The Last Straw (new 4/3)

[neverdoubted]

I hope to see an update to this story soon that is not a spam advertisement from some spammer or bot. Can't wait to see how Beatrice handles walking around naked in public.

I've been holding off posting here hoping the spam settles down.

[SixPathsKeyblader]

I hope to see an update to this story soon that is not a spam advertisement from some spammer or bot. Can't wait to see how Beatrice handles walking around naked in public.

I've been holding off posting here hoping the spam settles down.

Well, as of recently the spam does seem to have died down. Ever since the site did some update or maintenance a couple of weeks ago, I haven't seen any of that spam anymore.

[neverdoubted]

I hope to see an update to this story soon that is not a spam advertisement from some spammer or bot. Can't wait to see how Beatrice handles walking around naked in public.

I've been holding off posting here hoping the spam settles down.

Well, as of recently the spam does seem to have died down. Ever since the site did some update or maintenance a couple of weeks ago, I haven't seen any of that spam anymore.

I think you spoke too soon

[Bucket]

Well, as of recently the spam does seem to have died down. Ever since the site did some update or maintenance a couple of weeks ago, I haven't seen any of that spam anymore.

Damnit. You jinxed it.

[SixPathsKeyblader]

Well, as of recently the spam does seem to have died down. Ever since the site did some update or maintenance a couple of weeks ago, I haven't seen any of that spam anymore.

Damnit. You jinxed it.

I know. Sorry

[neverdoubted]

Featuring monuments to human ingenuity, modern marvels, and cultural contributions from all corners of the globe, the 1964 World's Fair was considered one of the last great expositions. Even though it was widely celebrated and profitable enough for its organizers to keep it running for two summers, only a small fraction of Americans made it to New York to see it in time.

Luckily, as soon as the fair had ended, a circuit of traveling exhibits was established to share these marvels with the rest of the country. Our destination for the day was one such installation.

Under normal circumstances, this would have been one of my most anticipated attractions of our trip. But even as we turned off the highway and approached a series of gigantic hangers that rested beside an old airfield, my attention remained trained on my naked stepsisters.

Just seeing the buildings looming in the distance, the cars organized into improvised rows by parking attendants, and the crowds of excited families streaming toward the main doors was enough to make Mary sit up and pay attention.

No longer able to resist, I turned around in my seat and looked directly at Bea. She had grown eerily quiet. Having the first true test of her new, nude reality at hand seemed to have a sobering effect on her.

Seeing her head bowed as, trapped by her own hubris, she was forced to confront her naked predicament, I could guess what was going through her mind. Just like Mary at the cave, she wanted to run or hide - anything to avoid sharing her naked body with the rest of the Fair attendees. But with the summer day building into a swelter, she would be cooked to a crisp if she tried to spend it hiding out in our car.

When we reached the parking gate, an attendant walked around the car to do a head count. His eyes bulged when he counted not one, but two beautiful girls in our group who didn't have a stitch of clothing on. But one glare from Frank kept him from pressing the issue.

The spots closest to the hangars were reserved for premium parking. Since we had only paid for economy, we were directed to a lot a little further away from the entrance. It still wasn't far. As soon as we pulled to a stop, I exited the car with a jittery energy. This was the moment of truth. I was finally going to see my middle stepsister in all her naked glory.

When the station wagon's large back door swung wide, Cindy was the first to exit. After stretching out her limbs which had grown weary from the ride, she smoothed the wrinkles out of the pretty dress she had chosen for the day. Seeing her naked sister reluctantly emerge and stand beside her, she bowed her head and hugged her dress guiltily.

Although Bea had spent the entire ride here squeezed into an uncomfortable shape, she did not stretch out any soreness like Cindy had. She couldn't bear to move her hands and arms as they were the only things she had to guard her private areas. She just stood there squinting and blinking while her eyes adjusted to the direct sunlight.

Her pale, naked body gleamed under the intense, illuminating sun. There was so much of her to look at and study, but of all things, my eyes kept being drawn to her belly button. Getting to see that cute little indention on the unbroken expanse of her completely bare midsection was a novelty and a treat.

