Bitch on the Bus

Synopsis

Ted spanks Laurie, an unruly teenager, for her behaviour on a coach trip to Scotland and, with her mother’s connivance, she spends the holiday with him. Her reputation is repaired when she bravely saves an elderly woman from drowning. This has other repercussions.

Bitch on the Bus

by obohobo

Warnings

Please take note!

The text in this story contains erotic material and is expressly written for adults only.

MF Spanking

If you are underage or offended by such material, or if viewing this file is illegal in your locality, then leave, close or delete this file-story now.

This is a work of fiction, any resemblance to persons living, dead or otherwise is purely coincidental. The ideas and thoughts that follow are pure fantasies. In real life, at the very least they would be unpleasant and probably illegal. Fantasies are like that; daydreams where we can contemplate and imagine the sensations without suffering or inflicting the pain, despair or humiliation.

© obohobo 2009

“You need your fuckin’ brains tested if you thought I’d enjoy sitting in a crappy old bus for six hours with nothing to do just to get to some God forsaken place, miles from any fucking where, to go walking. Walking with a lot of old fogies. These old farts.” She swept her arm around the occupants of the coach accompanied by a hiss of disgust. “You were just trying to stop me enjoying myself at home and being with my friends. I can look after my-fucking-self now Mother, I’m sixteen, getting on towards seventeen. You just wanted to re-live some long forgotten part of your childhood and you’re making me suffer it too.”

“Sit down Laurie, please, everyone’s looking at us and you’re spoiling their holiday as well.”

“And what am I supposed to do when I sit down? Play counting the caravans we pass? Not even a video on this heap of crap.”

“You’re going to have to do something about her, Pete, before she upsets everyone. You’re the organiser; I’m only the guide. She’s done nothing but bitch ever since we started out and the rest of the passengers are getting upset. There’ll be trouble soon if you can’t sort it.”

“I’ll have a word with her and her mother Ted but I doubt if it will do much good.” It didn’t.

“Don’t get on to me Mister,” Laurie retaliated when Pete spoke to her, “It wasn’t my fuckin’ idea to come, so blame my bitch of a mother. Screw the rest of you.” However, she did quieten down a little but, at intervals, out came another burst of invective aimed at her mother and other passengers on the coach and, while I couldn’t hear much of her mother’s replies, I could tell the timid woman was near to tears.

After two hours the coach pulled into a service station and the driver announced a half-hour break. “Hurry up woman, I need a piss and something to drink and to get out of this box for a bit.” Laurie forced her way passed the others getting off.

Five minutes after we should have departed, Sheila Keens, Laurie’s mother, came to the coach, “I can’t find her. She went to the loo and I’ve not seen her since. Please don’t go without us. I know she’s been a nuisance but she is my daughter and you can’t leave a young girl behind.” Many of us would have done so willingly, but Bob, the driver, said we’d have to wait for an hour and then inform the police. We sent out search parties with instructions to return at each quarter of an hour. Three-quarters-of-an-hour later, an elderly lady dragged Laurie across the car park and almost pushed her into the coach.

“Sod you, sod the lot of you.” Laurie made no apology for the lateness but stood and berated her mother once more.

As usual on coach trips of this kind, the organiser sits in the front seat so he can easily communicate with the driver if necessary, and I, being the unpaid guide for the walks, sat alongside him. My job as an assistant technologist at the university, gave me a long break in the summer with just a retaining salary and, while I didn’t get paid, I get a free trip and meals for guiding the party along paths and tracks I’d walked on holidays for a number of years. Being a single, twenty-five year old, I hoped to get laid with one of the women from the holiday or from the hotel like I did last year, but I could see there wouldn’t be much choice from those on the coach. Most were married, middle-aged couples, although there were two women together but I guessed their age to be in the sixties. Pete, alongside me, probably neared the fifty mark, but he’d never said his age. Laurie and her mother sat halfway along the coach and, with forty passengers, about ten seats remained vacant but many had bags piled on them.

We listened, as did all the others, to the loud vitriolic abuse Laurie aimed at her mother. By now, we again rolled smoothly along the motorway at a steady 70 mph. Pete started to get up. “Stay here Pete, I’ll deal with her this time. Tell the driver to watch the road and not what I’m doing.”

