"Clarissa, you know I won't try to rush you. But if you do want to join the girls when we go out to the fields this morning, I know they'd love to have you." Wendy squirted the last bit of milk out of Clarissa's left breast and looked at her hopefully. She hated to feel as if she was pressuring Clarissa, but she had been back for a week, and Wendy felt that getting Clarissa out of the barn for some exercise was an important health issue. Both physical and psychological.

Clarissa bit her lip and looked at Natalie, then back at Wendy. "T-tom thinks it's safe? I mean, really safe?"

"Well, the fence is all done. Two fences, really. I don't know how much he told you about how that works. There's an outer fence that keeps the bigger animals out, and the inner fence that's electrified if anything heavier than fifty pounds steps on one of the pressure plates between the fences. And that sets off the alarm too. We've talked to the other farmers in the area who have the same system. They've never had any thefts. Not even any attempts. I mean, thieves see the fences and think, oh shit, I'll try somewhere easier." Wendy smiled.

Clarissa gave her a shaky smile. Inside, her heart was pounding. "I want to go out, really I do. I mean, I was cooped up for three weeks in, you know..." She shuddered. "And I guess it seems kind of nuts to want to be cooped up again, but... see, here I've got Natalie." She rubbed her hip against Natalie's, who rubbed her cheek against Clarissa's shoulder in return. "And just thinking about getting taken again, and never seeing Natalie again..." Her lip quivered, and a few tears rolled down her cheek.

Natalie pressed herself still closer against Clarissa. "Miss Wendy, just give her a few more days, okay? She's been doing a lot of exercising in here, so she's okay, really. She just needs a little more time."

Wendy looked back and forth between Natalie and Clarissa, thoughtfully, rolling an idea around in her head. She smiled and rubbed the stubble of Clarissa's returning hair. "I promise I'll wait until you feel ready. I thought of something that might help that come sooner, but I'll show you later."

"What is it?"

Wendy shook her head. "Later."

Later that morning, Wendy returned to the barn, going first to Clarissa's and Natalie's stall. She waited politely for the two girls to finish having sex, Clarissa on top vigorously rubbing her pussy against Natalie's, both of them making slight shifts cued by the other's body language, both of them grunting in a progressively higher pitch until they came together, as they generally did, their shouts of orgasm momentarily drowning out the murmurs of televised soap operas from the other stalls. Once they lay quietly, kissing each other lightly as they tried to catch their breath, Wendy cleared her throat. They both looked up at her and smiled dreamily.

"I'm about to take the rest of the girls out to the field. If the two of you felt pretty confident you could never be separated, would you want to come along?"

Both girls looked at each other, then back at Wendy. Natalie asked, "What do you mean, Miss Wendy?"

Wendy smiled and brought the length of heavy chain out from behind her back and let one end of it drop, letting its full length hang from her finger. "Just remember, nobody's going to steal you, I promise. But if they did, I can make it so they'd have to take both of you."

Both girls looked at the chain, wide-eyed. A lot of effort had gone into forging these links: each was made of what appeared to be stainless steel, a half-inch thick, bent into loops about two inches across, making a chain about three feet long. At each end was the thickest padlock either girl had ever seen.

Clarissa spoke first. "Where did you get that?"

Wendy laughed. "Tom made a quick run into town this morning. Well? Want to try it on?"

Natalie blinked. " 'On'? On what?"

"On your collars, of course. It connects the two of you together."

The girls looked at each other, and started laughing. Natalie sputtered, "Well, I guess if we want a way to make sure we can't get separated, this would be it."

Wendy shook the chain, making it jingle. "So Clarissa, think you'd want to come out with us if you and Natalie had this?"

Clarissa looked at Natalie. "Is it okay?"

Natalie kissed her. "Of course it's okay!"

The trip out to the field was a little more chaotic than usual -- her sisters had only had a couple of brief chances to be with Clarissa in the last week, so they all wanted to be close to her while they were walking out. Proximity to Clarissa was further complicated by only being able to approach her on one side, the chain joining Clarissa's and Natalie's collars making it impossible to get between them. Wendy finally had to promise to let the girls spend a couple of hours out in the yard between the house and the barn so they could all spend some time with Clarissa.

Two hours later, Tom blinked in surprise at the scene in the yard: like some sort of flesh-colored flower, the girls were arrayed in a circle around Clarissa, who was stretched out on her back. The rest of the girls were on their backs as well, their heads using various parts of Clarissa's body as a pillow: two of them resting on her hind legs near her hooves, two of them on her stomach on either side, two of them on her shoulders, and Natalie occupying the place of honor, her head cushioned between Clarissa's hind legs -- the chain running between their collars just long enough to make that position possible. He could hear a soft murmur of conversation and giggles as he walked up to the porch, where Wendy sat in one of the two rockers, two playpens on either side holding two babies each: Adrienne and Ashley asleep in one, while in the other Abby was waving her arms at a hanging mobile, and Annie was trying to turn onto her tummy. Wendy held up a frosted pitcher of milk, smiled at him and poured him a glass as he sat down in the other rocker. He took the glass and kissed her. "Nice day out."

