The Gold Mine

story

The Gold Mine - Chapter Two
by Zack
Copyright© 2002.   All rights reserved.

Notice: This is a work of fiction.  Names, places, characters, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.  Any resemblance to actual events, organizations, or persons is entirely coincidental.

Sarah wasn't feeling so forgiving after she had been confined in the dark for several more days.  The boredom was excruciating.  Desperate for something to do, she found that she could generate static electricity by rubbing the nylon cover on her sleeping bag, and she watched the sparks for hours at a time.  It was the only light she had. 

The only time that Sarah saw any bright light was when Tom brought her food and water (and an empty bucket).  He watched her while she ate the oatmeal, and it was always oatmeal.  Sarah got so tired of it that she asked him for something else. 

He replied, "Cooking is something I try to avoid, so I make a pot of chili or stew and I eat it at just about every meal for the next few days.  I'll give you some, but it all has meat in it." 

"Can't you make some without meat just for me?"  Sarah couldn't understand why he didn't answer; he just shook his head and closed her up in the dark. 

After a few more days Sarah noticed that Tom was beginning to ignore her.  His meal visits had decreased from three a day to two a day, and he didn't want to talk.  She feared that he might completely forget about her and leave her alone to die. 

And what if something happened to him?  Sarah had felt the explosion that meant Tom was blasting.  What if he made a mistake and killed himself?  She knew that she had to get him to release her or at least let her out of the mine.  Sarah thought of all the ways that Tom might be manipulated and decided that sex was the only one that was practical.  He had certainly shown that he was immune to logic and reason. 

Sarah reasoned that since Tom was an older man it was unlikely that he could find a woman on his own, and certainly not a woman as young and attractive as herself.  She knew that she could seduce him, and once he needed her for sex she could get him to do what she wanted.  This was the way it worked with Bob, her fiance, and Bob had a lot more opportunities for sex than Tom could ever hope for.  The sex act itself would be unpleasant, but Sarah could fake it like she did with Bob. 

The next time Tom brought food Sarah acted on her plan.  When he opened the secret door she was kneeling on the sleeping bag.  She kept her shirt on, but opened it down to her waist.  When Tom got close enough she grabbed the belt on his jeans. 

He said, "If you hope to overpower me and escape it won't work.  I left the padlock key outside." 

Sarah purred, "I wasn't thinking about that kind of escape."  She unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his jeans and opened the zipper.  He was wearing boxer shorts, and Sarah pulled them down and put his penis in her mouth.  Nothing happened.  All of the other men she had done this to got instant erections, but Tom stayed limp.  He wasn't that old; there should be some response.  She kept licking and sucking until he pushed her head away. 

He turned so his belly was illuminated by the dim light from the door and placed his finger near his navel.  "Do you see this scar?" he demanded. 

Sarah looked closely and she could see a scar that started just below Tom's navel and ended just above the base of his penis. "Yes, I see it.  What caused it?" 

"A few years ago a test determined that I had prostate cancer.  It's unusual for it to appear in somebody as young as I was, so by the time it was discovered it had spread so far that the surgeon had to gut me like a fish.  This included removing the nerves that control an erection.  I'm now totally and permanently impotent.  Your plan to seduce me into letting you go didn't have a chance of succeeding." 

He handed Sarah a bowl of oatmeal and left the vault.  She ate it in the dark. 

Sarah was very disappointed over the failure of her plan, but it's failure had one good effect on her; it made her realize the danger she was in.  In spite of everything, she had been thinking that her captivity was just a misunderstanding, and that Tom would soon regret what he was doing and release her.  Now she knew better.  The cable around her ankle had been replaced by the chain around her waist, and the vulture had been replaced by Tom. 

A few hours later Sarah heard a yelp and then Tom's voice.  He said, "Watch your head, Sheriff.  It's a low ceiling.  This is an old tunnel I use as a storeroom.  Do you want to search it?" 

A rescuer had arrived at last!  Sarah screamed, "Help!  Help!  I'm in a secret room behind the shelves.  Please, get me out of here!" 

The secret door opened and Tom was standing there alone.  Sarah was confused.  She asked, "Where's the Sheriff?" 

"There's nobody here except for you and me, Sarah.  This was a test, and you failed it." 

Sarah was crushed.  She exclaimed, "That was so mean, Tom.  It was cruel to raise my hopes and then say it was just a trick.  Please, let me out of here." 

