Having sent her planning text Heather departed Claggan Castle, her mind churning at the thought of those cuffs and that dress. Why she couldn't shake it off she didn't know. Perhaps rather than reading a story she ought to write one and contribute it!
All that day as she tramped across the countryside Heather could almost hear the clank of chains in time with her footsteps! At one point convinced she heard horses thundering past, their riders urging the animals onward. So, she was mightily relieved to get to the village at Braemore, the place where she'd rejoin the A835 to Ullapool.
Her farmhouse bed and breakfast a hundred yards short of the road itself where traffic was hurrying to get to the port before the last boat left. A footpath followed this course but half a mile parallel, so she'd do the last 11 miles in peace before her ferry left at 3pm on Monday, the girl having decided to do a circular walk tomorrow and stay here again if there was room
Checking in with the farmer's wife, June showing Heather to her room then offering tea and some rather delicious cakes which the girl found hard to resist after a strenuous day's trekking.
The owner himself, Kelvin joined the pair later on, saying the tractor had a flat tyre so he'd need to repair it before nightfall.
Heather was able to get some washing done in the sink, having a dig into the top of her rucksack where dirties were kept separate from the rest.
They chatted on while the girl did her stuff, pleased that the visitor wasn't one of those that just stayed in their room rather than interact with them. Also the room was available for the two days and June suggested a walking route that could easily be done in a few hours. Checking Heather's map and seeing the girl had the newest version that had only been out a couple of weeks. "Nice to see some youngsters know what they're doing. City kids have no idea!" he grumbled. The girl smiling as she cleaned one of her pairs of boots, rewaxing them at the same time.
Chatting after the meal Heather told the June about her trip, the places visited and those yet to be done. She mentioned the storm yesterday and saw her nodding. "Aye lassie, was a bad 'un, with damn nae warning either. Did ye find cover out there?" Heather nodded and told them about her visit to Claggan Castle. The guy smiled broadly. "Ah, our old family seat. Long since abandoned." Telling the stunned visitor that he and the family here were the direct descendants of the old ruin!
They seemed pleased to hear the place was intact, Kelvin apparently visited once a week to check for disturbance or damage and was due to go in two or three days time while cutting peat nearby. Now he knew the place was fine it'd save him having to stop. "Any sign of ghosts?" Kelvin asked their guest, making Heather go a little red and they wondered why this was, amazed to find Heather had stayed the night in one of the rooms downstairs.
"Wow, I'm impressed young lady, no one stays long now," she said. Heather thought as she explained how the weather had shown no sign of letting up and she'd told the guys in Dornoch about her plans. The others nodding, pleased Heather was well clued up about trekking in the Highlands. So many people get caught out, but they guessed that Heather was better prepared than most.
"So how come your family left Claggan then, was it because of the Clearences?" Heather asked, knowing her Highland history well, having studied it at school. But no, it was just too remote and costly to keep going and it'd been the great-great grandfather who'd been the last to leave. The place had been stripped clean and left to crumble gently to ruin. Heather kept quiet about the dresses in that chest, if June still visited then surely the family must know some stuff remained there? No way would she mention the manacles either. As for chaining herself to the wall!
"What about this ghost then?" she asked, and June explained that a story had once gone around Dornoch about the matter and was now folklore. A month or so after Claggan Castle had been abandoned a religious minded Lady and her two maids, who'd been travelling to Ullapool from Edinburgh had intended to call in there. Despite townspeople saying the place was empty they'd carried on. A massive storm had struck the Highlands that night and by the time it passed two days later the travellers were never seen or heard from again. Search parties from Dornoch and Ullapool were out there for weeks yet nothing was ever found.
"We always said that their ghosts haunted Claggan, despite nothing ever being proved that they even got that far. Someone even did a picture of what he assumed they'd looked like," June said, fetching something from the nearby bookshelf, now showing Heather a small postcard of three women standing by a horse and cart. Her eyes took in the scene, trying not to show shock at the fact the figure in the centre, obviously the Lady...was wearing THAT dress! The others too clad in the simple grey ones that'd been on top in the casket.
"The joke goes round that if her ghost or the others ever left Claggan for a week then the place would collapse. As it's still there we assume they, or at least someone is there guarding the place." The others smiled and Heather joined in while her heart rate slowly subsided. The chatting went on but thankfully the Castle or the ghost tale was not mentioned again as they talked more about themselves, seeing Heather wanted to know.
As it reached 11pm Heather was tiring and eventually excused herself and bid June goodnight.
