The Adventures of Jessie and Lizzie: The Knightlings
Chapter 1. "The Dangers of Wallingford College for Young Ladies"
by Skytower
Lizzie couldn't believe she had a tan. It wasn't that she couldn't get a tan. She could but she usually got sunburned. Lizzie's skin was pale, ultra-white really. The pale skin and the dark hair was her and her sister Jessie's trademark. It had given them instant acknowledgment in the Goth community, back when they had lived in the land of the giants. Back when they were giants themselves.
"Lizzie?" Jessie asked.
Lizzie looked up at her sister, which for her was very much like looking in a mirror. Jessie had the same sharp features and hazel eyes. Jessie's nose was only a little smaller; just a little. They were twins and as a rule dressed alike. Today they were each wearing long sleeveless black tunics belted at the waist with a red sash. The tunics had square collars with red designs embroidered into them. Lizzie and Jessie made everyone's clothes in Dollopolis and were very proud of that.
"I've got a tan." Lizzie said looking at her arm. "How can I get a tan from a fake sun?"
Jessie followed her gaze and the looked into the sky. The sky of Dollopolis wasn't a real sky, just a projection of what the real sky looked like. It had clouds and a sun, but it didn't hurt if you looked at the sun.
"Lizzie." Monica called. "You two ok up there?"
"Yea." Lizzie called back. She plucked an apple and tossed it down to her. "I got distracted."
Monica caught the apple and put it into a basket. Tanning wasn't something she had to worry about; her dark skin made it impossible. Beside her Snowbelle caught the apple that Jessie threw down. They were wearing the same style tunics as Jessie and Lizzie, but with the colors reversed.
Lizzie pulled her mind back to her task and leapt over to the next branch, gripping it with her toes. The apple trees weren't really apple trees, well they were but they weren't. Nothing in Dollopolis was quite the same as it would have been in the Giant's world. The apple trees that Lizzie and Jessie moved through like Tarzan stood ten feet high, which may not have sounded that large to a normal person, but no commoner in Dollopolis stood more than a foot tall.
Lizzie picked another apple and looked at it. It had the shape and the red/green color of a real apple, but this apple was scaled for Dollopolis. She knew it would taste like a real apple; but Lizzie sometimes wondered if that was only because she was tiny.
"How many more you need?" Jessie called down.
"I think we got enough now!" Monica called back.
"You ready for the test?" Snowbelle called.
"Yea!" Lizzie called back. She wasn't really ready but she wasn't about to say no either. Test were dangerous, saying no to them was even more dangerous.
Jessie handed her a backpack and Lizzie strapped it on. They flipped cards to decide who tested Snowbelle's gadgets and Lizzie had lost. Jessie attached a tube to the backpack and strapped it along her sister's arm. Then she attached a glove to the end of the tube and helped her sister fit her hand into it. The glove was oversized and stiff, it was nearly impossible for Lizzie to make a fist. But if it worked like it was supposed to she wouldn't need to make one.
"Ready?" Jessie asked.
"Ready." Lizzie said making sure the strap was secure.
Jessie turned a switch on the tube and a thick black liquid started to flow along it. Lizzie slapped her hand against a branch, waited until she saw the black liquid flow through the glove and onto the branch and then took a deep breath. Then she jumped backward off of the branch and gravity took hold of her.
It doesn’t matter how small you are; when you are falling you are falling. Lizzie's heartbeat sounded loud in her ears and her stomach seemed to drop slower than the rest of her body. But she kept her eye on the black liquid and she didn't scream. It trailed along above her and she watched as it turned white and solid. When the liquid in the backpack was exhausted Lizzie felt a tug on her arm. For a moment or two she thought it would work. The liquid had congealed into string and she felt her momentum slow as the string stretched. Then she felt a snap as the string broke and she was falling again. Lizzie screamed as she fell. It didn't matter that she wasn't high enough up to be killed, or that any injury she would suffer would be healed almost over night. What mattered was that she was high off of the ground and falling. Lizzie squeezed her eyes shut and got ready to scream again.
"Easy dear." A cultured voice said and Lizzie felt a warm hand catch her and slowly lower her to the ground. Lizzie got her breath back and let her body relax.
"Thank you milady." She said opening her eyes.
"You're welcome." Duchess Simone said. She reached into the tree and plucked out Jessie. For a moment she held the tiny girl in her hands, then she put her on the ground by her sister.
No commoner in Dollopolis was more than a foot tall. Duchess Simone could be any size she wished. At the moment she stood at her normal height, towering over the trees. She stood on the inside of the U-shaped platform that held the shrunken duchy. Sometimes Lizzie wondered what Dollopolis looked like to her. She could see all of the houses, the rivers and trees; Simone towered over the mountains. Well, not over them but close to it. As usual she looked beautiful. She wore a sleeveless V-neck gown of deep violet that showed well against her pale skin. Deep hazel eyes looked out from a round face that was framed by shoulder length red hair.
"I can't figure out what went wrong this time milady." Snowbelle said. She stamped her foot on the ground. "It should work."
"You'll get it sooner or later Snowbelle." Simone said. "But for now it must be later, it is getting late. You had best return to your pyramid."
"Yes Milady." Snowbelle said. She curtsied and hurried away.
Lizzie bit back the comment that she wanted to make. They all called Simone 'milady', but Snowbelle always had to add that curtsy. It was dumb. Well… maybe not dumb, but it singled Snowbelle out in Simone's eyes and Lizzie was jealous. The slight stiffening of her sister's body told Lizzie that Jessie felt the same way. They were Simone's favorites and no one else had better get any ideas. She hid her anger while struggling out of the back pack.
At least she isn't here all the time, Lizzie thought.
Snowbelle was unique, even for Dollopolis. When she was awake in Dollopolis her normal sized body was asleep in the land of the giants, when that body was asleep she was awake in her tiny body. When she was awake in her giant body she didn't remember Dollopolis at all. She seemed to enjoy the split life.
"Monica be a dear and put the gadget in Snowbelle's workshop." Simone said. It was both a request and an order.
"Yes milady." Monica said.
"Still working on the recipe?" Simone asked.
"I think I got it this time milady." Monica said. "I think the problem was in the sugar I grew, not the apples."
"Well keep trying." Simone said. "I'm looking forward to the time that Dollopolis can feed itself once more."
Monica nodded.
She really didn't have a clue, Lizzie thought. Neither did Snowbelle really. Monica believed the false history of Dollopolis; the story that the duchy was from another world. She and Snowbelle had never seen the Giant's that had created the place.
"Jessie, Lizzie, clean yourselves up and meet me in the castle." Simone said. "You have things to do."
"Yes milady." Lizzie said and was echoed a moment later by her sister.
Simone turned and quickly was out of sight.
"See ya later." Monica said heading off.
"We hope." Lizzie muttered. 'Things to do' might mean a mission, and missions were dangerous.
Jessie wasn't sure of some things. She never had been and had gotten used to the idea that she never would be. She wasn't sure if she liked Simone better as a giant or as someone who stood at the same height as she did. As a giant Simone allowed Jessie and Lizzie to roam around her nude body and played with their shrunken bodies. It was the best sex Jessie had ever had. Simone was skillful enough to keep her aroused and engaged for hours, sometimes for entire nights. They had once started as the sun had set and finished when it had risen again. The Simone who was a giant now, who was carrying Jessie and Lizzie in her hands; that Simone was someone who made Jessie feel safe and loved. But above all else safe.
But the other side of things was Simone when she stood at the same height. The Simone who taught Jessie and her sister how to dance, formal dancing like they did in the movies. The one who was teaching them to play the piano and the harp and when they ate together told them the difference between a big fork and a tiny salad fork. That Simone was less a lover and more of a big sister when she was like that. Jessie wasn't sure which Simone she loved more.
