Reforming Little Anya Page 8

Snatch! She seized a delicate hand and twisted, using a defense hold she’d learned in karate. Jessica cringed.

  It was a girl of about eighteen, holding some wildflowers, and she immediately burst into tears as she dropped the bouquet.

  Jessica released her, turned to run, and slammed straight into a very tall man. In an instant, a crowd had encircled them, and she felt a very real chill trickle down her spine. The girl’s mother bolted forward to embrace and comfort her.

  “Sweetie, what happened?” she asked.

  The girl pointed at Jessica and babbled. Even with her improved knowledge of Czech, she couldn’t make out everything the teen was saying, but she got the gist: she had tried to give Anya a gift, and the girl had twisted her hand. Jessica also saw the grim and cold expressions on the faces around her. The evil little Russian girl had attacked one of their own.

  Oh, this is not going to end well.

  “Anya, Anya, what’s going on?” Iva called out.

  Jessica looked around; she could just make out Iva on the other side of the ‘Ring of Meanness.’ She tried to reach between the people to wave to Iva, but the people blocked her.

  “I didn’t mean any harm,” Jessica called out in Czech. “I-I thought she was someone else, someone who attacked me before.”

  The adults shouted, the words so jumbled that she couldn’t make much out, but most of it was pretty clear: she was a liar, she was a brat, she’d hurt an innocent girl, and so on. Iva pushed and shoved as best she could, but couldn’t get through. A shadow fell across Jessica, and she slowly turned. The tall man stood before her, patting the girl on the head.

  Oh, this is so bad!

  “Sir, I am very, very sorry—ow!” she yelped, as he snagged her by the arm.

  He shouted something at her, and a moment later he was almost tackled by Iva and the other girls. They pulled Jessica away from him, even as Iva stepped forward to sort of… negotiate with him. Again, Jessica’s limited language skills made much of it confusing, but it seemed she was assuring the father that Anya would be punished at the home.

  The man grinned, and Jessica’s heart sank. He obviously knew how strict Viktor and Misha could be. Jessica’s hands slipped back in the classic protective stance. A general chuckle of approval rippled throughout the crowd. It seemed the whole town knew.

  Finally, he seemed satisfied, and nodded. She was ordered to apologize, and did so without complaint. She was so glad to know the right words in Czech. It was here that Jessica received a tiny ounce of mercy; the girl seemed to feel genuine regret at what Jessica was going to suffer. She moved forward and hugged Jessica. The crowd approved with a collective ‘awww,’ and the parents moved to separate the two. Jessica managed a small smile and turned to go, and Iva took her by the arm.

  “Come, you stay close to me now, and then we get home fast.”

  “You got it,” Jessica replied, and then cringed. “Ohhh, I hate to think what’s going to happen then!”

  “Don’t worry. I will say it was my fault, and I take paddling.”

  Jessica’s eyes popped open wide. “What? No, Iva, that’s too much.”

  “No, it’s not,” she said, shaking her head. “It will be nothing.”

  “How can you say that?”

  “Well…” her voice trailed off as her eyes darted back and forth.

  For a moment, Jessica forgot her potential pain. “Iva, what, what happened to you… before?”

  Iva lowered her eyes. “I… well, when I was little, I lived on a farm with my uncle, after my parents died. He was a very strict man. So I got used to discipline. After he died from drinking, I came to live at the home, and you know how it is there.”

  Jessica actually managed a smile. “Yes, I do.”

  They then headed home, all the girls in tow, and delivered everything to the kitchen. Just as they finished, Mr. and Miss Monster appeared in the door. They looked less than happy.

  “Girls, what happened at the market today?” Misha asked.

  Another very real chill raced along Jessica’s spine. She knew that tone. That was the: “I already know, but I want you to tell me” tone. Confession was the best route here, and she knew it, but before she could even open her mouth, Iva launched into a long speech about… well, total nonsense. Jessica tried to cut her off several times, but the other girls kept interrupting.

  Jessica’s heart sank. Oh, we’re all dead meat.

