Read Online Bondmaiden by B.A. Bradbury - Free Book Online

sniggered childishly. ‘I agree, she should do it again,’ he said.
    ‘There you are,’ Dagna said triumphantly, rewarding Jarold’s complicity with a special smile that seemed to promise a treat to come, ‘he thinks so too.’
    ‘Maybe you’re right,’ Holmann pondered.
    ‘Of course I’m right,’ Dagna purred. ‘You should make her do them all over again, from the start.’
    Even Holmann looked taken aback at the cruel suggestion. ‘What,’ he said, ‘the whole fifty?’
    ‘Why not? You warned them to do it properly, and I don’t think she did, so she has to suffer the consequences of her disobedience.’
    Lia could contain herself no longer, for this was all totally unfair. She’d held her tongue the last time – mostly due to Durwin, admittedly – and felt ashamed of herself ever since. So determined that it wouldn’t happen again she took a deep breath and blurted, ‘That’s not fair! Tilda took her punishment correctly!’
    ‘What’s that?’ Holmann snapped, rounding on her. ‘Don’t you dare speak out of turn!’
    ‘And don’t argue with your betters!’ Dagna added. ‘A pig-girl straight off the farm, and she has the nerve to contradict me? I never heard anything like it!’
    ‘But—’
    ‘Silence!’ Holmann roared. ‘Not one more word out of you, missy, you hear me? Not a word!’
    Lia would have argued still, for she raged with the injustice of it all, but then she caught Tilda’s eye, the silent plea unmistakable, and kept her mouth shut. She wasn’t the only one with much to lose.
    Holmann and his accomplice glared at her a few moments longer, bristling with indignation, then turned back to their victim. ‘The full fifty it is then,’ Holmann decreed.
    ‘Excellent!’ Dagna beamed. ‘And thoroughly deserved, too. She’s always making quips and sly remarks behind our backs, isn’t that so, Jarold?’
    ‘All the time,’ Jarold promptly confirmed.
    ‘She thinks I don’t know,’ Dagna went on, ‘but I do. She needs to be taught a lesson once and for all. If you let her get away with it others will start to copy her. We’ve seen that already tonight, haven’t we? The pig-girl’s only been here two days and already she’s arguing and answering back.’
    She inclined her head in Lia’s direction as she spoke. Holmann glanced at her too, and nodded slowly. ‘You’re right,’ he said, ‘I can’t deny it.’
    Lia couldn’t understand how Tilda got through it. She couldn’t understand how she got through it, and all she had to do was stand and watch.
    As if the prospect of another fifty squats wasn’t bad enough, Dagna insisted on putting fresh paste on the horn before Tilda was allowed to mount it. Tilda hugged herself tight while she waited, keeping all her feelings inside, and when everything was ready she was helped to mount again, and it started all over.
    The only hiatus came with just eight remaining. Tilda stopped and looked to Holmann in desperation. ‘Please,’ she croaked, ‘no more.’
    The overseer regarded her solemnly. ‘It’s only natural you want it over and done with,’ he said, ‘but begging just proves that Dagna’s right; you are a wilful, stubborn girl, and you need to be taught a lesson. Complete the squats like you’ve been ordered, and let’s have no more whining or you’ll find yourself with an extra ten on top.’
    Tilda must have been expecting such a response, for she carried on immediately, mewling pitifully as she rode the horn, trembling with pain and fatigue. Jarold counted the squats off one by one until finally it was done, and then Holmann lifted Tilda off the horn and carried her to the table.
    The inspection was a cursory affair, for it seemed inconceivable that Dagna might demand still more from the girl. Mercifully that proved to be the case, and Lia was called forward and told to help Tilda to bed. She picked up Tilda’s smock and slippers but didn’t waste time trying to dress her, for she could guess just how