Jessie was sure of a few things though. She was sure that Simone loved her and her sister. That love was something Jessie had never really known in her life. Their mother had abandoned her and her sister at an early age and their father had treated them like slaves. Simone had never hit either of them and had never yelled at them. Jessie was sure that if anything ever happened to Simone that she and Lizzie would curl up and die.
Simone carried them both into a large library and put them down on a round table. Seated around the table were the four most terrifying people Jessie had ever met. She and her sister called them 'The Giants'. Three women, one man. Deborah and Delilah Pennytorch were twins. They had long blonde/brown hair and it framed sharp aristocratic faces. They wore light blue summer dresses that sharpened the curves on their slim bodies. Beside them sat Molly Dolemont and the sight of her sent a shudder through Jessie. Molly was smaller and rounder than the twins were. Her hair was black and she wore it cut short. She wore a bright red pair of overalls with a T-shirt. Beside her was Tremont Coach. He was solid, with slick black hair and dark eyes. Tremont wore a blue shirt with jeans.
Jessie was relieved when Simone sat down in the chair behind her and her sister. If Jessie and Lizzie were going to be punished Simone would leave them and go. That she was staying meant that they had a protector. Jessie wasn't sure how far Simone could protect them, but since they had moved into Dollopolis there had been no punishment from the Giants.
"You two have surprised us." Delilah said. She didn't say it with any menace; in fact there was a calm expression on her face. Still Jessie and Lizzie moved closer together. If the four people in front of them were terrifying Delilah went beyond even that.
"When we took the two of you we didn't really think you were capable of much beyond lift and carry instructions." Deborah said.
"Your first mission for us was a disaster." Molly said.
"If it hadn't been for Officer Dolly we would have left you there." Tremont finished.
Jessie swallowed. They talked like that all of the time; one after another. Jessie had the feeling that there was one gigantic brain that they all shared. These were the four people who had taken Jessie and her sister and had shrunk them. They did things that the twins had never dreamed of. Jessie wasn't even sure if they were really human.
"But" Delilah said "On your last mission you both did well."
"And your training missions have gone well." Deborah said.
Jessie relaxed a little bit. The training missions hadn't been so bad. Officer Dolly- her real name was Merry, only the Giant's called her Officer Dolly-had taken them into schools and office buildings and taught them how and when to move to keep out of sight. They had used the air ducts at first, but then she had taught them how to hide behind counters or under shelves or chairs, or anyplace handy. They weren't as good as she was, but they had only gotten caught once. Luckily it had been an elementary school and Merry had saved them.
"So you have evolved." Molly said.
"We didn't think you could. Simone however seems to think you can go even further."
Lizzie raised her hand and Delilah nodded.
"We can be Knights mistress?"
Delilah glanced at her sister and smiled. The smile was unreadable, as was the look in Delilah's intense blue eyes.
"You might be that someday." Delilah said.
"For now we are classifying you as 'Knightlings'. Deborah said. "When Simone feels that you have proven yourselves then you will be fully fledged Knights of Dollopolis."
Jessie grabbed her sister's hand before it could be raised again and gave her a warning look. She knew what Lizzie was going to ask; she was going to ask if being a Knight came with any rewards. They could ask Simone that later. You never, never asked the Giant's that sort of question. Lizzie nodded and let her hand fall.
"Your first solo mission will be your first solid step in that direction." Delilah said not commenting on the almost-question.
"It should be simple enough." Molly said.
"But then we said that about your first mission." Tremont said.
"That was before Merry's training." Simone said.
"Yes it was." Deborah said. She waved her hand and pictures appeared in the air above them. "And it was her suggestion that we give you a full briefing on the mission before you go."
There were twenty pictures in the air. Five rows and four columns. At the top of each row was an old painting of a man or a woman. Jessie wasn't sure how old, her knowledge of history didn't go that far. It looked to her like the costumes she had seen in the Robin Hood movie with Douglas Fairbanks. Each row after that seemed to advance in years, going from paintings to black and white pictures of people.
"These pictures" Delilah said as the first row of pictures suddenly acquired a bright green border, "were of some of the greatest movers and shakers of 16th and 17th century England."
"Great minds, high energy and a great passion for changing the world." Molly said.
"They helped form the empire, though very few remember them now." Tremont said.
"Each one of them was of noble blood." Deborah said. "Do either of you know what that means?"
"They were rich mistress?" Jessie answered.
"Close." Deborah said. "Simone?"
"It is very simple dears." Simone said as Jessie and Lizzie turned to her. "To become a noble you either have to born of a noble family or acquire so much power that you earn a title. The son of a king is a prince, but the first king of a noble line is nothing but an adventurer or fighter who gets lucky. The people in those portraits were descendants of the lucky ones."
"We have discovered in our researches a trend in such families." Delilah said. "It starts with an adventurer as Simone pointed out. The first man or woman of the family tree is capable and lucky individual. What they set out to do, they do."
"However as the generations pass the bloodline starts to fail." Molly said.
"The second generation were again movers and shakers." Tremont said as the next row was highlighted.
"By the third generation things had started to decline." Deborah said. "Instead of lives of purpose the sons and daughters started to live lives of indulgence. They did nothing to build on what their ancestors had built; they simply lived off of it like parasites. They did still work in government, but their work was not up the level of their great grandparents."
"But they still thought of themselves as superior." Delilah said. The pictures changed and moved through the generations until they stopped at modern photos. "These are all that is left of those families. Almost to a person they are useless, self centered parasites."
Delilah let her annoyance show in her voice and Jessie reached out and took hold of her sister's hand again. When Delilah was angry for any reason it was a time to be scared.
"However they do have the same genes as their ancestors." Deborah said. "With in each of them lays dormant fine minds and great potential."
"We intend to wake them up." Molly said.
"We shall make them what they should be and they shall take control of England." Tremont said.
"Under our control and guidance." Delilah said.
Jessie raised her hand and Deborah nodded.
"Isn't kinda a big job just for five of them mistress?"
"We're only four." Delilah said flatly. "And we plan to rule the world."
"The five of them are only the start." Deborah said. "They are a convenient group since they are all here."
Another picture appeared. This one showed a large Georgian style mansion.
"This is Wallingford College for Young Ladies." Molly said. "A school for the rich and landed aristocracy. All five girls go here."
"All five of them have one of these." Deborah said holding out a flat white box with a little screen. "An I-Pod."
"Their taste in music is deplorable." Delilah said. "But the useful part of it is that they listen to it incessantly. You will replace their I-Pods with duplicates that we have specially built. As they listen to these new I-Pods their minds will be subliminally changed. They will be instilled with a set of principles, morals and a high level of honor and the ambition to do right by their country."
"At the same time you will correct another of their bad habbits." Deborah said. "Each of them uses cocaine. You will administer a drug to them that will reduce their physical dependency at the same time the subliminal instructions reduce their mental dependency."
"There will also be controls in the subliminals for when we want them to do things." Molly said.
"You will sneak into the school, switch the I-Pods, administer the drugs and then return." Tremont said.
"And you will not be discovered." Delilah ordered.
Jessie swallowed. The last time Delilah had told them that in that tone of voice they had been discovered. She raised her hand and Deborah nodded.
"Will Merry be with us mistress?"
"No." Deborah said.
"Simone will take you to England in her jet. Then while she stays at Lord Bracknell's estate you two will take Thunderbird 2 to the college." Delilah said. She looked at Simone. "Lady Bracknell is expecting you?"
"Oh yes." Simone said and Jessie thought she saw something in Simone's face. Hesitation? At the mention of the name there was a definite dark moment on Simone's face. It was gone quickly. "We haven't seen each other in some time, but she sounded happy to hear from me."
"Good." Deborah said. "Then this should all go smoothly."
Jessie felt her heart sink. Merry had always told them that when anyone said something was going to be easy it was going to turn out to be hard.