“Don’t do anything you shouldn’t…”

“I’ll do what needs to be done.”

Laurie’s 5ft 5” thin frame stood no chance against my 6ft physique, fit from rugby and weight training and with surprise also on my side, before she realised I’d approached, she found herself over my shoulder and being carried towards the back of the bus.

“What the fucking-hell are you doing? Let me go before I get you arrested.” I felt a few thumps on my back as her protests continued and she swore and shouted even louder. At one point she grabbed the back of a seat and held on preventing me from moving, but a passenger quickly released her grip and I made my way to the back seats, seats that go across the bus without arm rests; seats that are usually commandeered by courting couples but taken this time by the two ladies. One vacant seat in the row on this trip.

“Excuse me, would one of you mind moving for about ten minutes please? I need two seats together with some space to swing my arm.” Laurie must have guessed my intention too. “You hit me you fucking shitbag and you’ll end up in jail for assault. You daren’t touch me. I’ll fucking kill you bastard.” One of the ladies moved but stood nearby while I manoeuvred Laurie across my right leg and held her down with my left over her back. Laurie didn’t give in easily and I had difficulty in holding her with my left hand while my right fumbled for the front fastening of her jeans.

“Is this what you’re trying to do?” the standing woman asked, deftly pulling the girl’s jeans and knickers down to her knees and then held her ankles.

“Thanks,” I replied and had a chance to look in Sheila Keens’ direction. She stared out of the window and studiously ignored what I’d done.

SLAP!... SLAP!... I hit her arse cheeks as hard as I could with a short pause between and alternating on each cheek. Laurie screamed, swore and shook her head, throwing her long black hair in all directions. SLAP!... SLAP!... SLAP!... SLAP!... SLAP!... SLAP!... I continued hitting with all the force I could muster until the sobs came, the swearing eased and she began begging me to stop. By then her arse showed bright red against the whiteness of her thighs.

“Before I think about stopping Laurie, you have to stop swearing and agree to apologise to everyone on the coach for the unpleasantness you caused them, and especially to your mother and… you have to agree to sit with me for the remainder of the trip.”

“Go to fuckin’ hell!” Another eight spanks changed her mind. “Alright, alright, just stop. I won’t be able to sit anywhere now.” I held her for several minutes hoping my erection wouldn’t be noticed, but the woman released her ankles. Tears flowed down Laurie’s face when I stood her up and held her around the waist. “Bastard,” she hissed and tried to rub her arse.

“Careful Laurie,” I warned, “I’m sure the lady won’t mind giving up her seat again.” She glared at me but said nothing more. Holding her jeans up but not fastening them, I led her down the aisle to her mother. Tears were in her eyes also. “Apologise,” I prompted.

‘Sorry Mother.” I didn’t expect much more.

To her surprise I continued to lead her to the front of the coach and turned her to face the passengers, “Apologise to them.”

Again a mumbled, “Sorry.”

Once more I turned her this time with her back to them. “From all the screaming and swearing, it might have sounded as though she was being murdered back there, but in fact no real damage was done, just a little warming of her rear, as you can see.” Swiftly pulling her jeans down again and, baring her bum, I gave everyone about ten seconds to see the bright red colour and received several cries of approval. Laurie though, blushed with the humiliation and struggled to free herself from my grip.

“Pete, would you mind sitting with Sheila for the rest of the way please? Laurie has agreed to sit with me.”

“Forced more like,” she spat.

For the next hour, Laurie squirmed uncomfortably in the seat against the window while I had the aisle seat. Neither of us spoke, although she uttered little sobs every now and again, and glared at me when I frequently watched her. Every so often she clenched her fists, probably trying to decide if it was worth thumping me. Apparently it wasn’t. Taking a risk, I put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “Come here Laurie, you need a hug now.” Of course she resisted but in the end, gave in. “Hugging doesn’t hurt and it may comfort you a little. Remember, from now on, if you act like a lady, I’ll treat you like one; if you act the brat, we’ll visit the back of the bus again.”

