"Sal looks up to me as I talk to him and its almost as if he can understand what I am saying to him. He wags his short stub of a tail and wiggles his ...ody to in between my legs.Hmmm... yes, as I look into his brown trusting eyes, I think a nice walk going through the woods to the lake would be just the thing for both of us right now.I get up, get Sal's leash, and off to the outdoors we go. It is a beautiful night, warm, with a slight breeze to keep the bugs away. The sun has set, but there is. Joe and I don’t go anywhere out here alone,” Sissy said as she wiped her hands and turned to get her horse.“Eli, this is still a wild country out here isn’t it? I never knew it was like this. Just to think, we’re not but a few hundred miles from Kansas City, and these people just shoot at others with no afterthought of who may be killed,” Miranda said.“It is a wild country, Miranda, and you done good back there on the trail. You took care of them kids like you were used to being shot at. That. That will require your fixed attention on all of this boring and often false information, my slave. It will have no value to you at all; it is just a way to make you suffer. For your suffering is my pleasure. And now, slave, it is time for you to learn about my punishments. You are about to receive a typical punishment session. You've done nothing to earn it, slave, but I want you to learn to fear your Mistress. Most of the time, you will not know how long a punishment will last, or what form. The long hours adding up to weeks that seemed without end. It came as a shock when one Sunday Eve gaily announced that on the following Thursday, Mr. Gaunt would apply for the Absolute. We were together at my dad's house. I had been clearing the place of his personal effects, and Eve came to help. She was happy as the apparent long wait was over. I turned to her."I thought it was another week yet." She shook her head, the smile broadening."Are we planning to celebrate?" Eve was asking two.