One of the perks of having a private jet was that you could furnish it any way you wanted to. In Simone's case that had meant pink shag carpeting, a hot tub and bed and across from the bed a HD flat screen TV. Jessie liked it better than she did the cockpit of Thunderbird 2. What she liked best about the bed was lying on top of Simone and watching cartoons. Simone lay on the bed; her head propped up against some pillows. She was completely nude and lying against her breasts were Lizzie and Jessie. They were nude too. They lay between her breasts, with Lizzie's head on one and Jessie's head on another. Both of their hands were above their heads and hanging onto one of Simone's nipples. Jessie loved Simone's nipples. They were pink, not red like hers were and the extended knob could be held onto (as she was doing now), taken fully into her mouth or between her legs. Simone munched popcorn and every so often handed them a kernel.
Jessie sighed as the Road Runner avoided the Coyote yet again. Above them set into ceiling was a mirror that matched the size of the bed. It had taken a while for Jessie and Lizzie to get used to the mirror. While they made love Simone would often call out 'left', but since she was looking in the mirror she meant 'right'. More than once Jessie and her sister had fallen off of Simone or ran into each other because of that.
But making love to a full size Simone was something neither of them could ever get enough of. And Jessie was sure that Simone felt the same way. The way Simone's giant tongue worked between her legs… it was more than thrilling. But all through the flight all that they had done was watch cartoons.
"Milady can I ask you something?" Jessie asked.
"Yes." Simone said.
"Are you worried about us?"
"A little." Simone said. "I have faith in you dears, but you know what Merry says about missions."
"Never be sure you're going to come back." Lizzie quoted.
"But it's more than that." Jessie said. "Isn't it milady? I mean… I…"
"It's alright Jessie." Simone said. "You're not prying really. You see I have my own mission."
Simone sighed for a moment and Jessie let herself press into the giant woman's breast. She could hear Simone's steady heartbeat when Simone breathed deeply and Jessie loved the sound. Simone's lungs were like huge echo chambers and for a moment Jessie was sure that she was falling into her mistress and would stay there forever; safe and loved.
"You see dears through no fault of our own Merry and I have become known to some in the superhero world. Our names-if not our full names-are known to Earth Force, Force Group J, the Earth Intelligence Agency, the International Criminal Enterprise crime syndicate and who knows who else. And we weren't wearing masks when we encountered Goddess of Justice and the rest. We can't changed that, so we must erase as much of our past lives as we can."
"Why milady?" Lizzie asked.
"Because Duchess Simone and her First Knight only showed up recently." Simone said. "Merry and I have lived on Earth our entire lives. We have to vanish or someday Goddess of Justice could be at a party with an old friend of mine and all it would take would be my name and one thing might lead to another."
"How do you erase a whole life milady?" Jessie asked.
"You forget who we are working for dear." Simone said smiling. "Official records took them less than a day. Merry had few friends in her life and she lived rather quietly in our town. She altered her appearance and few questioned it after her faked accident. But I am different. Aside from my cancer I've had no real sickness or accident. I also have more friends than Merry had."
"What will you do milady?" Jessie asked.
"I will spend a week or so with Lord and Lady Blacknell." Simone said. "When I arrive I will look like I do now, by the time I leave I'll look different to them."
"You don't want to do it do you milady?" Jessie asked.
"I swore never to see any of my former friends again." Simone said. "And I said that to most of them when they called after I recovered."
"I don't understand milady." Lizzie said.
"I do." Jessie said. "Remember when we met Simone that first time? How alone she was?"
"I had cancer I didn't have the bloody Black Death!" Simone swore bitterly. "Not one of them, not one came to see me once my diagnosis was terminal. They stopped coming to see me, they stopped taking my calls…"
Simone closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"They did it gradually. I think my brother turned a lot of them away. But none of them really made an effort."
"We won't abandon you milady." Jessie said.
"Of course you won't dears." Simone said reaching over to stroke both of their heads. Her fingers eased down to their breasts and both Lizzie and Jessie hugged and softly kissed those fingers. "But now I have to go and put on my happy face for a few days and be with people I've grown to despise. I'll have to be my old self for a few days girls, and it won't be easy."
Flying was never routine. That was Merry's rule and Lizzie took to it heart. Every time one of them took out any of the model ships that composed the Dollopolis air fleet Merry stressed how careful they had to be.
"They may look big to us," Merry would say "but a kid hitting a baseball could smash the ship to pieces."
But as careful as she was Lizzie absolutely loved flying. She loved being in the seat of an aircraft and knowing how to fly it. It wasn't like sitting in the arcade playing a video game. The ship hummed under her and responded to the air currents. There were a million subtle sensations that Lizzie had to interpret to keep them in the air. And each ship was different, from the massive (to her at least) Thunderbird 2 to the sleek X-wing fighters they sometimes got to fly.
"Can we do this?" Jessie whispered as they approached Wallingford University.
"Merry thinks we can." Lizzie said trying to sound more confident than she was.
"There are the ponds." Jessie said looking out the window.
Wallington College sat near the edge of Bracknell Forest and slightly south of Bracknell town. The forest was thickly wooded in the way that all English forests are thickly wooded. The trees stood close together and their branches (full green in late spring) formed a solid green floor bellow the aircraft. The woods came to an abrupt end at the edge of the school grounds where they had been cleared for sporting grounds. But before that in the middle of the woods four ponds were laid out forming a straight line toward the college's outdoor swimming pool. Lizzie guided Thunderbird 2 toward the third pond and the island in the middle of it. The sun was just coming up as she settled the green snub nosed craft at the foot of a couple of trees and powered down the engine.
"Engines are cool." Jessie said after a few minutes. "Outer skin is blending at 70%."
"Right." Lizzie said. "We're set."
"Just like we've been doing this forever." Jessie said. "Goddess this is…"
"Yea." Lizzie said as her sister's voice failed her.
Neither of them had graduated high school, or even junior high school. Lizzie and Jessie's idea of reading was the Sunday comics. But the Giant's had altered their heads, filling them with knowledge. It was as scary as it was exiting. They could both look at a control or at a read out and know-know perfectly-what it meant.
And here we are, on our first solo mission, Lizzie thought. And if we do it… Goddess if we do it!
Lizzie felt her mind race and she couldn't stop it. Before being caught and shrunk Lizzie and Jessie had never thought of the future. Nothing was on their horizon but their next day or the next week. When they talked about it at all they shared fantasies about rich Goth rockers keeping them in a mansion as sex slaves. Both of them knew it would never happen. At heart, and always unspoken, was the surety that they would die quick and that no one would care. Lizzie felt that they were the bad girls that got killed by the first commercials in the cop shows. That was why they had made a pact to go out together.
But that was then. Now they had a house, a whole house! Even if it was just a dollhouse, it was theirs. They had food whenever they wanted it. They had… They had more than she had ever thought that they would have. And if they pleased the Giant's, if they pleased Merry and Simone… what could they have? What couldn't they have? What did she want?
Lizzie's mind refused to go any further. In her entire life she had always longed for what she now had, her imagination just couldn't go any further without help.
{We will now finish and update your mission briefing.}
Lizzie snapped to attention even though she was sitting down and in the co-pilot's seat Jessie did the same. The voice appeared in her mind and it never failed to scare her. On the screens above the cockpit windows images came to life. One of them showed a map of the college and was highlighted in green. It showed a cluster of buildings on the other side of the forest. Most of the buildings were of the same Georgian style as the main building, but some were modern.
{Wallingford College was founded in the 18th century by two men, Sir George Wallingford and Sir George Henry. They gambled to decide whose name went on the college. The students live in dormitory Houses.}
The second screen was highlighted and it showed a three story peaked roof house. The house was made of red brick and gables stood out from the roof. Two wings came out at an angle from a square central block.
{This is Brattleberry House. On the top floor of the south wing are your targets.}
The view switched to a floor plan. Four rooms were shown, each the same size with the same basic layout. A bed, a desk, wardrobe and a few chairs were arranged haphazardly. Under each room was a name and a picture.
The first picture showed a round faced young woman with short chestnut brown hair, brown eyes and a sharp nose.