  Viktor finally raised his hands to cut them off. “Girls, that’s all a lie, and we know it. The family called us a few minutes ago and told us everything.”

  Jessica almost laughed. Instantly there were seven very contrite little girls all with their heads bowed and their hands planted across their short little skirts.

  Misha pointed at the door. “In the main room, little girls, and form the circle.”

  They sadly plodded off, Jessica watching them go. ‘Form the circle’—she wondered what that was all about.

  “You too, little Anya,” Misha added.

  Well, she was about to find out. She fell into line behind the last girl, and soon they were all in the open area of the main room. The girls formed a circle, Jessica right next to Iva, and then the others all bent over and grabbed their ankles. Cringing, Jessica did the same, even as she saw Viktor and Misha enter, each wielding a large fraternity-type paddle.

  Holy crap, paddled by both of them?

  Her first instinct was to stand and refuse, and try to explain, but then her intellect won out. She knew it was pointless. They’d been tried, convicted, sentenced, and were now about to experience swift and certain justice. Viktor headed right for her.

  Damn, I’m getting it first.

  She closed her eyes and waited, and nothing happened. Then she heard a whack and a cry of pain on her right. Opening her eyes, she turned her head slightly and saw that he’d taken up a stance behind Iva. Her short little skirt had been flipped up (not that it afforded much protection), and he was paddling her. Straining her neck, she saw that Misha was in fact behind her, but wasn’t making any movement to do the same to her.

  What’s that all about?

  Whack! Smack! He gave Iva a full dozen, and then moved on to the next girl. Once he was in position and paddling away, Misha started in on Iva, and gave her a second dozen.

  Ah, so that’s how this circle punishment thing works.

  This meant Jessica would get it last, and she felt some relief. On and on it went, the two were slow and methodical, and the girls were soon yelping and howling as the paddles landed again and again.

  Slowly, Jessica began to feel not relief at being last, but dread. She had to stand there, in position, and watch as each girl was punished. Not only did she feel regret at having caused them to suffer this, but there was the anticipation of waiting her turn. She almost smiled; it was the classic ‘waiting for the other shoe to drop’ syndrome. When Viktor stepped up behind her and flipped her skirt up, she did shiver in anticipation, but also let out a sigh of relief.

  This was quickly followed by a yelp of pain when the paddle struck. It was big, super hard, and made quite the impression—both in her ass and mind! By the third whack, it was all she could do to hold position, and Viktor warned her that not doing so would earn her two extra.

  A great motivator.

  Still, by number seven, she was close to breaking, and then help came in the form of Iva—again. She reached out her left hand to wrap around Jessica’s right, and smiled at her. Loath as she was to admit it, it helped, and Jessica got through the full dozen. Then it was Misha’s turn, and her first smack truly made Jessica see stars. It took all her drive and determination, and a little help from Iva, but Jessica held firm for the full dozen. Softly sobbing, she longed to rub, but didn’t dare move until allowed. No way was she earning extra.

  “Anya, you stay as you are,” Viktor ordered. “All right, my little girls, you know the drill. Line up.”

  “I’m sorry, Anya, but we must do this,” Iva whispered.

  Jessi
ca chewed her lip. Something was up, and she had a feeling it wasn’t going to end well for her. The girls all stood and formed a line, the girl on Jessica’s left being at the front and facing her—facing her ass! They then marched forward, passing behind her, and each gave her a hard smack as they did. This brought renewed howls from Jessica, and tears dripped from her eyes. Through those tears, she saw Iva approach, and saw that she was also crying. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that it wasn’t from the paddling. She passed Jessica, gave her a medium smack, and only then was Jessica allowed to stand. She wouldn’t sit for a long time. Looking around, she saw that all the girls were furiously rubbing.

  “All right, my little girls,” Misha said, “you can go. Just you all remember this lesson.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” they all replied, nodding.

  Jessica added her agreement, and then they were dismissed.

