A Woman's Work is Never Done

Moyra laid the quilted, down, blanket that she had talked down to half off at the lawn sale, out on the backseat of her car then climbed in. She checked the locks and started to roll up to sleep. She was barely down when she heard a tapping noise. Moyra looked up at the window to find a large wolf, with a long tongue that dangled out, at the window. It seemed to smile down to her as it asked "Excuse me, Moyra, could you help me out?"
"What do you need Mr. Wolf?" She asked, feeling that something was wrong there.
"I seem to have lost my way. If you would just come out here, you could show me on my map how to get to the market." He responded back.
She crawled up to the window, a little spooked by how large the wolf's head was. "I don't know, Mr. Wolf. I think I should stay here and point it out from the window."
"But how would I know where you're pointing? At least roll down the window." He protested.
Gwen sat up in the front seat "Don't do it Moyra. He's just trying to trick you."
"If you open the window, he'll grab you!" Iona pointed out as she flopped down on Moyra's back.
From the back seat behind the backseat Lyla nods "I can see the rope and ball gag from here! He's just trying to kidnap you!"
"Um..." Moyra started "How do we all fit in my car?"
The wolf looked back at her from the passenger seat "That's a very good question."

Moyra landed on the wooden floor of the ancient convent and rubbed her head. This was the third time she fell out of the bed. She stood up and dusted off her black sleeper shirt. All the other girls were still sleeping. The room was exactly as it was when she went to sleep. The clock, as was becoming normal for Moyra, read 4 o'clock.
A sudden breeze came as a shock. Moyra looked to find the window wide open. That was odd, Gwen was quite meticulous about closing and locking it at night. Moyra walked over and checked the window. Nothing seemed out of place, so she shut and locked the window. Her task done, Moyra went to her bed, sat on her pillow, and waited for Gwen to wake up.

Iona groaned as Gwen called out for them. "Girls, we need to get up. If breakfast is late we'll all get a spanking." Iona rolled over. She was tired, sore, and annoyed. It was one week to the day since they got there. No brake, several spankings, and no end of the humiliations. Iona just wanted to sleep and rest.
Despite herself she crawled out of bed and joined the girls as they went to the shower room. When they got there, they found the nurse standing there looking annoyed. "Hello girls." She said "By now you know the drill. Strip and line up."
The week of public shaving and showering hadn't yet make the humiliation of it all die down. To add insult to injury; today, for the first time in a week, the girls endured a 'physical' and cavity search from the nurse. This time, Iona was the last to be inspected. Once done, the nurse slapped Iona's ass and said "Alright, virgin, to the shower with you!"
"What did you call her?!" Gwen shot back, sounding fairly pissed.
"It was a simple observation, Red." The Nurse retorted "Now into the showers!"
Iona was feeling called out, but didn't put up a fight. Gwen looked livid, but didn't press it any further. Iona was still very uncomfortable showering in front of the others. The fact that Lyla was becoming her best friend somehow made it worse that Lyla's face was directly across from her. It wasn't helped by The Nurse's constant demands either. "Scrub down there, Virgin. Make it clean!" For some reason, especially today, it seemed like The Nurse really hated her.
It all came to a head when Iona was washing her chest. The Nurse stopped Iona "No, scrub them some more, Virgin. I want those sweaty tits of yours so clean the boys can eat off of them."
The combination of the lack of sleep and constant humiliations was too much for Iona, and she couldn't stop herself from shouting out "NO! There's only so much you can make me do! I won't let them touch me like that, you can't make me!!!"
"Why you insolent little..." The Nurse started before Gwen cut her off.
"Excuse me, Ma'am? Could you" She seemed to smile at first before suddenly getting serious "back the FUCK off!"
This seemed to catch The Nurse off guard "Red! Stand at the wall, you're getting a belting for that! As for you Virgin..." She stopped when Lyla turned the water off on her own shower.
"You're a terrible nurse and a worse human being." Lyla spat at the ground and walked over to join Gwen.
Iona couldn't believe what was happening. Before The Nurse could respond to Lyla's actions, Moyra turned off her own shower and nodded "I think you're hard on Iona because you're jealous that she's prettier than you." With that Moyra saluted The Nurse and went to stand next to Lyla.
The Nurse looked at the line of girls, then to Iona a moment, then back to the girls. "FINE! Get your asses toweled off and dressed! But if you bitches ever speak to me like that again, and I'll have you caned in front of the entire building!" The Nurse stormed out, looking pissed. The girls all looked at each other shocked. It wasn't just a missed bullet, it was quite possibly the start of a very bad feud for them.

When the girls got back to their room, Iona did something uncharacteristic of her. She grabbed Gwen, and pulled her into a hug... with only a pair of towels between them. "Thank you, Ma'am... I'm so sorry..."
Lyla seemed to take offense to this as she stepped into her black thong "You've got nothing to apologize for!"
Gwen nodded as she gently patted Iona's back "Lyla's right. That woman was WAY out of line."
"I still think she's jealous." Moyra added, slipping into her basic white bra. "However we should hurry. If we're late with breakfast it's 10 for every five minutes." Iona could only groan at the frustration. Moyra was right, they really needed to get to work.

