The Pledge Mistress Ch. 21

"OK, sleeping beauties! UP-UP-UP! Let's go...let's go...let's go!"

The incoherent pledges staggered out of their cots, staring at the Pledge Mistress in disbelief. It was 3:30 in the morning!

"OK, lovely ladies! Dump your bladders and get your shoes on! NOW!"

The pledges knew better than to question the Pledge Mistress, in spite of the fact they were almost delirious with fatigue. They came very close to crying as they took turns on the toilet and struggled to put on their shoes. They trudged up the stairs and moved towards the door, too tired to even care that they were about to go out on the street wearing only their shoes.

Tracy led them along the dark streets that passed the small park and bypassed Fraternity Row. As the cool night air caressed their bodies, the pledges woke up somewhat and realized what a lovely night, or early morning, it was. The streets were totally silent and devoid of cars, the parties had ended, and Pageant Street had long since cleared of drunken students.

The women dashed across the main street to get onto Old Campus and quietly walked along the dark sidewalks towards the Student Memorial Center. At first the pledges assumed that Tracy was taking them for a "dressed" rehearsal of the scavenger hunt, but then she ordered Lisa to find that hidden path that led to Huntington Hall. Bewildered, Lisa obliged and the women disappeared into the bushes.

As they neared and passed the library, the pledges realized that Tracy was taking them outside the Old Campus area and leading them towards the dorms. They wondered if this was another test or hazing ritual, now that they had walked for over a half an hour and already were nearly two miles away from the sorority and their clothes. Tracy showed no sign of turning around as the lights of the dorm area shined between the trees. She had a question:

"When you guys came through here on the three-mile streak, where did you cross?"

"Over there, about half-way between the two stoplights, past the duck pond."

"OK, let's try to get across so no one will see you."

"Uh...we're leaving campus, ma'am?"

"Yes. We're leaving campus! Now stop arguing and move your ass!" Tracy punctuated her statement with a hard slap to Lisa's exposed bottom.

The four pledges dashed across the deserted street, followed by their Pledge Mistress. They became very nervous, because they still did not know why they were being taken on the naked walk and assumed they would have to return to the sorority the same way they had come. There would be no way, even now, that they could get back before it started getting light outside. That would be nice, to be seen running naked along Pageant Street by the early church-going crowd.

The pledges' anxiety increased as Tracy led them along the quiet suburban streets towards the park where she and Heather had dropped them off for the streaking adventure. Their nervousness really increased when they passed the park and drifted even further from the university. If they went much further, daylight would catch their exposed bodies, not on campus, but in a residential neighborhood and literally miles from their clothes!

Finally, after more than an hour of walking, the pledges noticed they were on the street where Dr. Ruth Burnside lived. They sighed with relief upon realizing that the purpose of their walk had been to travel one-way to the professor's residence, not to make a round trip to the sorority. They saw Dr. Halsey's car parked out front and the two professors loading life jackets and other boating supplies into the trunk. The pledges sank to their knees in the driveway while Tracy greeted their hostess and her lover. A minute later the professors got into the car, while the four naked women gratefully filed into the house. Lisa glanced at the sky before going through the door. Already it was just beginning to get light towards the east.

The pledges took off their shoes and knelt in Burnside's living room. Tracy finally explained the purpose of the strange outing.

"We'll be staying in this house until 7:00 p.m. tonight, and then we gotta head over to the Tri-Alpha house. Between now and 7:00 tonight I expect you to be doing one of two things: sleep or study. When you don't want to sleep, I want you to study. When you're too tired to study, I want you to sleep. That's it. No music, no TV, no Internet. Sleep and study. When the sun comes out you can grab a towel and use the yard, but if I see you out there in the sun, you'd better either be asleep or with one of your books. Get it?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"OK, shower up in the guest bathroom and get to bed. As soon as you're up, what are you gonna do?"

"Study, ma'am."

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Cherine and Bernadette collapsed in Burnside's bed as soon as they had cleaned themselves up. The bed was king-sized and there was plenty of room for two women who were not intimate with each other to sleep comfortably.

Lisa and Kathleen took the much smaller bed in the guest room. That bed was only a double, but given that they were planning to cuddle, its size was adequate. As soon as they were cleaned up from the walk and had dried off, Lisa and her lover locked the door to the guest room and crawled into the small bed. Kathleen nestled her body against Lisa and promptly fell asleep.

Lisa heard the front door open and close, and footsteps going down the sidewalk to the street. Undoubtedly that was the sound of Tracy leaving to go back to the Four-Beta house. In the silence of her professor's guest room, she relaxed for a few minutes as the sky lightened outside. She was dead tired, but it would take her a few minutes to actually fall asleep.

Still, Lisa was content at the prospect that she and the others could sleep as long as they wanted, a luxury sure to be denied to them had they stayed behind in the sorority house. Tracy really had thought ahead, wanting to make sure her group not only was familiar with Old Campus, but also well-rested and alert for what was likely to be a very stressful night.

Lisa stroked her lover's hair for a few minutes and finally fell asleep herself. For once she felt that she did not have to worry about anything. Hopefully Tracy had everything under control.

