As the staleness cleared from the room, her stomach gave a low grumble. Had she forgotten to eat? Had she emptied that cereal bowl yesterday or the da... before? She couldn’t remember. OK. She’d eat. She passed the fireplace en route to the kitchen and flicked her cigarette butt into the ashes. Little bits of charred lace of the coverlet from the bed were still visible. If she could have found a way to set fire to the mattress without damaging the rest of the apartment or her building she would. I was a freshmen when the school decided its dorms were so good it had better raise their price. So high in fact it meant I was going to have to find new housing and fast. The university was very nice, so nice in fact it was a wonder I ever even got in but that is a different story. As a flood of the poorer students washed over the local hosing market I was desperate to find someplace to live. I was close to just giving up when I heard a rumor about a house listed for rent that no one had been. Of course I was really in the dumps and moped my way slowly to the bus stop at the other end of Morecambe, just in time to see the last bus disappearing down the road, to add insult to injury it started to rain.Of course the idea of walking more than seven miles in the rain in the mood I was in didn't appeal so I set off hitch hiking, of course back then cars weren't as common as they are now and luck was something you needed. After half an hour I hadn't gone that far the rain had got heavier. .”“Abby...”Ignoring him, she scrubbed angry tears from her face. “Well. If you can’t see that, then I don’t know what else to say.”He stood up and grabbed her neck, squeezing just hard enough to let her know he wouldn’t let go. “Ten with a strap for cussing, and then you’ll get your ten with the quirt. I’m going to forgive the slap because I insulted you and I shouldn’t have. Take off your nightgown and bend over the bed, feet apart, toes pointed in.”She stared at him in surprise, and a little.