{Verity Highfield is the illegitimate daughter of Serenity Highfield. We don't know who her father is. The Highfield's made their fortune in exploration and metals. Currently they own a tech company and have mining interests all over the world. They are worth about a billion dollars.}
The second picture showed a slim young woman with fair skin, long blonde hair and large ears. Her grey eyes seemed bottomless.
{Judith Raven is the illegitimate daughter of the Earl of Ravenswood. Her mother could be anyone of five women. The Ravenwood's gained their money through privateering and munitions. They've kept it through real estate. Current worth fifty five million.}
The third pictured showed a handsome girl with a square jaw, hard blue eyes and black hair that had been cut short.
{Tracy Stolt is the illegitimate daughter of John Stolt, her family has been lawyers since the 14th century. Her father is in jail at the moment for murdering his wife. Again we have no idea who the other parent is. His wife was the sole heir to the Triumph Hotel chain. When she turns 21 Tracy will own all of that. 22 million.}
The fourth picture showed a thin pale girl with short brown hair that sat on top of a face that still wanted to be ten years old. It was round with a pug nose and chubby cheeks. Only her eyes, sallow and green held any real character.
{Aphrodite Rockport, the only legitimate daughter in the group. Her family got started building ships in the 15th century and hasn't stopped. Her mother is Tia Lucia-Rockport, the supermodel. Her trust fund, family inheritance and defrayed income from her and her mothers sitcom comes to 1.2 billion dollars.}
The last picture showed an olive-skinned young woman with curly black hair, dark eyes and full lips. She was different from the others, in their pictures they were smiling, but it was the posed smile of a school photograph. She was smiling and laughing.
{Tranquility Green is the illegitimate daughter of Lord Stephen Green and Lady Stephanie Marchand. The Green's started out in privateering and moved onto the East India Company. They currently have a lock on the shipping business for most of Wales. The Marchand's are an upstart really, they have only been rich for three generations. They got their start in munitions on World War 2. 60 million dollars.}
Lizzie started to raise her hand, realized they couldn't see her and stopped.
"Mistress?" She asked hesitantly.
{Go ahead.}
"There are only four rooms on the diagram." Lizzie said. "Who's doubling up?"
{Aphrodite and Tranquility share a room.}
{They may be lovers.}
{We have no data on that.}
{We do know that Aphrodite is the most emotionally fragile of the group.}
"Why mistress?" Jessie asked.
{Her mother shoved her into an acting/modeling career from the time she was 3 until the time she was 17.}
{In the process she was put through physical and emotional hell. She's consumed almost as many drugs as you two did.}
{Once her sitcom got canceled she blew her movie career by showing up stoned on the set of an action flick and causing an accident that killed a stuntman.}
Lizzie felt a flash of sympathy for the girl.
{Today we want you to monitor the cell phone calls that the girls make. Tonight you will go on the first scouting mission.}
{For now get some rest.}
{They don't usually get up until noon.}
{If there is any change we will notify you.}
They didn't actually break a connection but Lizzie got the feeling that they weren't actively listening anymore.
"Did we ever see her show?" Jessie asked.
Lizzie shrugged and got up.
"I don't think so. Maybe Merry did. We can ask her sometime."
The ship suddenly shuddered and Lizzie was nearly thrown to the floor. Alarms started to sound.
"Company!" Jessie said pointing to the monitor. On it a giant bird was pecking against the hull of the ship. It had a long gray/white beak, a black and white head and a red tail. Under the bird a caption read 'Great Spotted Woodpecker'.
"What's a woodpecker want with us?" Lizzie demanded climbing back into her seat while the ship shook. "The ships some sort'a metal!"
"I don't know but we gotta stop it somehow!" Jessie said.
"How!"
"How the hell should I know?"
"Wait." Lizzie said taking a deep breath.
Jessie took the same breath and they both gripped their seats.
"We're Knightlings." Jessie said. "We don't panic."
"Right." Lizzie said. It was a lie and she knew it, they were both scared and Lizzie was sure that Jessie's heartbeat was thundering in her ears just like hers was.
"Simone's trusting us." Jessie said.
"Merry's trusting us." Lizzie said.
"We're Knightlings!" Jessie said again gritting her teeth as the ship shook."
"Woodpeckers eat bugs right?" Lizzie demanded trying to think through her fear.
"I guess."
"There must be bugs on the ship." Lizzie said.
Jessie reached over and the view on the screens zoomed past the bird to show a line of small brown ants moving along the hull of the ship.
"We gotta get them off." Lizzie said.
They looked at each other and smiled.
"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea!" They chorused.
"Low charge on the hull." Lizzie said reaching over to and adjusting a dial. Then she pushed a switch. There was a slight humming sound and on the screen the ants fell off and crawled around. They were dazed and easy prey for the bird and after eating them it started to move away from the ship.
"Go Knightlings!" Jessie and Lizzie shouted hi-fiving each other. "WE rule!"
"Merry's right," Lizzie said trying to keep her hands from shaking "everything we need to know somebody's made a movie about it."
"Yay Disney!" Jessie cried.
It wasn't cold and it wasn't raining. Lizzie couldn't believe how grateful she was for that. It was a quiet evening with a moonless sky and a gentle breeze. Lizzie and Jessie had waited until after midnight and then flown Thunderbird 2 to the roof of Brattleberry house and landed it softly next to one of the chimneys. Then she and her sister had put on black ninja-style suits and gone outside.
Calm night or no it was still disturbing. There was so much space, so few barriers and to Lizzie it was like being alone on an alien planet. Lizzie swallowed and fought down her fear. She'd worked hard at fighting her fear of open spaces, but being on top of a roof brought them all back to her. What was worse was the way she was about to lower herself down by a string in front of a window. It was one thing to do a crazy thing in Dollopolis with Simone there, it was another to do it completely out in the open with Simone miles away.
"You ok?" Jessie asked taking hold of her wrist.
"I'm gonna do this." Lizzie said shifting her arm so that they were holding hands. For a few moments they stood there and Lizzie pulled strength from her sisters presence. Even if Simone wasn't there Jessie was.
The string was actually fishing line, plastic and nearly invisible in the night. Three strands of it were attached to Lizzie, one at her stomach and two at her shoulders. It was rated at twenty pounds, far more than was needed. The coil was set into a motorized wheel that was attached to the wing of Thunderbird 2. Jessie would be at the control and would be able to pull Lizzie up in seconds. Lizzie would drop down in front of the window and be the eyes and ears. This first night was for intelligence gathering, but they had the new I-pods incase the opportunity presented itself. Lizzie wouldn't have minded finishing up the mission in one night, but she didn't think that would happen.
"Ok." Lizzie said.
Jessie let go of her hand and Lizzie climbed off the wing and onto the roof. The slate felt cool even through the wrappings on her feet. The ninja suits were strips of black cloth that Lizzie and her sister wrapped around their bodies, almost like mummies wrappings, but on their feet they had added rubber bands for better traction. In the future better equipment would come, but Merry wanted them to start out with primitive stuff first.
Lizzie walked carefully along the tip of the gable holding her arms out for balance. Around her was the whole world. The whole universe. The sky above was full of stars, the trees around the house were full of noises from small animals, the air was fresh but mixed with the scents of cooking, heating and other human smells. All of it pushed against Lizzie. She could feel it pressing against her skin, yet at the same time the same pressure was pulling her apart.
Lizzie reached the peak of the gable and looked down. Bellow her was the back of the house and a dark parking lot. Most of the windows were black except for the light that escaped from the corner of a few of the window shades. The window she wanted to look into was directly bellow the gable and a flickering red light could be seen at the corners of the window shade. Lizzie got down on her hands and knees and looked. The shade was un-even, the left side was little more open than the right side. Carefully Lizzie climbed down the angled roof until she was at the edge. Then she lay down on the slate, turned around and started to back off of the roof. Lizzie's fear mounted as her legs edged out and suddenly there was nothing beneath them. It was hard to keep them still, she wanted nothing more than to kick them and find something solid beneath them. But Lizzie kept her legs still and kept going. There was a moment of panic when her stomach reached the edge and her weight took her the rest of the way over the edge. With a death grip on the fishing line and her mouth clamped firmly shut Lizzie went over the edge and dangled in mid-air.