She nodded and lay her head on his shoulder. He turned and kissed her again.

His attention was brought back to the yard by the hissing of whispers from the "flower" of girlcows. He could make out one of them, he couldn't tell which, hissing "Ask him!" As he watched, Karen lifted her head off Clarissa's shoulder and got up onto her hooves. He sighed, steeling himself to fend off whatever unreasonable request was coming, and tried to look unapproachable as she approached him.

"Ummm... Tom?" Karen stood just off the porch and looked up at him, and fidgeted on all four legs. In response, he raised his eyebrows.

Karen looked back at the other girls, who waved encouragement. She turned back to face him. "Natalie's been telling us about Mr. Newton, and how he helped find Clary."

Tom nodded. "He seemed pretty useless to me, but it turned out he did know the guy who took her."

"Well, Natalie and Clary both feel like we owe him a lot. I mean, the rest of us do too, of course."

He nodded again. "I understand Natalie promised him some free milk."

Karen looked back at the others, who were watching her expectantly. She looked back at Tom, a little more nervously. "We were talking about... kind of doing more."

Here it comes, Tom thought. "How do you mean?"

"Well, like, we could, like... take turns spending some time alone with him..."

"No! The man's a nut case!"

"He's not a nut! Lots of men like girlcows. Our own brother, for one. And why shouldn't they, I might ask?" She raised her eyebrows, as if daring him to insult her femininity any further. Behind her, he could see the other girls getting up and starting to amble over. Shit, he thought, she's getting reinforcements.

"Look, feeling grateful to him is one thing, but putting you cows in danger..."

"Danger? From Clarence? Natalie says he'd be more scared of us than we are of him! You've met him. Does he seem dangerous?"

Tom looked to Wendy for help. She bit her lip. "I just met him the one time, at the milk stand, but he did seem very sweet."

Natalie, trailing the other girls as she and Clarissa walked in tandem, still joined by the chain, said, "That's just the right word. He's a very sweet man. He'd never hurt any of us."

Tom waved his arms in exasperation. "But what's the point? All you promised him was milk, Natalie. Why go farther than that?"

Karen laughed. "Tom, you dummy, can't you figure that out? We'd be getting something out of it too."

"What would..." He stopped. "Oh, come on. Why is it a big deal? It's not like you don't get any sex around here."

Jenny spoke up. "Tom, this is something you wouldn't understand, so just trust us. Even Wendy wouldn't understand -- sorry, Wendy -- because she's not having to do without it. But it's just kind of nice having a man inside you once in awhile." All of the cows nodded.

"But, look, for awhile the police thought he was the one who took Clary! He wasn't their idea of a fine, upstanding citizen."

Monica responded, "That's why he'd be really careful. He can't afford to let anything go wrong. Natalie said he's scared shitless his boss will find out the police have an eye on him."

"Look, we just got Clary back. I'm just really not in a mood to take a chance on..."

Gwen cut him off. "Why not ask Clary what she thinks?" She turned to Clarissa. "You've met him. Would you feel like you weren't safe if you were with him?"

Clarissa looked at Natalie. "Well, I'm never going anywhere without Natalie, but as long as she was there..." She turned back to Tom. "I know this sounds weird, Tom, but I feel like Clarence would do everything he could to make sure nothing happened to me."

Karen said, "Tom, before you say no, just think about it, okay? You could set any ground rules you want. Have him sign over the deed to his house, or whatever. But just remember..."

"Remember what?"

"Happier cows give more milk." She sensed the time had come to back off and let him think it over. "Wendy, we're ready to go back to the barn now."

As she led them back inside, Tom leaned forward and sat hunched in the rocker, sighing and shaking his head. The girls tentatively took that as a good sign.

As Clarissa and Natalie entered their stall, Wendy fished the key to the new chain out of her pocket and started unlocking the padlock at Clarissa's collar.

"Wait, Wendy." Clarissa looked at Natalie. "Want to keep it on awhile?"

Natalie's eyes lit up. "I love being connected to you. And I can still reach the parts I need to get to." She ran the tip of her tongue around her lips and giggled.

Clarissa laughed. She looked back up at Wendy. "Just lock the ceiling chain to the middle of this one, between us. Okay? We want to try it this way."

Wendy looked doubtful, but couldn't think of an argument against it. "Let me know this evening if you want it off." She reached for the ceiling chain and secured it according to Clarissa's instructions. "You might decide you don't want quite that much togetherness."

Natalie kissed Clarissa and said, "Miss Wendy, if we do change our minds, I don't think that'll be the reason."

Returning from their daily trip to the field Monday morning, most of the conversation related to the anticipated lunchtime pizza party, now a revered tradition.

"Shit," Kirsten lamented, "I forgot to ask Gail last time to get us a list of all the different toppings. Remind me today, Okay?" She nudged Karen with her hip as they followed Wendy on their leashes.

"I thought you liked the peppered girlmeat."

"Yeah, but I have to drink so much afterward. I wanted to try some different things."

"We're lucky enough the pizza place sells them in four sections with different toppings. I don't know if they'll do eight different choices on the same pizza. Or if Gail can afford it if they do."

"Well, if we see the list there might be something all of us would like."