  * * *

  The excursions to the market did accomplish one thing though: they helped to rebuild Jessica’s standing with Misha and Viktor. By the end of that next week, Misha was willing to help her get jobs in town, like the other girls, and thus earn some money. Jessica was always very careful to keep her permission slip from Misha handy. One of her jobs proved especially useful; it was right near the railroad station. She learned the price of a ticket to Prague and the departure times for all the daily trains.

  Another area she learned about was automobiles. Misha worked at keeping their car running, and she was willing to teach anyone who was interested. Initially, Jessica’s curiosity was motivated by her desire to steal the car, if necessary. It could be the only way for her to escape. Then, of all things, she found that she really enjoyed working with engines, and she became an expert at fixing them. By the end of her second week, she had both of the other cars running! Misha even gave her a few korunas as a reward. Between what she’d earned and what the girls gave her, she had more than enough.

  She was ready.

  Jessica now knew the house’s routine by heart, and thus she knew exactly when she could sneak into Viktor’s room to get on his computer to try to use the email. Her language lessons had proven most useful; she was able to read the Czech instructions. Then came disappointment; the computer didn’t have Internet access!

  How the hell can that be? Sheesh, everyone has the Internet on their computer.

  She opened a few files to see if maybe she was missing something. There were several letters from Viktor to various charitable groups asking for money. It seemed the home was really on the edge, in terms of financial ruin. Other than the support from her company, they had virtually nothing. Now there was a touch of irony; her own company was essentially supporting her jailers. Jessica grinned. That would make it all the easier to make them miserable when she returned! Misha and the cooks were not taking any money as salary, just living expenses, and Viktor got a small stipend, and he got another one for teaching at the boys’ home.

  God, what morons. Jessica rolled her eyes. Don’t these people know that such stupid nobility is pointless? The world is cruel and harsh, and it leaves such people broke, hungry, and sick in their old age. Yeah, sure, people heap praise on self-sacrificing jerks, but praise and ten cents will get you a dime. Praise doesn’t pay the rent or keep the electricity on, and it sure doesn’t put food on the table. Misha and the others are setting themselves up for major heartache.

  Then she saw something that truly made her smile: money. Viktor had some coins and bills on his dresser, and Jessica took them. After that, she got her work clothes on (there was no way she was escaping in her stupid girlie-girl outfit) and made her way downstairs. Moving through the kitchen, she very surreptitiously poured the little concoctions she’d prepared into the milk jug. It was nothing special, just something she’d learned about in chemistry class. She’d used the same stuff at an office Christmas party to great effect; a dozen people had gotten sick, and she’d laughed all the way home. Right now, she offered to help with dinner.

  “You not want to go play with other little girls?” the assistant cook said.

  “Oh, no, it’s important I help out,” she replied with a smile.

  They bought it, and she started snapping green beans, and waited. Finally came the cry of disgust she was waiting for.

  “Ugh, the milk’s gone sour!” said the cook.

  Like everyone else present, she made a big show of being surprised.

  “This is strange, it’s supposed to be fresh,” the third cook said.

  “What are we going to do?” the second cook said. “We can’t get to the market before dinner.”

  “I’ll go,” Jessica chirped happily. “I’ll just run down and get us a fresh liter or two.”

  The cook chewed her lip. “Well… I don’t know.”

  “Oh, please, please let me do this for the girls! I want so much to be helpful, to make up for the trouble I’ve been,” she said, batting her eyes.

  “Well… all right, I’ll give you a note, but you get back as quick as you can.”

  The cook turned to the counter, wrote a quick permission slip, signed it, and handed it to Jessica. Her smile went ear to ear.

  Yes, things are going precisely according to plan!

  “Oh, I’ll be back before you know it,” she said happily.

  Yeah, back with the bulldozers to build a huge resort in this Podunk town.

  She took off out the gate and headed toward the market. Once out of sight, she slipped down a side street, and headed for the train station. While she didn’t have a watch, she could see the tower of city hall, and it had a clock in it. She had just enough time to get to the train station, buy a ticket, and get on the last train to Prague. Jessica loved it when a plan came together.

