Keeping Company Ch. 05: Revisited

A slave will show you what she is and hope you see all the intricacies that are slave. But throw into the mix that Mandy and Laurel are women and you have but a tip of an iceberg, yes both women are individuals but the one common thread between them is the slave within and when both combine that makes them as pliable as rubber and as hard as steel. As for me I sometimes think as in moments like this when I'm cock deep in a slave that I believe doesn't need to be punished. I'm just along for the ride.

*******

All the girls came down over the weekend, both to see Laurel and show the Colson's that we were all with them. The news from Jonathan on the condition of both families either side of us was grim, the banks were pushing for loans to be paid, credit was being refused and what was already out there was being called in. The vultures were circling and over both ranches as well.

Amy asked if Jonathan could get both heads of families here tomorrow, since he was sure he could then Amy went back to enjoying the evening. When I broached the subject of Mike with Jonathan he just shrugged his shoulders and said he didn't turn up.

Perhaps it was the way he said it or the lack of interest when I asked him I'm not sure but something in his statement just didn't feel right. My hope was that none of the Colson clan did anything stupid, Mandy and Laurel soon pulled me away from any further thought when they sidled up against me and took an arm each.

The meeting with the heads of the other families was interesting, there seemed to be a great deal of mistrust towards us 'city folks' until Jonathan stood up and vouched for us. Amy finally got the rundown on what had been going on once the USDA people had packed up and left and none of it was looking good. Finally Amy asked point blank how long did they have before their backs were to the wall, both men looked at each other and eventually said that at best two months before they either had to start selling land to pay bills or sell up altogether.

The girls went into a huddle and Amy came back with a counter offer.

"We have seen first hand and through Laurel what's been going on here and none of this is your fault. We ask two things from you and that includes the Colson family, don't do anything for two weeks. You may not realize it yet but you do have friends, we understand you are proud folks but don't shut us out. Meet here again in two weeks and hear what we have to say."

This time it was the heads of the families turn to go into a huddle, it seemed as though Jonathan was doing most of the talking, finally it was handshakes between them and they left. Jonathan joined us again at the table and told us we had the two weeks we had asked for. Amy hugged him and thanked him before he left, Carol-Anne and Mandy went into a huddle and Amy joined them minutes later.

Wendy steered me towards the door and we went for a walk. We had covered a full lap of the cabin before she said anything.

"We both know you're wealthy enough to write out a check for both of them and make all this, go away. They won't accept it you know."

She was right. That thought had crossed my mind, what she hadn't realized was that I knew Jonathan well enough to figure out the other two families wouldn't go along with it, pride would get in the way.

Laurel went back to work a few days later, I went back with Mandy and the girls but we kept in touch with Jonathan and figured he was relaying our progress onto the other two families. By the second week we met once again with Amy still in the chair. She asked straight out the total amount that both families owed, she wanted it down to the nearest cent. Both looked towards Jonathan who in turn nodded his head.

No one even flinched when the figures were read out. Amy in turn pulled out four files and placed two files each in front of both the heads of the families.

"These are your two options gentleman, file one is an agreement that you will sell us city folk's one acre of land for the total amount of debt you owe. If you open the file you will find a check already made out for the full amount."

The temptation was there and we watched as both actually opened the file in front of them and pined to the inside of the file was a check for said amount along with the paperwork required to sell us the land.

"Option two is a release form. The Clearwater Bank will buy out your entire debt and also extend your loan deal plus add five years to your repayments at no further interest costs. They are disgusted with what your bank is doing and would be happy to take over your business that you have with the bank as well as the loans."

Neither one looked at that folder. It was Maurice Bennett who stood up first.

"I laughed at Hank when he leased you that land, you city folks don't belong around here yet here you are and by the looks of it you don't plan on leaving anytime soon do you?"