It was close, but breakfast was on time that morning. Iona tried to put on a brave face as she served breakfast, but it was hard with the stress she was under and the morning she'd had. It was made all the worse by the fact that she noticed both The Nurse and Mr. Clayton checking out her boobs as she served them drinks. By the time Iona had finally sat down for breakfast herself, she just wanted the day to be over.
Thomas Abernathy, age nineteen, sat across from Iona at the table every day. He was tall, strong looking, and reasonably attractive but not a movie star by any means. That morning as Iona picked away at her meal, he watched her closely. At first Iona thought she had imagined it, but was starting to feel self-conscious as it continued to happen. She had just started her hashed-browns when he spoke. "Miss Yates? Are you alright?" He asked in a half whisper.
"Me? I'm fine. Thank you for asking." She said it so fast that she couldn't blame him for not believing her.
"Well, if you need anything. Let me know." He answered, clearly concerned.
It made Iona feel a little better that Thomas cared enough to say something. She was about to say thanks when Mr. Clayton spoke up. "So what are you boys planning on your first day of rest?" The words hit Iona like a sack of bricks. 'Day of Rest?' The girls had laundry to do that day. Day two of laundry, yesterday was the linens!
"Iona? You alright?" Thomas asked, clearly worried. Iona couldn't find the words. She just started breathing harder.
As Iona's anxiety was starting to rise, Mathew spoke up. "We found an old football (soccer to you yanks) in the tool shed. Thought we'd get a game together."
Mr. Clayton laughed "That's a great idea! Mind if Josiah and I get in on it. A little three on three?"
Gwen placed her napkin down and looked to Miss Glynn. "May we be excused?"
Before Iona could really process what was going on, Gwen had pulled her to her feet and escorted her to the kitchen. "T-they're getting a day of rest. We'll be washing their clothes. All their clothes, even their underwear and they'll be playing Football!?!"
Gwen pulled Iona into a hug. "I know. I'm not happy either..."
"I've barely slept in a week!" Iona cried out, pulling Gwen in tight. "I hate this place..." The tears just wouldn't stop now that they started. "I love you and the girls, but this place will be the **** of me!"
"Is something the matter?" Miss Glynn asked, stepping in.
Gwen rubbed Iona's back "The work load is a bit much for Iona... all of us really. We get about an hour a day to ourselves and the rest of the day, every day, is work."
"You think I've been too hard on you girls?" Miss Glynn said, looking annoyed. "You know, for generations they'd say a Woman's Work was Never Done, because there's always something for a woman to be doing."
Gwen sighed "I get it... you want us to keep up with the cooking and cleaning... but is ONE day off that bad?"
"I'll talk to Miss Sanders about getting you girls a lite day. You'll still cook, but maybe it could be less intensive meals, and perhaps other chores could be on different days." Miss Glynn sighed "It'll be good for both you and the boys I think. You're both so busy I doubt your two groups really know each other well."
"Thank you for the understanding." Gwen responded.
"I'm not a monster, Miss Barden." The woman nodded to the two girls and walked out with "Despite what you think of me."

Even with the good news, Iona couldn't bring herself to be happy. Especially when she saw the piles of clothes to sort in front them. Iona wasn't happy about it, but set about sorting the clothes with Moyra. They'd been at it a while when Moyra said something "Do you like cars?"
"Why do you ask?" Iona asked, placing several uniform shirts and blouses in the washing machine.
"When we met, you seemed interested in my old home. And with the reason you're here?" She answered, her eyes on her work.
Iona used the notes in her guide book to set the machine "I do like cars. When I was a girl, I wanted to be one of the car show babes. Wearing the sexy outfits, and showing off the hot cars." Iona laughed as she turned on the machine "I... didn't have the self confidence to appear in public like that."
"I think you're very pretty." The dark haired girl started on a new pile "You're very nice to."
Iona inspected a pair of trousers for stains "Why did you live in an abandoned car, anyways?"
"It was safer than living under the bridge." She answered matter of factly. "The car had locks on the doors."
Iona applied some stain remover "Didn't you have anywhere else to go?"
Moyra placed a couple bras in a pile "Mother didn't want me around. She said I was in the way of her relationship with Jordan. And Grandfather died, so I had nowhere else to go."
Hearing Moyra say that so bluntly almost made Iona start crying again. She turned to the shorter girl and declared "No matter what happens, Moyra. When we get out of here, I'm going to make DAMNED sure you have a proper home!"
She grinned as she picked up another item "That's what Gwen said to." Upon seeing the item she paused "Oh my. Who do you think this belongs to?"
Iona turned to look. In Moyra's hands was a lacy bra that was big enough to use to carry a watermelon. "That has GOT to be Miss Sanders'... She's the only one it would fit."
Moyra added it to a pile. "Why would she need such a sexy bra here?"
Iona inspected a new pair of trousers "Some women like to wear stuff like that. They feel it gives them confidence."
Moyra nodded a moment before smiling "Is that why you wear the undies you do?"
Iona couldn't help but laugh as she threw the trousers in her hands at Moyra "I can't believe you said that!" The two girls laughed, together a moment. In Iona's heart she knew, in that moment, that making sure Moyra had a real home when this was done, was no idle threat.

