Chapter 19 Cruel Consequences

Melanie kept quiet on the short ride back to the fort. Just inside the gates, she watched absently as Private Perkins dismounted and handed his horse off to a stable boy.

Her mind wandered for a moment, knowing what Major Bordon had in store for her. She assumed that she would be ordered to Major Bordon's quarters, where she knew he'd have his way with her. She only hoped he'd get it over with quickly.

The feeling of hands seizing her waist and being pulled down off the horse brought her out of her thoughts. Melanie waited quietly in the custody of Private Perkins as Private Jones dismounted. The girl decided she would write some letters during her confinement.

Once back on the ground, Private Jones took Melanie's other arm. The two dragoons led Miss Prescott away from the house. Confused, the girl spoke up.

"Why aren't you taking me to my room," she asked.

"Orders, miss."

"Where are you taking me," questioned Melanie.

"To the cells," Perkins answered curtly.

"What?" she asked. "Major Bordon said nothing about that!"

"Sorry, miss," Jones said apologetically. "He wants you held in the jail until further notice."

"But I didn't do anything," she protested. Melanie panicked at the thought of being put into a cell as a prisoner. She had not expected this. The girl struggled, trying to pull away from her captors. Digging her heels into the dirt to slow them down, she yelled "No! Don't! Stop! Please, you can't do this!"

About the same time, Colonel Tavington stepped out of the fort's supply quarters and walked toward the main house. He heard the yelling and turned his head toward the screams. His brow wrinkled when he saw two dragoons hauling Miss Prescott in the direction of the jail. Wondering what the matter was, he made his way over to the trio.

"Stop there, men," William ordered as he came closer to the small group. The two privates stopped and turned back to face the Colonel, still holding Melanie firmly.

"Here, now," Tavington barked. "Where are you taking her?"

"To the cells, sir," replied Perkins.

"The cells," the Colonel queried as he cocked his head to the side, certain the Private had made a mistake. "Why?"

"Major Bordon's orders sir," Private Jones answered.

William heaved a heavy sigh. He looked sternly at Melanie. She looked up at him, her eyes pleading silently with the officer.

"Well, what did you do to get into trouble," he asked the girl.

"Nothing," Melanie replied. She lowered her eyes and blushed, suddenly embarrassed.

"You must have done something or they wouldn't be taking you to the cells." Tavington could only imagine the worst. "Did you try to escape again?"

Melanie hesitated for a moment, not wanting to say anything in front of the Privates. She lifted her eyes to look up at the Colonel, then looked at the men holding both her arms. She sucked a breath in to summon up her courage.

Then she blurted out her answer. "Major Bordon tried to force himself on me and I refused to submit!"

Both of the Privates felt awkward after this answer and looked away, wishing they weren't commanded to do this particular task. Tavington only sighed in frustration and rolled his eyes.

"Nonsense," Tavington snorted. "Bordon is the last man to do that. He is the least of your fears."

"But he did!"

"You can't be serious, Miss Prescott," insisted William. "Come now, what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" she cried.

Tavington grew angry. He hated hearing any fellow officer accused of such unbecoming conduct, even though he secretly condoned it from his men, letting them get away with it if discreet.

"Take her away," he said in a frustrated tone. The officer was in a hurry to get some other things done and didn't have time for this.

"Colonel, please, No!" she protested, screaming at him as he began to step away from her. "Don't let them do this to me!"

Tavington noticed that her protests were drawing stares from people within the fort. He stepped back over to the group.

"Miss Prescott," he snapped, "I will talk with Major Bordon, but for the time being, you will have to go to detention."

"But Colonel," she objected, "I've never been put in the cells before, not even after escaping." She was desperate.

William was silent for a moment, contemplating the situation. He did recall that the girl, despite some of the damn fool stunts she had pulled, had never been sent to the jail. But, he knew he could not undermine his Aide De Camp's orders in front of his men.

"Well, nonetheless," Tavington replied to her plea, "If Major Bordon has ordered this, he's done so with reason. He is my second in command and I trust his judgment. Take her away."

Tavington turned on his heel and strode away, leaving Melanie stammering in protest and struggling as she was dragged away.

* * * * * *

Melanie sat in the dank little cell for hours. She paced and protested through the bars. The girl sat, stood, sang and counted the prisoners, mostly colonists with an occasional redcoat, pass by her cell. Now, just before dinner, after a boring day spent in confinement, she sat on the bench in the cell with her legs pulled up to her chest. She hugged her knees and laid her tired head down on them.