  The one fly in the ointment was getting stopped by various people along the way. They recognized her clothes as being from the home, and her face as the ‘little Russian girl.’ So she had to show them her note to be able to pass. She chewed her lip as she raced along; all these hassles were really slowing her down. If she didn’t hurry, she was going to miss the train. She hadn’t allowed for so many delays. As she made the final turn to get to the station, she heard the clock chime; the train would be leaving any minute! Turning on the speed, she bolted down the road, and plowed right into someone. She didn’t give a damn who it was.

  “Ack, who is…? Ah, it is Anya, yes?” the tall man said. “What you doing here?”

  “I’m in a hurry, jerk, get out of my way,” she shouted, and slipped past him.

  “Hey, wait,” he called out.

  A moment later, she scampered up the wide stone steps of the station, raced inside, and dashed up to the ticket counter. She was out of breath, but elated. She’d made it; the train was still in the station.

  She banged on the counter. “Hey, hey in there, I want a ticket to Prague! Come on, where’s the ticket—ulp!”

  Her jaw dropped as she saw who was coming in. It was the guy from outside.

  “Anya, what you doing here, why want ticket to Prague?”

  Crap, this was so not good. Think fast, Jessica, think fast.

  “Ahhh, Miss Palicka is going there tomorrow, and she wanted me to pick up her ticket.”

  His brow wrinkled. “She did? Why not come herself?”

  “Oh, she’s very busy. She’s working on some letters to try to raise money for the home.”

  “Ack, ya, I know she working on that. Ya, I get ticket.”

  Jessica beamed with joy. Yes, it was working. She rooted around in her pocket and pulled out her money. “Great, I’ve got the money right—”

  He waved her off, as he prepared the ticket. “Oh, no charge, Anya, I glad to help.”

  Jessica hung her head, sighed, and slapped her forehead. Why hadn’t she thought of that before? She could have been out of here a week ago. Oh, well, she mustn’t waste time looking back, she was moments from escaping. Besides, the money would be useful once she reached Prague; she’d need it for a taxi to the embassy. She s
tood there, trembling with excitement, and then jumped in shock and surprise; the train whistle sounded!

  “Ah, sir, could you please hurry?” she squealed.

  “What rush, Anya? Misha can go anytime,” he said, even as the ticket printed out.

  She leaned forward, snatched the paper from his hand, and bolted for the platform. “Yeah, but I can’t!”

  Racing through the old-fashioned turnstile, Jessica raced onto the platform. The train was already moving. It eased forward and slowly began to speed up. Jessica grabbed at the door to the nearest car. It was locked. She banged on the glass frantically.

  “Open up, open the door, I want in,” she shouted.

  The train sped up. Jessica hung on to the door handle, even as she tried to keep up. She was able to do that, for a while, beating furiously on the door. Then she lost her footing, tumbled to the ground, and darkness engulfed her.

  Chapter Eight

  Jessica slowly opened her eyes and brought her hand up to her head. It took a moment for her to get oriented, but she finally figured out where she was, and she groaned in despair. It was her room back at the ‘prison.’

  Damn, I’m not going to get away today.

  “Well, Anya, seems you’ve had quite a day,” Viktor said.

  Jessica cringed and turned her head. Yeah, there was old Mr. Monster, sitting right next to her bed. He didn’t have a hairbrush in his hand. She wondered what new implement of torture he was planning to use on her. Slowly, she sat up. Fortunately, she had planned for this contingency, so she had a good chance of saving her ass—literally.

  “Ahhh, hello, sir. Ah, I guess I have a lot of explaining to do, don’t I?”

  Viktor crossed his massive arms over his equally powerful chest. “Yes, you do. Please proceed.”

  “Well, it’s like this, sir,” Jessica started, pulling a map to the city’s cemetery out of her pocket. “I just wanted to go to the cemetery to pay my respects to my parents, but I got lost.”

  “And ended up at the train station?”

  She sat up, and saw the head cook and a couple of the girls, Iva among them, standing at the door. They looked both relieved and worried.