Silently she was lowered until she was at the widest point in the gap between the shade and the window. She was hovering about a half a foot away from the glass and at least forty feet above the ground. But Lizzie was in the right place. Merry had laid stress on how to observe from outside a window at night. Do not get caught in light from the window and don't press up against the glass. People in a lit room at night can see only what's bright enough to be seen. They would notice even the smallest thing against the glass. Lizzie took hold of the lines on her shoulders and pulled them out, holding them in her fists and holding her arms straight out. With three lines now holding her Lizzie hung steady as she looked through the window.
The room was dark and the girls were seated around a Tesla globe. Each of them wore a dark robe and a red half mask. They had each finished a crystal goblet of wine and handed them back to Aphrodite Rockport. Aphrodite wore nothing but a chain mail loincloth and black gem studs in her pierced red nipples. In the flickering red light her figure looked almost skeletal, but her breasts were large, larger than they should have been for her body. A spiked collar was around her neck. The red glow from the Tesla globe gave the room an eerie feel.
"We are now ready to begin." One of the girls said. "Aphrodite are we secure?"
"We are Great One." Aphrodite said. "No electronic device is here, no one can scry through our mystical fields."
"Then this meeting of the Anti-Happiness Society may come to order." The Great One said. She stood up and pulled off her mask, revealing Verity's face. She pulled off her robe and beneath it she wore a black one-piece swimsuit with a red lightning flash across the chest.
{Oh how cute, junior supervillains.}
{Playing at being sinister on a Friday night.}
{This matches what we know of them.}
{Who knows, we may be saving the world from yet another supervillain group.}
"What is the first order of business?" Verity asked.
Aphrodite turned on a lamp and the room was revealed. It was Verity's room. In the corner was a brass bed, next to it a nightstand with an old fashioned wind-up alarm clock. The walls were painted a deep blue, almost black. Paintings of graveyards at night haunted by skeletal specters lined the walls. Her desk was an antique mahogany office desk with a Mac g5 on it with a 22 inch display.
"The report on Sue Milfory." Judith said as Aprhodite placed a round wooden table over the Tesla Globe and put a folder on top of it.
"Oh yes, she was far too happy last week." Verity said. "Did the poison work?"
"Perfectly." Tracy said. "She spent two days in hospital with stuff coming out of every opening in her body."
"Perfect." Verity said. "Then who has a candidate for next victim?"
"Mel Hanston." Judith said. "That bitch let my fighter die in this weeks Hackmaster game, she claims it was a bad dice roll, but I know she just wanted the treasure."
"All in favor?" Verity asked. There was a unanimous show of hands. "Methods?"
{Petty aren't they.}
"She's got the same boobs as Tranquility." Judith said poking Tranquility's chest with her finger. "I say we take some nudes of her, paste Mel's face onto her body and send the shots to her army captain brother in France."
"Better, her brother's unit." Tranquility suggested. "Let him try to keep order with every bloke in the company jazzing to his sister's naked body!"
There was a chorus of laughter at the suggestion.
{Petty but inventive. Perfect for what we need.}
"Done then." Verity said. "Tranquility strip down! To the computer!"
Tranquility started to pull out of her suit and Tracy and Judith tackled her. Laughing they all mock-fought as they pulled the suit off.
"Aphrodite set up the bed so that we can take un-traceable shots." Verity ordered.
"At once Great One." Aphrodite said and started to spread white sheets onto the bed.
"I'll pull up those shots we got of Mel from the school outing last year." Verity said sitting down at the computer. "She was on the grass and smiling then so the angle should be right. God I love Photoshop!"
{Well they look to be set for a night of fun.}
{We should stop the pictures from getting to France.}
{Agreed.}
{There is enough trouble in that war zone already now that France and Germany have started fighting again.}
Lizzie watched as the photos were taken and adjusted on the computer. Verity did something to the computer and a harsh heavy metal sound track made the window vibrate. Judith and Raven started to dance while Tranquility and Verity worked on the computer. Tranquility made no move to put her suit back on. Aphrodite sat on her knees by the bed and looked passively at the floor.
"Done!" Verity proclaimed after about a half of an hour had passed. "Tomorrow I'll use the school system to route it through so many servers Sherlock Holmes won't be able to find out who sent them."
There was a general cheer at her pronouncement.
"Let's celebrate." Tranquility suggested.
"Aphrodite bring out the snack tray." Verity ordered.
"At once Great One." Aphrodite said. She got up and went to one of the paintings on the wall. Taking it off she pushed the wall in and a hidden wall safe was revealed. Aphrodite opened it and took out a tray that held a bowl of white powder and a set of straws.
They're just like we used to be, Lizzie realized. It took an effort not to say that aloud. She watched as the girls did lines of coke, got high, laughed, fought and finally ended up in semi-conscious heaps on the floor.
They're rich. Lizzie wanted to scream at them. Everything in the room, from the computer to the drugs cost more then Lizzie or Jessie had ever seen in their lives. How could these girls waste it? What could make a person with money so unhappy that they'd need drugs? Not only Aphrodite but all of them? Lizzie and her sister had taken drugs at first because it was a way to make their father's beatings hurt less. Later it had made sex with whoever a passably enjoyable experience.
{I think we've seen enough.}
{Useless lot aren't they.}
{That will change.}
{Wait. We have movement.}
Aphrodite untangled herself from Tranquility and went over to the computer. A few taps brought up the AOL instant messenger and she entered a message.
Lizzie stayed absolutely still. She couldn't see what was on the screen, it was too far away, but the Giant's could using her eyes.
{fgo out. Ins?}
{Well that is cryptic.}
{So is the reply.}
{Let's see what happens.}
Aphrodite signed out of the instant messenger and then went over to the bed and pulled a purse out from under it. From the purse she took a pair of small scissors and a few small plastic bags. Going over to Verity she clipped a few hairs from the unconscious girl's head, a few clippings from her fingernails and after pulling her suit partially out of the way a few strands of pubic hair.
{Someone is up to something.}
{Intriguing.}
Something caused Lizzie to look down and she saw a car drive into the lot.
"Mistress have Jessie pull me up!" Lizzie hissed desperately. She was terrified as she whispered the words; you never gave the Giant's instructions. But Merry had always said to act when you felt you were in danger, you could always grovel later. Their masters were reasonable after all.
Lizzie felt a tug and she was pulled up stopping a foot above the window. A minute after she was pulled up the window opened and a black bag was tossed out. The car bellow was a big black SUV with a sunroof. The sunroof closed as soon as the bag vanished inside. After a minute the car slowly pulled away.
{Now what was that?}
{Let's see what Aphrodite does next.}
Lizzie felt herself being lowered and the room soon came into view again. Aphrodite was sitting on the bed drinking the wine straight from the bottle. A look of contempt was on her face as she looked her unconscious friends. After a few minutes she picked up a pair of scissors from the desk and started to run the flat of the blade down her arm. She pressed hard enough to leave a mark. For a few minutes Aprhodite traced patterns on herself and eventually drew a bit of blood. She smiled as she saw the blood, but the smile quickly faded. Then she got off of the bed and went over to Traquility. Pushing the sleeping girl onto her back Aphrodite pressed the flat of the scissors blade into Tranquility's skin. There was no pattern to her design, but in some cases she pressed hard enough to draw blood. Tranquility moaned even through her drugged stupor. Aphrodite smiled but again the smile quickly faded and her face became expressionless.