Amy stood and leaned on the table, the giant of a man that was Maurice still looked down on her. Amy may still have had to look up at him but she sure had steel in her eyes

"A year from now I plan to retire and live out my life in this cabin, over the next three years we will each sell up and retire here. What was once just a place to come for the weekend has turned into a place to retire to. It seems you're stuck with us Mr. Bennett."

Maurice Bennett pulled a pen out from his coat and signed on the line, it seems we own an acre of land.

"I know from Hank and also from Jonathan you all have a thing for each other so I can't invite one without inviting you all."

He held out his hand towards Amy and they shook on it.

"The day after tomorrow at our place, I don't get to say thank you all that often plus I figure your going to want to see how pretty your land is."

Amy smiled, more so when she got her hand back.

"We plan to plant six trees on it Mr. Bennett."

He thought about it for a moment and then looked towards Laurel, she had the biggest smile of all of us.

"We watched as you went head to head with the USDA people, you kept us going when all you had for support was navy coffee. Jodie tells me your special, it also says allot when my own daughter clams up after telling me that. But she's a Colson now so I understand that, I admit I had my doubts when you came out of Vet College and I'm sure glad you proved me wrong."

The blur that became Laurel shot across the room and ran straight into Maurice Bennett's arms. For a big man he sure held her gently and with a kiss on her head he let her go and walked out of the room. Mitchell Hayes simply signed shook Amy's hand and then looked to me.

"Five women, you greedy son of a bitch. If you were a bull I would make a fortune out of you. My place on Saturday and since I figure your planting trees I'll make sure your land is down by the creek."

By now Laurel came and stood by me. Mitchell looked at her and for the first time since we had seen him, he smiled and held out his arms towards her.

"Laurel Colson I have known you since you were nothing but a skinny baby who couldn't even hold a diaper on her without it falling off. You have done yourself and this family proud."

She got herself another hug, even got a kiss on the head again as well. Jonathan nodded his head towards us and left with Mitchell, Amy was collecting the files from the table when I looked at her, she knew what was coming and the girls moved closer.

"When were you going to tell me that you're going to retire?"

"I had planed to before all this started and then thought better of it. Mandy and I have looked at what's going on around here, what the bank has tried to do to these folks makes me sick. When I retire from the firm I plan to open an office in town and work part time."

This time I looked towards Mandy, she had already anticipated my question.

"Other than the paperwork mine is already sold."

"But Mandy you love that place."

"Slave and I know you give your time as equally as you can amongst us, then Laurel came along and we voted her one of us. At one time I craved it yet now we can't stand the silence in the apartment anymore, so to put it simply, where you go we go."

When I looked towards Wendy she was ready for me.

"I'm just about done, I've tweaked the board a little to keep things on an even keel. The house is already sold, I know I still need to turn up for the odd meeting and when I do I'm bunking in with Carol-Anne."

We all heard a gentle sob and turned as one to see Laurel quietly crying to herself. Mandy gave her a hug and then kissed her cheek as I turned to look towards Carol-Anne.

"I'm the odd one out, I can't do what the others are doing for another two years but the clock is ticking."

My only question was a simple one.

"Why?"

Carol-Anne just smiled for awhile, then she told me that when Ginny died I was the gift that kept on giving. I also highlighted that other than work none of them had a life. The girls knew way back then that none of them where getting any younger so they all took stock, more so when the cabin was built. They fell in love with the place and decided this was where they all planed to retire to.

"We all echo Mandy's thoughts on this Mark, where you go we go. I wouldn't even say that what it cost us to bail out the ranches has put a scratch let alone a dent in our wealth so what do we achieve by continuing to work until we die, a damn good looking headstone and no friends. That's not for any of us now, we have seen what a family is with the Colson's and we are a family Mark."

I couldn't find it in me to argue with anything they said, it was all true and although I was the easiest in as much as all I had to do is open my computer and I'm at work that seemed to happen less and less now. Carol-Anne's Asian heritage hid her age real well and even though she was still the youngest of us until Laurel joined us it seemed logical that we retire and let others take over.