Like all my stepsisters, she had always been required to meet her mother's strict modesty standards. Patricia would never normally let one of her daughters walk around in public with her belly button showing. In her mind, a woman dressing provocatively was wrong because it tempted men to think unwholesome thoughts. That's why she only provided her girls with blouses and tops that were long enough to keep their bellies hidden. And she insisted their swimsuits be of the one-piece variety. Bikinis were downright vulgar.

But how was she supposed to enforce such standards when two of her daughters were currently not allowed to wear anything at all? In the end, honoring her husband took precedence over everything else. No matter how uncomfortable it made her or how much indignity her daughters suffered, she was obligated to follow Frank's lead, even to the point of accepting his strict disciplinary methods. Since he had determined that their punishment called for it, she had to make a modesty exception.

Mary got out of the car and immediately assumed the same, shy pose as her sister. When she came around the car to stand beside Bea, I was struck by their height difference. With Bea usually sporting one of the many cute pairs of shoes she had packed for the trip, I would have said my two oldest stepsisters were about the same height. But now that they were on equal footing - that is to say, barefoot - Bea was at least a full inch shorter.

It shouldn't have come as a surprise to me. After all, Mary had a nearly three-year head start on maturity. Being able to study the two naked girls side-by-side magnified Bea's other developmental deficits.

She was well-built but had always been a little on the skinny side growing up. That gave her the illusion of being taller than she really was. She had beautiful, unblemished skin and her lithe body, while not yet able to match the curves of her older sister, was bursting with promise.

The way she was standing, with her knees turned in toward each other and her thighs pressed together, showed just how acutely she was missing her clothes. Her strong, normally energetic legs looked impossibly long. But I knew that was just an illusion caused by the fact that she was naked from the tips of her toes all the way to her waist.

Seeing her left hand cupping her privates just like Mary was doing made my heart start pounding. With a surge of desire welling up within me, I set a new goal to view and inspect Bea's naked sex so I could compare and contrast it with her lovely sister.

Because she was holding her arm at the same, frustrating angle as Mary, I couldn't gauge the state of her pubic hair. But she was certainly old enough to grow it. Her nude punishment being so new, I had no idea if she would be open to trades like Mary was. But I thought it wouldn't hurt to signal my willingness to negotiate as soon as an opportunity presented itself. Who knows? Perhaps, by the end of the day, I could secure my second petting privilege agreement of the trip!

We walked as a family toward the nearest hangar. Frank and Patricia were in front with Cindy holding her mother's hand. Mary walked beside me in the second row. Bea was on Mary's other side but lagging a little behind. Every step brought the completely naked girl closer to the crowds of people, both inside and out, and made her reluctant footfalls a little heavier and more difficult.

At this point, with her nude debut nearly at hand, I expected more panicking and fit throwing. But for someone who had never been naked in public before, she was being surprisingly subdued about it. Uncharacteristically, she didn't cry or wail. And while her shoulders kept flinching and eyes were darting around, she made not a peep. Having another naked girl in the group may have helped calm her some. Mary had gone through this before and had built up a little more capacity to endure it. Bea seemed to be following her lead and drawing comfort from their kindred state of misery.

A ticket booth had been constructed near the huge doors of the first hangar. The people waiting for their chance to gain admission were pressed up against the building to take advantage of the sliver of shade it provided. What to me would be a casual stroll to the back of the line, for the naked girls was a dreaded march of doom because it would take it straight past the whole crowd. But any chance of lagging or delaying their embarrassing arrival was soon shattered.

Almost in unison, both girls let out matching squeals of alarm and began jumping back and forth on their tiptoes. I was confused until I looked down and noticed that we had passed the edge of the grassy parking lot and were now on the taxiway which had been baking all morning under a cloudless sky. The rest of us weren't bothered because we were wearing shoes. But the poor naked teens who had nothing to protect their tender, bare feet had to do something to minimize their contact with the burning hot tarmac.

Their anxious jiggling dance, which drew plenty of attention from the substantial crowd of onlookers, quickly devolved into a mad search to find an empty spot under the shade. Mary broke first. With options limited, she took off running toward the back of the admissions line - streaking past everyone in a pale blur. A few, who thought it was some kind of Fair-sponsored promotion, began to applaud her.

