The small girl who answered the door at Antonia's large and secluded house was dressed pretty much as Frank Hulme expected. The blonde-haired child - no more than seven, I reasoned - wore a short maid-type outfit with a wide, frilly skirt made of clear plastic so it was easy to see she had no panties on underneath. However, the girl wore chains at her wrists and ankles and, most surprisingly of all, a large blue ball gag filled her young mouth. Blue for uttering a profanity, Frank guessed, rather than the traditional black to show she had failed at some task around the house or red to show she had not pleased the mistress in bed at some point.

But a child-maid swearing in front of her owner? Frank wondered for a moment what the world coming to. "I need to see the Mistress," he said, putting aside the arousing and uncomfortable thought of the small girl in chains and gag. Such a pleasing sight wasn't helping Frank, not with the way his cock was right now. It was also slightly pointless saying what he did to the girl; there was only one person living here (apart from her clutch of small girl slaves, of course) and why else would anyone call and give the secret knock for admittance? Anyway, the cameras at the house and on its approaches would have shown Antonia who was coming and she would have recognised the man.

The small girl nodded, a thin line of drool falling from her oversize gag and falling down her clear plastic bib front. Obviously if ball gags made children drool then it made sense to have them wear something that could be cleaned easily; Frank understood that Antonia thought of everything. However he wasn't looking forward to discussing Mrs Charles with Antonia as while she anticipated many things she would be surprised about the old woman who had dominated Frank's weekend. The girl gestured that Frank should enter and he stepped into the luxuriously-appointed house.

Frank saw at once another of Antonia's child slaves standing at the bottom of the stairs. It was a fiver or six-year old girl heavily bound with rope to the stair post but as she had a blindfold over her eyes she would have been unable to see who entered and her mouth was taped over. Frank wondered what this little one had done to deserve this position and bondage, but perhaps it was this child was just on decorative duty. Antonia rather liked having her girls displayed around her house. It was entirely possible it was a new slave acquisition and part of her training would be to listen silently to the sounds of the house. Some of which would no doubt be alarming to a little girl unused to being left tied up. Part of her slave education, no doubt.

The ropes pinning the girl to the foot of the stairs were well done, with thin white ropes at the girl's neck, her wrists held tightly behind the post and more at her knees. A single rope round the girl's small waist and was knotted on her belly-button; from there it disappeared down between her legs and would be pressing uncomfortably up into her tender young sex. For a moment Frank might have felt sorry for her but he knew all slaves have to learn and anyway, he was far too worried about how Antonia would react to his news.

The prospect didn't sound promising. From the living room ahead there came the sound of a whip cracking and a muffled gasp. For a moment or two Frank thought perhaps the Mistress was whipping someone and thus, already armed with a whip in her hand, she might react badly to what Frank had to say. But when the man stepped into the large, airy living room he was relieved to see it wasn't Antonia doing the whipping; instead it was the muscular, well-built nurse who oversaw the supposed health of the child slaves in the house. The woman was alternately whipping the backs and legs of two black-haired teenage girls of the same height and build who were bound face to face and were kissing, wrists tied behind the other's back, while being lashed. An encouragement or a punishment? It was always hard to say in this house, Frank reflected as he stood before Antonia - who herself was sat in a large chair idly watching the young teen lesbians being whipped as they french-kissed. The woman looked up and indicated the man should come and sit in the seat facing hers. Frank was a little sorry about where he sat as he wouldn't be able to see the whipping continue, but given the way his cock was trapped that was no bad thing. In any event, Antonia gave the nurse a signal to stop and the woman in the white uniform marched off leaving the two sobbing teen girls to continue kissing and sniff back their tears.

