest your bottoms on your heels. Your wrists should be crossed behind your back unless you are bound in some way that prevents that. And your head should be held high. We only accept proud slaves. You should always look us in the eyes. You will meet some of our friends who are offended by a slave who does not cast her eyes down but always remember that you are our property and you will obey our rules."

"Friends?!?!?!" thought Emily. "Nobody said anything about bringing others into this. Maybe I really have gotten myself in over my head."

The two girls adjusted their positions to emulate Meg. Meanwhile, she arose and started walking around her two naked charges with a riding crop, swatting a bottom that stuck back too far or lifting a chin slightly. "Simple elegance is what we are looking for here. We want you available and exposed but elegant."

Next, Jane and Emily learned their standing position. This one was also relatively simple. Their feet were to be shoulder width apart with their toes pointed forward. Heads high. Fingers laced behind their necks. Elbows back and in line with the backs of their heads. Chests arched forward as if making an offering of their breasts. They both mastered this position and were left in it as Meg sat back down beside Bob. "When you enter a room, you are always to present yourself to us. Generally, you will present yourself standing. But if we are seated and occupied in some way, such as talking with someone or working, then you should kneel before us or at our sides, whichever is most appropriate. And you should try to alternate so that we both get to enjoy both of you. Neither of us has a favorite and we intend to keep it that way. We expect that neither of you forms a favorite. You are simply property."

They learned other rules that morning. They were expected to continue to exercise. As Meg put it, "we expect our property to be well maintained." They would arise early and groom each other in time to be able to awaken their owners for breakfast. Lips and tongues were the preferred alarm clocks, they learned. They would have both inside and outside chores, which would be assigned to them daily. They were never to leave the house without permission and there was an alarm that would sound if they tried. They would be severely punished if they did try. Lastly, they were to keep themselves shaved. This was the last rule before the end of the meeting and then Meg led them to their quarters.