*******

To me their still seemed that nagging doubt about Mike, from what we knew about him he didn't seem the type that would walk away from Laurel now her face was all over the news, she was even invited to a couple of chat shows which she politely declined. I heard her tell the people from the studio on the phone when she did, her parting words were that she was a vet not a celebrity.

It still took a few weeks but the phone calls lessened and finally to the relief of all of us they stopped. Mike wouldn't have agreed to what Laurel told the studio's, to him that's being a celebrity by proxy and people like Mike would take it anyway they could. The next day I bumped into Jonathan and during our talk I asked him again about Mike and got the same short answer 'he never turned up'.

Feeling something was definitely off I asked Amy to talk to her PI and find Mike. The PI phoned Amy back ten days later and told her that Mike couldn't be found, no one had seem him since the day he got into his car and was heading towards the Colson ranch. Everything was still at his apartment and in fact when the PI talked to the landlord he was in the process of evicting him for non payment of rent.

When Amy and I talked about this we did wonder if pulling the PI off tailing Mike all the way here was a good idea after all. Neither one of us wanted to put into words the dark thoughts that each of us had at the moment about what may have happened to Mike, we knew from past experience that Jonathan would continue to repeat the same words.

Yet since we had no proof of any wrong doing we could say nothing and other than hope that the Colson family hadn't taken there own justice out for what Mike did to Laurel. Over the next two years Amy would phone her PI and he would go check around again to see if Mike had surfaced, in the end even he said he couldn't keep taking her money for doing nothing.

Mike was gone, no one knew anything he had no family that cared enough to file a missing persons report and over time even those that knew him had forgotten him, to those he had simply moved on, where to no one knew or wouldn't say. On the odd occasion I had to wonder about myself, did I even care. After seeing the condition that Mike left Laurel in the last days of college and even after the week that Mandy had her alone at the cabin.

Getting rid of the tattoo and the minor surgery of the cigarette burns not to mention the odd nightmare she would wake in the middle of the night with. He was a bastard that turned a willing and sweet girl into nothing more than an ashtray and used as his own personal whore who he mind-fucked into believing that servicing his friends while he either watched or participated was a slaves duty.

Laurel was so in need of training that she readily agreed and by the end of college when he not only got her tattooed as a reminder of there time together but then told her that he had no further use for her. No wonder she was one step short of a basket case when she got back to the ranch.

Had the rest of the Colson family taken steps to stop Mike seeing Laurel? I had to wonder as did Amy, but like his so called friends, neither of us cared enough about him to ask Jonathan straight out. To us he was now a part of Laurels distant past and as the days went by he became even more distant.

*******

The cookout at Maurice Bennett's was awkward to start with, after all we were the city folks. It was an hour into the party that Carol-Anne came up to me.

"You have competition for Amy's affections. I haven't seen more than a foot of daylight between Amy and Maurice since we got here."

When I looked over at her she was laughing at something that Maurice had said. Inwardly I smiled, her stance was every so slightly off, the way she held her arm across the waistband of her skirt and I smiled. Amy was being the perfect lady, I had wondered if Maurice was looking for a new wife though. All in all it was a fun evening and most of us and I would have put Amy at the top of that list at the moment, we believed that us 'city folks' were wearing off on Maurice Bennett.

I got the coffee brewing when we got back. I also told Laurel and Mandy to shower as soon as we got back, they both emerged minutes after we had sat down to talk about the evening to us all it was a great success but we also deferred to Laurel since she grew up with Maurice Bennett and Mitchell Hayes around.

"They are proud men and believe like my father and now Jonathan that family comes first. The ranches are safe now and you found a way to do it and not make them look less of a man."

Of course Carol-Anne wasn't the only one that had noticed the attention that Amy was getting and even though she was herself collared up, Laurel just couldn't resist a gentle dig at Amy along the way.

"And when Maurice asks Amy to marry him I'm sure the Bennett family will be all the stronger for it."