An accident on the M6 had us crawling along for a while but eventually we approached the next service station stop. Bob signalled he wished to speak with me. “Look in the bottom drawer of the console, Ted.” I did and saw a pair of handcuffs. “They’re not official but many drivers have a pair in case of, shall we say, emergencies? If you want to borrow them so we don’t lose her again, feel free to do so. We’re nearly two hours behind schedule now, what with her delaying us at the last stop and the hold-up on the road.” I dropped them in my pocket and when we arrived at the slip road to the service area, took Laurie’s right arm and snapped one bracelet around her wrist and the other around mine. “What the hell?” she screamed.

“You don’t use that tone of voice with me, Laurie, I said as sternly as I could, “These are just to ensure you don’t get lost again. We’re late now and we don’t wish to be even later.”

“But I’ve got to piss.”

“So have I, so we’ll look for a disabled persons one. I don’t suppose mine will be the first prick you’ve seen and yours won’t be the first cunt I’ve watched taking a leak. You won’t be fucked or raped.”

“Ted!” I turned and a passenger ran up and handed me a tube of cream. “She might find this helps. I brought it in case I got blisters.”

“Thank you Sarah. I’ll put it on in the loo.”

As it turned out, two people in wheelchairs waited outside the disabled persons toilets so I led her into the men’s. The attendant questioned me with a look until I showed him the handcuffs and said, “She’s an absconder,” which was fairly near the truth.

“Ladies first,” I grinned when I’d shut the cubicle door. Surprisingly Laura didn’t protest when I pushed down her jeans and lowered her gently to the seat. From the speed she peed, I guessed she was getting pretty desperate to go and when she stood again, I carefully applied the cream to her blistered arse.

“My turn. You don’t have to watch.” She did anyway but didn’t comment on my prick even when it started to harden. “We should have time for a drink and a snack and I could use a cup of tea. How about you? We’ve still a couple of hours before we get to the hotel even if there’s no more hold-ups.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve no purse and no money and I don’t know where mother is.”

“I don’t invite a lady to a meal and expect her to pay, especially when we’re linked together. Just say what you would like and I’ll put it on the tray.” Even she had to smile and the antics I had to get at my wallet in my left pocket while she held the tray.”

“How’ya doing Pete?” He sat chatting with Sheila and we joined them.

“Okay, see you’re tied up though.” We laughed; Laurie scowled and Sheila looked worried. After managing to eat one handed we wandered back to the coach. Pete held Sheila’s hand but they laughed it off as trying to imitate us.

We were well on the way when I went and spoke quietly with them. “Would you two like to share a room for the holiday?”

“If you can put up with Laurie that long and she doesn’t start creating hell again,” Sheila smiled for the first time since I’d met her.

“I’ll tell Laurie.” I did, in the bluntest of terms, and when I could see her ready for an outburst I went on more sympathetically, “Pete’s been alone for several years and I’ve no idea how long your mother has been without a man but it would be nice to give them a chance to get to know each other for a few days at least. If you stay with your mother, you know what’ll happen. You’ll be trying to rip her guts out in minutes. You’ll be fighting all the time. Stay with me and we might fight but I’ll expect there’ll be some loving too. You’re not a virgin, but I don’t know if you’ve spent a whole night in bed with a man, but if not, it will be a new experience for you.”

“You just want me to be your whore! One you can spank into submission. No way.”

“So you’d rather spend your time with your mother?”

She shook her head, no, “But if you try and force me, I’ll scream, RAPE, and get you put away.”

“What if I gag you and tie you up?” I grinned so she knew I wasn’t serious.

“I’d make sure your balls were too swollen to walk in the morning!”

“Seriously Laurie, I’d like to have your company for the week and I won’t rape you. That’s a promise, but if you feel like a fuck or two or three, great. We’ve made a bad start on the holiday, so perhaps things will improve.”

“Maybe. I’m not sure that I want that pole of yours inside me, but being with you might be less hassle than being with mother.”