{So much for the obedient slave. This girl has problems.}
{Has she done any of this with the others?}
{No way to tell.}
{I suggest we accelerate the plan before we are drawn into this.}
{We are into it at any rate.}
{Not at all. This is not Merry.}
{She was trained by Merry.}
{What do you say Lizzie?}
"Mi… Mistress… I… I think you should find out what's going on." Lizzie whispered stuttering out the words. "Merry says if you let things go they hurt you later."
{Is that the only reason?}
"I…" Lizzie tried to speak and found her voice and thoughts simply refused to work. All through their training Lizzie and Jessie had agreed that if they were ever stuck for an answer they would do what Merry would do, but what would Merry do? The girls weren't in danger, but there was a mystery, was it an important mystery? Merry had also stressed that wasting the Giant's time was dangerous. But Merry and Simone also told them that nobility was something they should strive for.
'In moderation at times dears' Simone often added.
{Well Lizzie?}
Was this the time to be noble or not? Almost in a panic Lizzie reached for a answer that wouldn't come.
{I do believe the poor girl is stuck.}
{In that case the decision is ours.}
{As it always was.}
{It is agreed then, we replace the I-pods right away and then hang around and see what-if anything-develops from this.}
Lizzie felt a tug and found herself being pulled up again. Had she made them mad? Happy? Merry said that over time she'd be able to tell, but she hadn't said how. Lizzie had the feeling that she had made them mad.
Jessie pulled her sister onto the wing of Thunderbird 2 and hugged Lizzie until she stopped shaking.
"It was pretty high." Jessie said hoping to disguise the real reason.
"Yea, pretty high." Lizzie agreed.
"I'll do the next bit." Jessie said.
"Ok."
I wish it were as easy as I made it sound just then, Jessie thought. She helped her sister into the ship and Lizzie sat down in the co-pilot's seat.
"I’ll check out the usual places and be back." Jessie said.
"I'll be here." Lizzie promised. She had gripped both hands tightly together to stop them from shaking.
Jessie went to a locker by the door and opened it. Inside was a strange contraption that looked like a box and a fishbowl with tubes attached to them and then too small round boxes. Jessie put the helmet on her head and strapped the box to her back. The tubes went to the smaller boxes for her feet and hands. Her fingers and toes slid into the boxes and she grasped small bars inside of them. Jessie and her sister called these 'spider suits', with them they could walk on walls. Well most walls anyway.
Once she was set Jessie carefully stepped out of the ship. The night was still and moonless, but there was enough starlight to see the edge of the roof. Jessie paused for just a moment to look at the stars. She and her sister had been night owls for most of their lives, but until they had been shrunk the stars had never really drawn their notice. They had barely seen them through the streetlights anyway. But in Dollopolis there were no streetlights and the false sky showed them the stars in brilliant glory. For the first time Jessie and Lizzie had felt curious about the little lights. Lights that were small, just like they were. Jessie wasn't sure she believed Simone or Merry when they told her that those lights were suns. It seemed too silly to her. Growing up Jessie had gotten used to a lot of lies that other people told. Lies that always seemed to fly in the face of what she knew. Like that equal force deal, if Jessie pushed on a wall the wall pushed back on her? That was just plain idiotic, most walls were a lot bigger than Jessie was, if they pushed her (like anything bigger that pushed her) Jessie would fall.
Still even if it wasn't true the stars were beautiful.
Pushing her wonder away Jessie took a deep breath and centered herself as Merry had taught her to do. She walked along the peeked roof to the edge and looked down. Bellow her was the main block of the house. Jessie looked down to her left. The roof sloped steeply to end in a rain gutter. To her right the other side of the roof did the same. She was walking along the central point where they met. Most of the roof was made of slate tiles, but the center point was copper and it felt cooler than the slate beneath her feet. When she got close Jessie laid down. Carefully she lay flat on the roof and crawled to the edge. Bending forward and craning her neck she looked straight down. The siding of the house was solid looking. Jessie edged out further and tried to look under the eave. There were no breaks in the joint. Jessie looked around and saw no one. Then she pressed a button on the side of her helmet and the light encased in the dome sprang to life. Slowly she played the spotlight over the walls.
{Looks solid.}
{Better check the corners.}
Without answering Jessie shut off her light and then pressed her hand against the side of the house and clamped down hard on the switch. She heard a beeping sound in her head and then did the same with the other hand. Again she heard a beeping sound. Jessie took a deep breath and flipped herself off of the roof. She had placed her hands so that she was facing the wall and when her feet hit against the wood she gripped the bar inside with her toes. Two more beeps sounded and Jessie hung on the wall for a minute controlling her fear. The gadgets on her hands and feet were magnets or something, she didn't know how they were supposed to work on wood, but they worked.
Bracing herself Jessie let her grip on her right hand loose a bit and the beep sounded in her head. She pulled the magnet from the wall, moved it to a new position and then turned it on again. Then she moved her other hand, then her foot and then her other foot. Slowly Jessie worked her way across and down the wall, heading toward the corner where the wall and the roof met.
'The old houses were built differently from what you get today.' Merry's voice filled her memory and Jessie concentrated on it while she crawled headfirst down the wall. 'Today its plywood and two-by-fours, thin walls with siding, insulation and sheetrock. Back then you had the outer siding over planks of wood, then about a half a foot or more space, then the inner wall with strapping, maybe some chicken wire, plaster and wood paneling on the other side. There's room for us. But first you gotta get in. Go for the corners, especially in a real old house. Under gutters, under eaves, that's where you've had a couple of decades of birds, mice and insects worming their way in. If you're looking to get into an old house that is where you look first.'
Jessie was a foot away from the corner when she switched on her light again. In the corner of the house where the wall met the ceiling was a small ledge. A small hole had been eaten away. Slowly Jessie went toward it. There was never a guarantee that the animal that made the hole had moved on.
The edges of the hole were smooth and smelled slightly of mold. Jessie carefully looked inside. There was nothing on the floor but dust and multicolored spots. There was a strong smell but she couldn't identify it. Slowly she looked around but saw nothing.
{Look at the beams again.}
Jessie looked up at the joist and beams that held up the roof. After a moment she saw small scratches in the wood.
{Bats live here.}
Bats? Jessie's heart skipped a beat. Were bats dangerous to her?
{They aren't here now.}
{Nocturnal.}
{And they eat insects.}
{So continue.}
Silently Jessie crawled into the whole and stood up. The attic crawl space she was in was small and not finished. In front of her was an open space with a peaked ceiling and a floor that was support beams and rough plaster. At her feet to her left was an open space about a half of a foot wide. It ran along the entire wall. Jessie walked over and looked down. Bellow her was the between wall space. On one side was the rough planks of wood that met the siding on the outside wall, on the other was thin rough wood with sickly white plaster forced through it. There were also wires and pipes running through the space.
Jessie started to climb down. She didn't use the magnets now but relied on her fingers and toes for a good grip. The dust coated her entire body but Jessie was careful to breathe only through her mouth. The one thing that Merry had stressed above all was that any noise was dangerous. A sneeze from an sw could invite a host of problems.
When she made it down to the floor Jessie just stood and leaned against the wall. She studied the floor carefully as she got her breath back. There were no mouse droppings, no little footprints in the dust. The house may have had bats, but no mice or rats. She looked right and then left. Because she was at one end of the house the right direction only offered her a wall. Left offered her a long corridor that drank her small light. Jessie started left.
As she walked Jessie heard nothing but the subtle hum of electrical and heating systems. At her size she could feel and hear them more than any full sized person. Each house had a rhythm, a heartbeat. Merry had taught her that, and to listen in case there was a change in that rhythm. Such changes usually spelled danger.
This time there was no danger. Jessie walked on for a number of minutes past electrical boxes and climbed over plumbing pipes, finding nothing but old spider-webs. The between wall space that made up the corridor was not constant. In some places it opened up a little, in others it became narrower. Wickedly barbed screws showed through in many places, the sharp points of hooks driven in from the other side of the walls. Jessie came to a corner and stopped. The corridor went on in front of her but another one branched off to the right. She was at the end of the first room.