Then, with a high-pitched whine, Bea lost her battle with the tarmac and followed her sister's lead - running straight past the energized crowd. Running away from me gave me my first good look at her back side. Her hips were compact and noticeably narrower than Mary's. But a naturally strong runner, she made great strides with her long, sexy legs and light carriage. Unable to pump her arms for obvious reasons, she still ran with wild abandon which made hiding the flexing muscles of her tight, completely exposed bottom impossible. She had everyone's full attention, and her jiggling journey prompted another round of appreciative applause.

You would expect anyone putting on such an eye-opening performance to hastily take a bow and exit stage left. But when the girls abruptly turned and took their places at the end of the long line, a murmur arose from the surprised onlookers. These girls were tourists just like the rest of them...beautiful naked teenage tourists.

The hangar provided just enough protection from the punishing sun overhead for the streaking girls to cool their burning soles and catch their breath. And when the rest of us caught up to them, they were still huddled at the end of the line in the sliver of shade, shuffling their feet, intensely hugging their bare bodies, and blushing like crazy.

My eyes kept jumping back and forth between them. My libido couldn't decide which of my older stepsisters was putting on a more entertaining exhibition. But because Bea's was more of a novelty, I ended up studying her body more than Mary's.

She had some growing to do in the next few years if she wanted to compete with her older sister from behind. But her upper body was already impressively endowed. When she was being dragged to the car that morning, the soap suds had frustrated my view of her breasts. I still hadn't seen her nipples yet! What I really needed was a good, long observation window without obstruction. Then I could truly compare her chest to the highly detailed map I had already constructed of Mary. But even at fifteen, her fertile orbs bulged within her grasp - defying her draped arm's feeble attempts at containing and hiding them.

Normally, Bea would see any captive audience as a chance to preen and show off. She would walk around with her head held high, proudly thrusting out her buxom chest for the drooling boys and savoring the attraction it drew. But today, for obvious reasons, she kept her shoulders hunched over and was doing everything she could to minimize her body's most interesting assets. Judging from the constant unblinking stares and low murmurs, she was doing a very poor job of minimizing attention.

We didn't stand there long before a thin man with a worn-out expression emerged from the building. His brown work suit and matching hat indicated that he must be an employee. As soon as he spotted the girls, he started walking directly toward us. Word of their exciting contribution to the usually boring admission line must have reached the Fair officials inside. And this poor man had been sent out to deal with it.

I had seen this story play out before and knew how it would end. Anxiously drawing the last of his cigarette before snuffing it out, the man quickly appraised the situation and deemed the girls a source of concern due to their notably missing attire.

He explained that live displays of overt lasciviousness - including streaking or any other salacious activity that might occur in strip clubs or seedy bars - put the expo at risk of being in violation of operational provisions. There had already been complaints by some of the morality-driven citizens of the county. Apparently, they considered some of the statues in the classic art pavilion a little too risqué and suggestive.

Frank glared at the man. To claim the girls might do something lascivious or intentionally suggestive was to question the disciplinary control he had over his family.

"We are paying customers," he replied, bristling at this employee's rude accusation, "on vacation. I brought my family here to see and participate like everyone else. You have no right discriminate against them just for being different. It's unamerican...possibly even a violation of their civil liberties. They have a condition."

The man took a step back from my father. But he still had a job to do. "Are you acting under duress or being coerced?" he asked. The potential for a legal misunderstanding had gotten his attention.

Mary flinched when no one spoke and she realized he was expecting one of the girls to answer directly. If either of them was going be their spokesperson, it would have to be her. Even though her entire ensemble consisted of nothing more than a tiny length of brown string tied in a bow and holding her braid together and she was otherwise bare from head to toe, she was still in better shape than her sister.

Bea looked positively feral. Her short, but unkempt hair hung in messy, blonde strands and there were still streaks of white where the shampoo had dried without being rinsed out. Her eyes were sunken and red – the area around them puffy from hours of crying. She was in no condition to answer questions or give a testimony. Anything beyond clamping her hands ever more tightly over her vulnerable privates was asking too much of the poor, penalized teen.