After having drifted into a light sleep, an abrupt metal pounding against the bars startled Melanie awake. She looked up to see Colonel Tavington entering the cell. The girl immediately perked up and smiled in relief at the familiar face. She jumped off the bench and stepped toward him as the door clanged shut behind the man.

As they met in the center of the cell, she continued to smile up at the dragoon commander. Secretly relieved that it wasn't Major Bordon standing before her, she was curious yet, as to why it wasn't him.

"Why are you here," she began. "Usually the Major wants to interrogate me."

"He would, usually," answered William, "but he is your accuser."

He paused for a moment and watched Melanie's reaction. She closed her eyes and shook her head conveying her confusion.

Colonel Tavington inhaled and looked down at the girl with a serious expression crossing his face. "Miss Prescott, you're in some trouble. You assaulted an officer."

Melanie's eyes widened like saucers as her jaw dropped. "Assaulted?! He made advances toward me. I tried to defend myself!"

"You can't just slap an officer," he told her. "He is to be accorded with respect."

The girl opened her mouth to protest but a wave of Tavington's hand silenced her.

"Miss Prescott, why do you accuse the Major like this? You have nothing to fear out of him. He is a respectable commander. Out of all my men, he is the one who….." William suddenly paused, as if trying to find a nice way to finish his phrase, then continued on, "who……whores the least."

"So you don't believe what I've told you?"

"No, I'm sorry I don't," the officer replied. "If you'd have said it was one of the enlisted men, I may have believed you."

Melanie walked back over to the bench and sat down, sighing in frustration and clearly disappointed.

Tavington stepped over to the bench and stood above the distraught girl. "Now, because of who you are, leniency may be shown, but I can't promise you that."

Leniency for what, Melanie thought. She did nothing but try to defend herself. The young woman looked up at the Colonel. She protested. "But it was Bordon!"

William rolled his eyes. "I am so very tired of this." He began to pace in frustration, then stopped and looked down at the girl. "Can't you understand something? You are well liked and respected by high officials here. Lord Cornwallis, General O'Hara, they like you. Why will you not accept the protection His Majesty is offering you?"

"You treat me like a prisoner most of the time," she objected. "I've done nothing wrong."

"There is a war on outside these walls," Tavington began. "Do you really want to be out there starving and freezing; struggling, fleeing for your life? You are safer in here. When will you realize that?"

"But I did nothing wrong," she said as she burst into tears. Why doesn't anyone believe me, she thought.

After a moment, William knelt down in front of Melanie, whose face was buried in her hands. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out his handkerchief. Taking her chin in his hand, he lifted her head and wiped the tears gently from her cheeks.

They locked eyes silently and Tavington felt the overwhelming urge to kiss her. But he remembered their differences: she was a colonist and he was a British officer. He could not be sure that he could trust her fully.

William brushed away his personal feelings for the girl and stood up quickly. He spoke as he tucked the handkerchief back into his pocket. "Miss Prescott, I suggest you think your actions through from now on. You may be dealt with harshly the next time."

Colonel Tavington turned quickly and left the cell, led out by a guard. Melanie looked up and watched him leave. She said to herself, "I already am."

* * * * * *

"Miss, Miss," the guard said as he shook the sleeping Miss Prescott's shoulder. "Wake up, Miss."

Melanie awoke slowly and looked around, disoriented for the moment. She started with a gasp as she saw the face of Redcoat guards standing over her. Sitting upright on the bench quickly, she pushed her skirts down and straightened out her dress properly.

The young woman had, by Major Bordon's orders, remained in the cell for the rest of the day. She rejected the crude supper served to her around 7:00, as she had no appetite. Tired after her long, boring day in the jail, she finally stretched out on the hard wooden bench and tried to relax. Melanie laid awake for an hour or so, her mind anxious and worried over what would happen to her later after her release. Finally, the girl fell into sleep and slept soundly until the men had awakened her.

Now, she said nothing, afraid to talk, as she folded her hands primly in her lap. After an awkward silence between she and the guards, she looked innocently up at them and broke the silence. "Might I inquire as to what time it is?"