Coming to her room at the back Heather rummaged in her pack and pulled out the stuff to be worn tomorrow. The weather apparently set fair after a misty start, so shorts and T-shirt would suffice. Her other stuff had dried on the range and could now be put away. So, Heather decided to repack the whole bag and began to empty it. Reaching down she dragged all the stuff out and refolded it. One last delve and her hand struck some odd...
Heather stared down into her rucksack, as nestling at the bottom...was the dress!
Neatly folded, but stunning the girl as she brought it out into the light. No wonder her pack had gained a few pounds, she thought, laying it out on the bed. Checking quickly that her door was locked, as to be caught with this might get her into trouble.
Heather stared at her wrists and ankles, imagining the manacles clamped around them and her mind was in turmoil. Just what had happened yesterday evening at Claggan after all?
Night had long fallen and Heather tried to decide what to do with the dress. Certainly not dump it in a bin, this was a historical artefact for a start. Maybe she should leave it somewhere on the farm...but firstly...she wanted to wear it again!
Her room had a door so guests could leave early, and having this provided her with the opportunity to creep out to the barn where Kelvin had repaired the tractor. There were no lights anywhere and she assumed the others had turned in. Heather tiptoed past the vehicle and into a smaller stable next door. Thankfully empty as the sheep were out on the nearby hillsides now the summer was arriving. A marvelous smell of fresh hay greeted the girl and with full moonlight shining brightly through the doorway she could see what she was doing without using a torch.
Heather stripped naked and laid out her mat and the dress. The hooks and eyes seemed so familiar and within a few minutes she'd got all the fastenings done again and the effect was as before. So, she HAD worn it after all and the girl smiled... a shame there were no manacles here!
Looking round the place Heather saw plenty of cord lengths lying about. No doubt used to tie-up errant livestock for the vet or something like that and she wondered, planned...and got to work. Using a few lengths, she secured her ankles to a pillar, then another few around the waist pinning her there, doing the knots around the back so by not being able to see, it'd take her longer to free them.
Then she began work on her wrists. Several loops together, her hands crossed like a butterfly as she twisted the cords till they were tight enough to bind her, but not damage nerves. With one big circle left, she'd earlier checked the position of a nail high above her. Flipping her arms up a few times it finally snagged, though she was a little concerned at the lack of slack, but too late to worry about that.
The feelings surged through her again and Heather writhed gently in her bonds. Moaning softly, wishing one of Claggans' ghosts could slip across to Braemore!
A clink of a door catch echoed across the yard and Heather's heart froze. Surely her imagination was running riot and she tried to flick the cord above off the nail. Looking up she was appalled to see that it wasn't on the shorter one, but a bigger hook that somehow she'd not seen earlier. Trying not to panic she did her best but the cord was stuck fast, and with her fingers outstretched Heather couldn't bend them round to even get close to the knot behind her wrists.
Footsteps crunched quietly on the path, but thankfully passed by the stable and faded away, so it must be one of the guys out on a patrol of the farm. If June were scared of ghosts then it'd hardly be her!
She tried again to flick the cord off the hook, groaning in frustration as it refused to budge. How the hell would she explain this in the morning when someone discovered her? More to the point if it were near midnight she'd have to stand like this for the next six hours!
Heather was so engrossed in those morbid thoughts she never heard the footsteps returning. Suddenly a hand reached round in front and clamped itself across her mouth. Naturally she tried to scream, tossing her head but it held firmly and a quiet but VERY firm 'sssh, shut up missy' stopped her noise.... He waited till she ceased struggling then came round the front, his eyes widening on seeing what she was wearing... but also curious as to why she was tied up like this.
"Now then Miss Heather McCreadie, you need to think VERY carefully about what you've done, are doing, and intend to happen next to you...do you understand?" he said. An almost menacing tone in his voice that stopped her in her tracks and it was her eyes now wide and not surprisingly she was terrified as he let go of her mouth.
She coughed and spluttered a moment; her eyes watering then she paused, saying that if he freed her arms then she'd explain. Kelvin looked up, saw how she was snagged on the hook and obeyed. The girl sighing as the strain on her shoulders eased. "Thanks," she groaned, twisting both wrists, but the man, realising she could now try and get free instead grabbed hold of the loose loop, wrapping it over her arms a few times and she froze till he'd finished.
"No you don't missy, truthful explanation first, then...maybe freedom," he whispered as she'd started to protest. Her head slumped against the pillar, eyes closed then Heather nodded and apologised. "OK, it's like this," she said at last.