Karen laughed. "Yeah, like that's ever happened." She jerked her head to indicate the rest of the sisters.

The custom had developed that, on Mondays, Wendy would leave the girls in the common area in front of the stalls. For security, she did close and lock the barn door, during the time she went into the house to retrieve the babies and their playpens. Reopening the barn and stationing herself in a lawn chair next to barn door, she was able to keep an eye on the four babies and eight girlcows while getting caught up on a little reading -- that was the theory, anyway, though the reading was usually interrupted by one or more babies demanding a noontime feeding.

Wendy looked up from her book as Jill approached. "Wendy, are we going to start up the milk stand again?"

"I talked to Tom about it. He wants to, but he needs to get a chance to print up announcements again. We have to let people know about it. Do you girls all feel safe?"

Monica, coming up behind Jill, nodded. "As long as we're chained to the counter. Maybe a little stronger chain than before. Something like the one Clary and Natalie have."

Wendy nodded. "I'll pass that on to Tom."

Gwen called out, "Wendy, the Electric Chair Game is starting on TV. Shouldn't Gail be here by now?"

Wendy looked at her watch. "Maybe they're busy at the pizza place."

Several of the girls wandered into Gwen and Jenny's stall where the game show was in progress on the television. Kirsten shook her head. "That brunette, second from the end, seems like a real airhead. Why would she go on a game show where you have to be smart and answer questions?"

Jenny rolled her eyes and grinned. "Because she's an airhead. See how that works?"

All of the girls laughed, including Kirsten. She went on, "Anyway, I bet she'll be the one they fry."

Gwen shook her head. "How much? I say it's the blonde on the other end."

"Two bites of pizza."

"You're on."

Natalie looked back towards the barn door. "So where's Gail?"

Jenny frowned and went back out towards the barn door. Clarissa and Natalie followed her.

Wendy had just gotten back to her reading, but looked up as Jenny approached. "Wendy, where's..." Her attention was caught by movement around the corner of the house. "Oh!" She turned and called to her sisters, "She's here!"

The rest of the girls came running out, with shouts of "Hi Gail!" and "We're starving!" Monica and Jill trotted out to meet her, the rest of the cows waiting by the barn door.

Walking back in alongside Gail, Monica flashed Jill a puzzled look. Gail was usually very energetic, but seemed to be plodding along. Her smile looked real enough, and she greeted both girls warmly, but her eyes looked red and her makeup streaked.

They rejoined the others as Gail began setting the pizza out with little in the way of extra comment. As she set down the cola bottles, Karen raised her eyebrows. "Where are the cups?"

Gail blinked, and said, "I guess I forgot..." and suddenly burst into tears, burying her face in her hands.

Wendy came over quickly and put her arm across Gail's shoulder. "What's wrong, dear?"

Sniffling and sobbing, Gail stammered, "I -- I -- forgot the cups."

The girls exchanged disbelieving looks, as Wendy asked softly, "What's really wrong?"

Gail turned suddenly and threw her arms around Wendy, burying her face against Wendy's shoulder and sobbing. Wendy rubbed her back comfortingly, while Karen and Clarissa each rubbed their cheeks against the backs of Gail's legs.

Wendy stroked Gail's hair and said softly, "Gail, look at me." Gail pulled her head up and tried to clear her nose, looking at Wendy, her lips quivering. "What happened, dear?"

Gail took a deep breath. "I -- Chuck -- We broke up." She broke into fresh wails and buried her head against Wendy again, as the girls gasped. At Gail's age, nearly nineteen and out of school, they knew this wasn't just a matter of losing one boyfriend. With so few men in the world, in spite of the constant consumption of women, Gail's chance of ever marrying was very small. The girls all crowded more closely around Gail, trying to rub her and give what comfort they could.

Suspecting the girls might be able to help more if Gail could see them and get some idea how much they cared about her, she said, "Gail, why don't you sit right here," and guided her down to sit on the ground, her back resting against the wall of the barn. As planned, the girls distributed themselves in front and on both sides of her, sixteen sympathetic ears in addition to Wendy's. Gail drew her knees up and wrapped her arms in front of her shins, trying to dry her eyes on the fabric of her jeans at her knees, in spite of a constantly renewed supply of tears.

Karen asked, "How did it happen, Gail?"

Between sobs, she stammered out, "He w-wanted to be with R-Rachel G-G-Grant. That bimbo!" Her whole body shook with anger.

Clarissa snorted. "She'll probably get eaten really soon anyway. She was always talking about how her dad's company was going to cook her at a banquet someday. He'll come back after that."

Gail's eyes flashed. "I don't want him back. I don't want to be second choice. Not for any man. They're all asses anyway." She choked out an angry laugh. "Anyway, I don't think her dad knows she's on his menu. I think that's all in her dreams." She drew in a shaky breath, and spat out, "I don't want him anymore. She can have him. I'm just..." The sobs began again. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, trying to bottle in the tears. "I'm just... scared. I don't know what I'm supposed to do now. T-The library job doesn't pay much, and I was... kind of starting to get behind on my rent, and I was just trying to hold out until... until... C-Chuck and I..." The tears came out anyway.