{Go right.}
Jessie turned and went down the corridor. This was a narrow space between rooms, no more than a half of a foot wide. She had gone perhaps five feet when the passageway opened up and suddenly Jessie's light illuminated a friendly looking face. She stopped dead and stared at the face. It was large and narrow with a round hole for a mouth. The face had been painted on a large tin tube.
{A mouse trap.}
{An old one.}
{Harmless if you are not a mouse.}
{Look around.}
Jessie looked around and saw that the passageway had become wider for a few feet before getting narrow again. Beside the mousetrap was a small wooden box, a few large glass jars filled with ribbons, change and marbles and another metal box.
{A treasure trove.}
{But how recent?}
{Those marbles look to date to the 1950's.}
{Ribbons look Victorian.}
"How did they get here mistress?" Jessie asked.
{Good question.}
{Look at the walls.}
Jessie looked at the walls and saw that one section of the wall was a door. It wasn't big, only about a foot high and a foot wide. On one side were hinges and on the other side were two hooks set into metal braces. The hooks were joined together on a central rod that went up to a box set above the door.
{Ah, a hidden door.}
{We should have thought of this, it is an old enough house.}
{And our way into the rooms.}
{Jessie, go over to the door and see if you can open it.}
"Yes mistress."
Jessie walked over to the hooks and looked at them. They were dark and dusty. Taking hold of them she lifted. At first nothing happened. Jessie didn't give up. She bent her knees and her arms the way Merry had showed her and lifted with everything she had. It took a minute or two but the hooks finally started to move. Jessie gave a shout of triumph as the hooks lifted completely out of the braces and then a shout of surprise as the door sprung open and sent her flying. Jessie rolled to a stop and barely avoided slamming into an old nail.
{Good springs.}
{Take a look at the room.}
Carefully Jessie stood up and went over to the open doorway. A black wall was beyond it. She placed her hand on the wall and felt a cool rough surface.
"I think it's a suitcase mistress." Jessie said. She looked around the doorway. The black wall completely covered it.
{It is.}
{See if you can move it.}
Jessie put both hands against the suitcase and pushed. The leather gave a little but the suitcase didn't budge. She pushed with everything she had and still didn't move it.
{Enough.}
Jessie gave up and leaned against the suitcase.
{Close the door and move on.}
{It is likely there are other doors in the other rooms.}
"Yes mistress."
Jessie pushed the door closed and the hooks swung into position on their own springs and settled into the braces. Then she started to move on down the passageway.
Jessie spent the next few hours going through the between wall spaces of the top floor. It wasn't easy. There were four rooms each set at the corner of a rectangle. Jessie could walk around between the outside wall and the inside walls, but the side passages only led to the edge of the rooms. To go from one side of the house to the other Jessie had to walk all the way around the rectangle. It was hardest under the windows where the crawlspace shrank so much she had to crawl. Also in the time since the house had been built the interior walls had been moved and then moved back. Old nails stuck out from the shadows, jagged ends of roughly sawed wood had to be carefully climbed over. Each room had a hidden wall alcove. The one into Verity's room was empty and opened into her closet. Jessie heard crying in the room but she didn't go to investigate. The next one was blocked by another suitcase. The third one leading to Traquility's and Aphrodite's room was in use. Jewelry was packed into the hidden space as was a large stack of cash, drugs, liquor and a large silver ray gun.
{I guess wall safes just aren't safe enough.}
{This is the alcove that leads to the room where Aphrodite and Tranquility live.}
{One or both of them has a secret.}
{I think just one.}
"Mistress?" Jessie asked. She still had the urge to raise her hand and had to fight it down. Instead she pointed between two bottles. "There's a book over there."
{We see it.}
{Pull it out and let's take a look.}
Jessie walked over to the book and took hold of it. It didn't budge so she reached up, took hold of the edge and pulled harder. Slowly the book came loose from between the bottles. Jessie pulled it back until it was free of them and then darted around and braced herself under the edge as it started to fall. It was a small one photo per page photo album. Jessie lowered it slowly to the ground and then opened it. The lights from her helmet illuminated the photos. The first one showed all of the girls in a group. Every girl's face had been marked up with a black magic marker. Missing teeth, beards and mustaches and crude comments filled the photo. The rest of the pictures were very much the same.
{Someone really hates these girls.}
{And herself.}
{Aphrodite?}
{Seems the best suspect.}
{I agree.}
"But mistress she's the one who's marked up the most." Jessie said.
{And that makes this her work.}
{The gun is interesting.}
{It is an ICE assault weapon.}
{An old one. You can buy them on Ebay.}
"She's got money, why does she hate herself?" Jessie asked.
{Self hatred can be caused by many things.}
{Guilt, we have told you about her life.}
{Her drug abuse might have damaged her brain.}
{Money does not make one happy.}
"What should I do mistress?" Jessie asked. She wasn't sure she believed them about money, but she wasn't going to contradict them either. Jessie was surprised they were putting up with her questions.
{Replace the book and then see if this door opens.}
Jessie closed the book and lifted it onto its spine. Then she pushed it back into place. Then she walked over to the wall. The smell of fresh oil was strong on the hooks and the hinges. Jessie carefully pulled the hooks up. This time she was ready when the door sprung open and she managed to roll backward to safety. Then she stood up and went over to the doorway. The smell of leather was the first thing that hit her. It was fresh and overpowering. Jessie looked around and saw that she was in a closet. Above her on hangers were leather harnesses, masks, gloves, pants and jerkins. Only a foot away from where she stood was another wall.
Cautiously Jessie moved in. She walked past leather boots and came to the wall. Looking at it she saw that it sat on a groove in the floor. About half way up it was a square box.
"This is a small closet." Jessie said.
{Can you open the door?}
Jessie gave the door a push but there was no give to it.
"No mistress."
{Climb up to the lock.}
Activating her magnetic gadgets Jessie climbed up the wall toward the lock. It took her a few minutes and when she reached it Jessie was confronted with a half round brass plate set in a small brass box. From the plate two rods extended up and down.
"Should I open it mistress?" Jessie asked.
{Yes.}
Jessie made sure her feet were well anchored and then reached over and took hold of the plate. The metal was cool and slick but she was able to turn it. Once the plate rotated past the round part there was a click and Jessie felt the door start to move. She held on and didn't scream as it slid away from the wall. It stopped at the other end of the closet and Jessie looked out at another closet. This one held dresses and outfits. Normal ones.
{A hidden panel with a smaller hidden panel.}
{Novel concept.}
{I love old houses.}
{Jessie, look to your left and down about a foot.}
Jessie looked down and to the left. The light was on in the room and it shown on the leather outfits. One of the jerkins had a red patch sewn into the black leather. It read 'Black Leather Lady' in a cursive script.
"I've never heard of that label." Jessie said.
{It's not a clothing label, it is the name of a supervillain who was active in London last summer.}
{Don't tell me we've stumbled into yet more super hero nonsense.}
{I thought it would only be Merry's fate to encounter such things.}
{I fear it is ours as well.}
"Why would a supervillain need to go to school?" Jessie wondered aloud.
{Good question.}
{We'll find out.}
{Take a look at the room.}
Jessie edged around the door and took a look at the room. The room was neat. Immaculately neat. The hardwood floor shined and the beds were made so well they almost looked like pictures. The room was decorated in strange mix of styles. One bed was a princess canopy bed; the other was a rough metal cot. Posters of fairies and unicorns competed on the walls with posters of hideous creatures with open jaws slathered with blood. There were two computer tables in the room. The one near the unicorn poster was a modified Victorian writing desk. The other was a plain table. Both had Macintosh computers on them.
{The odd couple.}
{I can see the two I-pods.}
{We will start with this room.}
{Jessie, climb down and go and get the I-Pods.}
"Yes mistress." Jessie said.