Maintaining his rightful authority over his own family, Frank answered on their behalf. "They are not old enough to testify to anything. But they won't cause any trouble. I give you my word as their father." He was keeping the disdain he felt for this man in check - but only just barely.

Still skeptical, the man gave Mary a closer look, "...how old are you?" he asked.

"S-seventeen," she managed to squeak out.

Choosing to believe her, the man sighed stressfully and thought a moment. He didn't bother asking Bea the same question since she was obviously younger than her more voluptuous sister.

"...very well, if you want to come to my office sign a waiver of liability, I can issue you provisional badges. But they will only be good for the balance of the day, and you must agree never to come back."

When Frank accepted his terms with a simple nod, the man reached into his shirt pocket. I thought he was going to grab a pen to write something down. But he was just reaching for another cigarette. Lighting it, he started to walk back to the entrance expecting us to follow him. I didn't mind it one bit. It made me feel kind like a VIP getting to bypass the line and enter sooner.

But I'm not sure the naked girls in our group appreciated the added attention of being escorted straight to the front of the line. Treading carefully to avoid the tarmac while also keeping as much distance as possible from the other guests, they made their way past the long line of interested spectators for a second time - only much closer and at a slower pace. I'm not sure about the "intentionally suggestive" part, but as live displays of overt lasciviousness went, you couldn't do much better than to strip my oldest stepsisters buck naked and parade them past a public gathering!

The man bypassed the ticket booth and brought us into the hangar. Originally designed for hot air balloons, the domed structure was cavernous - big enough to house multiple pavilions and other small buildings inside. His office being too small for us all to fit, Frank joined him inside while the rest of us loitered without. While we were waiting for him to finish and come out, Mary sidled up beside me. She had made her mind up about something. In a whisper, only loud enough for me to hear, she uttered just a single word.

"...deal"

I nodded my acknowledgement with a wicked grin. I wasn’t sure what had convinced her to take the deal, but having her bare flesh crawling from the dozens, if not hundreds of additional eyes turning to gawk at us probably had an impact on her decision. I was very tempted to test my new authority by immediately snapping my fingers. Accepting the deal meant clasping her hands behind her back and smiling sweetly while she flashed every last inch of her naked body to the happy folks milling about in the atrium. These people had paid good money for their tickets. Didn't they deserve a show? But I had promised, if she took the deal, that I would go easy on her. So, I stilled my hand and didn't go through with it.

Now that I could do it whenever I wanted for the rest of the trip, I was in no hurry. Perhaps, when we got back to the motel room, I could have her practice her compliance with some snap training. That would be a fun and productive way to wrap up our evening later - right after I finished her bath, of course!

[SixPathsKeyblader]

Nice! Glad to see the return of this story and Bea's nude debut.

[Freesub]

I can't wait for the first bath! It's getting really good now!

[student]

Great story! Sounds like the MCAS(H) Santa Ana hangars but could be elsewhere.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Co ... ion_Tustin

Which hangars did SuperEvil have in mind?

[neverdoubted]

After a few minutes, the employee emerged from his office carrying some paperwork. As soon as Frank emerged and took the papers, which included a map of the grounds, off his hands, he immediately reached into his pocket and lit another cigarette.

"The Aquatic Wonders pavilion is temporarily closed - sprung a leak. But there is a Kitchen of Tomorrow cooking demonstration today. That will be at 1:30 in hangar 8. These passes are only good for today, mind you. Keep them on you at all times and no one will bother you. If anyone does, have them call my radio, AS-1081, and I will deal with it. That's Alpha Sierra - one zero eight one."

His work completed, he took one last look at the naked girls - they were backed against the outer wall of his modular office and taking advantage of the extra coverage it afforded them - and shook his head. Then he was gone. Off to put out another fire.

As my father started handing out the passes, I noticed they were a different color than the ones other guests were wearing. Having special badges ought to keep people off our case.

Cindy took the map and held still while her mother helped pin her pass to the front of her dress. After studying it for a few seconds, her bright eyes lit up. "...I found it! Hangar 8. Mother, can we go to the demonstration?"