Kirsten asked, "So do you need to move back home?"

Gail took several deep breaths, trying to get back some sort of equilibrium. "I can't go there. I mean I could, but... my dad just got married."

Jill, in puzzlement, said, "But I'm sure his new wife wouldn't mind you being around."

Gail shook her head. "It's Shayla Teasdale." She looked at Clarissa, who was most likely to understand the significance.

Clarissa's jaw dropped. "Shayla! But she was the year behind us! Is she even eighteen yet?"

"Yeah, like, what, three weeks ago. Dad met her at a football game last fall. She was head cheerleader this year," she snarled. "Try imagining living at home when your stepmom is younger than you are. Especially if it's Little Miss Perky Cheerleader." She grimaced. "They had me over to dinner last week. All through it I felt like they couldn't wait till I left so they could run to the bedroom."

Jill and Gwen, closest to the wall on either side of Gail, each put their heads on one of Gail's shoulders and nuzzled her comfortingly. Jill said, "I wish you could stay here."

Gail responded sadly, "So do I..." She gasped suddenly and, wide-eyed, she shot a look at Wendy. She opened her mouth to speak and closed it again, fighting within herself.

Wendy caught the look, and instantly worried about the direction Gail's thoughts might be going. "What is it, dear?"

She struggled to get the words out. "W-Wendy, could I maybe... work here?" All of the girls sucked in sharp breaths simultaneously, blurting out, "Yeah!" "Could she, Wendy?" "Please, can she stay?"

Wendy looked like it was her turn to cry. "I'm so sorry, Gail. But there's no way we could pay you even as much as the library does." She braced herself for a look of disappointment from Gail, but instead saw a continuation of the same struggle. She sighed, deciding she needed to be more firm. "We just can't..."

Gail hurled the words out before she could change her mind again. "Youdon'thavetopayme!"

Wendy's face was a study in puzzlement. "I'm not sure I understand, then. When you said 'work here,' I thought you meant instead of working at the library."

Gail nodded her head vigorously. "I... yeah. I mean, I do mean that."

"But if..." Comprehension suddenly blossomed across Wendy's features. "Do you mean...?"

Gail nodded again, her powers of speech vanishing for the moment.

Dumbfounded, Wendy looked from Gail to the girls, all waiting breathlessly to hear her answer, then back to Gail. "Uhhh.... Gail, this really is something we can't have any misunderstanding about. You're going to have to say it out loud."

Her voice shaky and almost inaudible, Gail said, "I want to be your work-slave. You and Tom." She sat up a little straighter, her voice getting stronger as she swept her past life behind her. "The only time I feel right, like I'm doing something useful, is when I'm here. The only people in the world I care about, and who care about me, are all standing right here, right now." She put her arms across the stunned shoulders of Jill and Gwen on either side of her. "You don't have to make room for me in the house. I can sleep out here in the barn. And I'll do whatever you need me to do. I'll take care of the cows, and, and..." She looked at the playpens and her eyes grew wide with sudden inspiration, "...and you'll have more time for the babies!"

Clarissa blinked, wondering why Wendy had looked down at her stomach instead of the playpens when Gail had said "babies." As she caught Wendy's eye, she knew. "Wendy! You're..."

"Shhhh!!" Wendy shook her head violently. "I haven't told Tom yet!"

The rest of the girls looked back and forth between Wendy and Clarissa in astonishment, and Karen broke into a wide grin. "Oh!"

Clarissa laughed, and said, "Well, you kind of need a slave now, don't you?"

Monica and Kirsten gasped and trotted towards Wendy, while the other girls crowded closer around Gail, Jenny shouting "Are you really going to be a slave, Gail?" Everyone was talking at once, and suddenly stopped as Wendy said, "Quiet down, all of you. I need to talk to Gail."

She looked down at Gail, who was biting her lip and looking as though she knew she had crossed a bridge and wasn't sure whether to look back. Though she was still entitled to withdraw her offer to be a slave, doing so at this point would be breathtakingly rude, the equivalent of offering someone a substantial fortune and then changing your mind. She had come to feel too close to Wendy, and certainly to all of the girls, to act so shamefully in front of all of them.

"Gail..." She paused for several long seconds. "My first reaction is to thank you and decline your really, really generous offer." Two of the girls groaned. "But..." Several other girls gasped. Jenny whispered "All right!"

Wendy went on. "Ever since I -- found out," she rubbed her stomach, "I've been wondering how I was going to do all this." She knelt by one of the playpens, reaching in and rubbing Ashley under the chin. Ashley giggled in response and waved her arms.

She looked back at Gail. "I know you're feeling very upset today, and you might... say some things you don't mean. What I'd like you to do is go home tonight, and think about it. Tom and I have some... things to talk over tonight." She smiled self-consciously. "If you decide this is what you really want to do, come back tomorrow morning, about ten. Tom and I would be very proud to own you, if that's what you decide. And I'm sure we couldn't have a more caring slave, for taking care of the girls." She looked around at the cows, who were all grinning and nodding. "And if you decide you were maybe... too hasty, well, we'll understand."

