At the Home of Abused Women, Julia struggled with a decision.
"Here, why I don't help you get into your clothes." Ellen offered. "I bet that ankle still hurts pretty bad."
Julia watched Ellen get up from the foot of the bed, picking up the stack of clothing she had brought to her. She made a look of doubt when Ellen unfolded the white button shirt and dark blue skirt, laying them on the bed, and then holding the pair of panties and bra in her hands.
"Do you know where Angela took Lara?" Julia asked.
"Not really. But I can ask Angela." Ellen answered.
"Will you?"
"Sure."
Ellen put the panties and bra on the bed and walked away out of the room.
Julia watched and then threw the blanket off of her, partially covering up the clothing and exposing her naked body. She carefully moved her ankle, testing her range of motion. She winced at the pain. Once again, looking across the room at the doorway, she swung her body around and hung her legs off the bed. She attempted to put weight on them.
She took in some deep breaths, and used her hands and arms to carefully push her body up into a standing position. Her leg buckled from the pain, but managed to stand up putting most of the weight on the other leg. She tried a few steps. It was very painful, but she was able to walk, albeit slowly.
"Julia?" Angela spoke, entering the room with Ellen.
"Hi." Julia said, expressing discomfort on her face.
"Hey, take it easy!" Ellen said. "Sit back down, and don't hurt yourself."
"No, it's okay. Maybe it's not really broke. Maybe it's just sprained." Julia reasoned.
"Well, you better not let Dora or Miss Woodrow see you standing!" Ellen added.
"I think I want to get out of here before the Sheriff gets here." Julia explained. "Can you take me to Lara?"
"What?" Ellen asked.
Angela looked exasperated, as if put in a tough spot. "She's supposed to be at my aunt's house. But I don't think you're going to make it there right now. There's Deputies out there already waiting for Sheriff to get here."
"Is there someplace I can hide in here?"
Angela made shook her head, making a half-smile. "Nah. Not here. Miss Woodrow has this whole place locked down against boys and drugs and you name it. You can't hide anything here."
"I'm not going back!" Julia insisted.
"Here... Put your clothes on. Maybe we can get you out the kitchen and into the back. You'll have to hike back up the creek on your own though. That won't get you to my aunt's house, but it will least hide you for a day or two if you can get back deep into the woods."
"I'm not putting those clothes on." Julia swore.
"You're going to have to. If anyone around here sees a naked girl, they'll know it's you right away."
"Fine, but just the shirt and skirt. Skip the bra and panties."
Both Angela and Ellen managed conceal Julia in between them as the three walked slowly out of the room. Julia sucked up the pain and did her best to walk gingerly on her sprained ankle without making a scene. The girls had to walk down stairs, past a living room where several other girls socialized, and then through a hallway into the kitchen, and out the back door.
"I'll go into the wood with you Julia!" Ellen offered.
"Don't you dare!" Angela warned. "Dora already knows you've been with her. She'll tell Sheriff."
"Sheriff ain't going to do anything to me!" Ellen said, waving her hand. "He's known me since I was a baby."
Julia continued hobbling slowly away from the back of the Home, back towards the stream where she and Lara had originally come from.
"You just tell Dora and Miss Woodrow you don't know anything!" Ellen said, looking back at Angela. "I'll get her over to Lucy's!"
***
Lara opened her eyes and could see nothing. It was pitch black. She had fallen asleep and now had no sense of what time it was. She could only feel the soft fabric of the couch underneath her naked body.
Lara remembered there were candles and kerosene lamps, but could no longer find them in such darkness, let alone find matches. She sat up and looked around. She could see only black.
Standing up, she felt her way around. She knew where the front door was, and sought to find it, carefully putting her hands out front, and talking short steps. She felt the cold pot bellied stove in front of her and knew the front door was on the other side.
When she found it, she opened it up, and could see only the night sky filled with stars, and a black outline of hills. She was pinpoints of lights across the lake. Carefully, stepping out of the door, she walked straight ahead, hoping not to step on anything sharp. She got out enough of a way, and squatted down to pee.
The night air was cool, but not too cold. There was still no sign of Lucy.
Slowly and carefully walking back into the house, Lara found her way back to the couch, and laid down. She thought of Julia again, and recalled the precious moments of when they made love. She began touching her clitoris, and closed her eyes thinking of her.