“That’s settled then, they’ll be in one room and we’ll be in another. You can pretend you’re being forced into it if you wish and I can’t see the others on the holiday objecting. As you said in one of your outbursts, they’re all old farts. They’re much too old for you. Guess I’m only just about young enough. As you saw in the loo, I’m not yet passed it and we could have some fun later, if you wish but, as I promised, I won’t force you. We’ll sleep together and I’ll try to persuade you, but I won’t rape you.” She looked at me strangely and I couldn’t decide if it was anger, hate or just apprehension.

“We’ll have a quick wash to freshen up and I’ll put some salve on your arse and then we can get some dinner. We can shower and clean up properly later. Some naughty girl made us late.” I grinned at her and in return she punched my chest but there wasn’t any power behind it and I was able to grab her other arm and drag her close before she could land a second blow. To her surprise I kissed her; a full hard kiss on the lips, which brought a little response before she pulled away, looking confused. “Now get washed so we can eat.”

Our second floor room was pretty standard for a modern hotel in a small tourist village catering in the main, for walkers and climbers. About sixty rooms, each with twin beds large enough to sleep two, en suite facilities, wardrobe and a few items of furniture. “Which bed would you like us to use. Laura?”

“I’ll have the one by the window and you can sleep by the door.”

“That’s not the options. Which bed will WE sleep in? Surely it will be nicer to have someone cuddling and kissing you to sleep?”

“Yeah, right! Just remember, what it will be like to fucking walk with big, swollen balls.”

Most of the tables in the dining room were taken and we noticed ‘our group’ had congregated at one end. Deliberately I chose a table at the opposite end to stop any questioning about the incident on the bus. One couple, about my age were already seated. “May we join you?” I asked and when they agreed, I introduced us and learned they were John and Jan, the ‘two J’s’ from the Midlands and were on a painting course.

“You’re in the walking party they delayed dinner for?” Jan asked.

“Yes, we got delayed on the M6.”

“We sailed right through, no problem but I guess we were just a little earlier than you.”

“Now I suppose everyone will doubly blame me,” Laurie sounded pissed and when our new friends looked puzzled, she went on to explain that she’d deliberately hid in the service station to piss off her mother for forcing her to come. “And then he-man here, took me to the back of the bus and walloped my arse. Now I’m to be his slave.” Fortunately she said it with a smile on her face.

“Sounds sexy,” Jan commented, “John and I only get together on courses like this and a few weekends when we can sneak away from John’s wife. We’ve played the master and slave thing a couple of times, nothing serious. A few light spankings but I quite enjoyed not having to make the decision and just being told to do something, something I probably wouldn’t have done normally.”

“My spanking definitely wasn’t light and my arse is still red-bloody-raw.”

We chatted throughout the meal and for a while in the lounge afterwards and I left Laurie with them when I talked to the group in ‘the schoolroom’ about the walk for the next day. “She seems to have calmed down a bit now, Ted,” Sheila commented at the start of the session, “But I noticed you kept well away from us and you’ve not brought her in here. Will she be coming with us tomorrow?”

“Probably, but I can fill her in on the details later. She’s getting on well with John and Jan so I didn’t want to upset her by forcing her to be at this meeting. She’d probably want to disrupt things again. I’m concerned that she will try and escape into the mountains if we leave her on her own tomorrow and that could involve the rescue team and open up a whole can of worms. I can’t have her on a leash though.” She agreed.

“Can I join with Jan and do some drawing tomorrow instead of going on your crappy walk?” Laurie asked when I returned to find them still in the lounge.

“Only if you ask nicely.”

“Sorry.” The apology surprised me. “Can I? Drawing was my best subject at school and Jan says I can get what I need from the hotel shop when it opens in the morning.”

From further remarks, I knew they had it all worked out and my agreement was only formality. “Will the tutor allow you on the course though?” I wanted to appear to have some control over her.

“It’s not really a course, just a bunch of us so-called artists that get together for a week. Mike is an unofficial tutor and gives us advice but really we all do our own thing. We’ve already asked him.”

I had to extract a promise from Laura that it wasn’t an escape plan and took Jan’s mobile number so I could check on her during the day and said I would review the situation in the light of her behaviour and what she did during the first day. Knowing Laurie had little money of her own, I gave Jan £20 to cover the cost of the supplies she might need to make a start. I’d have to forgo a few drinks in the hotel bar.