"Just after Midnight," a guard answered. The man turned and crossed the small cell to the door. Melanie watched him from her bench. She listened as the keys clinked and clanked against each other and the metal bars. While intently watching the jailer, she felt the other guard arm grip her tightly and lift her to her feet.

The door swung open and the soldiers were soon escorting her by both her arms out of the cell. Melanie immediately became anxious and worried. "Where are you taking me?" She prayed silently that it wasn't to Major Bordon's quarters.

The soldier answered, "Back to your room, Miss."

"Thank God," she thought as she let out a sigh of relief. "He didn't come to get me himself. He's probably out on patrol tonight." At least she would have a reprieve before he would "deal" with her. She was happy that she would be able to spend the night in her own bed in the security of her room.

The group soon crossed the compound to the main house. The men continued their hold on the young woman as they escorted her into the house. They ascended the stairway and soon found themselves outside the door of her room.

Melanie thanked the guard for opening the door, which she quickly closed behind her. She stood quietly in the darkness of the room as her eyes adjusted to the dark. Happy to be back in her quarters, she padded softly over to the small table. Once there, she groped around for the oil lamp. Her fingers soon found and lit it. After replacing the globe carefully upon the lamp, she touched the wheel to adjust the low flame up.

Before she could, she jumped when she felt a man's large hand clamp over her mouth and pull her back against his body. Frightened, she whimpered behind the hand, which muted her cries. Melanie could feel the body of the man she was pressed against and recognized the touch of his hand. Then she heard the voice.

"Time to deal with you now, my dear." It was Bordon. He had hidden himself quietly in her room in the shadows after instructing the men to retrieve her from the cells.

Melanie struggled with him as he dragged her backwards. Tears filled her eyes when she was unable to call for help. She shook her head, Bordon's hand still covering her mouth, back and forth vigorously, trying to stop his assault.

Quickly, he spun her around and threw her roughly onto the bed. He reached down and turned her body over so that she lay prone in one swift move. Then his body landed on top of hers on the bed, holding her down. With one hand, he pushed her face into the bedspread to muffle her screams, and wrestled one of her arms out from under him with the other. He put his lips close to her ear and whispered a warning. "If you scream, you'll be sorry. I'll go harder on you and you'll find yourself back in the cells."

Melanie, starting to weep, yet deathly afraid to be thrown back in the jail, answered weakly, "I won't. I won't."

With that, the Major let go of her head. Melanie raised it slightly off the bed, enough to get a large gulp of air. She sniffled and tried to keep her whimpers in check, just wanting him to get it over with quickly.

Bordon reached under his body, which still pinned Miss Prescott to the bed, and found her other arm. As he pulled it out and above her head on the pillow, his other hand reached behind him into his belt. Melanie didn't fight the man; she laid quietly and complacently, hoping that if she didn't struggle, he'd get his pleasure quickly and leave her alone.

To Melanie's alarm, she found Bordon's strong hand gripping both of hers tightly, stretching her arms toward the bedpost. She panicked. "No. No, please don't!" she pleaded in a soft voice, forcing herself not to scream.

"I don't feel like fighting you tonight," Alex declared, pulling her arms up to the knob top of the bedpost. The officer quickly spun the rope around her wrists, then wove it between them and the bedpost equally as fast. He stretched himself above her, straddling her prone body to keep her down. He finished tying her wrists, binding them tightly to the bedpost. Melanie winced as he tied off the final knot, feeling heat in her wrists and throbbing in her hands.

"Please untie me," she begged. "It's too tight. I promise I won't struggle. I'll do what you want!"

"No," he replied sternly. "You can't be trusted, so you have to be bound."

So, Melanie lay prone on her bed, her arms stretched up in front of and over her head, lashed to the bed. She wept as her arms and ribs felt painfully stretched. And after another moment, she lost the feeling in her hands. She sobbed a little more when she heard the now familiar sound of Bordon unfastening his breeches. The girl hid her eyes in the sleeve on her upper arm as she felt Bordon push her skirt and petticoats up. She tried to prepare and compose herself as she knew the officer was readying to enter her.

Alex Bordon penetrated her with a swift thrust, making her wince. As he moved in and out of her without a care, Melanie whimpered as the tip of him hit her insides. It seemed to her as if he was deeper inside of her than he had ever been. She laid there and took it, unable to do much to fight him.