Gail took a deep breath, and stroked Jill's and Gwen's shoulders. Her eyes were shining. "I think I already know what I'll decide." She swung her gaze from one side to the other, looking at all the cows. "If it's okay with you guys."

All of the girls shouted "Yes!" in response.

Gail looked over at the box, lying on the ground just inside the barn door. "We've still got some pizza. It's probably cold, though."

Monica laughed. "Who cares if it's cold. It's pizza!

Tom, pacing the living room, looked at his watch. "It's ten o'clock. Being late makes a bad impression."

Wendy, sitting in the recliner with Adrienne nursing at her left nipple, laughed. "Sweety, everybody doesn't set their watch five minutes ahead like you do. I'm sure she'll be here on time."

"It's just I've got stuff to do..."

He was interrupted by the sound of footsteps on the front porch, followed by the chiming of the doorbell.

Tom paused as if expecting Wendy to answer it, saw she was still occupied, and grinned sheepishly, muttering "Sorry."

He pulled the door open. "Hi, G...."

Wendy turned her head, hearing the surprise in Tom's voice, and burst out laughing. As she saw Gail blush and unconsciously take a step back, she said quickly, "I'm sorry, Gail, I'm not laughing at you, really I'm not. I was just thinking we don't have to ask what you decided." She rose from the chair, cradling Adrienne's head with her cupped hand, and said, "Come in, dear. Tom, why don't you take that box?"

Gail smiled nervously and handed Tom a large cardboard box. Still blushing, she stepped tentatively into the room, completely naked. She stood properly submissive, her hands behind her, her fingers nervously playing with each other.

Tom saw that the box contained a CD player and a few dozen disks, with a few sheets of paper stuck between two of the disks. He looked beyond her out to her car. "Is there anything else?"

Gail shook her head. "I really don't have much. I was thinking the cows might like the music, and anyway I'd miss it myself if I didn't bring it. That's about the only thing I thought I'd miss." She smiled.

Wendy looked to see what was in the box. Adrienne had finished her lunch and was looking around the room, eyes as always wide with wonder, as Wendy patted her back. "What about all your clothes and stuff? I mean, you must have had more than just this."

Gail shrugged, her breasts jiggling cutely. "Well, I knew I wouldn't need clothes here. I got hold of a liquidation agent yesterday afternoon, and put you guys down to get the money. Well, fifty percent, anyway. You know how that works." When a girl with no family and no roommate or husband was drafted, she usually hired an agent to take charge of selling her possessions, for a hefty fee. "I didn't feel like leaving it all to my dad -- I'd rather you had it, and I knew you didn't have time to sort through everything and sell it all yourselves. Oh, your copy of the contract is in the box, it's one of those papers."

Tom's eyes grew wide. "That's really thoughtful of you."

Gail shook her head. "It's not going to be much, trust me. Oh, and I closed my bank account, so there's a check made out to you for the balance, and the pink slip to my car." She gestured with her head at the vehicle parked in the street. "You could sell it, or I thought Wendy might want her own car. If you don't mind one that junky." She grinned.

Tom was shaking his head slightly in wonder, his eyes still wide. "I hardly know what to say."

Wendy laughed. "Gail, did you spend any time at all thinking it over? It sounds like you started closing out your outside life the second you got home."

Gail grinned. "Before I got home, actually. I drove straight to the bank from here, and the man there recommended a good liquidator, and... well, so no, I guess you could say I wasn't sitting around trying to figure out which way to go. I knew before I left here."

"You told your father?"

She nodded. "He was fine with it. He was expecting me to get married, and this is a little like that, sort of. He already knew he wasn't going to get to eat me."

Wendy looked at Tom. "Well, when we do eat you, we can certainly invite your dad. He should be able to eat his own daughter, even if she is somebody's slave." She raised her eyebrows questioningly. Tom nodded.

Gail sighed. "You guys are so cool, really! Oh!" She put her hand up to her mouth. "Maybe I shouldn't talk like that. I don't know an awful lot about being a slave. We never had one at home. I mean, what should I call you?"

Wendy said, "You've heard what Natalie calls us, right?"

"Oh, sure. Would that be okay?" She looked back and forth at both of them.

Tom nodded again. "We're not really big on being formal. We want you to treat us respectfully, but there's no reason to make it a big burden on you. We care more about the work you do than the words you say."

Gail grinned. "I knew you'd be like that. So, uhhh..." She paused uncertainly. "How do I, umm... start? Do I get, like, a collar or anything?"

Tom put down the box he'd been holding. "I went into town and bought one last night. Let me go get that." He turned and walked into the hallway, towards the bedroom.

Adrienne let out an unladylike burp, and Wendy looked down at her and smiled, saying in mommy-voice, "Oh my, I'll bet that felt good." As if on that signal, Annie began crying. Wendy sighed. "I'm glad they stagger their lunchtimes a little, 'cause I don't have four nipples. But it does kind of stretch the time out. I'll be a lot busier when I have four or five more."

Gail nodded. "I guess you told T... Master Tom last night."