He tossed Sarah's camp moccasins to her and said, "Put these on.  We're going for a walk." 

She put them on, and then Tom produced a coil of white nylon rope and said, "Stand up and hold out your hands." 

Sarah stood up and asked, "Why are you going to tie me up?" 

"I'm going to unchain you and I don't want any escape attempts.  Now hold out your hands.  It will be easier on both of us if you do as I say." 

Sarah knew that she wouldn't have a chance in a fight, so she put her hands together and held them out.  Tom wrapped a half-dozen turns of rope around her wrists and knotted it.  Then he cinched the loops with a few tight turns between the wrists and made a final knot where Sarah couldn't reach it with her teeth.  He unlocked the padlock and she was free of the chain at last. 

Tom held the free end of the rope close to Sarah's wrists and gave a tug.  She followed him through the storeroom and into the tunnel.  He turned away from the mine entrance and headed in the other direction. 

Sarah stopped walking and exclaimed, "You're going the wrong way.  The entrance is the other way." 

"I know.  We're going to the cavern at the end of the drift." 

"Why are we going there?" 

"You'll find out.  Now come along."  He tugged on the rope and she followed him into the mountain. 

When they got to the cavern Sarah asked, "Now will you tell me why we're here?" 

"I told you not to talk unless you were with me and you disobeyed me.  Now I'm going to punish you, and this cavern is the only place in the mine where there's enough room to swing the whip." 

"Whip!  You can't mean that. I don't want to be whipped!" 

"What should I do, lock you in a closet?  I want to be sure that you understand how serious I am about the no talking rule.  That means that I have to punish you harshly, and whipping you is the only way to do it." 

Sarah couldn't believe that Tom would really whip her.  He wasn't even carrying a whip.  Even when he ran the rope through an eyebolt high on a timber support post and pulled until she was standing on her toes Sarah was sure he was just trying to scare her.  Her wrists were starting to hurt, and she looked up at them and wondered how long it would be before Tom decided she was frightened enough. 

Tom had forgotten to take off Sarah's shirt before he tied her up.  Obviously, one did not become an expert torturer without some practice.  It still left her butt and legs as available targets.  He tied the shirttail around her waist to keep it out of the way. 

Tom had made a whip out of an old flat rubber belt that had been used to drive some pulleys in the processing plant.  He cut a piece of the belt about three feet long and fastened one end to a short wooden handle.  He didn't know how effective it would be, but he thought it would at least sting. 

Sarah didn't see Tom swing the whip, so the excruciating pain in her bottom took her by surprise.  Once she had been paddled as part of a sorority initiation, but that was nothing compared to the deep thudding pain caused by the blow from Tom's whip.  There was a red and swollen welt across her bottom.  She gasped and jerked and tried to pull her hands loose from the rope. 

The next blow hit her across the back of her thighs and amplified the pain.  She groaned and twisted, dancing at the end of the rope. 

The third stroke was between the first two, and Tom hit her harder.  She screamed, and he got into a rhythm then, with each blow followed by another scream.  Tom didn't count the number of strokes, he just kept hitting Sarah until he noticed that she had stopped screaming and was hanging from her wrists. 

Tom was shocked.  He hadn't intended to damage Sarah, and now he was afraid that he'd killed her.  He was relieved when he saw that she was still breathing.  He released the rope and lowered her to the floor.  The whip had caused a lot more damage than he had expected; Sarah's backside from her waist to her knees was red and swollen. 

Tom was just glad there wasn't any blood.  Judging by her screams, he had inflicted a lot of pain.  He thought about what he had done, and then he realized that he had enjoyed it. 

Tom decided to postpone any analysis of his inner being until he had taken care of Sarah.  Her hands were dark red so he untied them.  It was obvious that she wasn't going to be able to walk any time soon, but Tom wanted to get her back in the vault. 

There were a couple of planks left over from the construction of the ore chute; Tom put them on top of the ore car and balanced Sarah on the planks.  Then he pushed the car to the storeroom and carried her into the vault.  He put her on top of her sleeping bag and locked the chain around her neck; he didn't want it to touch the welts.  Sarah had moaned a few times, but she was still unconscious. 