The roar of laughter was instant, more so when the coffee Amy was drinking was spat back into her cup. Wendy even had to lean over and give Amy a couple of slaps on the back as she hacked and coughed for a full minute. All Laurel did was move her head slightly when the cushion flew across the room at her from Amy's direction.

It was that one defining moment that I believed that Laurel truly felt herself to be comfortable being one of our family and she was also letting me know she was ready. Even when I looked towards her to confirm my suspicions she was waiting for me to do so. The gentle nod of her head was all that was needed; her cheeks flushed slightly when I nodded back at her and smiled.

The conversation between us started to ease and people started yawning. Amy was the first to rise from her end of the couch, she bid us all goodnight and once she placed her cup in the sink headed towards her room.

"Amy you forgot something."

She did a quick check about her person and looked towards me confused.

"Laurel stand."

She did as I told her to, her eyes now on Amy.

"Slave tonight I give you as a gift to Amy. You are hers as much as you are mine. Do you understand?"

Her head turned towards me and lowered to my chest as she nodded her head she clearly said the words 'yes Master' so that all in that room could hear her as she walked towards Amy. The conflict of emotions that shot across Amy's face was a joy to watch, the rest of the girls just sat and watched as Laurel got closer to Amy.

Laurel finally stopped in front of Amy who in turn told her to look directly at her. Once Laurel pulled some air into her lungs her eyes inched up Amy chest and finally held her gaze.

"Laurel honey, we know each other so well here we may as well be open books. So much has gone on in your life since your return, are you sure you want this?"

All slave did was wait until Amy had finished, she clearly knew ahead of time what she planed to say.

"I am slave, I am a gift to you from my Master."

Amy still looked long and hard at Laurel, for her part slave just stared back, waiting.

With a shrug of her shoulders and her hand outstretched she said to Laurel:

"Ok but I'm going to ruin you for any man ever again and that includes that piece of shit sat over there with a smug grin on his face."

I smiled and the whoops and cat calls from the rest of the girls drowned out anything Laurel could say in return. We did hear the door to Amy's room slam shut so she must have put some extra effort into doing that, but all that got was some more cat calls and whooping.

Mandy moved closer to me sensing I was going to talk to her, I had to lean close to her ear so she could hear me above the noise the girls were making.

"I'm giving you to Wendy tonight, I need to connect a little more with Carol-Anne, please let slut play as well and I'm sure Carol-Anne and I would welcome you if you came by later."

The wicked grin sneaked through, poor Wendy didn't stand a chance tonight. Woman or not when slut is allowed to accompany slave it really does feel like two against one. Mandy stood and nodded her head before walking towards Wendy, with Mandy stood over her she did a double take and then smiled. Both girls placed there cups in the sink and walked to Wendy's room.

Carol-Anne watched and other than a smile of her own said nothing until Wendy's door gently closed.

"Although I'm not likely to refuse can I ask why?"

"For the same reason I gave Mandy, with the things that have happened these last months we both know that I have let my time with you slip, I know your understanding but that still doesn't mean I don't do what I can to make it up to you when it's possible."

"Good answer, then take me to bed and show me how much I'm appreciated."

For the next hour that damn woman was insatiable and I swore to myself never to let my time with any of them slip again. I still had my dick in her ass when I heard the door open and felt Mandy kiss the back of my neck before she climbed onto the bed. It was only then that Carol-Anne noticed and reached out for her and Mandy slid under her so she could suck on her tits.

The moan was genuine, more so when I felt Mandy's hand frantically rubbing Carol-Anne's clit.

*******

We thought that things would settle down now this current crisis had been averted, it never was. Maurice Bennett and Mitchell Hayes were patient men, they had been wronged by the bank who to them wanted to see them penniless and out on the street.

A year had past and Amy true to her word had retired from her partnership. Within a month of retiring she opened a small law office in town and was already in talks with the local high school about setting up a foundation. She was willing to send one student to law school each year, their was no pre-condition that when the student past the bar they had to work back at Amy's law office but she would be willing to give them summer jobs if they wanted them.