Antonia was sat in a large chair by the fireplace and was dressed in an elegant, if formal, black skirt suit. She had her pale blonde hair pinned up and was smoking a cigarette in a long holder, giving the impression of a woman more used to a bygone age of luxury. Antonia was older than Frank by a few years and had the sort of powerful and dominating look that many mature men would dote over. She she may have given the appearance of a woman from the 'sixties but she was obviously up to date with her security for there was small television screen next to her elbow which had provided her with a perfect closed circuit view of whoever came to her house. On the other side of her chair was a girl of about ten kneeling naked on the rich carpet and holding an ash-tray up. The child, well trained, kept her eyes down and didn't look at Frank. The woman took a long drag of her cigarette, tapped some ash into what the little girl was holding and raised one eyebrow at Frank. She asked: "And pray what brings you hurrying to my house?"

"First of all thanks for letting me in to see you." Frank tried not to gulp, but couldn't help it. Antonia waved her free hand imperiously as if to tell to get on with it and the man wasted no time. "It's about Marsha... well, about me. And my family... We have a problem," said Frank, feeling a little awkward as he spoke.

"I don't expect problems," said the woman and she took another slow draw on her cigarette. "Would you care to explain to me what exactly you mean?"

Frank shifted his weight uneasily, earning a look from the woman that suggested she would prefer the man stood still. He cleared his throat and then started speaking rapidly.

"When I got home last Friday there was... there were things I didn't expect. My daughter was, well, tied up and my wife strapped to a board and hanging in the garage and my son was sort of buried in the garden and there was this woman - an older woman, this neighbour - who said I had to do things because she had stolen Jazz away and neighbour took my boy away by another neighbour who I think would want him for sex--"

"Please, Mr Hulme, calm down. You are gabbling and it hard to work out what you are saying. I think perhaps you had better take a deep breath and tell me calmly what has happened." The woman in the black suit studied the man and though she didn't look happy she wasn't as yet angry.

Frank took a deep breath as instructed and as slowly as he could he told the woman opposite all that happened on the Friday night, recounting the events in order.

"She must have found out about my visits, to Lena's house," he said, when he got to the part about Mrs Charles knowing about Lena and Marsha, her daughter. "She knows I tie Marsha up," he added for effect.

The woman who had listened to this studied the man a little longer and drew again on her cigarette holder. Then she picked up her mobile phone and made a quick call, merely saying: "I need you to come and see me at once." When she put the phone down she looked back at Frank. "And that's all that happened this weekend?"

For a moment or two Frank wanted to shout: "Is that all? For God's sake this woman knows about us." But shouting at Antonia never did any good. In fact, it would almost guarantee she would be most unhappy. It was best to be as calm as he could. All Frank said was: "I worry she knows too much."

"I don't think she does, or I would have contact with her already. With respect I am a bigger prize than you. My organisation would warrant more interest than a family casually into tying each other up," Antonia gave a dismissive shrug. "Nor do I think from what you have said she is in any position to threaten what I have. Her research, if you can call it that, seems to be somewhat sloppy. Doe she know that this person Tony is in fact me?"

"Not quite," said Frank, relieved he had kept something secret from the old woman.

"Mr Hulme, she either knows or she doesn't. I think 'not quite' isn't very helpful." The woman toyed with her cigarette holder for a moment and then stubbed it in a small ash tray being held by a naked girl kneeling by the side of her chair. "I think it would help if you were more precise."

Frank coloured up; he hated it when this woman was so calm and precise and he wasn't, but it summed up their relationship. At least if you could ever describe Antonia ever having a relationship with anything but money and power.

"He knows I have a colleague called Tony," said Frank, "but that's all. I suppose he thinks you are a man."

"How naive of her, or rather her agent." The woman opposite him gave a small chuckle. "You say this old woman has done some investigating into your background and uncovered Lena and her daughter, yet her investigator - I doubt she did the looking herself - thought that my name is that of a male. And a colleague of yours too? My, how quaint!"

"She thinks you tie up girls too," said Frank, glad the woman hadn't exploded at him, though that might come later.