It didn't surprise me that she would be drawn to the cooking demonstration. Nurturing came as naturally to that girl as a rooster crowing at sunrise. She always did love playing with dolls growing up and would care for them just like a real mother ought. Born to be a great housewife and mother herself someday, I can see how learning about the latest in home innovations would be of interest to her.

When Patricia agreed to the request, I rolled my eyes but said nothing. Nearly a decade had passed since the "Kitchen of Tomorrow" had been created for the World's Fair. Time could not have been kind to those supposed cutting-edge inventions still being showcased years later.

When my father got around to Mary, she tactfully said, "I would like Frankie to carry my badge." With no clothes to pin it on and no free hands to spare, she didn't want to be stuck holding it the whole time. But I could also tell that she was setting the stage for the two of us to go off exploring together. The sooner we got away from Frank's watchful eye, the sooner she could take possession of the clothes she had paid so dearly to secure with our most recent trade.

Cindy's face darkened. The fun family activity she had envisioned couldn't happen if two of us split off from the group like we had done yesterday.

The traumatic way our vacation started, plus having to spend much of the drive here in a state of helpless anxiety over Bea's distress had robbed her of normal interactions with her sisters. With both of them now serving a nude punishment, she seemed to be doing everything in her power to restore some sense of normalcy to our vacation. And while she had more recently seen glimpses of the old Mary and even gotten some casual conversation time with her, it was naive of her to assume either of them would simply shrug their shoulders and go along with the group and ignore the fact that they were completely naked in a very public place.

Her frown grew deeper when, in a soft, hoarse voice, Bea spoke up for the first time that morning.

"Can...can he carry mine, too?"

Pursing his lips, my father spun smartly in place and handed the remaining passes to me. He wasn't giving me the option of refusing. After all the trouble they had caused him, I think he just wanted his wayward stepdaughters to be someone else's problem for a while.

"Meet back here at sixteen hundred," he ordered as he peeled off a few dollars from his money clip for lunch and passed them to me. Then he marched off, calling back, "let's go, mother."

Cindy engaged her mother in a brief tug-of-war when Patricia tried to collect her and leave.

Noticing that our party split had put all her siblings on the other side of the divide, she cried out, "Wait! I want to go with them."

But Patricia, that nervous mother hen, was having none of it. As if angering Frank might cause her last remaining chick to suffer the same fate as the rest, she wrestled the resistant girl away from the group and hurried to catch up to her husband.

With our party officially reduced to three, Mary gave me a knowing look. I nodded back; no need to exchange words. Frank was gone. I knew she wanted her clothes as soon as possible. We just needed to find a semi-private place to complete the trade and for her to get dressed.

Scanning the area, she spotted what looked like an alcove deeper into the hanger and opposite the direction our parents and Cindy had gone. Walking urgently along the row of temporary offices, she called out behind her, "this way."

Bea had no idea what was going on or why her sister had suddenly grown so decisive despite her continued state of nudity. But not about to be left behind, she rushed to keep up with Mary.

Her stark condition was apparent from every angle. But choosing, just like her sister, to protect the precious treasures of her front at all costs, she had already sacrificed the modesty of her entire back side. Falling in line behind them, I was more than happy to be the lucky beneficiary of that decision. It also gave me a chance to really study this side of Bea's naked body for the first time.

A horizontal line was the only thing separating her long, slightly tanned legs from her pale, bare bottom. She had matching tan lines around her neck and upper arms which made it easy to identify the places her modest swimsuit used to cover. Of course, just like the rest of her clothes which had not been allowed to leave the motel, wearing that swimsuit was no longer an option for her.

Mary didn't have tan lines. Her legs were still a little darker than the rest of her, but the color transition from her legs to her rounded rump was more gradual and had no obvious line to it. I guess that's what happens when you spend several days in a row outside without any clothes on. You start to get a uniform tan all over your body.

Something about Bea's long legs and narrow hips added a rather noticeable rocking motion to her stride. The strong muscles of her smooth, tight bottom flexed back and forth with every step she took. Looking over at her sister, I was stunned to find Mary's hips doing the exact same thing!

