By Ars Slava

Illustrations by Franz and ??

Originally Published in Bondage Life No.  8 January 1981

Scanned and Transcribed by guardian46w

Story Codes: F/f, bond, cons, challenge, escape, roped, gagged, suspended, X

The people leaned forward on their seats, watching with fearful anticipation as the leggy brunette in the very abbreviated costume touched a burning torch to the skim of oil floating on the water.  Flames immediately shot up.  The blonde, looking just as leggy in her costume, pulled the curtain across so the audience could not see the tank of water though they could see the tip of the flames dancing above the curtain.

As the hand of the timer moved closer to zero at the top of the dial, the audience grew silent.  The bag containing the magician continued to wiggle about, suspended twenty feet above the tank.  When the second hand crossed the zero, the timer triggered the mechanism which released the bag.  The audience gasped as it dropped toward the tank.  As it disappeared behind the curtain, the magician stepped through a slit in the curtains in front of the tank, unhurt, unbound, and completely dry.

“I think I have it figured out how he does it,” Randi said, back in the dressing room she shared with Phyllis, the other of Mecronon the Magician’s assistants, “Instead of pulling against the rope, you move laterally.  That way you get free and it’s impossible to tie you up.”

Phyliss glanced over at Mecronon’s newest employee.  Once she had thought about being a magician or an escape artiste herself, but it was too much trouble.  Randi’s youthful enthusiasm revealed that she had been out of high school for less than a year.  Mecronon hired her for the way she looked in the costume, not for her brains.  Her youth made her foolhardy.

“You don’t know what you're talking about,” was all the blonde would say.

“Yes, I do!  I read all about it!”

“Have you ever tried it?”

“No,” she said, slowly.  That put the beautiful brunette on the defensive.  Randi’s brown tresses were formed into a ponytail to keep her long hair out of her eyes while she was on stage.  She pulled it over her left shoulder to comb it as she thought of a suitable reply.

Suddenly she jumped up.  “Here!” She tossed a rope on the vanity before Phyllis.  As the blonde turned toward her, the buxom teenager put her hands together in front of her.  “Tie my hands together.  I’ll show you that I know what to do.”

Randi’s bubbling enthusiasm got on her nerves.  It would be fun to tie her up so she couldn’t move, and then leave her that way for a while.  That would teach her a lesson.

“Why just the hands?  Let me tie you up completely.”

“Well, I don’t know...”

Phyllis turned back to the mirror to remove her pancake makeup.  “If I were you, I wouldn’t.  You don’t know what you're doing.”

The trap was set and the lovely brunette blundered right into it.

“Okay.  Tie me up completely.”

Phyllis suppressed her smile.  She didn’t want Randi to know just how much she was going to enjoy this.

“How about betting on it?  Twenty dollars says you can’t escape.”

“Okay, it’s a bet.”

Randi found a couple of tens in her purse.  When she came back to the blonde she had a twenty shoved into a glass.  Once Randi had her money in, Phyllis put the glass on the shelf where the janitor wouldn’t find it.

“I’ll meet you in the storeroom in about five minutes.”

“Oh.  I thought you’d do it here.”

“Here?  People are always coming in here.  You don’t want to be found, do you?”

“No-o-o.”

“Okay.  Go back to the storeroom.”

Phyllis got the ropes and scarves from Mecronon’s trunk.  She had worked with him long enough to know what to do.  It followed logically that since she knew how to bind him so he could escape, she could bind Randi so she couldn’t.

She found the young brunette pacing back and forth in the small room.

“Can we get started with this?”

“Sure.  Lay face down on the floor with your hands together behind your back.”

Randi knelt on the floor before falling onto her right side and then rolling onto her stomach.  She twisted her head around to look at Phyllis as she put both hands behind her.

Once Phyllis had tied the end of a rope to the buxom brunette’s left wrist with a pair of half hitches, she moved her hands about so the backs of her hands were together.  Four times she looped the rope about them before passing it between her arms and hands twice.  With her left hand she grabbed Randi’s left forearm to provide leverage as she pulled with her right hand.  As the last two loops became smaller, they drew the slack from the four loops around her wrists, gradually making them tighter until Phyllis was certain Randi could not escape.  She continued to pull even after that so the ropes were extra tight.  She secured the end of the rope to Randi’s right forearm with a clove hitch.

She studied her handiwork as she stood up...  with all the slack drawn from the rope, there was no way Randi could slide her hands out of the loops, and both knots were placed where she could not reach them.

“Sit down on this chair.”

As Randi struggled to her feet, she tested her bondage, discovering just how secure the ropes were.  For the first time the lovely teenager began to suspect that she was in over her head.

So much was she concerned with her bonds that she paid no attention to Phyllis.  The blonde had tied a yellow silk scarf into several simple, overhand knots so there was a large knot of silk in the middle.

“Open up.”

“Hey!  You didn’t say anything about gagging me.”

“You didn’t think I was going to let you get those knots free with your teeth, did you?”

That plan of escape hadn’t occurred to Randi.  She supposed if she tried really hard she could get her butt between her arms so her hands would be in front of her so she could undo the knots with her teeth.