Tom made a quick trip to the trailer and returned with a blanket and an assortment of medicine.  He covered Sarah with the blanket and waited for her to regain consciousness by herself.   It was about ten minutes before she started to stir.  She moaned and then cried out when she tried to move.  "It hurts.  It hurts so bad."  He helped her raise her head enough to swallow a sleeping pill and a cup of water and waited a few minutes until she was asleep. 

As Tom watched Sarah he thought about what he had felt during the whipping.   He had experienced a sense of power and control that was so intense it shocked him.  He knew it would be very easy to let that feeling overwhelm him, and if it did he might whip her until she was dead.  Tom resolved to be careful the next time he punished her. 

Tom looked in on Sarah every few hours and gave her more pills, but it was the next day before he talked to her.  On his previous visits she had been asleep or unresponsive, so when he saw that she was awake he asked her if she would like some food. 

She replied, "Yes, please." 

There was no trace of her former arrogance.  Tom went to the trailer and returned with a bowl of stew.  He had picked out all of the chunks of meat, and she took it without comment.  She ate it standing up, because her backside was a massive purple bruise that went from her waist to her knees. 

When Sarah finished eating she handed Tom the bowl and lay back down on her belly and covered herself with the blanket.  He had expected her to complain or demand something, but she closed her eyes without saying a word. 

The next morning Tom was working in the processing plant when the gate alarm started flashing; he had rigged up a detector so he would know whenever the gate in the fence was opened.  He looked out the window and tensed up when he saw a pickup truck painted Forest Service green stop outside.  Tom shut down the plant and went outside to greet the visitor. 

The Ranger had gotten out of his truck and was looking around.  He was wearing the Forest Service uniform and a pistol in a holster on his belt, so Tom knew he was a law enforcement officer. 

The Ranger said, "Hi, I'm Bill Sherwood.  Is this your mine?" 

"It belongs to the Ishtar Mining Company, but I'm the manager.  My name is Tom Williams." 

"We're looking for a missing hiker.  Have you seen this woman?"  He showed Tom a picture of Sarah. 

Tom pretended to study it while calling upon the skill learned during a lifetime of poker playing to keep his face blank.  He replied, "No, I haven't seen her.  What makes you think she came this way?" 

"She told people that she planned to visit old mines in this area." 

Tom shook his head.  "She's probably at the bottom of some mine shaft or buried in a tunnel cave-in.  Old mines are incredibly dangerous." 

"Yes, I know.  I don't think there's much chance of finding her alive, but we have to do all we can.  Say, could you show me your mine?  I've never been in one before." 

Tom wondered if Sherwood was really interested in mining or if this was a pretext for a search.  Either way, if he refused it was going to look bad. 

With no more that an instant of delay Tom said, "Sure, I can give you the tour.  I'm ready for a coffee break, so let's start at my trailer.  Would you like some coffee?" 

They entered the trailer and while Tom was pouring the coffee Sherwood unobtrusively examined any place big enough to contain a person.  Now Tom knew this was going to be a search. 

After they finished the coffee Tom gave Sherwood a tour of the mine.  He was several inches taller than Tom, so he had to hunch way over in the tunnel. When they reached the cavern Tom saw that the eyebolt he'd used to tie up Sarah was still in place, but Sherwood didn't appear to notice it. 

On the way back out Sherwood stopped by the door to the storeroom and asked, "What's in here?" 

"Mining supplies.  I keep explosives in here, among other things." 

"I'd like to take a look." 

"Sure."  Tom opened the door, turned on the light, and said.  "Watch your head.  The ceiling is low in here."  This was it.  If Sarah started screaming now it was all over.  Tom momentarily considered attacking Sherwood if that happened, but that would be futile.  He had twenty years and forty pounds on Tom, and a pistol as well. 

Sarah had slept as much as she could, so she didn't know how long she was alone in the dark with her pain before she heard Tom's voice coming from the storeroom.  He made it sound like there was somebody with him, but he couldn't fool her again.  She remembered what he told her.  She closed her eyes and put her hands over her mouth. 

Sherwood visually inspected the room, but he didn't open any of the cupboards or boxes.  That was good for Tom, because he'd hidden Sarah's backpack in an empty box.  Sherwood looked around, but as there wasn't any visible place for a person to be hidden they left the room and went out to the mine entrance. 

Tom took Sherwood to the processing plant, but he just looked it over from the doorway.  Tom walked with Sherwood to the truck and waved goodbye as it drove off.  He waited until it was out of sight before he gave a sigh of relief. 