"I do, in my own way." Antonia flicked a glance at the two teenagers still locked in a kiss, though they had stopped sobbing now. Clearly however they knew better than to stop kissing before being told they could. The whipping they had received from the nurse (Frank never did know her real name, as she was always just 'Nurse') would be mild compared to what Antonia would do if she thought it necessary. "If she sees me as Tony," the woman in black continued, "her glance into my company didn't appear to discern that Antonia is often called Toni, and frequently named as Tony in emails." The elegant woman shook her head. "That's what happens when you depend on hacking electronic messages to find things out. Such a sloppy medium of communication; so easily fabricated and so often misunderstood." With a sigh the woman put down the cigarette holder but she was obviously more intrigued than angry. At least, so far. "I take it this woman knows that Lena left my company and was subsequently employed as a consultant. Not hard to find out. But, she has found out that she has a daughter and you visit her from time to time."

"I think she believes this Tony is male and goes with me, but if anyone followed me they wouldn't see another man with me. I wouldn't put you at risk, or lie to you. You know that."

Antonia shrugged. "I do indeed. It seems this Charles woman has invested cheaply in research and not got the full picture." Antonia looked at Frank. "But all this was on Friday night, and now it is Monday evening. Quite a while ago. So you spent the whole weekend worrying about it, or did something else happen? I presume, for instance, you got your daughter back and your son too? Or did the black man keep him? Please don't tell me you left your wife in her bondage, too. I am sure Kelly deserves better than that, even if you did whip her breasts."

Frank gulped. "No. Nothing like that. I mean, I let Kelly out of her straps before bed-time and Jazz was fine when I saw her on Saturday and Henry, the neighbour who dug my son out of the ground, looked after Donny pretty well until Sunday... No one was hurt, other than a little rope burn or two and sore breasts."

"You aren't being honest with me, Mr Hulme," the woman arched an eyebrow again. "Something else happened over the weekend, didn't it?"

The man nodded miserably. "Mrs Charles showed me some of her videos, some of her old films she had converted from her days when she was a model, when she was a lot younger. They were sort of cheesecake and swimsuit stuff, very old-fashioned and tame, then some nudity and light bondage and then caning and lesbian stuff. Finally she got into the real bdsm market." Frank felt his face grow hot and he wriggled a little uncomfortably in his chair. He recalled scenes where women were hung upside down by their ankles and were lashed by leather-booted women, and he wanted to pull at his crotch but he wasn't sure Antonia would approve. Wisely he kept his hand away from his groin.

"You seem to be very agitated, so let me guess what happened: this Mrs Charles, who you say still makes bondage movies, got you to help with Jasmine starring in one. I imagine, though I can't know, that you assisted as this woman said in some way. In fact, I imagine the movie took all weekend to make, am I right?"

The man stared at Antonia and then nodded. "Yes," he managed to say, astonished at her perception. "That was it. Henry kept Donny at his place because his wife and daughter were away and Kelly and Mrs Charles has sex and they kept Jazz tied up and then I had to help them make a movie. One in which I tie my girl up and gag her but..." Frank hesitated.

"But?"

"In this movie, Kelly comes home and surprises me and I get to be tied up by her, and beaten and then Jasmine joins in, and then there was this," Frank gestured at his crotch.

Antonia smiled a little. "Show me," she said.

"Do I have to?" Asked Frank, his face red.

"Yes, you do."

The man blushed more. Shamefaced he stood and dropped his trousers. There, tucked away in a pair of his wife's soiled white lace panties, was his cock locked into a chastity device. "I can't get hard," he whispered. "Not with this on."

"I doubt very much whether you dare even think about being aroused. Tell me, this Charles woman has the key?" Antonia snorted before Frank could answer. "Of course she has. How clever of her. Now, put that thing of yours away. You know I am not interested in your male parts."

Frank did as he was told and he sat down again. "May I ask, what are we going to do?"

Antonia sighed. "I need to do some investigating of my own," she said after a moment. "It must be clear even to you that this old woman as you call her has no great interest in using your daughter for her movies. She's just another slutty child, and heaven knows there are plenty of those. Tell me, has she posted this movie of you yet? Has she sent it to wanktube or whatever the current sex video channel is these days?"