It took her an hour, telling the whole story, from her discovery of the rooms downstairs at Claggan, the finding of the dresses in the casket, then reddened as she explained the way she'd placed herself in the cuffs and so on. He listened in silence as she spoke, at one point Heather looked down and was amazed to see a distinct bulge in his shorts! The guy was getting a hard-on just listening, she thought then told him about the ghost part of it.
Once she'd finished he thought about what she'd said. It sounded SO far-fetched...but also could be true. Especially this idea of tying herself up. He knew there were girls who did that sort of thing, but he'd always thought it a shame never to meet one in real life...until now?
She saw him smiling and though she was still scared, the fact he seemed to have relaxed settled her nerves. He'd sat down on a bench for the last few minutes and chuckled when she'd admitted thinking the cuffs wouldn't open. "OK Heather, stuck a bit like you are now. I guess you've told me everything, but as for the ghosts...yeah right. I'll tell you what; we'll go over to Claggan tomorrow morning, yes? Return the dress and say nothing more about it. How does that sound?" he said at last.
Heather slumped in relief, her eyes began to water and moments later she began crying. He got up and came close, wrapping her bound body in a hug as she let go of her emotions. Then having got that out of the way she thanked him as he started to untie her wrists, the girl wincing as the blood began to get into her fingers again. To her surprise he began rubbing her forearms and the warmth of that helped the pain lessen until she was fine, a pale smile coming onto her face. "Thanks," she said at last.
"So, this tying up idea, you'd never asked anyone to do it?" he said, starting to undo the waist knots, realising she'd really done a job on these. It'd be damn difficult to see how she'd have freed herself anyway, as somehow, she'd got a loop wedged inside another. Telling this to her made the girl shudder for a moment. "No, I... well guess I never had the courage to ask, assume the girls wouldn't understand and now...I've got nobody else anyway," she said mournfully. Kelvin smiling as by accident Heather confirmed his suspicions that she was single again as he carried on working.
"You know...I could always tie..." he began then stopped himself as she tensed up. He apologised and carried on working on the last knot...but paused when she told him to wait a moment.
"Would you...just this once?" Heather said at last.
Kelvin walked round the front and stared at her. The faintest of smiles coming onto her face. "So rather than me freeing you. You actually want me to tie you up again?" he said, the girl flushing as those big eyes tried to read her thoughts.
"Yes, please do it," she replied, holding her arms out in front.
The farmer thought about it then nodded, looking at his watch. "OK, I'll do it. Just this once and only for a few minutes. It's nearly 1am and June will be wondering where I am, yes?"
Heather sighed and agreed; trembling as he bent down and grabbed all the cords then studied them for a moment. "Reach round the post if you can," he ordered and she complied. A faint gasp as he tied the waist loops much tighter this time. Then placed one wrist across the other, the same way she'd had them at the front. The strain on her shoulders much greater but Heather said nothing as he lashed them together, several loops on each one and she couldn't move now. Flexing her fingers slightly.
"How's that Heather, feel OK?" he asked, coming round the front, seeing a dreamy expression on her face, eyes closed and she nodded, a faint sigh. "Yes, it feels..."
Getting no further as his lips briefly met hers. The girl jumping for a moment as he placed both hands on her hips, leaning forwards till his body was against hers. He looked again, seeing her eyes now open again...and twinkling in the moonlight. The fact she responded, leaning forward to kiss him was what was needed and they stayed like that for a while, his hands stroking her everywhere that could be reached. The groan when he cupped her breasts, wonderful and her nipples received a lot of attention.
With the clock still ticking he eventually broke off and said it was time to be freed. Heather agreed and thanked him for what he'd done. Apologising again and smiling when he said not to worry. The cords were undone and she eventually stepped, somewhat wobbly legged from the pillar. To his surprise she didn't wait for him to leave, but instead asked him...could he help her out of the dress?
Kelvin grinned, she was as well and the girl managed not to faint as he eased each hook open, till her back was exposed. Then she turned and let the thing go! The dress tumbling to the floor and revealing herself to him. His eyes bulged at that figure, her firm breasts heaving in the frigid air, just one scar near her bellybutton. But the rest... "Wow, I'm...I'm..." he stammered and she chuckled quietly then took the first bit of clothing from the top of the box. Dressing herself while he tidied up the cords and put them in a box on the shelf.
Coming outside he escorted Heather to her door, and bade her goodnight, and winked at her as he slipped into his own bedroom. |