"Yeah. He was kind of surprised." She laughed. "Well, I mean he knows how these kinds of things happen, but he's still working on understanding how big this family's going to get." She put Adrienne down in her playpen and picked up Annie. "Oh, by the way, we've already done some work out in the barn to get ready for you. Tom thought it was a very good idea for you to sleep out there. A little added security, and we think the girls will love having you there. Anyway, there's a sleeping pad, and a litter box. There's even a little night light screwed into the wall over your sleeping pad. It's battery-operated, so just use it when you really need to."

Gail's reply was interrupted by Tom's return. He was holding a paper bag with the logo "Sid's Slave Supply" on the side. Gail held her breath, eager to see the one single thing she would own for the rest of her life. She was expecting a thick metal collar, of the sort that the cows wore. She gasped as he pulled it out of the bag, exclaiming, "Oh, it's so beautiful!"

The collar was black leather, with three silvery metal bands -- one along each edge and another running between them in the middle. The center band was interrupted twice by metal D-rings, one of which would be in the front when she was wearing the collar, the other in back. The locking mechanism was adjustable to different neck sizes, and would be located on one side of her neck. For symmetry, there was a non-functional ornament looking similar to the lock, for the other side of her neck.

Gail's eyes grew wider as she examined the collar while Tom held it in front of her. She looked up at Tom and said in an awestruck voice, "You got that for me?"

Tom smiled. "Well, we haven't had a work-slave here before, so that does make you kind of a special family member."

She blankly repeated the word "family," and suddenly threw her arms around Tom. He gave her a little squeeze, giving Wendy a surprised grin and a shrug, before Gail turned to Wendy and gave her an equally tight hug. Then she backed away suddenly, not sure it was right to do that with the master and mistress.

Tom cleared his throat. "So, shall I put this on you?"

"Oh yes, please!" She put her hands up to lift her hair out of the way, and Tom drew it around her neck. She gave a little surprised peep as Tom clicked the lock closed, and he looked at her in concern.

"I didn't get it too tight, did I? It can be looser."

"No, no! I was just... I mean, I'm really a slave now. It's just kind of sinking in."

Wendy smiled. "Well, go get the whip, Tom." She laughed at the look of horror on Gail's face, and the surprised one on Tom's. "No, no, dear, I'm just kidding. It won't be like that. We do need to brand you, though, but it won't hurt! Really! All the girls have been through that, and we give you a little shot to deaden the skin first. Shall we do that now?"

Gail bit her lip, and nodded uncertainly.

Wendy gave her another quick hug, and kept her arm on her shoulder to lead her into the kitchen. "Tom will go get the equipment. Afterwards we'll talk about your duties." She looked at her watch. "Like the girls' daily field trip. It's about time for that. And cooking for Tom and myself. Can you cook?"

"Oh, yes! My mom taught me. I made all the side dishes when we roasted her!" It was something she clearly took pride in.

Wendy smiled. "That makes it a lot easier. I won't need to teach you anything. Later I can make a list of some of Tom's and my favorite meals, and give you some recipes. If you'll let us know what ingredients you'll need, one of us can go into town and pick them up. You can't go in the stores anymore, of course."

Gail took in a sharp breath, her eyes wide. "I hadn't really thought about that. This will take some getting used to. I don't know why people look down on slaves so much."

Wendy shook her head. "I don't really know either. Of course, in the big cities they're a little looser about that, and there are more places where they allow slaves in. They even let slaves wear clothes, at least some of the time. But people are kind of old fashioned around here."

Gail sighed. "I know. I wouldn't have given myself to anybody but you and Tom. A lot of other people..." She shuddered. "It'd be kind of scary."

Wendy patted her on the shoulder. "We're really grateful you came along. I know Tom's mother had a lot of help when the kids were growing up. They still have kids there, of course. If I'm going to have anywhere near the number of babies she did, we'll need some more slaves." She gave Gail a grin. "You'll be the senior slave."

Gail beamed. "That will be cool! I won't let you down, I promise!"

Wendy patted her again. "I know. Now, Tom will take you into town to register you as soon as he gets a chance..."

Tom appeared in the doorway with the branding iron and skin anesthetic. He handed the iron to Wendy. "Heat this up for me please, sweety. I was just thinking about where to put the mark. Of course, the cows get it just above their breasts -- kind of symbolic -- but for other kinds of slaves..." He looked over Gail's naked body thoughtfully, adding a little to her self-consciousness. She worked to push the feeling aside. He owned her now.

Wendy squatted down beside Gail and brushed at an area on the side of Gail's buttock, looking at it thoughtfully. "What about right here, honey?"

Gail bit her lip as a tingle shot through her buttock in anticipation. She tried to focus on Wendy's assurance that it wouldn't hurt.

Tom nodded. "That'll be good. Kind of a standard place, and it'll be easy to spot. Yeah, let's do that." He squatted beside Wendy and swabbed the area with an alcohol-soaked cotton ball, while Gail closed her eyes and breathed deeply, telling herself it would only happen once. She steeled herself for the jab of the needle, twitching only the tiniest bit as it went in. Finally, she squeezed her eyes more tightly shut and made fists of her hands as Tom retrieved the hot iron. To her astonishment, only the hissing sound of burning skin told her the job had been done. She twisted around and looked down in surprise at the bright red mark on her butt, as Tom set the iron aside to cool and began putting the other things away. "It's going to sting a lot later, when the anesthetic wears off, but not nearly as much as you're imagining. I've done this a lot, and that's what the cows all tell me."

