714 Bridle Path Ch. 01

"Indeed we did, and indeed you are right," she confirmed, picking up her tea for a sip. He'd chosen a Darjeeling, adding just a drop of honey to hers. He'd remembered! Bless the man! "I love it there, of course, but this is such a comfy little retreat. The gardens all around you will be so lovely, come May."

He nodded. "Forget my own little plots, which I am looking forward to puttering around with, I am not far from the waterfall and the faerie garden, I am told. That should be interesting to see."

"And the trellis over the little bridge to reach you will soon be a tunnel of blossoms," Jenny sighed, smiling dreamily at the thought of it. Jordan's cottage felt removed from the crazy of the world, it was simply a place to relax. Even now, his stereo system wasn't playing music, but merely light spring nature sounds- birds calling, the rustle of wind, a babbling brook... people, herself included, became so removed from the simple by the complex artificial construct that was society, and she felt it cost a person part of their soul. "A girl could get lost here."

"Your spirit is too restless for that, Jennifer, even if it enjoys the occasional respite," Jordan pointed out, using her first name, as he was privileged to do when they were alone, or in the company of the DeBournes. "And you do important work, my dear. Buying heritage properties all over England to preserve them from developers is no small feat."

"And takes up a considerable amount of my business' resources on the other side of the profit line," she seemed to grumble for effect. "I only hope Liz and her servants in Whitehall notice."

She smiled at him now. "Aside from looking after the staff while Tatyana is away, old bean, how are you keeping active? I refuse to believe that Kat is allowing you to sit still and turn into a statue."

"I daresay she is not," Jordan agreed, nodding. "I am now the proud owner of some exercise bike I cannot hope to understand but still faithfully use, and I am indeed looking forward to getting my hands dirty while rooting about in my little gardens. Whatever happens to this place when I am gone, I want them to be part of my noted legacy. If I have my way, I will not be around to see their final and fullest expression, even if I live another twenty years."

Jenny smiled at his words, but the corner of her eyes stung.

"Further to that, I am learning how to make my own wines and even mead," he added, sipping his tea again. "True, I may not be stamping the grapes myself, but I can boil my own honey and go through the rest of the process with relatively little adult supervision."

"Winson Wines has a certain ring to it," Jenny mused. "If you indeed perfect your own recipe, give it to me, so that I can take it back home. Don't give it to Bellerophon, they have everything else, it'd be nice to have one over on Kat for a change."

"I think I can manage this, young lady," Jordan said, smirking. "I have heard tell that you're planning an extended visit to us?"

"Indeed," Jenny replied, nodding. "I'll be going back home in June, to make sure Sammy is ready to take the reins in my absence, and to set up communications in case he needs my help. But I have been instructed to be back by July, so that I do not miss Himself's birthday."

"Yes, that should be quite the good time, since he turns fifty," the elderly man mused. "And Karen a mere month later."

"Bloody unfair that neither of them look even close to their age," the countess grumbled. "Damned colonials and their genetics..."

Jordan actually laughed before holding up the plate. "Another sandwich, my dear?"

***

Later that night, the security office...

"Look, I know that you come from a rather Luddite community," Ari said, smiling while he turned the laptop toward his co-worker. They were sitting at his long bank of desks, with his guest in a comfy rolling chair that matched his. "But there is a certain virtue in being able to use a laptop, even if it's not much more than a simple Chromebook."

"I'm just not into the whole geeky-techy thing, Ari," Trilby almost protested, wrinkling her nose in distaste as he offered her the device. "I mean, I can barely tolerate havin' this cellphone and this smartwatch that the bosses gave us all for our job."

"But you like music, right?" Ari asked.

"Well sure, and our bosses gave me a scary-expensive old-school vinyl player, so now I can play records in my room," the hippie girl pointed out. "And every once in a while, they're playin' music over the speakers right through this place, which I can handle, even if it's usually classical stuff."

"But you could be listening to your own music while you work," he said, tapping the base of the laptop. "We get you some good earbuds, small and discreet. Then we hook them up to your smartwatch, which is attached to a designated laptop. That way, you can access your own playlist any time you like."

Trilby paused in her objections. "So... I could just keep music on some little laptop and use it that way? I don't need to be on the interwebs or whatever? Just me and my music?"