Years ago, when she was 13, in her last of year of middle school, she recalled the time when she and Teresa slept in the tent at the nudist camp.
Teresa's mother originally didn't approve of tent-camping, knowing full well that the two girls would spend the night touching each other in the privacy of their confines. But yet she was wary of Teresa testing her tolerance, and by this age Teresa had grown nearly as tall and was far more agile as her mother. Her mother often relented to Teresa's aggression, taking the belief that Teresa was better off having sex with a girl than risk pregnancy. And she was also more interested in Teresa growing up liberated than having to fall prey to an abusive man like her ex-husband.
Lara and Teresa zipped their sleeping bags together and crawled inside. They giggled as while they played together. Teresa immediately took control. Teresa loved the idea of controlling Lara's reactions. She experimented with ways to tease her, manipulate her, and make her either beg for more or beg to stop. Teresa loved power, and Lara was willing to submit to it.
Inside the sleeping bag was pitch black. Lara only knew Teresa was in charge and could not tell what she was up to. It was her best guess as to what Teresa would do next, and her responsibility to accept it.
Resting on the couch inside the cinder block house in full darkness evoked a similar feeling. Lara could see no clutter, only darkness, and the darkness created an empty, lonely space. Lara opened her eyes to find herself rubbing her clitoris more aggressively. She had become wet, and was now intent on finishing the deed.
"What the Hell is going on!" cried out an elderly lady, pointing a flashlight at the couch where Lara laid.
Lucy had finally arrived home.
Lara had her fingers buried into labia as her body twitched in orgasm and her voice heaving in moans, yet at the same she tried controlling herself knowing someone had walked in. Lucy kept her flashlight pointed at Lara and watched in amazement to see a naked girl writhing in her home.
"Are you alright Miss?" Lucy asked.
Lara sat up, but still couldn't control the twitching of her muscles and the contractions in her vagina. She found herself putting fingers back between her labia, and then pulling them back out of modesty, seemingly unable to control her reactions.
"Oh Dear Lord." Lucy spoke in disgust. "Who the Hell are you, and why are you in my house?"
Lara settled down, yet still breathing hard and twitching. She put her hands on her head and looked down, as the twitching became fewer are far between.
Seeing Lara was still trying to gather herself, Lucy opted to put her bags away.
"I was told by Angela that it was OK I could stay here." Lara explained.
"Angela told you that?" Lucy said walking to the cupboard and pulling out a box of matches. "How do you know Angela?"
"I was at Miss Woodrow's House, and Angela called her Annette to have me taken here. She said you wouldn't mind."
"Miss Woodrow? Who the Hell is she?"
"I don't know, I guess she owns a house for abused women."
Lucy lit up a few candles and illuminated the room.
"What, were you raped or something?"
"No, I had a friend with me who needed help, and we went to her house."
"OK, so explain to me why you need to be somewhere safe, when you were already at a house for abused women?"
"Because the police were after me. Look, it's a really long story, and I just need a safe place to stay and I was told it would be OK with you that I stay here."
"Well that all depends on your story, Hun. You better start from the beginning."
Lara took in a deep breath, and began telling Lucy her goal of going to California fully nude with no money and no possessions. Meanwhile, Lucy spent her time lighting the pot bellied stove and making a couple cups of tea.
"So then you're a nudist, you're a young girl, and you're traveling alone in the middle of the Appalachians. That don't sound very smart, now don't it?"
"Well, I guess not." Lara murmured.
Lara felt defeated. Lucy was no pushover, and was not going to settle for some kind of generalized answer from Lara. Lucy took charge in getting the facts and understanding what was going on. It started conjuring the sense of submission and subservience in Lara. It didn't take much for her to regard Lucy as a parent-figure.
"OK. You're welcome to stay here. I could certainly use the company. But you're going to have to do some work around here."
"That's fine, I'd be glad to!"
"Just remember, this is my house. I make the rules here. If you cross me I'll kick you right out!"
"Yes Ma'am."
"OK. Well, you'll have to just sleep on that couch."
Suddenly, Lara's attitude of being independent and self-reliant had flown out the window. Having been caught masturbating by Lucy somehow made her feel guilty and small. She was now placing an importance in obeying Lucy's wishes, and felt afraid of upsetting her. Lucy's command and dominance had an eerie familiarity that conjured up the six-year old girl inside Lara.
