I was sitting at my desk going through some paperwork when the door to the office opened and in walked a man in a Police Inspectors uniform.

“Sergeant Dobbs, I understand that you know the Gibbs family?”

“Yes Sir. I guess you don’t know that Nick is, sorry was my adopted brother. He changed his name back to his original one when he met his birth parents a few years ago.”

The officer sat down with a sigh.

“I’m going to need you to go and break the bad news to Mrs Gibbs. It will be better coming from you.”

I nodded my head. My face told of my sadness at the news.

“Sir, are we any closer to finding the scum who shot him?”

“We know who did it. The CCTV clearly shows who did it. We are searching for him now but he seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth.”

“Thanks for the update Sir. I’ll take PC Barry with me if that’s alright?”

“Yes. She needs to get a bit of experience in this area. Compassion is not really her strongpoint is it?”

I managed a tiny smile. Giving the news of a death was about the worst job I had to do. In this case, Marilyn Gibbs was an old girlfriend of mine as well as being the wife of my adopted brother. I knew this was not going to be easy but little did I know what I was going to discover while carrying out this rather odious duty.

The Inspector left me alone so that I could gather my thoughts.

Nick had fallen by accident into running the nightclub. He was not like most club owners in that he ran a clean joint. Anyone found pushing drugs were handed over to the police. Anyone found soliciting was banned for life. He’d managed to resist all attempts at coercion for almost 7 years. Now it was at an end, his life had been snubbed out by a virtual nobody in an instant.

*

An hour later we drove up to the home of Nick and Marilyn Gibbs. The house was a large detached property set in at least 10 acres of grounds. It had a stable block at the back and a new three vehicle garage. The nightclub business certainly had its rewards.

I stopped the car and turned to my companion.

“Constable, don’t say anything out of place. I know the family so this is going to be hard enough as it is without you interrupting. Just learn that sometimes it is better to keep your mouth shut.”

“Sarge…”

“No Constable. Just let me do the talking. This is my family here, not yours.”

The PC gave up. She was savvy enough to know that she should not question her Sergeant.

Together they walked up to the front door. I rang the bell. They could hear the chimes sounding inside.

The house was silent.

“Is that Mrs Gibbs’ car in the drive?” asked the PC.

I turned to look at the sleek vehicle. She drove a Black Porsche 911 with personalized plates.
“Yes. That’s hers. She should have answered by now. Stay here. I’ll go around back. She might be in the outbuildings.”

I walked around to the rear of the property and called out,

“Marilyn? Are you here?”

There was no answer.

I went up to the stable doors. There were four of them. They were all closed.

“Marilyn? Are you here?”

I heard a noise coming from the end stable.

The door was bolted shut. This puzzled me. I tried to remember if they had any horses. As far as I knew, they didn’t. So with some caution, I opened the top part of the stable door.

I audibly gasped when I saw what was inside.

“Marilyn? Is that you?”

As soon as I said it, he knew how foolish it was. I could recognize the leopard she had tattooed on her arm anywhere.

What I didn’t expect to see was how she was dressed.

Dressed wasn’t really the word for it.

As she saw me, a look of sheer panic appeared on her face.

I saw this and tried to be calming, “Don’t worry Marilyn. Let me get you out of this.”

She shook her head.

“I have to. You don’t understand. When I get you out of all this, I need to tell you something, something very important.”
My one date lover and long time friend was…. She was all trussed up in horsey tack. A bit was in her mouth and what appeared to be a tail came from somewhere he didn’t want to think about. Her feet and hands were covered in leather ‘things’ that looked like they had steel hooves on. A chain ran from the bit to a ring on the wall where a padlock made sure she couldn’t wander off.

I put the obvious ‘what the fuck’ out of my mind. That could wait. I had a serious job to do and quickly.

Ignoring her protests, I set too and started to undo everything I could. After some initial resistance, Marilyn relaxed and let me get on with the job of releasing her.

I tried to take the bit from her mouth but she stopped me. She thrust her tongue forward. I saw that it was attached to the bit through a piercing in her tongue.

I thought to myself, ‘no wonder she couldn’t speak’.

With some care, I removed the pin holding the ring to her tongue and removed the bit. This allowed her to speak again.
“Pete, what are you doing here?”

My face went white.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Did Nick put you in this get up?”

“Yes. Then he went off to the club. We do this quite often. Why?”

“Marilyn, I don’t know how to say this… Nick’s dead.”

Her reaction was swift. She wrapped her arms around my body. Tears started to flow.

I tried my best to comfort her
“Shh….”

“How… how did it happen?” she said between sobs.

“He was shot by some punk in front of everyone at the club.”

Before she could react, I heard a voice from outside.

“Sarge?”

I reacted quickly.

“Keep quiet Marilyn. I don’t want my colleague to see you like this. She has a big mouth,” I whispered urgently.

I backed her into the stall. Her feet were still in her horsey boots.

Then I went outside the stable.

“Ah here you are? What’s going on?” said my colleague.

“I’d told her so why don’t you go and put the kettle on? There is a key under the second pot on the left side of the back door?”
“But…?”

“Go!” I said very firmly.

The PC hesitated for a second and then she turned and headed for the back door to the house.