Ari nodded, grinning. "I'll make sure you have a complete playlist, however large you want it to be. And any song you want on the laptop, I can get it, no hassle."

"You're bein' awfully nice," she mused, her eyes narrowing. "What are you up to, genius?"

"Literally nothing," Ari said. "Most of the rest of us have earbuds already that we use, and Dave has his big ol' cans he wears. Configuring those through the firewall was a bitch, let me tell you. Even Val's newest kitty ears have speakers in the beret."

Trilby was lost in thought for a few moments, staring at the laptop. "I suppose as long as I don't need to do anything else, but can just access music, then it's okay. But really, Ari, I don't wanna have anything else to do with it. I made it through life for twenty-seven years without all this technology on my ass, and I desperately wanna keep it that way."

"I swear on my father's grave back in Haifa, I'm not trying to hook you into the Matrix," he said seriously, putting his hand over his heart. "I've done it for everyone else already, I just feel like you're the last piece to put in place."

"More like the last nail in the coffin," Trilby muttered, scowling at the floor. "So you can keep the music sixties and early seventies? I won't end up with country, rap, or death metal blowing my head off, will I?"

"You come up with a list of songs, and I'll set it up," he promised, glad he was making headway. "I'll even show you how to configure the playlist for yourself. Then you can-"

"This way, squirt," they heard Andrea say as the tall mechanic walked by his door. They turned and saw her saunter on past, clearly pleased and almost... eager... about something.

Seconds later, a very dejected-looking Valentina trudged by slowly. "I'm coming, I'm coming..."

Ari and Trilby stared at the door for a few moments after Val disappeared from view, then looked at one another in mild confusion. "Whaddya suppose that was about?" Trilby wondered. "Bubbles looked like she was on her way to a funeral."

"Yeah, her own," Ari said pensively, giving it some thought. A split second later, he was locking all his computers and then the pair got up and hurried out after Val and Andrea to see what was going on.

***

"Do I wanna know what's happening?" Ari asked as he caught up with Andrea, who was still leading the way, smirking rather evilly.

"Oh, hey, there you are, egghead," the tall, rangy blonde said, looking at him now. "Can y'do me a solid and confirm that old man Winson has gone to bed, or at least to his cottage?"

Ari seemed puzzled as he walked, but he had his super phone in hand and began fiddling with it for a moment. "Well, his cellphone and his smartwatch are both back in his crib, so assuming he didn't ditch them to go create mischief..."

"Awesome," Andrea said rather loudly, clearly pleased. "No adult supervision."

"Dannazione all'inferno..." Val muttered in response to the revelation as she stumped along, some feet behind. She was in a decidedly foul but also nervous mood. Her co-workers had yet to figure out why, though.

Andrea seemed to have taken a rather slow and less than direct route through the manor, clearly in no rush to get where they were going. Not only did this clearly enhance Val's sense of dread, but it also had the effect of picking up various other curious onlookers. Before long, Andrea was being followed by all the other members of the staff, along with Freja and Jeanie, who were spending the night to look after Morgenmuffel and the hermit crabs while Alex and Alexa were gone.

"Bubbles, what's goin' on?" Trilby asked, walking with her former roomie and her best friend. "Y'look like you're being walked down the last mile."

"I don't wanna talk about it," Val grumbled, looking at the floor as they headed up to the second floor. She had hoped that maybe the soft, gleaming white of the Calacatta marble would soothe her frazzled nerves, but no dice. Not to mention Trilby drawing a comparison to walking the mile to her own execution.

"What on earth is happening?" Marie asked Theresa as they walked along at the back of the gaggle. The chef shrugged, clearly out of the loop as well.

The group finally arrived at what was apparently their destination, the new staff gaming room. They stopped outside of it and Andrea turned to look at Val, unable to repress an evil smile, and gestured for her to go in.

Val walked by slowly, with her head hung. Everyone else just watched silently. Trilby kept hearing the music of the Kingston Trio song 'Tom Dooley' in her head as she watched her friend.

"Okay, Prospero, you remember the terms," Andrea announced as she went in after Val, followed by the others, who looked on curiously. "Any last words?"

"Let's get this over with," the little Italian girl mumbled, still looking at the floor, her normally bright and happy features rather ashen grey.