Watching the two naked teenagers walking side-by-side right in front of me, I started to wonder if all girls shared this enticing gait, or if it was just a peculiar trait common only to Conyor women. Having never seen another naked girl in my life, I had nothing to compare it to. But this was different than mere skirts swishing playfully back and forth. And the hypnotizing metronome of their bare buns accompanying every sexy stride worked wonders on my libido. When I felt myself getting turned on, I had to adjust the suddenly tight confines my shorts to accommodate my cock surging to life.

The girls made no effort to greet or even acknowledge the people we encountered. Everywhere we went, there were smiles on the faces of the men and boys and looks of scandal or shock on the women's. I had their special passes, the ones that apparently permitted them to attend the fair buck naked. And while I didn't have to employ them, I held them at the ready should anyone try to challenge us.

I think it helped that, while the girls kept their gaze bashfully down and did everything in their power to avoid eye contact, I walked with my head held high. Coming up right behind them, I was always there to present a steady confidence - even to claim dominion over the humiliated teens. The circumstances may seem unusual to everyone else, but I had total control over the situation.

They have a condition. I would have to get used to saying that instead of "she". What never followed was an explanation of what that phrase really meant. They were two stubborn girls - too pretty for their own good - who had run afoul of their strict stepfather one too many times and were paying for their hubris with a loss of clothing privileges. What better way to teach growing, teenage girls humility than with the ultimate humiliation? Say what you will about my father, but he always knew how to make a punishment fit the crime.

After what must have felt like an agonizingly long, naked march through the heart of the hanger, but really only lasted about a minute, Mary reached the spot she had identified earlier as a place that should give us some privacy. It was a gigantic, tubular support, part of the rigid outer shell that held up the entire building. Critically, there was more than enough space for the three of us to disappear behind it and escape the crowds.

"Hurry up," Mary insisted as soon as I had joined her within the alcove. I needed no clarification. Digging into my pack, I extracted the outfit she had traded for. Before I could even extend my arm to hold it out, Mary snatched it from my grasp. Watching her rush to get dressed, it all clicked into place for me. From the time Bea had been dragged out to the car that morning, still dripping from her shower, Mary been preparing for this moment.

Since she had been living the life of a naked girl for the past three days, she had the benefit of knowing the exact sequence of thoughts that would be going through Bea's head. She knew exactly what it felt like to have your modesty screaming at you and the helpless feeling that came along with knowing there was nothing you could do about it.

Able to think ahead, she anticipated that Bea would hew close to her once we arrived at the fair due to their kindred, unclothed fates. In that respect, she regarded the fellow naked girl not in a caring sisterly way, but as an unknown variable or even an outright rival. And while she couldn't be sure how Bea would react to witnessing a negotiation over access to clothes, she could imagine her normally nosy sister butting into the trade and insisting on at least a fifty-fifty split.

But she had already done the math on half an outfit. The shirt, even lacking buttons and sleeves, was at least modest enough to mostly contain her large chest. But the shorts were just as critical to the set. She would look ridiculous walking around completely bottomless from the lower edge of her crop top all the way to the ground.

It's not that she didn't care about her sister's predicament. But she had herself to worry about. Her shrewd negotiation back at the fossil place had been out of necessity. With her own modesty on the line, she had made a move early and secured the clothing for herself before Bea even knew what was going on.

"Meet back here at quarter to four?" she asked, tugging her skimpy shorts into place. Now that she had something to pin it to, she plucked her day pass from my hand and attached it to the front of her shirt.

"Uh...sure," I offered. That Mary wasn't planning for us to spend the day together was news to me. But her rush to wrap up this transaction and take her leave told me a lot about her motivation. Better to put some distance between herself and her exceptionally needy sister before Bea wised up and started to question their sudden clothing disparity.

If Mary wanted to strike out on her own, that was her prerogative - as long as Frank didn't catch her. But since she was wearing borrowed clothes without permission, she had sufficient motivation to remain out of his sight. I had no doubt she would keep an eye out for him.

