Torture Forgery

"The Events Officer? That reminds me. Have you checked your emails today? Hilary wants our ideas for the adult Halloween evening -- by the weekend."

"I saw it. I haven't opened it yet..."

Both our mobile phones announced the receipt of an incoming text message. We grabbed simultaneously, laughing at each other.

"A text from Joan?" Alice said. "I didn't know she knew how."

The text told us we should consult the 1920s book that was a history of the travelling fun-fair. Joan had forgotten to tell us that chapter eight gave information about the creation and use of the torture items. Both of us had seen the book in the archive Joan had left for us. Neither of us had even opened the book.

Alice acknowledged the text on behalf of both of us.

"If Joan says so, it must be important," she said.

"Back to the current issue. What do we do about Danny's insistence?"

"What can we do, Simon? We can refuse. We have. So far? We're still employed but he isn't happy with us."

"I think we should keep looking for other posts, Alice."

"I haven't stopped looking. Have you?"

"No. But the situation is the same. All the positions for curators demand experience which we haven't yet got. If we survive a year or so of working for Danny, then maybe, perhaps, we might be considered."

"Unless we have compromised our reputation as curators, Simon."

"Which means we are back where we were. We can't accept Danny's demands without wrecking our so-far non-existent careers. If we were to? We'd be better off working as waiting staff in the Tea Room."

"Or checkout staff in a supermarket?"

"That too, Alice. It would pay us more and offer promotion prospects."

We had reached the Temple of the Winds, a formal columned 18th Century structure that gave views back to the main house and over large parts of the formal gardens. We sat on the high-backed circular seat looking away from the house.

Alice pointed upwards to the inside of the dome. I looked. There was a CCTV camera. She put her lips close to my head and whispered.

"You could always pretend to be saying sweet nothings in my ear."

"Why pretend?" I whispered back. "I would like to be whispering sweet nothings in your ear."

Alice's response was to kiss me. If that camera was monitoring us, it would record a long session of mutual kissing. After about quarter of an hour, when we were both short of breath, Alice pulled me to my feet and we went beyond the Temple towards the next vista.

"I enjoyed that," Alice said when we had walked about a hundred yards with our arms wrapped around each other.

"So did I," I said.

I might have said more but we started kissing again.

"Forget about Danny," Alice said. "We've been dodging the main issue for us. I think we have just made a decision, don't you?"

"Yes, Alice. We've decided that we are more than work colleagues. We are girlfriend and boyfriend who might become something more. Not yet, perhaps. It's probably too soon except for me to say 'I love you, Alice'."

That earned me another session of kissing.

"I love you, Simon," Alice said when our lips finally parted. "What do we do?"

"Apart from kissing? Just enjoy ourselves for the rest of today. We've done enough unpaid overtime. How about walking to the village for a celebratory drink?"

"Can we afford it? Their prices are high."

"Probably not, but we have made a major decision."

"There's a half-bottle of sparkling wine in the fridge at the flat."

"There is? How?"

"It was left over, along with more wine, after the recent wedding reception. The unopened bottles were shared out among the staff and volunteers. Our share was that half-bottle and three full-size bottles of red."

"I didn't know, Alice, but a half-bottle sees more appropriate than a couple of halves of cider which is all we could afford at the pub."

We walked slowly back to our shared apartment. I couldn't believe the decision we had made. What Danny wanted us to do didn't matter anymore. Alice and I had committed to each other. That was far more important and amazing than our work. I still couldn't believe that the delightful woman who had her arm wrapped around my waist actually wanted me.

I had known of Alice from the first few weeks of our undergraduate course. I admired her, liked the way she looked, and appreciated her intelligence. We had both achieved Firsts. I had been slightly surprised that I had but knew Alice would.

During our post-graduate studies to be qualified Museum Curators we were openly competing with each other as the only students who were not employer-sponsored. She got higher marks for her course work. I scored better than her on the examinations. Overall there was very little difference between our results of the end of the year. Alice might have had a tiny advantage in the marks, perhaps less than one percent, but we both got the highest rating overall.