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Lisa did not wake up until 3:00 in the afternoon. She looked at the clock in disbelief, realizing that she and Kathleen had slept more than nine hours. She eased herself away from her lover, not wanting to wake her up before she had a chance to leave the room. She knew that Kathleen would be desperate to make love to her as soon as they got up, but decided that with Tracy in the house and the other pledges already awake that having sex with Kathleen probably was not a good idea.

Lisa stepped into the hallway, trying to shake out the unpleasant tingling from her left arm that had "gone to sleep". She was surprised to see Tracy asleep on the living room sofa in her gym shorts and T-shirt. It occurred to Lisa that, however little sleep the pledges had enjoyed over the past several days, their Pledge Mistress had even less. Lisa found her backpack near the front door and slung it over her shoulder. She found Bernadette and Cherine already sitting out on Burnside's patio, each of them quietly studying in a lawn chair. Each of them had a large glass of orange juice, which reminded Lisa that she was hungry. Lisa went to the kitchen, filled a glass for herself, and took a bagel to snack on. With that she joined the others and began reading for the classes she had the next day.

The final member of the group to wake up was Kathleen. She didn't get up until 4:30, having slept nearly 11 hours. She was sorely disappointed that Lisa was not still in bed with her, but otherwise felt refreshed and better than she had felt in days. Yes, adequate sleep really can make a difference. She picked up her backpack and joined the others on the patio in the late afternoon heat.

At 6:30 Tracy woke up and told her group to clean up the house and get ready to "move out!" As the pledges made the beds and cleaned the kitchen, Tracy turned on her cell phone and called the sorority. Lisa overheard her part of the conversation:

"...yes, of course I'm with the pledges...yes, they've studied...look, I understand that...OK, let's get something straight here, Alexandra...No...No...No, my job was to get them ready for the scavenger hunt, that's what you told me. You told me yourself that I'm responsible if they lose. Those were your words, and to me that means it was up to me to decide how to get them ready...yes, they're ready....I understand that, but you didn't say anything about me keeping them at the house...you did not specify that, Alexandra...I took them off-campus so they could rest, that's why...Yes, they're rested, and I'm just about to bring 'em back...Look, I don't give a shit about Heather, I really don't! Those pledges are my responsibility, not hers! Alexandra, you know what? If her feelings are hurt, tough shit...now, either you want my group to win, or you don't! Which is it?"

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Tracy and the pledges made their way back to the sorority house on foot, a trek of nearly four miles in the heat of an early summer evening. They calmly crossed the street back onto campus and passed the dorm parking lots. The five women contemplated dozens of cars blissfully occupying spaces without parking permits; vehicles that would be on their way to a towing company's impound lot later that night.

The massive parking enforcement operation was a ritual that took place Sunday night of the second week of every semester. It was Campus Security's hard lesson to the arrogant freshmen who cheerfully assumed that university parking regulations did not apply to them. Later that night the lot would be full of tow trucks and the exits would be blocked to prevent frantic dorm residents from getting their vehicles off campus before they could be towed. A few days later most of the cars would be back in the lots, but this time properly adorned with parking permits.

The event would be a perfect time to conduct a naked scavenger hunt, because the attention of the entire university would be focused on the dorm area. As word of the operation spread, frantic students who had not bothered to purchase permits would be rushing back to the dorm lots, while the more compliant students who already had bought permits would be standing around watching the fun. The police would be on hand in force to make sure no one interfered with the tow trucks, so it was certain that Old Campus would be completely deserted.

The group was left the university just as the sun was setting. Tracy stopped to give the pledges one final set of instructions:

"Alright, you've got a rough night ahead of you, but I'm sure you're a lot more ready to do this than the Triple-A's. This'll be it for me, because I'm gonna be spending the night with their Pledge Master, running around Old Campus and making sure all of the scavenger hunt items are where they're supposed to be. I've done what I can to get you ready and the rest of it's up to you."

"Yes, ma'am."

What I'm telling you now will be explained by President Alexandra when you're ready to move out, but you might as well hear it from me first, in case you have questions. There are going to be two kinds of items you're looking for. One's gonna be a list of things you'll need to take pictures of with a digital camera, items that are part of the university and cannot be picked up. That's where I expect you to beat the Triple-A's, 'cause you know where everything is. You understand that part?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"The other list is of stuff you need to find and bring back to the judges, who'll be set up at a table behind the Alumni Clubhouse. Your list is gonna be different from what the Triple-A's have. I haven't seen either list yet, but I do know there's gonna be stuff on there like library books and flyers out of the Student Center. You might be bringing back something weird, like a toilet seat or a typewriter, but I don't know that for sure. A word of warning: once you bring your items back to the judges, do not leave until you're absolutely sure they've been logged. Get it?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"I would recommend that two of you carry items you've already picked up, while the other two retrieve new stuff, and to take your findings to the judges several at a time to save trips. Now, one more word of warning. No matter how rushed you think you are, do NOT separate! Stay within sight of each other, always, even if you're inside a building! Stay together and work together! I cannot emphasize enough what I just said. No matter what, you've got to stick together! Get it?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"So, who do you think's gonna win?"

"We are, ma'am!"