“Bedtime now young lady. We both need a shower and I’ll expect some concessions from you for agreeing to let you go for a day.”

We were both a little nervous at completely undressing in front of each other, she more than me, until I suggested it was her job as my slave to undress me and, as her master, I would undress her. For a few moments I thought there would be a backlash against my use of the term ‘slave’ but she grinned and allowed me to unbutton her blouse. The two J’s had discussed ‘sexual slavery’ with her during my presentation to the group. Removing her bra revealed a nice firm pair of tits which, when I massaged them, caused her to blush. Quickly I removed her shoes, jeans and knickers and for the first time, had a good view of her cunt and the untrimmed black hair around it. I gave it a long kiss, which made her squirm and my prick to harden. “Your turn. With me it’s best to start with the shoes.”

“It’s big. I haven’t had one that size before, only boys, so please be gentle. Not like you were with my arse.” From that remark, I knew she was prepared to let me fuck her but I wouldn’t be able to force the issue. My prick is only the normal six inches so I guessed she wasn’t as experienced as I first assumed. It became fully hard when we washed and played with each other in the shower taking, far longer than a simple cleaning wash. Her playing caused me to shoot my load on to her body, forcing me to wash her again. Finally, after getting her hair more or less dry, we tumbled naked into bed and cuddled and kissed like I’d promised. I soon became fully hard again and she quietly asked me to fuck her. I did and tried to make it as good for her as I could until she’d noisily climaxed twice before I shot my second load of the evening into her.

“Aren’t you glad I was a rebellious brat now?” she laughed.

“Aren’t you glad I spanked your bum?”

We fucked again before breakfast and met up with the two J’s again in the dining room.

“You’ve a lot to answer for Ted Bryson!” Jan started, trying to sound cross but failing. In a quieter voice that only we could hear she went on, “After your story and what you did to poor Laurie, John thought it a good idea if we played master and slave again, and you can guess who was slave. Before bed he gave me a spanking, not a hard one but he had to stuff a pillow under my face to quieten my yells, and then I had to give him a blowjob before he’d let me into bed. If that wasn’t bad enough, at 4 o’clock this morning he woke me up so he could have his wicked way with me. It’s all your fault Ted.”

“Don’t exaggerate Jan,” John chipped in, “You were laughing as much as yelling during the spanking and you were awake at four because we never sleep very well the first night in a strange bed.”

“How did Ted treat you Laurie?” Jan asked and when Laurie blushed and looked down, Jan went on, “Okay, you can tell me later when we’re alone.”

“They’re brilliant,” I congratulated Laurie when I saw the sketches she’d done that day. “She certainly has talent Jan. These landscapes are excellent and I can even recognise you sitting and sketching.”

“Mike thought so too and is willing to keep her in the group with us. Better she does something she likes rather than plodding reluctantly along a dirt track behind her master.” I had to agree and Laurie’s mood had improved tremendously since we left that morning. At my insistence she even showed the sketches to her mother who praised them too, but I could feel the tension between them and decided to keep them apart for as long as possible.

I had to fork out another £20 next morning because Jan wanted to get some watercolour paints and brushes for Laurie. Of course, I protested at the cost of keeping a slave these days but was assured that this should be the last expense and in fact she still had some change from her earlier purchases and might not need all of the money I gave her.

On Monday the weather turned dull and cloudy but, fortunately for us walkers, it remained dry. Mike decided to have a group session in the schoolroom so his group could work on their paintings and, according to John, gave Laurie preferential treatment and, as a result, she produced two lovely landscape paintings from the sketches she’d made the previous day. “Why didn’t you try to get into Art College?” I asked.

“Mother thought it a waste of time and wanted me to take a secretarial course. I hate that stuff so I didn’t bother to do anything. She wouldn’t pay the fees for Art College.” She shrugged her shoulders and I guessed I learned a major cause of the friction between them.