If only I hadn't thought she was still with David I might have asked Alice for a date during that year. She might not have agreed. Both of us had been working hard on a course that had recently been reduced from two years to one with no loss of content. We had had little spare time for any social activities and no money.

But now? Now we could plan what we wanted to do together, build and explore our relationship, and we would be together seven days a week. I couldn't believe how fortunate I was. It seemed that Alice felt the same. Every time we were hidden from members of the public by trees or bushes, Alice pulled my head down for yet another kiss.

A walk that should take ten minutes became thirty with the stops for kisses and cuddles. The wine could wait. We were just deliriously happy together.

We were nearly at the inconspicuous door that led to the staircase to our apartment. Alice pulled us to a stop.

"Simon? Have you got any condoms?"

I blinked and stuttered. The implications of that question were obvious.

"I... Er.. I think so. I'm not sure. They might be out of date."

I did NOT ask why Alice had asked.

"What about Celia? You mean you didn't?"

"Celia? No. She wanted me for other things, not that."

"I'm surprised." Alice said. "She clung to you sometimes."

"What Celia wanted from me was not sex. She thought she was too old for me anyway. At first all she wanted was my help with the course. She was struggling, not because she was out of her depth, but because her life was a mess. She was in the middle of a nasty divorce from her husband Alan. I only knew her side but even discounting the wronged wife's bias it was obvious that Alan had been an arsehole.

That was bad enough but she was being stalked by Tom who had been Alan's Best Man. Tom was already divorced and thought Celia would be available and willing. She thought Tom was a slimy creep. He wouldn't take no for an answer, pestering her by phone, text, email and parking his car in the road outside her flat. Celia asked me to pretend to be her new man. I would take her home to her flat and go in with her. Once she had shut the curtains I would leave by the back entrance so that Tom would think I was staying the night.

One evening as I was going back up the stairs carrying some of Celia's shopping I met Tom coming down. He shouldn't have been in the building because it has security doors. I asked what he was doing. He threatened me. That was a mistake. As I reached the landing I put the shopping down. He tried to punch me. I caught his fist, twisted his arm behind his back and took him downstairs and out of the building. He hadn't appreciated just how large I am. I told him to leave Celia alone or else..."

"Did it work?"

"Eventually. I saw his car parked close to Celia's flat a few days later. I banged on the window and told him to f... off. The messages and stalking stopped but Celia still wanted me to be available if Tom tried again -- until she found that Alfred wanted her. Alfred had been convinced that Celia was my girlfriend. When Celia and I sat next to him in the student cafeteria our conversation was not that of boyfriend and girlfriend. Alfred was surprised, so surprised that he asked Celia outright -- 'Is Simon your boyfriend?' -- our laughter answered him. Celia then said: 'Why did you ask, Albert? Do you want the vacant position?'.

It took some minutes but eventually he admitted that he did. I left the two of them together. Of course it didn't happen immediately but they became a couple over the next week or so. Celia was happy with Alfred. He was so unlike Alan or Tom and obviously besotted with Celia. It must have been about the same time you broke up with David but both of us were working too hard to notice the changed situations."

"Thanks for telling me about Celia. I liked her but thought she had her claws into you. I wish her well with Alfred. He's a good bloke but too shy and too serious for me. I'm sure he'll be a caricature of a Museum curator when he's older -- musty and dusty like some of the exhibits, unless Celia can brighten him up. Back to condoms. I've got a few, enough for tonight. You'll have to get on a bike and get some from the chemist's tomorrow. I'm on the pill but..."

We kissed again before climbing the stairs to our shared apartment.

Alice took the half-bottle of sparkling wine out of the fridge and opened it. We toasted each other, drank a little, and simultaneously spluttered before laughing.

"No wonder it was left behind," Alice said. "It's awful!"

It was. We poured the rest of it down the sink and made a pot of tea.

"That reminds me," I said, "I was drinking tea when Albert and Celia decided to get together. They're coming to see the museum on Wednesday afternoon."

"They are? I didn't know, Simon."

"Celia sent me an email last night. I don't think she knows yours."

"There was no reason why she should. But we can discuss our difficulties with Danny. I'm sure Celia and Albert will back our point of view."