“They did this to Houdini all the time.”

Phyllis wasn’t really sure of the truth of that statement, but she guessed Randi wouldn’t know the truth either.

“Well...  okay...” she said slowly.

Phyllis stood behind her captive with her head tilted around so she could see when Randi complied with her order.  Holding the ends of the scarf, she raised it in the air over the brunette’s head, moved it forward, and lowered it so it passed in front of her captive’s face.  When she pulled her hands back, the ball of silk disappeared into Randi’s open mouth.  Since her long, brown tresses were already formed into a ponytail, it was easy for the blonde to secure the ends together behind her head in a square knot under her hair.  She wanted Randi’s hair free.  She had plans for it later.

Taking a second scarf, she rolled it up into a column an inch in diameter before tying it about Randi’s head so it too went into the luscious captive’s mouth atop the ball of silk from the first scarf.  She tied a third scarf across in the same way so the buxom teenager’s mouth was filled with silk.  She then folded up a fourth scarf so it was three inched wide.  This covered Randi’s mouth completely.  Phyllis figured that four scarves would muffle any cries Randi might make so nobody would hear her.

Randi was in no position to protest, but she was far beyond being able to use her teeth to undo the knots.  The first scarf accomplished that.  What Phyllis succeeded in doing with the other three scarves insured that she could not make more than a muffled grunt.

“Lean forward so I can tie your arms.”

With her hands securely bound behind her back, Randi saw no need for more ropes.  She leaned forward anyway.  What else could she do?

Phyllis tied a slipknot into the end of a rope, dropping the loop over Randi’s shoulders and letting it drop down until it was just under her large bosom.  Twice she looped the rope about her captive’s upper arms and body before pulling it tight.  She saw the rope dig into the brunette’s arms, pinning her arms against her body.  Randi grunted a complaint but Phyllis did not have to listen to her so she slipped the end under a loop of rope and tied it tight.

Randi turned her head around to plead for some type of mercy as Phyllis got another rope.  This one she used just like the other, only it passed around the captive’s body over the large bosom.

“Stand up.”

Randi tried turning around once she was standing, but Phyllis twisted her about so her back was toward her.  She tied one end of the rope to Randi’s left arm near the wrist.  She passed it around the teenager’s slender waist to the other side where she looped it around the right arm.  She passed it back to the left arm across her tummy before tying it.  This kept Randi’s hands pressed firmly against her lower back.  She not could move any part of her arms at all.

“Sit down so I can bind your legs.”

Randi’s eyes asked if this all was necessary but Phyllis wasn’t watching.  She was too busy getting another rope.

The blonde knelt beside the bound brunette.  Randi had her feet tucked under the chair so the blonde had to pull them out so they stretched out before her.

She started with the lower thighs immediately above the knees.  After looping both ends of the rope twice about Randi’s legs so there was a total of four loops about them she changed directions so one end passed between her captive’s thighs and the other end between her calves.  Twice she did this before pulling on them, causing the rope to dig into the soft flesh of the brunette’s thighs.  A square knot secured the rope in place.

She sat on the floor at Randi’s feet to bind her ankles.  Using the same process, she quickly had four loops about her legs just above the ankles.  When she pulled the second set of loops tight before tying the square knot, she had the teenager’s legs so securely bound together that she could not separate them a fraction of an inch.  Movement was out of the question.

All the ropes were pulled so tight that they hurt Randi’s soft young body, but she could not protest because of the gag.  Phyllis didn’t care anyway.

Randi continued to sit helplessly as the blonde set a padded bench before her.

“Hop over here and kneel on this.”

Randi tried to get up but discovered to her chagrin she could not, all she could do was sit there until Phyllis came over to help her up.  She hopped to the bench with the older woman holding her to keep her from falling over.

She watched in forced silence as the blonde got another rope.  She thought Phyllis was going to tie her to the bench but could not see how that would make her any more helpless.  She accepted the fact that she was not going to escape from this bondage.  She was going to stay tied up until Phyllis decided to let her go.

The blonde slipped one end of the rope between her captive’s arms before tying another knot so the rope was tied to her wrists with the distance from the knot to each end being equal.  She formed a loop by tying the ends together in a square knot.

“Sit back on your legs.”

As Randi lowered her bottom toward her ankles, the blonde pulled the ends of the rope about her ankles.  When she tied the ends together about her ankles, the knot on the other side was pulled snug against them.

When Randi tried to raise her bottom off her legs, she discovered she could rise only as far as the rope allowed.  She would have to remain kneeling in that position.

Her beautiful brown eyes opened wide in terror as her captor rolled the frame over.  The device was aluminum, about ten feet high and ten feet wide.  It was lightweight but sturdy as buttress supports made it impossible to tip it over.  When Phyllis pushed the lever down with her foot to raise the wheels under the base, the frame was solid.  Randi knew from experience that it could support hundreds of pounds.  She wondered what possible use Phyllis could make of it.

There was nothing she could do but continue to kneel there helplessly as Phyllis tied one end of a rope to her right arm near the shoulder.  The other end she tied to a ring on the frame, near the top.  She moved over to Randi’s left to repeat the process.  Randi watched the process.  Randi watched as she threaded the other end of the rope through a ring and tied it.