Tuesday and Wednesday followed a similar pattern; Laurie went sketching with the group or did painting in the classroom while I led the ‘fast group’ of walkers and Pete followed with the slower ones. Laurie and I still got on well with each other to the extent that I almost wondered if the bitch on the bus was a figment of my imagination. Each day I insisted she showed her mother the work she had done but the only comments from Sheila were in the vein of, “Very nice, dear.” Not much in the way of encouragement.

Mid-afternoon on Wednesday, Jan phoned. “Your slave went swimming in the river. We’re waiting for the air ambulance to arrive now.” She paused for a long time as if expecting me to explode but I’d noticed the humour in her voice and waited before asking if she was all right. “Yes, she should be. Hyperthermia and several cuts and scrapes. Don’t get mad at her, she’s a heroine. Saved Jessica from drowning. Where are you?”

“About two miles from the hotel. I’ll get there as soon as I can.” Any further communication was lost by the noise and broken static of the helicopter arriving.

Fortunately Bob had driven us to the starting point in the morning and the fourteen-mile hike ended at the hotel along a path we’d already been on. I explained to my group and told them to either continue on their own or wait for Pete’s party and then set off on my own at a brisk pace. Dumping my rucksack in my room I dashed to John’s car and Jan introduced me to a tearful Hannah, an elderly lady sitting in the front alongside John. “What’s the story?” I asked when the car started off.

“From what I’ve been told, Jessica and Hannah were down by the bend in the river where there’s that deep water pool and the rocky ledge. Hannah sat sketching while Jessica took photos. Laurie knelt some yards further downstream drawing flowers. I gather Jessica walked backwards to compose her picture and walked back over the ledge into the river. As you know, the water runs fast on that bend and it’s bloody cold. Still not much more than melted snow even in July.”

“I had my back to her so I didn’t see what happened and only turned when I heard her scream and then the splash. Laurie must have heard it too because she threw her book down and ran to the spot and then went downstream and jumped in. I’m not very fast on my pins and when I got there Laurie had hold of Jess and was fighting to get her to the shore,” Hannah turned to us and continued with the tale. “Laurie shouted for me to get help and I knew Jan and John were a little ways along the path so I went for them. Fortunately they heard me shouting and when I said they were in the river they left me behind and by the time I got back to the bank, John and Jan were helping the two out of the water. They must have been in the water some time because they were well downstream from where they went in but there was no where before then they could climb out.”

Jan took up the tale again, “We only got out feet wet but Laurie still had a hold on Jess. They were both so cold and with wet clothes, it was a struggle for them to move at all. We dragged them on to the bank and I feared Laurie was badly injured as her body was covered with blood but it looked worse because of the water mixing with the blood. Her shorts and thin blouse were no protection from the rocks. Jess is probably badly bruised but her thicker clothes protected her and I didn’t see much blood. We laid them on the grass in the sun to warm up but they both shivered. I dialled 999 and they said they’d have to send the air ambulance as the land ambulance wouldn’t get there for an hour or so, and asked if we could get them to the hotel where they knew there was a field they could land on. I phoned the hotel and they sent the staff with a couple of stretchers, towels and blankets. They keep stuff for mountain rescue there so they knew what to do and a couple of them were in the mountain rescue team. Quickly they dried the ladies and wrapped them in space blankets. The helicopter arrived just as I phoned you and took them to the main hospital in Glasgow. Fortunately Hannah comes from there so we should be able to find our way, but it’s at least an hour’s drive from here.”

“She was very brave to go into that fast water,” Hannah continued, “It’s deep in that pool and with all the rocks in the way, even in the parts where she could stand, it was difficult for her to get to the bank. How she managed to hold on to Jess for all the time it took to get to that shallow place, I don’t know. The force of the water swept her off her feet several times.”

“The things you’ll do to get out of spending the night with me,” I laughed when we sat by her bed.

“I don’t suppose you brought any clothes for me to go home in? My shorts and blouse got pretty much ripped up.”

We didn’t stay long because she looked pretty tired after her ordeal, but the nurse said she would probably be discharged in the morning. Jessica would be kept in for longer because they feared pneumonia or other complications might set in.