That night, after doing the dishes, Iona volunteered to take the rubbish to the dumpster. Gwen insisted that she get one of the boys to take her though. Iona wasn't keen on the idea, but walked into the library and asked "I'm about to take the rubbish out. Would anyone care to escort me?"
"Why do you need an escort?" Mr. Clayton asked from over his book.
Iona's heart skipped a beat. She was told she needed one, just not why. She desperately tried to come up with something when Arthur spoke up. "Thomas, you can escort her and I'll explain things."
Thomas got up, easily towering over Iona, who was the tallest girl living there. "It would be a pleasure."

Part of Iona loved the fact that Thomas was carrying the rubbish bags that night. They were way heavier than the lantern he gave her. Though part of her felt guilty about it. It was HER job after all. Trying to break the ice a bit, she asked "Do you know why we need to do this?"
"There's concerns about a prowler, and this side of the building has almost no lights." Thomas answered. "You seem to be doing a little better. Did you have a good day?"
The idea of a prowler bothered Iona, but he wasn't wrong about the lights and with her hands occupied with the heavy bags it would have been difficult to see what she was doing alone. "It was better than I expected. But only because I had the others looking out for me."
"Arthur is always saying 'we're in this together,' so if you need anything..." Thomas started before pausing a moment. "I... want to be someone you can count on."
"I don't know..." Iona teased back "If you boys are anything like the girls, you're all a bunch of badmen."
Thomas laughed louder than she expected. "It's true we've all had brush ups with the law, but I have a hard time believing any of you girls are hardened criminals." As they reached the dumpster he tossed in the bags before smiling back at her "If there's some way I can prove myself to you. Just say the words."
Iona dumped the contents of the compost box into the bin "I'll think about it."

Their task done, the pair walked back to the building. Once inside they said their good nights, and Iona walked up to their dorm room, where Lyla was reading by herself. "How was your date with Thomas?" The brunet asked, mockingly.
"It wasn't a date." Iona protested, walking over to sit with Lyla. "He does seem nice though. And Tall men are a bit of a turn on."
"There's limits. He's almost twice my height." Lyla joked back.
"You're adorable though!" Iona laughed back. For a moment the two girls laughed together but the laughter was cut short when they both heard a very loud 'CRACK!' coming from outside. The sound was so loud that it rang in their ears. "Y-you heard that right?"
Both girls walked over to the window "It was probably a tree falling or something." Outside the echo of the noise, the outside was still and quiet. With the cloudy weather it was hard to tell the sky from the woods in the dark, and there was hardly a sound. The girls looked into the darkness for a moment when suddenly a light walked into the field. It took a while, but as the figure held up the lamp it became clear it was Moyra. She appeared to be searching for something. "What the Hell is she doing out there?!"
"She likes being outside at night, but Thomas said there might be a prowler!" Iona was about to call for Moyra when Lyla jumped up and raced for the door. "Where are you going?!"
"Someone's got to get her inside!" Lyla was almost to the door when they heard a voice calling from outside.
"Moyra, get inside!" called Arthur's voice. Lyla raced back to the window just in time to see Moyra greet Arthur and hand off the lantern. Arthur paused a moment to look around before joining her.
Iona couldn't keep up with Lyla as the smaller girl virtually flew down the stairs and crashed into Moyra's arms. "You daft, beautiful, stupid, little..." Lyla held Moyra tight and started crying, having completely failed to finish her sentence.
Iona had to take her breath before racing up to the group, composed mostly of Arthur, Moyra, Thomas, and the recently arrived Lyla. "Is everything alright?"
Moyra nodded "We are."
Arthur seemed slightly upset. "What where you doing out there?"
"I was just enjoying the night air when I heard a noise." She shrugged "I figured I should investigate."
"And what would have happened if you were hurt?" Arthur protested back. Iona saw movement out of the corner of her eye, and looked to find Gwen walking in from another hallway confused.
"If I'm hurt, at least it wasn't someone important." Moyra answered, as if it was the most logical thing in the world.
For Iona if felt like a gut punch. How could she say such a thing? Of course Moyra was important. Before any of the other's could say a word Gwen stepped forward, a look of rage Iona had never seen in her before. "Moyra! The Chapel, NOW!!!"
Moyra looked worried, and perhaps a little scared, but nodded and lowered her head "Yes, Ma'am."
Lyla and Iona both watched, stunned, as Gwen marched Moyra off. Arthur growled in frustration a moment before marching off after them. "Thomas, you're in charge, I've got to make sure they're alright!"