Meanwhile, back at the castle

"Come on, Jane," said Barbara. "Go fetch the ball."

The last thing Jane Harker wanted to do was to run naked down the hall wearing nothing but a leather collar with a silver bell attached to it -- just so that she could pick up some dirty red rubber ball with her mouth and return it to her Mistr -- er, Barbara.

But she had ****. Her hands were tied behind her and her clothes were out of sight. Besides, every time Jane balked at obeying the orders of Barbara and her two friends Sarah and Winona, they threatened to either beat her or throw one of her clothes into the fire. Either way, she was in for a bad time so for now, it seemed best for Jane to play along until Mina showed up to rescue her.

But if Mina can't rescue me? she thought. Suppose I have to stay here forever and forever. Suppose --

Jane felt a quick kick in her posterior and turned to see Sarah glaring at her.

"Get on with it!" cried Sarah. "We haven't got all night. Well, actually we have, but we'd rather not spend it watching you stare into space for hours on end. Now go fetch that ball and then maybe -- just maybe -- you'll get a treat."

It was the promise of a treat that seemed most humiliating. Not that she hated their little treats -- in fact, Jane thought they were pretty yummy -- but they just made it more obvious to Jane that the three women were treating her like a -- like a -- Wait a minute. She thought she had it there for a while. Now, what was she after again? Oh, yes. The ball.

She grabbed the little red ball with her mouth and ran back to her captors. Sarah took the ball from her mouth and promptly patted her on the head. "There's a good girl. Now I'll give you a little treat."

As she munched the little treat that Sarah gave her, Jane heard the women muttering.

Then Barbara said, "We really should send for one of the local artists to come here and paint a picture of our little pet. For posterity's sake, of course."

"Does that mean I get to wear clothes again?" asked Jane as soon as her mouth was no longer full.

"Quiet!" cried Barbara. "No one here gave you permission to speak."

Winona smiled. "I'll give her permission. Speak, girl, speak."

Jane frowned. It seemed like Winona was making fun of her but Jane didn't know how to respond to that without getting herself into more trouble. Still --

"Oh, rats!" Sarah said with a sniff. "She's on her cycle. I guess that means the nude portrait has to be postponed for about a week."

Just then Jane realized to her embarrassment that Sarah was right. She was on her cycle. And she had nothing available to use for it.

Jane looked at the three women for assistance and instead just saw them stare back at her.

Then Barbara smiled and said, "Of course this latest development also means something else."

At that point, the three women turned to each other and smiled. "Dinner!"