"Are we in any danger of findin' out what's goin' on here?" Jeanie finally asked, unable to restrain her curiosity further.

"Well, no need for deets, but Val lost a bet with me," Andrea explained. "And now she's gonna pay the price."

Everyone turned their heads, almost as one entity, to look at Valentina, but she didn't look back. She just kept staring at the floor and shrugged rather helplessly.

"I lost the bet," she sighed, sounding like she'd somehow misplaced a billion dollars. "And Andrea would've paid the same price if I'd won. Fair's fair... I guess..."

"Annnnnd what's the penalty for losing?" Theresa queried.

"Guess you're about to find out," Andrea replied, looking at Val and folding her arms. "So... you gonna try and invoke your Jesus clause?"

Val looked at the assembly, her eyes worried and imploring. "Uh... anyone wanna take my punishment for me?"

"Do we get to find out what it first?" Dave asked.

"Nnnnnnnope," Andrea announced firmly.

"Then pass," the older man grunted. "Not a chance in Hell, you girls are nuts."

"Funny you should put it that way, big guy," Andrea laughed while everyone else took a step back. Clearly, Val was on her own. Even Trilby hid in the crowd, unwilling to rescue her friend from whatever was about to happen.

"Traditori, tutti voi..." Val grumbled, scowling once again at the floor.

"Looks like you're the guest of honour at your own execution, lady," Andrea said. "Assume the position."

Everyone watched as Val swallowed and headed over to the antique, full-sized billiards table. Her slow, despondent gait was completely at odds with her outfit, the scandalously abbreviated black and frilly white maid's outfit she wore on the clock. They'd never seen her look more miserable, even when she was hung over.

If the little kitty ears on her head could have flattened back to reflect her mood, they would have.

The tiny housekeeper clambered up onto the table, not caring that she probably flashed her tiny panties at everyone in the room. Slowly, she moved to the far edge of the table and turned slowly to face everyone, sitting on her butt. She swallowed loudly as she bent her knees up and then spread her legs, the tiny skirt riding up, exposing her creamy thighs and lacy thong to the world.

Her eyes were brittle and wet with fear.

"Y- y'sure we have to do this?" she asked, a tremble in her voice.

"Would you've let me off the hook if you'd won our bet?" Andrea pointed out.

"No," Val sighed, crossing herself and saying a prayer under her breath. "Okay..."

Everyone moved closer and spread around the table as Andrea assumed a position at the end opposite Val. They watched as she placed the gleaming white cue ball down on the table, smiling evilly at Val the whole time. She then walked over to a small cabinet and pulled out a small carrying case. From it, she retrieved two parts of a shiny black pool cue.

"My Cuetec Breach Break," she explained as she began assembling it, slowly. "Nice'n heavy, adjustable weight, and made with a carbon fiber core and skin. Bought it with one of my paycheques a while back. This is gonna be my first time using it."

"Damn, how much did that set you back?" Ari asked, seeming to forget Val's increasing terror at the other end of the table.

"With the extras, about eight hundred," the tall blonde said, smiling wickedly, still looking at Val. Andrea was the best pool player in the group, even better than Dave or Theresa, who, it turns out, was something of a hustler. Andrea often played games against Mike or Karen, and even though she inevitably lost because of their innate command of geometry, math, and physics, she liked to think she got a tiny bit better with every loss. "Totes worth it."

She walked back toward the table now and assumed her place while the others made room. Like Val, she hadn't changed out of her work clothes yet, meaning she was wearing her sturdy denim overalls, the straps of which did little more than run up the front of her large tits and hold her abbreviated white tank top in place.

"Alllllllrighty, then," she said, propping the cue against the edge of the table and cracking her knuckles loudly, a sound that made Val jump slightly. Like she wasn't nervous enough without the sound of bones breaking! "Let's do this crazy thing, shall we?"

"N-nobody wants to let me invoke my Jesus clause?" Val called out nervously, visibly sweating.

The room was silent, dreading what was clearly going to happen next.

"Hullo, what are you lot up to?" Jenny asked as she entered the room, wearing a bathrobe. "I was hoping someone would be available to give me a ru- oh, goodness..."

"C-countess?" Val called out, for once not curtsying, because she was splayed on a billiards table, exposing her terrified crotch to the world. "I don't... I don't s'pose you wanna trade places? You're pretty adventurous, right?"