"I'm sure they will. Emails? We have to think about Hilary's email about Halloween, and then there is Joan's text message."

"Tomorrow will do for both, Simon. We're not on duty today. What we should be doing is..."

"...finding condoms?"

Alice blushed.

"Yes. I know where mine are. Can you find yours and check whether they are still in date?"

I went to my bedroom. I had to dig in the depths of a suitcase. Until today I hadn't thought I would need condoms for months. There they were. Two unopened packets of three. I looked closely. They had a month to go before the expiry date. I went back to Alice.

"They're in date," I said.

"Great. So are mine. But I think it is too early to go to bed. After the evening meal, perhaps. Until then?"

Alice dragged me to the ancient settee before she climbed on my lap.

"I need some payback for that Scold's Bridle," Alice said.

She produced a wide leather belt with attached cuffs. She buckled the belt around my waist before clamping my wrists into the fake-fur-lined cuffs.

"I'm safe now. So are you," she said.

"What is this?" I asked, waggling my hands.

"It's a bottom-pincher's girdle," Alice said. "The original is too far gone so this is a modern interpretation. It was used on men who pinched women's bottoms or elsewhere. They wore it with chained ankles so they could only hobble. For a first offence they had to wear it in public for a day and any woman could molest him without punishment. Repeat offenders wore this and were left in the women's prison for up to a week and the women prisoners could do whatever they wanted. Now I can do what I want to you, Simon."

She straddled my legs facing me. We kissed, kissed again and suddenly she stripped off her top showing her bra.

"These need kissing too, Simon," she said as she unfastened the bra and took it off.

I had never seen Alice's breasts before. I knew they were large and she had to wear bras that supported them because her washing was often on the ceiling airer in the kitchen. They weren't flimsy wisps of lace but boulder holders. They drooped slightly when relieved of the bra's support but I barely noticed because Alice brought them in front of my face before squashing my head between them.

She pulled back so that I could lick and kiss them. I wanted to do more but my hands were restrained too effectively. Alice seemed to be enjoying herself as much as I was.

Suddenly she reached down before undoing my jeans and sliding them and my pants downwards. She opened a condom packet with her teeth and fitted it on my erection. She turned around and brought her breasts down to my face before smothering me in her cleavage. She seemed to enjoy having me as her prisoner as she was beginning a series of orgasms. I gasped as she slid herself down to take my erection inside her. I was lost in the sensation as she pounded up and down on me. She took me to the edge again and again before one final push that left both of us exhausted and slumped across each other.

She left me restrained until later in the night when she rode me again. At the end she unfastened my wrists and I went back to sleep holding her with her head resting on my shoulder.

After breakfast Alice had secured me again, this time with the belt threaded through the back of a kitchen chair. I couldn't leave that chair nor use my hands as she pulled me into her clothed cleavage.

When I could breathe I asked:

"Alice, how many of the modern replicas have we got?"

"I don't know. I'd have to look it up. Why?"

I couldn't answer her 'why' at first because she was breast smothering me again.

"I was thinking about Hilary's email. If we have enough, on Halloween we could let couples play with them, as you are with me now. This bottom-pincher's restraint is modern. So, although not as interesting, is the drunkard's barrel. And we could have a display of the fairground items with notes about the fair, the ghost train, and the creator of all that 19th century equipment. We could let the couples try the replicas while looking at the display."

"Hilary might like that, Simon. But Danny won't. We'll be obviously classing the exhibits into real and ancient, 19th century well-made fakes, and modern replicas."

"And that's what we should do as professional museum curators, Alice. If Danny fires us for that it would be good for our careers. If it's a success and he doesn't we won't have compromised ourselves."

"If Hilary likes the idea?"

"And if we have enough replicas. I think Hilary said the event would be for a maximum of 24 people. We would need at least twelve, probably more, usable replicas."

"OK, Simon. I'll get the laptop and look at the list. While I'm gone..."

Alice picked up a nightdress from off the washing pile and wrapped it around my head, tying it in place with a bra.

"...you can breathe my perfume in darkness. Bye."

I heard her go. I shook my head but couldn't dislodge the nightdress. Alice was right. I was breathing her perfume, not just from a bottle, but the smell of Alice herself, and enjoying it.