She looked up at him and grinned. "I guess we're past the hardest part." Tom smiled and winked at her.

The trip to the field was similar to the chaos of Clarissa's first time back, with the cows in something like a party mood. Monica had realized that Gail would not be able to order pizza anymore, but the girls, including Gail, cheered when Wendy promised to order by phone and maintain the Monday lunchtime tradition. Gail was taken aback when she found out the purpose of the field trip, especially when Wendy told her she should participate in the fertilization starting the next day, but she nodded and promised to save up her feces for it. After Wendy made sure Gail was clear about how to re-secure the cows in the barn after returning, she took her back to the house to make the lunches for Tom, Wendy, and herself.

After lunch Gail returned to the barn. With no duties for awhile, she shared some TV viewing in several stalls, and sorted through her CD collection, calling out titles and groups to the cows and making mental notes of their requests.

Late in the afternoon, Wendy called her in to make dinner, and afterwards came back out to the barn with her for the evening milking. Gail's tiny amount of experience, many weeks earlier at the milking stand, gave her a slight head-start, though she needed quite a lot of work on her technique. Wendy gave her a few pointers and mainly stood back and watched. It wasn't until Gail reached Clarissa's and Natalie's stall, the last occupied one in line, that she was handling it fairly smoothly.

Clarissa and Natalie had been snuggling together, and were just getting to their hooves as Gail entered. Clarissa said, "I was going to tell you earlier, I always thought you'd have really cute breasts if you showed them. I was right."

"Oh, Clarissa, really, they're nothing like yours."

Clarissa laughed. "Well, you know I didn't exactly grow these myself. Oh, and I was noticing you never shaved your bush. I thought girls with boyfriends usually shave them." She suppressed a wince then, wishing she had something to kick herself with. She hadn't meant to bring up Chuck.

Gail just laughed. "What's-his-name liked it tickling his nose, so I kept it." She sat down to milk Clarissa, who was glad Gail seemed to be putting her pain behind her. She seemed very happy to be where she was.

Clarissa shook her head and grinned. "It's like that day in the stand -- it just seems really weird, an old friend from school sitting here milking me."

Gail laughed. "I know. It's funny, my fingers are kind of shaking. They weren't when I was doing your sisters. I didn't know any of them before I started coming here, though."

Natalie asked, "Were you guys kind of close in high school?"

Clarissa shook her head. "It's not like we were best friends, or anything like that."

Gail nodded. "True, though we did double date that one time, when I was going with Rob and Clarissa was trying to get Josh Kessel to pay attention to her."

Clarissa laughed. "Yeah, that dweeb. He was kind of cute, but it was hard to find things to talk about with him."

"Well, you might have had a conversation if you didn't keep talking about nothing but the Hanging Academy."

"That was what I was interested in! If you're going to have a boyfriend, shouldn't he be interested in things you want to talk about?"

"Come on, Clarissa, you've got to know it's a relationship killer, telling a guy you're going to be hanged as soon as you finish learning how to do it."

"Why's it a relationship killer? It should be perfect. If you know you're going to be dead in two years, then the guy doesn't have to make a Commitment. That's what they're all afraid of."

Gail sighed and nodded. "No kidding."

Natalie pointed out, "Anyway, now you're a girlcow instead. I wonder if boys look at that sort of future any differently from the Hanging Academy."

Clarissa shrugged. "I can't tell you the answer from personal experience, because I was never figuring to be a girlcow. But all my sisters had boyfriends, and most of them had sex, but I can't remember most of them having a guy you'd call steady."

Gail had finished with Clarissa and begun milking Natalie. "See, that's my point. I think you're right about them not wanting the C word, but something's still missing if they know you're going off to the Academy or be converted to a girlcow as soon as you're through school. They're afraid of anything permanent, but if they're having sex with you, they want to know they can do it again with you later."

Natalie wrinkled her brows. "That doesn't make sense."

Gail laughed. "Of course it doesn't make sense. It's boys!" All three girls laughed.

After the milking, Wendy talked over the nighttime security arrangements with Gail. "We're going to turn the lights out a little after ten. All the girls have little night lights in their stalls, and Tom installed one for you by your sleeping pad. You can leave the gates to the stalls open until ten, and you can spend some time with the girls in their stalls if you want. Don't let yourself get locked into a stall accidentally, because we're not going to leave the keys out here. At ten, make sure all the stall gates are closed and locked. I'll come out here at six and you can come in to fix breakfast. Oh, and this is important: if anything happens, like somebody trying to break in, you need to push this green button here, on the security panel. We've never had anybody out here to push the button before, but it sets off a buzzer in the house, and Tom will be right out here. And if he doesn't enter the all-clear code in five minutes, it sends an alarm to the police." Wendy stopped and smiled. "So you ready for your first night in the barn?"

Gail looked at her sleeping pad. It looked comfortable enough. She hadn't used the litter box yet, as Tom had been kind enough to let her use the bathroom in the house during the day -- of course, she'd have no way to reach that now. She took a deep breath. "Yes, Miss Wendy."