After another moment, Bordon suddenly stopped, pulling himself out of her. Melanie breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. The girl wondered why he had stopped, for he hadn't climaxed yet. She was grateful that he had anyway.

Miss Prescott held her breath a moment, wondering what the Major was going to do next. She prayed that he would pull her skirt down and untie her, but she suspected that he wasn't done yet. Melanie hoped that he wouldn't hit her.

She felt his hands on the back of her bare thighs. They moved slowly up her legs and came to rest on her buttocks, one hand on each side of it. Firmly, his hands spread her cheeks apart and his body shifted slightly, as if readying to enter her again. Then she felt the smooth tip of him touching her where a man had not taken her before.

In an instant, a memory flashed across her mind. She remembered overhearing her brother speaking in a hushed tone one day to her fiancé, telling him the news of one of his soldier friends. Matthew had ministered to the man, who had been violated intimately by a British commander that had a penchant for young men. Melanie realized that she was about to be taken sexually in this same manner; as a man would have another man.

The girl panicked. "No! Don't!," she cried. "Not this way! Not like this! Please no!"

She shuddered as she felt Bordon's breath in her ear. "Miss Prescott, I am going to have you this way. You may choose to submit or resist. If you fight me, I shall have to force myself into you, making it more unpleasant. Or perhaps you'd like a rough entry?"

Melanie shook her head furiously. "No," she sobbed. "No."

"Are you going to let me have my way?," he asked.

Crying a little harder now, she shook her head 'yes'. Then she felt him start to push the tip of himself into her. She flinched as he did, squirming to try and get away, though bound still.

"If you struggle," Bordon began ominously, "it will hurt worse. I suggest you just lie there and take it."

The young woman tried bravely to hold back tears, and to prepare herself for his invasion of her. She was panting now in fright of what was to happen.

Major Bordon's manhood was stiff and slick with her fluids. He pressed himself slowly into her. Immediately, her body rebelled.

The muscles in that virgin area of her body began to clinch in an effort to refuse further penetration. Her body tensed and tightened, trying to force him out of the orifice. Bordon did not stop, sliding his member in carefully and insistently.

Alex groaned deeply as the walls in this area clenched tightly his hardness. After a few seconds, he began slowly to move in and out of her.

Her body's involuntary resistance just made things worse. The walls and muscles of that area weren't as pliable as those of her vagina. It was uncomfortable, causing her to cry aloud.

"No. Please stop," she begged. "It hurts."

Alex did not listen, caught up in his own manly feelings. Just a few more thrusts would bring his satisfaction.

Realizing that the officer was not going to stop, Melanie tried to quiet herself down. She did her best to fight the powerful sobs and shakes that wracked her body. The girl attempted to slow her breathing and calm down, hoping to accommodate the Major's large size in the delicate virgin area.

Miss Prescott squeezed her eyes shut, hoping it would be over soon. She did her best to accept it so that he could move with little resistance and ease her own discomfort.

Then Bordon became a little more jovial with his trusts, enjoying the tightness of the area. He urged himself on toward completion.

As he continued to sodomize her, she cried and screamed into her pillow which muffled the sound. The material soon became saturated with her tears. Melanie's knuckles were white as she clenched her fists, holding on to the ropes which bound her.

"Oh……Ahhh…." Bordon moaned as he climaxed. Then he collapsed on top of her, lying still for a moment with only the sound of Melanie's sobs.

Without a word, the Major withdrew himself from the girl. He wiped himself off on her skirt, then fastened his breeches shut again. He climbed off her body and stood up from the bed.

As he straightened his jacket, he uttered a cruel jibe. "It's always a pleasure, Miss Prescott—at least for me. You would find satisfaction in it also if you weren't so…..proper."

With that he walked to the door. Stopping there, he observed proudly, "Well, I've had the dubious honor of taking your virginity more than once." Quickly, he turned and left the room, leaving Miss Prescott tied to the bed post.

Melanie sobbed hard with defeat, realizing that she would probably never escape this. She cried as she thought about spending the rest of the war here, a slave to the Major's passions.

After a moment, Melanie pulled herself up onto her knees, her body sore and burning after Major Bordon's invasion. She tried to pull her wrists free of the ropes which held them, but she could not. The more she seemed to struggle, the more the bindings seemed to tighten and twist her wrists. The girl wept again, unable to free herself of the bonds, not knowing what would happen to her should the major return.