"She says she is keeping it," said Frank, understanding what Antonia was getting at.

"As I suspected. She has another motive and her keeping it safe is merely to keep you in check; I presume your face appeared in the movie. In fact I suspect it appeared in close ups. That potential exposure and your chastity device is a very useful lever. Anyway, be that as it may. For now, you go along with this. Your Mrs Charles is a clever woman but not, perhaps, clever enough. For a start she thinks that you have some influence over Lena, that you somehow arranged for her job to be redefined. She thinks I am male and a helper of yours, and knowing of your visits to Lena's home she thinks she has you where she wants. As you said too, she wants Marsha as part of her bondage movies. All of which I would expect as Marsha is a pretty young thing. Yet, there is something else here..." Antonia pursed her lips, deep in thought.

"But you want Marsha here, serving you," Frank said, and then blushed. Of course Antonia did; it didn't need to be said. He mumbled an apology as Antonia had little time for people who wasted time by stating the obvious.

"If I may remind you: your task is to persuade Lena to hand Marsha over to, shall we say, my safe-keeping and I will see to the rest." The woman in the black suit had ignored the little girl kneeling by her chair, still holding the ashtray, but now absent-mindedly Antonia began to stroke the kneeling little girl's hair. She did it slowly and deliberately and then casually wound some of the child's hair round her fingers, gradually tightening her grip. The kneeling girl winced but didn't break position. She was indeed well-trained and the woman in black regarded her as she toyed and tugged. Then Antonia spoke without looking up at Frank. "I should be fair and say I think you have done well. You could, if you are being honest, have said too much about me though of course if I find out you haven't been loyal to me..." the woman let her voice trail away, the menace all too evident.

Antonia glanced down at the small monitor by her side and saw a figure approaching the house, though from where he sat Frank could only make out it was a female. An older woman,a s it happened.

"Very well, Mr Hulme, time for you to do something for me. For now, you may take those two silly girls behind you and tie them up in a sixty-nine in the dining room, on the table. I have guests coming to dinner later who will be amused to see the twins presented like that. They can rest and have some relief from kissing lips by licking the other one's pussy instead."

Frank jumped up, glad he could get to tie these two attractive girls up. He might get to surreptitiously rub their cunts as he did so and he imagined they wouldn't say anything to the Mistress. They wouldn't be sure whether the man had permission to do it and assume that he could do whatever he liked. Of course, with his cock locked away he couldn't do what he'd most like. Still, this was turning out perhaps better than he feared.

Just as he was shepherding the black-haired twins out of the room (awkward as they both had their wrists still tied behind the other one) Antonia called to the man. "Just in case you get carried away, I will be checking on how well you tie them. When they are bound tightly you may go home and await further orders. I have a new guest arriving and I don't wish to be disturbed by you until I call you in a few days."

As if on cue, there was a coded knock at the door. Frank hurried the awkwardly bound twins out of the way and began to arrange how they would be tied on the dining room table. He looked up and saw the chained and plastic-dressed child maid heading for the front door, telling himself she was about to let in some mature lover of Antonia's. Well, that was nothing to do with him: he would enjoy tying these two slender sisters and then go.

Out of the man's sight the front door was being answered and the new arrival escorted through to the living room. As the maid and the newcomer passed by the open dining room door Frank gave a stifled gasp, though the woman in the hallway was looking ahead and didn't turn his way immediately. For a moment the woman looked as if she would stride right past the open door, but she stopped and turned with a small, knowing smile flickering across her face. A look that Frank Hulme knew all too well, even though he hadn't seen it in years. The woman looked older after all this time but that would be expected, and somehow she had an even more intense air about her than he remembered. Then without a sound the figure was gone, leaving Frank staring at where the woman had stood for a full second.

But it was definitely her and that old feeling of inadequacy and fear welled up in the man as it all sank in. It was -- no doubt about it -- Frank Hulme's mother, and her prsesence here couldn't be good news, could it?

end of part 3