Wendy gave her a quick hug. "I just wanted to tell you again how grateful we are that you're here. I don't just mean helping out, but also being willing to live in the barn. Tom and I both think having an able-bodied person to watch over the girls is a lot safer than relying on nothing but automatic systems." She caught the look of tension in Gail's face. "I'm sorry, I've got you worried, and I didn't mean to. We really aren't expecting anything to happen. I'm sure you'll be fine. You'll have plenty of company, and we'll be out here if you need us. See you in the morning." She gave her one last pat, and went out the barn door, pulling it closed and locking Gail in with the rest of the girls until morning.

Gail took a deep breath and blew it out slowly between pursed lips, and walked into Clarissa's and Natalie's stall. She had told herself she would need to spend time with all the girls, getting to know them, but this first night she felt more comfortable with the one girl she knew best.

The two girls had already settled in to watch TV, both sitting upright, with Clarissa leaning back against Natalie's big soft breasts, cradled between Natalie's legs. Gail sat down beside them. "What's on?"

Natalie answered. "'Prime Cuts.' Ever watch that?"

"Couple of times. It's that comedy about a family of butchers, right?"

"Uh-huh. Every few weeks they really do snuff a girl on the show. I heard they have real butchers standing by to process her meat."

"Yeah, I guess they'd have to. It's not like they'd let a girl's meat go to waste. Wonder how they get the girls?"

Clarissa speculated, "Probably go to a real butcher shop and get a girl who's just been drafted. Or maybe they have contacts in the draft board itself."

Natalie picked up on the theme. "Maybe, but it seems like the snuffed girls can actually act. They have lines to say and all that. Maybe they get called when some minor actress gets drafted. It probably doesn't happen often, so that's why they only do it every three or four shows."

Gail was watching the screen, trying to follow the dialogue. "Ever recognize one of the snuffed girls?"

Clarissa shook her head. Natalie said, "Well, one or two looked a little familiar, I thought. Not like I knew their names, though."

Gail laughed. "Bet they're waiting for some famous actress to get drafted."

Natalie and Clarissa joined in the laughter, Clarissa saying "Wow, that would get ratings."

They watched in silence for awhile. Gail was laughing as one of the characters was having trouble getting the guillotine to work right, and suddenly tilted her head, trying to identify a sound she thought she was hearing from across the barn, of a different quality from the murmurs emerging from TVs. "What's that?"

Clarissa looked at her. "What?"

The sound resolved itself into what seemed to be a cry of pain. Gail jumped instantly to her feet. "Shit!"

She bolted out through the stall gate, Clarissa whipping her head around to follow her departure. "Gail! Wait..."

It was coming from Gwen's and Jenny's stall. Thinking more in terms of some sort of physical distress than the possibility of a break-in, as she hadn't heard any sounds of the barn door being forced, she plunged into the girls' stall before suddenly stopping as if she'd hit a wall, and jumping back several feet as if she'd bounced off it. In front of her, the two girls paused in the midst of a vigourous sixty-nine session, Jenny looking directly up at Gail from between Gwen's hind legs, her tongue still out, a look of surprise on her face, and Gwen twisting her head back to see who had entered.

Her face beet-red, Gail backed towards the stall gate, frantically whispering, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." She turned and ran back to the other stall where Clarissa and Natalie had gotten up on their hooves, watching Gail stumble in, her face covered with her hands, beginning to giggle uncontrollably.

When she finally got control of herself, she gasped out, "I'm sorry, I just had no idea you guys... did that."

Clarissa stared at her, open mouthed. "Gail, come on, you've seen how we all are with each other."

"Well, I mean, I can see you're all really close, and affectionate and all that, but it just... somehow it never occurred to me you went the whole way!"

Clarissa and Natalie exchanged wide-eyed glances, both knowing the other was thinking "She's go SO much to learn about girlcows," without needing to say the words. Clarissa, patiently trying to push Gail to a logical conclusion, asked, "Who else have we got, Gail?"

"Ummm, well, yeah. I better go apologize to them a little better." She started to turn.

"Wait!" Clarissa smiled. "Give them a few minutes, okay?" She could hear her two sisters just now starting to rebuild to the point they had been when interrupted.

"Uhh... right." She dropped to a sitting position on the floor. "I am SO embarrassed. I'm such a doofus sometimes."

"Not more than once every hour, I'm sure."

Gail laughed at that, and took a deep breath, raising her head to look at Clarissa. "I'll learn, I promise."

A thought suddenly struck Clarissa. "You know, Gail, I think I'm speaking for all the girls here. If you get to feel like you want to play a little, we'd all love to do it with you." She looked at Natalie. "Right?"

Natalie nodded eagerly. "Sure, that'd be fun. You've got all your arms and legs and fingers and all that. It'd be really different."

Gail looked back and forth between them. "For real?"

Both girls said "Of course" together, and laughed. They kissed each other, their tradition when they'd said something unintentionally in unison. It seemed to happen a lot.

Gail bit her lip. "I'll need to think about it."

Clarissa smiled. "Sure, no problem."