With no underwear, no shoes and very little fabric, her country girl outfit was still wildly immodest by any measure. But at least the blue badge should help her diffuse any awkward encounters. Smoothing her braid and tightening the knot between her breasts, she lowered her hand to demurely guard the gap in her shorts where her pubic heart was still quite visible. That much couldn't be helped. But at least it was better than what her sister was wearing. Leaving Bea to fend for herself, even to the point of actively avoiding looking at her, she spun on her heels, padded silently around the support column, and disappeared.

In the back of my mind, I had been gearing up for a confrontation and fully expected Bea to start making demands about now. The old, bossy version of her would insist I provide her with something to wear. And it better be at least as good as what I had just given her sister.

But now able to give her my full attention and detecting none of the mannerisms I was expecting, my head tilted to one side. Her mouth wasn't shaped into a sneer of contempt and her eyes were big and round - a far cry from her usual squinting suspicion. Her arms remained wrapped tightly around her bare body. And loud noises echoing within the cavernous hangar beyond our alcove made her shoulders flinch and her eyebrows twitch.

It was a natural reaction to every inch of her flesh sending frantic warning signals about being exposed. Yet despite her senses feeding all this information to her brain at a rapid pace, the only response it produced was a blank, almost neutral expression.

Where was the grating personality I was used to? Where was the stiff-necked tyrant - that thorn in my side always probing for ways to get under my skin and gain an advantage? Where was Bea?

Perhaps no confrontation was coming after all! Without meaning to, I licked my lips as a smile crossed my face. Seeing her stepbrother grinning at her, and with her sense of modesty refusing to let her forget that, for the first time in her life, she was completely naked with nothing to cover herself beyond her own hands and standing face to face with a horny, teenage boy, the embarrassed girl shrank back against the wall and bowed her head.

The overwhelming shame of her predicament had broken something in her brain - shattered the domain of the intolerable stepsister I had known. And all that remained within that vacuum of conscious sovereignty was a lost, trembling little girl; incapable of processing anything except what was happening right now, right in front of her. Only barely surviving on instincts alone.

In that moment, I understood that the battle of wills that had been raging between us was over. And just like my father predicted, it had not ended in a truce. The end had only come after one of us was so thoroughly routed that they had to bow out of the conflict. And to the victor goes the spoils! I alone would get to shape and decide what came next.

Wiping the gloating grin from my face, I adopted the expression of a benevolent ruler - strict but fair - and spoke her name to get her attention.

"Beatrice"

Hearing her name, she looked up - her eyes locking onto me as if I were some distant, glimmering lighthouse in an endless, roiling sea of humiliation. She was unmoored; scared, stripped by her stepfather, abandoned by her own sister. Her entire universe had come crumbling down around her and I was the only remaining object that she still recognized - a relic from a world she once knew...or perhaps, a lifeline?

No. I owed her nothing. When I reached into my pack, she leaned forward. Perhaps I was about to pull out a complete outfit for her to wear like I had done for Mary? But it was only a short length of string.

"Your hair is a mess," I opined, flatly, as I held it out, "fix it."

This was my little way of establishing new roles and expectations. I gave the orders. She followed them.

She stared in bewilderment for a few seconds at the string in my hand before taking it. Then she turned around and faced the wall - the only form of semi-privacy available to her. I entertained myself staring at her pert, sexy bottom while she combed out her stringy hair as best she could with only her fingers and strung it up into a short ponytail.

When she turned back around, I caught her staring hopefully at my pack. I didn't have another outfit. And even if I did, she was not entitled to it - or anything else of mine, for that matter.

I inspected her work. The simple, ragged ponytail was a far cry from one of her usual, perfectly constructed hairstyles. But it was better than the mongrel look she had before. It also revealed more of her strikingly beautiful face, which was an improvement. Nodding my approval, I said, "very well. That will do."

Then, without bothering to consult her or share any further plans, I hefted my pack and marched right out of the alcove. I already knew that the terrified, naked girl would follow me. What other choice did she have? If she lost track of me, she would have no one!

It took her a beat to come to the same conclusion. And it made me smile when, a few seconds later, I heard her harried, bare feet pattering against the cement floor as she scrambled to catch up. With Mary's trade wrapped up, and an unusually compliant Bea in tow, there was only one thing left to do. On with the exhibition!