After a while Sarah could move without too much pain and things returned to normal, if spending nearly 24 hours a day alone in the dark was the norm.  The chain was still locked around her neck.  This made her feel like an animal, but it didn't interfere with her movement any more than the chain around her waist had done.  She still couldn't reach the door even when she stretched to the end of her tether. 

Sarah had reached the end of her tether mentally, too.  She had given up any hope that Tom would release her, and she couldn't take many more days alone in the dark.  Sarah was willing to do anything he asked if he would just take her out of the vault.  Since sex wasn't of any use to Tom the only other thing she could do was work. 

When Tom brought her food Sarah begged, "Please, please, let me out of here.  I'll do whatever you ask, but I can't stand being shut up alone in the dark.   Please!" 

"All right.  I can let you out of the vault.  I need some time to get ready, though." 

Sarah had expected a refusal, and his agreement was a surprise.  She knew Tom wouldn't release her, but she figured there might be a chance to escape if she were outside. 

After a while Tom returned.  He gave Sarah her socks and boots and told her to put them on.  Then he tied Sarah's hands in front with the same rope he'd used before and unlocked the chain on her neck.  He pulled her towards the door.  The memory of the whipping was so strong that Sarah panicked and resisted. 

He tugged on the rope and said, "Move it.  You're the one who wants out of here." 

"Are you going to whip me?  Please don't whip me again!  I'll do anything you want." 

"I'm not going to whip you.  Not now anyhow.  Let's go!  If you can't obey better than this I'm going to keep you in the vault." 

This threat was enough to get Sarah into the tunnel.  She was still afraid of the whip, but she couldn't stand any more time in the vault.  Sarah didn't resist as Tom led her back to the cavern.  The ore car was there and Tom had bolted a chain to its side.  He padlocked the free end of the chain around Sarah's neck and untied her hands. 

He said, "You're going to be a mine pony.  When the ore car is full you'll push it to the processing plant, dump it, and bring it back for another load." 

He pointed to the ore chute.  "I built that bin on top of the chute so I have a place to put the ore while you're dumping the car.  I'll show you.  Push the car under the end of the chute." 

Sarah got behind the car and pushed.  It moved easily on the track.  When it was in place Tom opened the end of the bin and ore fell down the chute and filled the car.  She closed her eyes, put her fingers in her ears, and stopped breathing until the dust settled.  Tom climbed down the chute and moved Sarah in back of the car and put her hands on the rim. 

He commanded, "Push!" 

The ore was heavy, and Sarah had to strain to get the car moving.  Once it was rolling she kept it moving until the track started to go slightly uphill.  Sarah kept pushing for a hundred feet or so and then she stopped to rest.  She was bent over, resting her head on the rim of the car.  Tom walked up behind her.  He hit her bottom with a strap and she screamed and straightened up. 

"Get moving!  Put your hands on the car and push." 

The command was followed by another blow.  Sarah screamed again and frantically struggled to get the car moving.  Tom followed close behind her as she pushed the car along the track, and every time she slowed he hit her with the strap.  When they finally reached the end of the track Sarah fell to her hands and knees and gasped for air. 

Tom let her rest for a few minutes before he commanded, "Get up.  Watch how I dump the load."  He moved a lever on the side of the car and the ore fell out the bottom and into the hopper of the processing plant.  He had Sarah move the lever until he was sure she knew how it worked. 

The shed they were in now was just a metal roof over the track, with corrugated steel side walls that were about eight feet high.  There was a two foot gap between the roof and the top of the walls and Sarah could see the sky.  She started to cry.  Seeing the sky after all those days in the dark made her loss of freedom so painful she couldn't help it.  But Sarah felt a glimmer of hope.  If she was going to be on her own when she moved the ore car there might be a chance to escape.  If someone happened to be outside they could hear her if she called for help. 

Another blow from the strap brought Sarah back to the bleak reality of her present existence.  Tom pushed her to the other end of the ore car and told her to move.  He walked back into the mine and she followed.  Pushing the empty car was much easier. 

When they got back in the cavern Tom explained Sarah's new life as a pony.  "While you're dumping the ore I'll be loading the bin.  When I was doing both jobs it took me about the same amount of time for each, so when the bin is full I expect you to have the car back here." 