The wry expression on the countess' face said everything as she assessed the situation. "Nnnnnno, lovey, I may be wild, but I'm not terribly suicidal where alcohol isn't concerned. I might have agreed to be in your shoes if it was the lord of the manor administering the punishment, but I think I'll just watch. What on earth did you do? Touch a valve on one of Miss Kachelmeier's beloved pipes or furnaces?"

"She'd be gettin' a lot worse if she touched my babies," Andrea pointed out, picking up the cue and starting to eye the table, measuring what would happen next. The room was utterly silent as she began her calculations.

"Val lost some bet with Andrea, and apparently crotch destruction was the price to be paid," Ari said, grimacing as he looked on.

"Well now, this should be entertaining," Jenny mused, folding her arms under her large breasts and simply watching.

Slowly, Andrea leaned down, putting her left hand out on the green surface and resting the cue on it, beginning to aim.

Val was starting to squirm, fighting the urge to either close her legs or just throw herself out of the way.

"Hollllld on..." Andrea said quietly, moving her head in and lining up her eye with the gleaming white ball and the target beyond.

Everyone waited breathlessly, the room utterly silent except for Val's heart pounding and the rustle of her dress' material on the table.

"Val, move your skirt, it's blockin' my view," Andrea said, moving her cue back and forth now, aiming and aligning. "You're movin' around too much and it fell down over your crotch."

Pale, Val's trembling hand reached down and pulled her skirt hem back out of the way, presenting Andrea with an unobstructed view of her target once again.

"Yeahhhhhh," Andrea drawled quietly, pulling back for her shot while Val looked around at her friends in utter panic. "And now w-"

"Half a moment, lovey," Jenny said suddenly, breaking the tension and once again, Val almost jumped at the sound. Andrea paused and looked up curiously while Jenny walked over to the far side of the table, standing next to Val. The maidservant's eyes flashed with sudden hope but then her expression cracked when the countess took the eight ball and placed it down on the table, maybe two inches in front of Val's panties.

"That should cushion the blow somewhat," Jenny said, walking back to her original spot while Val watched her leave in disbelief.

"Not how it works, countess," Andrea said, smiling evilly as she leaned down again and lined up her shot. "Transference of energy and all that."

"Bugger," Jenny muttered before looking at Val and shrugging. "Sorry, my dear, I was trying to help."

Val's eyes snapped back down to look across the green mile at Andrea, her entire world becoming a black tunnel focused on the mechanic and what she was doing. Everything else fell away, forgotten and nonexistent.

In what seemed slow motion for her, she saw Andrea's arm move, then heard an echoing sound as the tip of the cue impacted the white ball. She saw a tiny puff of blue powder explode out from the contact point, and then the cue ball was heading her way. She knew objectively it was moving incredibly quickly, but it seemed painfully slow to her, rolling forward at a snail's pace that she was helpless to avoid.

Everyone else jumped a bit as the cue impacted the cue ball like a warhammer. Andrea had a frighteningly powerful break, sometimes scattering balls around the room if she wasn't careful. In the old lounge downstairs, that had been a problem, given the crystal glasses often left hanging on display. But here in their own lounge, all she had to worry about was cracking the plastic dome on the foozball table or hitting someone in the crotch if they weren't careful.

Which was, of course, the point of all this tonight.

They all watched in fascinated horror as the cue ball rocketed forward, covering the distance of the table in a microsecond, before slamming into the eight ball. Almost all of that energy went into the recipient sphere, which launched itself the last two inches before smacking dead center into Val's panties.

The crack of Andrea's initial hit on the cue was almost matched by the clack! sound of the eight ball impacting Val's crotch. It was like thunder in everyone's ears.

And then a deafening silence.

Everyone looked over at Val, who was sitting utterly still, staring blankly. A half second passed before her eyes rolled into her head and then she started to topple backward, threatening to fall off the table. Tunde and Ari surged around and caught her before her she went ass over teakettle, righting her back on the green surface while the offending eight ball rolled away with impunity.

Jeanie was just watching, her hands clapped over her mouth, eyes wide.

"Shiiiiiiiit..." she whispered. "If that didn't break her cunt, then she's gonna have spherical babies, that's for sure."