Phyllis next went to work on her captive’s waist.  She tied a slipknot about it and tied it to a ring on the frame about six feet off the floor.  As it was with the arms, she repeated the process for Randi’s left.

Phyllis stood in front of the helpless teenager, her hands on her hips, a broad grin on her face as she studied her handiwork with ropes.

“So far, so good” she mumbled to herself.

Randi tried to protest as the blonde pulled the bench out from under her.  Phyllis laughed at Randi’s efforts to get her to stop.  Grunting and wiggling about were all she could do now as she was completely tied up.

The four ropes supported her weight so she hung there in the air, her knees and feet about two feet off the floor.  She tried to lower her feet to touch the floor, but all she succeeded in doing was causing the ropes to dig into her wrists.  She could not get them to the floor.

Phyllis walked about her captive, inspecting the ropes suspending Randi in the air so none of them bore too much of her weight.  If all had equal tension, Randi would not be able to move at all.

Selecting two more ropes, she tied them to Randi’s legs at the knees.  The other ends she tied to the frame near the floor.

“Just a couple more things and I’ll be done.  Then you can try to escape.”

Randi watched as the blonde captor picked up the final rope.  She twisted her head around to watch as Phyllis moved around behind her.  She disappeared from sight when she was directly behind the captive because her bondage made it impossible for Randi to move anything but her head.

Phyllis tied a slipknot in the end of the rope before removing the elastic band which held Randi’s long, brown hair in a ponytail.  With the rope hanging over her arm, she used both hands to bunch the teenager’s tresses together on top her head.  Randi tried to twist about to see what Phyllis was doing to her, but the grip the blonde had on her hair pulled the roots.  Randi didn’t try too hard.  There was nothing she could do anyway.

Phyllis held her long, brown hair with her left hand while she fitted it through the loop of the rope she held in her other hand.  Randi knew then what her captor intended to do to her but there was nothing she could do as the loop was pulled tighter.

With a firm grip still on the lovely teenager’s hair, Phyllis tossed the end of the rope over the top of the frame.  When she had hold of the end, she could afford to let go of Randi’s hair for she could control her merely by pulling on the rope.  Quickly she tied a taut-line hitch in the rope.

She was almost finished binding her captive so now she could afford to taunt her a little.  She stepped around in front of her to finish the job of binding Randi’s hair.

“Comfy, Randi?” she asked, as she pulled down on the knot, the tension in the rope increased.  The lovely teenager could not move her head without pulling her hair.  When she was certain Randi could not move her head, she pulled the knot down a just a little more, just to make her captive more uncomfortable.  Randi tried to stretch her luscious body out even further to take the tension off her hair.

The blonde pulled a chair up in front of the helpless captive.

“Well, what are you waiting for Randi?  Go ahead and escape.” The captive grunted a couple of times through her gag, causing the blonde to laugh.  “What’s wrong?  Is little Randi all tied up and helpless?  I guess dumb little Randi doesn’t know what she’s talking about, does she?” Randi could not answer because she was gagged.

“Do you want me to let you go?” The answer to that one was ‘yes’ but still the captive could not answer.  She could not even nod her head.  “Do you know what I think?  I don’t think you’ve learned your lesson yet.  I think you need some more time in bondage.  I’ll give you some time to try to escape.”

Though she was finished with the ropes, Phyllis was not finished applying the brunette’s bondage.  She had left one more scarf which she used as a blindfold, tying it about the teenager’s head so her eyes were covered.
“If you get free, you can have the money in the glass.  If not, it belongs to me.  I’ll come back for you later.  Say...  before the matinee tomorrow afternoon.  Have fun.”

Randi could see nothing because of the blindfold even before Phyllis turned off the lights.  She heard the door close and the sound of a padlock meant that no one would be able to find her until Phyllis produced the key.

As long as the door was locked, no one had any reason for coming in here, and, of course, no one knew she was there.

She tried to apply what she had read.  What she discovered immediately was that she could not move her hands at all.  There were ropes all about her wrists, arms, and body, making it impossible for her to move anything with the exception of her feet and hands.  She tried jerking down once again on her legs, but all she did was hurt her hands as the rope dug into her soft flesh.  The rope was securely tied to her wrists and her wrists were bound to her body.  Every time she jerked down with her feet, she just hurt herself.

---

She could only hang there suspended in midair like one of Mecronon’s illusions, but beautiful Randi knew that her bondage was no illusion.  Soft silk filled her mouth and covered her eyes while harsh ropes dug into her soft flesh.

She was completely and helplessly a captive.  Randi knew what it was to be totally helpless.  She was in complete bondage until the blonde came to free her hours from then.  Each minute seemed to be an hour for the captive.  She could only hang there.

She tried to call out when she heard the footsteps in the hall.  Whoever it was paused to inspect the new padlock.

The night guard saw the new padlock and wondered who had put it on.  It was none of his business so he continued on his rounds.  He heard no sounds coming from the room.  Nothing interesting ever happened on this job.

Inside the room Randi stopped her muffled grunts when the footsteps moved away.

She wondered what time it was.