He held up his watch.  "If you're not here I'll start timing you.  For every minute or part of a minute you're late you'll get one lash with the whip.  But I'm fair.  If you're back before the bin is full I'll subtract a lash.  The whipping won't happen until all of the loose ore is moved." 

Tom continued, "Every pony needs a bit.  Open your mouth."  He had made a bit by bolting perforated metal straps to the ends of a wooden dowel, and he forced it into Sarah's mouth and padlocked the straps together behind her head.  "This will keep you from shouting at anybody who might pass by outside the mine." 

The dowel was almost an inch in diameter and it kept Sarah's mouth wedged open.  She could breathe and make noises, but she couldn't talk.  Sarah tried to plead with Tom to take out the bit, but she couldn't make words and he ignored her. 

Sarah sat down and waited until Tom had filled the bin, and then moved the car under the chute.  When the ore was in the car she moved behind it and started to push it out of the mine.  She quickly tired and really wanted to stop and rest, but she was so afraid of the whip that she kept moving.  She finally reached the end of the track and dumped the ore. 

As soon as the car was empty Sarah pushed it back into the mine.  She moved as fast as she could, but when she got back into the cavern Tom was leaning on his shovel. 

He said, "You're over two minutes late, so you've earned three lashes.  At this rate I'll have to whip you front and back to have room for them all."  He took an piece of chalk and made three lines on the wall. 

When Sarah heard this her stomach lurched with fear.  She had to fight not to throw up.  Sarah was so shaky that she could barely push the car under the chute, but once the ore had been loaded she managed to get the car moving down the track.  Sarah walked as fast as she could, but she was still tired from the previous trip and had to slow down before she reached the end of the track.  She dumped the ore and ran back into the mine. 

When Sarah reached the cavern she was so tired that she dropped to her hands and knees and gasped for breath.  Tom said something but Sarah didn't listen, so she was shocked when she looked up and found he had marked up four more lashes.  When Sarah saw this she put her face in her hands and sobbed.  Tom climbed down the chute and patted her on the back.  He unlocked the bit and offered her a cup of water.  Sarah's jaw was sore, but she was able to drink. 

Tom pushed the car under the end of the chute and loaded the ore.  Then he locked the bit back into Sarah's mouth and helped her to stand up.  He led her to the ore car, slapped her bottom, and said "Giddy-up".  Sarah pushed the car into motion and started another agonizing trip. 

Hours later when the last load of ore was dumped there were a total of thirty nine lines chalked up on the cavern wall.  Sarah was sick with fear, trembling and shaking.  When Tom tied her hands and took out the bit she knelt and begged him not to whip her. 

Sarah was crying so hard she could barely speak "Please, please don't whip me.  I went as fast as I could." 

Tom was merciless.  "I'm sorry I have to whip you, but I told you what the rules were.  Now you have to suffer the consequences."  He unchained Sarah and half-carried her to the support timber and tied her hands up over her head. 

"I'll go easy on you.  Instead of the whip I'll use the strap." 

He immediately hit Sarah across her right hip.  The strap didn't have the thudding impact of the whip, but the pain was just about as bad.  Sarah screamed. 

She screamed after each blow.  Sarah didn't know if he gave her thirty nine lashes or not, because the pain drove everything else out of her mind.  She didn't faint this time.  Tom left her tied up for a while after the whipping was over.  When he finally let her down Sarah's hands were numb and she couldn't walk. 

Tom loaded Sarah onto the ore car, wheeled her back to the storeroom door, and carried her into the vault.  He put her onto the sleeping bag and locked the chain around her neck before he untied her.  Sarah lay on her stomach and sobbed in the dark. 

After Tom closed the vault door he thought about what he had done.  He knew that he had lied to Sarah.  He wasn't sorry that he whipped her.  The animal part of him enjoyed every stroke, enjoyed seeing every red line spring up on her body, enjoyed hearing her scream.  And the human part felt sick. 

He said to himself, "What have I become, or was I always like this?  I knew that she wouldn't be able to move fast enough to keep up with me.  The pretense that she was being punished was just a rationalization to allow me to pretend I'm not a monster." 

* * * 

Story copyright© 2002 by Zack.  All rights reserved.
I welcome your comments.  Email me at zack_writer@hotmail. com
 
 

18/04/02

story continues in The Gold Mine

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