I sat, restrained on the chair, blindfolded and gagged by Alice's nightdress and thought. I ought to be grateful to Danny for forcing Alice and I to be together so much. We had only become lovers in the carnal sense last night but I had known and appreciated Alice for our year as students and in love with her for months. She had wrapped me in more than her nightdress. That was just a symbol of her love wrapping around me. I wanted Alice beside me for ever. If we lost our position as curators because we wouldn't follow Danny's instructions that didn't matter as long as Alice and I were still together. Even so, I should still be thankful to Danny for Alice.

She returned and held my wrapped head against her breasts as she loosened the bra holding the nightdress. She uncovered my eyes which were close to her naked upper breasts. She had taken her top off, leaving a push-up bra which she didn't really need because she was so well endowed. She tightened the nightdress again as a gag, leaving my eyes to appreciate her breasts.

"Keep quiet for a while, Simon," Alice ordered, "not that I have given you a choice."

She pulled my head into her cleavage, flattening my nose before relaxing her grip and letting me breathe.

"We have about forty modern replicas that could be used but some are more for torture than restraint. I suggest we should ignore the torture items such as the boot and the thumbscrews. If an amateur used them they might cause significant injury. Apart from those there are about twenty-six items, some of them duplicated, which are for restraint only. Those could be put on anyone without injury -- unless they struggle."

The boot fits around a lower leg and is tightened to crush the bones of the foot and ankle. We couldn't trust a member of the public to use that on another. We started on ideas for information boards for each item that we thought could be used by the public and sent an email to Hilary with our suggestions for the Halloween event.

Hilary replied within the hour accepting our proposals enthusiastically.

We looked at the chapter eight recommended by Joan. With that and research on line about travelling fairs we were able to establish that not only was the creator of the replicas well known and celebrated but that the replicas had been used at the fair as a separate attraction where the public could try them under supervision. We would be replicating a Victorian sideshow.

We arranged to have the event and displays in the stable block which was empty and not usually open to the public. There were a dozen stalls on the ground floor. Between them was a full height area spanned by a metal gantry with three chain hoists, installed in the early 1920s when the stable block was used for maintaining the family cars. The gantry was marked 'Safe working load 7 tons' and the hoists marked '5 tons'. We arranged for them to be tested by a specialist contractor. His report was that the gantry was safe to 5 tons and the hoists to 3 tons each. He changed the markings but the new figures were more than adequate for what we wanted.

On the first floor was a gallery and rooms that had been bedrooms for the stable staff. We would use them for the displays of the Victorian fairground items. We rearranged the main museum to show only the genuine old items, taking out all the Victorian items and modern replicas. I and Alice were now happy that every item was correctly labelled and displayed, meeting the requirements for a proper museum. We might annoy Danny but we were no longer compromised as proper museum curators. If he sacked us? We would still be together and that mattered more to us now.

When Albert and Celia arrived we showed them what we had changed in the main museum and how far we had got preparing for the Halloween event. They made some useful suggestions but agreed that the main museum was much more professional than it had been, even if Danny didn't like what we had done. We were encouraged by some online feedback that agreed the rearranged museum was much better.

Over the next few days we tested all the devices, particularly the gallows cages, which were shaped like a body. A person could be locked into them in an appropriate size and lifted up with the chain hoist. Alice could easily lift me. We also had a cage -- 'The Little Ease' -- in which a person could be squeezed uncomfortably before being lifted in the air.

The replica Scold's Bridles had a flat plate in the mouth instead of the spikes of the original and Victorian replica. We found that it a maxi pad was fitted to the plate, the wearer could not speak and the pad filled their mouth without being too uncomfortable.

Hilary had sent an email to everyone on the mailing list to announce the forthcoming Halloween event, priced at fifty pounds per individual on top of the usual admission charge, for which they would get the tour of the Victorian exhibits, get to experience the modern replica restraints, and get a cream tea. There was a limit of twenty-four tickets. She opened the booking at noon. Within five minutes all twenty-four had been sold and there was a long list of disappointed customers. She rung us up. Could we repeat the event every Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon in November?