An hour later Jessie was halfway across the room when the door burst open. She froze as Tranquility and Aphrodite stumbled into the room and fell onto the princess bed. Then she ran making for the old Victorian desk. It was rough going because of the awkwardness of the I-Pod but Jessie made it. Hiding behind a leg of the desk she peered at the two young women. Tranquility was still only semi-conscious. Jessie knew that look well; it would be morning-and late in the morning-before she'd be able to think clearly. Aphrodite was wide awake though. Jessie watched as she stood up and walked over to the closet. Jessie's heart stopped but Aphrodite didn't seem to notice that the panel door was slightly open. She reached in and pulled out a leather harness, taking it off it's hangar. Going over to Tranquility Aprhodite fitted a black leather bondage hood over her head, one that left only the eyes and the mouth clear. Then she laced the young woman into a tight bustier and tied Aphrodite's hands above her to the bedposts.
That done Aphrodite walked over to one of the closets and tossed off her loincloth, collar and carefully took the studs out of her nipples. Reaching into the closet she pulled out a white diaphanous nightgown. Aphrodite cried quietly as she got into the nightgown. Then she walked over and got into bed next to Tranquility. Jessie was too low to see what has happening on top of the bed but the moans that she heard were passionate.
"Good night my beautiful slave to be." Aphrodite said after the moans were done.
{This girl has more than a few problems.}
{Bad timing.}
{We've replaced two, that is a good start.}
{Jessie take the I-Pod back and close both doors.}
"Yes Mistress." Jessie said.
Lizzie eased Thunderbird 2 into the bushes on the island and let her hands linger on the control wheel for a moment. She and Jessie had done it, almost. They had replaced two of the I-pods. But it had taken until dawn and now both of them were exhausted. Getting the I-pods to Jessie had meant that Lizzie had to carry them to the edge of the roof and lower them down. Then she had to lean out over the edge and swing them until her sister could grab the line and pull them into the hole. The night had surrounded Lizzie, trapped her with strange scents and noises. It had pressed against her and Lizzie felt like she was going to scream at any moment.
But now it was over, but that didn't stop her hands from shaking as she pulled them away from the control wheel.
"We're down and safe." Jessie said flipping switches. "Powering down for the day."
{You can rest now.}
Lizzie felt her sister's hand on her shoulder and looked up. The face that mirrored her own had a look of concern on it.
"I didn't make it." Lizzie said as Jessie guided her out of the chair and toward the corridor that lead to a small galley and a room with two bunks.
"We got it done." Jessie said easing her onto one of the bunks.
"They asked me a question and I didn't answer it." Lizzie said. She started to shake. "Jessie I couldn’t answer them!"
"Easy." Jessie said putting her arm around Lizzie's shoulder. "It was only one question."
Lizzie leaned into her sister and tried to stop her body and mind from shaking. She was scared. In their training Merry had told the sisters of her early missions for the Giants. She'd told them about the mistakes she had made. Each mistake had come with a price. Sometimes a high price. Merry had quickly come to realize that success was the only way to insure her survival.
"I made myself the tool that they didn't want to throw away because I was too handy." Merry said. "I'd find a way to get it done because I was so scared they'd just leave me where I was."
Later, in the dark in their room, Lizzie and Jessie had talked about it.
"I guess we're tools too." Lizzie had said.
"Not as good as Merry." Jessie replied.
They had felt it at that point: as soon as Jessie had finished her sentence. Fear. If they weren't as good as Merry, if they weren't as useful, could they last? In Dollopolis Simone protected them, but if they couldn't do missions, if they failed when the Giants told them to do something… Could she still protect them?
The first mission Jessie and Lizzie had been on had ended in disaster. The Giants had been ready to abandon them and only Merry's sacrifice had insured that they would be kept.
Lizzie had crawled into her sisters bed that night and in huddled frightened whispers they had talked themselves to sleep.
"We can't mess this up!" Lizzie insisted as Jessie pulled off her ninja wrappings.
"We didn't." Jessie said. "Lizzie we're making this work!"
"You are!" Lizzie accused. "You hid, I froze!"
"It was only a question!" Jessie exclaimed. "It's us Lizzie! Always! Us together or nothing!"
"That's the point!" Lizzie nearly shouted but kept her voice under control. "If I mess up bad enough we get nothing! Jes I can't loose what we got now! But when I get out there… The space…"
"You're better." Jessie said.
{Yes she is.}
The voice in their heads caused both sisters to hug each other tightly.
{You have not failed us.}
{When you fail us, you shall know it.}
{And as Merry has told you the consequences of failure can be dire.}
"Dire?" Jessie asked.
{As in you don't want to.}
{But Lizzie's agoraphobia is something we factored into our plans this night.}
{Never imagine girls that we do not have plans for both of you.}
{Good plans and bad plans.}
{Serve us as Merry does, with all of your hearts and souls and you will only know the good plans.}
{We do not expect you to succeed in everything. You are not Merry.}
{But it will be better for you if you do not fail us.}
{Do you best, the rest will take care of itself. Now get some sleep.}
Jessie helped Lizzie to stand up and Lizzie felt numb as her sister helped her undress. Then they got into bed. Lizzie reached over and shut off the light. Then she and Jessie curled up against each other. Lizzie's body shook for a little while longer. Merry never failed, the Giants didn't like failure; what if Lizzie failed? Their words hadn't made things any clearer.
"We were like those girls weren't we." Lizzie said, not ready to sleep.
"They're rich." Jessie said.
"Doesn't make them happy." Lizzie said. "Aphrodite is really messed up."
"Yea."
"Jessie, do you think she's more like us, like we used to be?"
"Maybe, why?"
"Maybe we could help her."
"How?"
"There's a lot of houses left in Dollopolis."
"What?" Jessie sat up.
"I'm just thinking…"
"Lizzie They have plans for her."
"I know but…"
{But nothing.}
{Who goes into Dollopolis is up to ourselves, Merry and Simone.}
{Not either of you.}
{Do not forget that.}
"Yes Mistress." Lizzie and Jessie said together.
{Your desire to help is commendable Lizzie.}
{Merry and Simone's influence no doubt.}
{But do not forget your station.}
{Do not make us angry.}
There was no more talking, both sisters were silent. Lizzie wondered if she had made a bad situation worse. First her failure on the question and now a suggestion she had no right to make. Would she mess this up?
The fear followed her into her dreams and would have turned them into nightmares if Lizzie hadn't felt her sister's body against her own.
Jessie crept through the passageway the next night. A part of her mind was still on her sister. Lizzie's fear was growing and to be honest Jessie shared that fear. There was nothing they had ever wanted in their lives that they didn’t have now. Simone was a mother, Merry a big sister, Dollopolis was a home… But would they, could they keep it? The Giant's… they were like gods and how did a person know what pleased a god?
Jessie pulled her mind away from the fear and listened carefully. She was in the hidden alcove behind Verity's room. Pressing her ear to the wood she heard nothing. But she knew that the Giant's using her ears heard more.
{They seem to be in there in another drunken slumber.}
{Go, quickly before Aphrodite drags Tranquility into her room.}
"Yes mistress." Jessie whispered.
It took her only a few minutes to reach the hidden alcove behind Aphrodite's closet. Jessie opened it carefully and looked into the larger closet. It was silent and dark. Going to the panel she climbed to the lock and opened it again. The panel moved aside silently and again darkness greeted her. Jessie climbed down and went to the door of the closet. The room was the same as last night, clear and clean. Jessie started to go back to get the I-Pod. It was a harder task for her tonight. She had to carry the I-Pod through the room and the corridor beyond and into another room. That much time spent out in the open was dangerous. Jessie was halfway down the door when a hand reached from behind the door and grabbed her.
There was no way to stop the terrified screech that escaped from her as Jessie was lifted up and Aprhodite carried her over to the bed.
"Now love I want to know what you've been up too between my walls." Aphrodite said picking up a pair of scissors. She held clicked them open and closed and few times and then brought them closer to Jessie's dangling legs. "And I want the truth."
…To be continued.
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