Even Sheila seemed pleased when her daughter returned the next day although that didn’t stop her going with Pete on the day’s hike, but she greeted her affectionately enough when they returned. Laurie, of course, received much praise for her action but we teased her about going swimming in a raging torrent of cold water.

The news-hounds quickly got on to the story and, after they discovered I’d spanked her and made her my sex slave, they besieged us until we were forced to escape through the staff rooms of the hotel and found a respite walking along a little used path in the woods. They were still there when we returned for dinner, and so were the police. A policewoman interviewed Laurie for a long time and a male constable grilled me about the spanking and my forcing her to have sex. When he consulted with his partner and found Laurie had vehemently denied being forced to sleep with me and that she wasn’t going to complain about her spanking, they eventually left us alone but not before they’d given me a severe warning not to spank her again. “These days, that is illegal and, while it seems to have worked out for both of you, you Sir, could have ended up in prison.”

Fortunately the hotel proprietor saved our meals and let us eat in the quietness of the staff room. When we emerged to find the two J’s, we again had questions thrown at us and recorders and microphones were thrust under our noses. Laurie was near to tears and I cuddled her closely to me as we forced our way to the lounge. The TV people had a cameraman and we tried, unsuccessfully, to hide our faces. Luckily, John, through his work, had experience in dealing with the media and saved the situation by setting up a mini press conference. Neither Laurie nor I wanted it but John explained this was a better option than the free-for-all we were going through. He acted as a master-of-ceremonies and controlled them to some extent. “As you can see, Laurie still hasn’t fully recovered from her ordeal in the water, an ordeal which saved the life of an elderly lady. It is this you should concentrate on, not the fictitious slavery story that is doing the rounds. However, I know you want some answers so we’ll give you fifteen minutes if you behave in an orderly fashion. Please set up your recorders etc on the table and be seated.” It went on for more than the allotted time but then John closed the meeting and we went to their room for a more relaxing chat.

The bruises and cuts on Laurie’s body looked awful and she said they still hurt a good deal but the hospital had given her some pills to relieve the worst of the pain and a sleeping pill she could take if needed. I hadn’t fully seen the state of her wounds until we took a shower but it made me realise just what she gone through to save Jessica. I took photographs of the worst places. We fucked gently that night and I cuddled her until we both fell asleep.

Friday evening we sat for a long alone debating our future. Laurie insisted she didn’t wish to live with her mother and although my one-bedroom flat was small other couples in the complex lived in them. Money was a major stumbling block, especially during the summer when I only had the retainer pay from the university and keeping a teenage girl would incur a goodly expense even if Laurie could earn a little of her own. She insisted she could and indeed had sold a couple of the paintings she’d done during the week and paid back the money for the art materials, but the income from that would be uncertain when we arrived home. Pete, when I asked his views, decided he wanted to keep seeing Sheila but both of them wanted to spend some time courting before committing themselves into a full time relationship, so the option for Laurie to return home was there as a last resort, a resort neither of us wanted.

Sheila, when I went to see her, expressed more concern over what the neighbours would say about her letting her daughter live with a man after knowing him for only a few days. I’d no doubt the news reports would have reached our home town and with them the reports of her ‘slavery’, so I didn’t see that as a problem. Everyone would know, whether they believed the slavery thing or not. In the end, Sheila said she wouldn’t oppose Laurie living with me.

We’ve lived together for a month now and, apart from little frictions as to the way I kept house and how much of the housework she should do, we’ve got along well. One surprise came when Sheila phoned to say a parcel had arrived for Laurie and when we opened it, inside Laurie delightedly found a full art kit; easel, paints, brushes and various other bits and pieces. A note from Jessica said she had fully recovered and went on, “Please accept this starter art kit with my grateful thanks. I am lucky to be alive and able to send this to you. Please continue with your art, even if you are unable to get into Art College.” She did and so far has sold three small paintings and is booked to do a portrait at the weekend.

We keep in touch with the two J’s. The incident affected their lives too. John’s wife saw him on TV news and knew he wasn’t away on business like he’d said. She ordered him to leave her home and he’s moved in with Jan and they seem happy enough together.

All in all, one bitch on a bus, changed several lives for the better.

Finis