I returned to the stable. I found that Marilyn had taken the rest of her ‘tack’ off and was waiting for him.

“Who’s that?”

I gave her a little smile.

“Our new and wet between the ears PC. She’s also got a big mouth understand?”

She nodded.

“Do you have any clothes you can put on?”

“Sorry. Nick took them back to the house.”

“Ok. Stay here. I’ll go and get some for you.”

“What will you say to her?”

“I’ll concoct some tale about the news and a bucket of rather smelly water.”

Before she could reply, I’d left her alone in the stables.

Five minutes later I’d returned with an armful of clothes for her.

Shortly afterwards, we sat down with a mug of tea and I explained to her in detail what happened.

*

In the following months, I saw quite a bit of Marilyn. We’d caught the killer trying to get on a ferry at Dover. In the end, he pleaded guilty and was sent down for life.

Marilyn sold the club to some very dubious Russians but she was never really interested in the business and they for some reason offered a good price.

With the trial over and the business sold, I sort of lost touch with her. Other cases and more deserving victims and all that meant that I didn’t have any reason to call in and see her any more.

Some twenty months later, I transferred from the Avon and Somerset Constabulary to the Devon and Cornwall Police. I’d been promoted to Inspector and I took over the role of Station Inspector at Okehampton.

This was ideal for me because Okehampton was my home. This was where I’d been brought up there. It was on the edge of Dartmoor and a lovely area. An entirely different place from suburban Bristol.

*

About a year after I’d been enjoying the much slower pace of live in rural Devon, I was dispatched to a farm on the edge of the moor.

There had been a complaint about some sheep rustling. This was an increasing problem with the rising price of Lamb in the shops many more gangs had decided that they could make a good deal on money with little risk.

I pulled up outside the farmhouse. It had been once a working farm but was now clearly just a residence.

I pulled up outside the building wondering why I’d been sent to this particular farm. It was obviously no longer a farm but just a private residence.

Nevertheless, I rang the door bell. It sounded familiar but there again, I thought that there couldn’t be many different chimes these days.

The door opened and I got the shock of my life.

There standing in front of me was Marilyn.

“Pete! What are you doing here?” she remarked looking very surprised to see two Police Officers and especially myself standing on her doorstep.

“We got a report about some sheep rustling. I was told by dispatch that the report came from Ancells Farm. This is Ancells Farm so here we are. This is my colleague, PC Brown.”

“You were a Sergeant last time we met?”

“I got promoted. Down here everyone mucks in including Inspectors especially when their two Sergeants are over in Exeter giving evidence in a Deer Poaching case.”

“Please come on in. I’ll put the kettle on.”

We trooped into the house and through to the large and very warm kitchen.

As Marilyn was filling the kettle, she said, “I’m in the middle of making some bread. Please excuse me if I have to do some kneading in a few minutes.”

I took this opportunity to have a good look at her. She’d lost some weight since I’d last seen her. Not that she was fat or anything but actually I preferred the old her rather than the new one. She seemed just ‘too thin’ in my eyes.

I stopped my fantasizing and said,

“About the rustling. Did you report a horse van…,” I consulted my notes before continuing.

“Driving hell for leather towards the A30 at 05:30 this morning?”

“Yes. That was me. I was out for my morning run. I try do 6 to 8 miles a day. My usual route takes me over the moor and back to Belstone. This back here via the Tarka Trail. The last bit through to Belstone is along the road. Suddenly this brown coloured Horse Box type truck comes racing along the road, hangs a left and heads down towards the A30. Then I heard on the radio a bit later about 20 more sheep going missing from a place close to where I saw the truck.”

Any more explanation was interrupted by the whistle on the kettle going off.

When Marilyn had poured us all a cup of tea, I was just about to ask another question when an alarm sounded.

“Excuse me. I need to do a bit of kneading,” said Marilyn with a smile.

As she kneaded the dough she smiled back at me. I took this as a sign to carry on with my questioning.

“Did you happen to think to remember the registration number of this mystery vehicle?”

She grinned back at me.

“I can do better than that. There was a name on the side of the truck. It said, ‘Frank Gardener Racing’. There was a phone number but that didn’t stick. Is that going to be enough?”

I wrote this down in my notebook.

I was still writing when my colleague spoke for the first time.

“Have you seen that particular truck in the area before this occasion?”

“No. It is generally very quiet hereabouts. This road leads nowhere and there is not much to see up here that isn’t better elsewhere. That is the main reason why I chose this place to come and live“.

As we finished our tea, Marilyn finished with the bread and put it into a warm oven so that it could prove.

I took this as a hint and decided to leave. As I did so Marilyn said,

“I hope I’ll see you again soon Peter. It is really nice to know that there is someone I know not far away.”

*

As hard as tried, I couldn’t get Marilyn out of my mind. Despite everything that had happened, I had a bit of a soft spot for her and she was family, well sort of.

In the end, I gave in and after my shift finished one day about a month later, I drove out to her home.

I hadn’t got the foggiest idea about what I was going to say. All I hoped was that I didn’t embarrass myself too much.

To my relief, she was home. All the same, I was very nervous as I rang the bell.

As the door opened, a huge smile appeared on Marilyn’s face.

“Pete! This is a pleasant surprise. Please come in.”

*

After the pleasantries, and the inevitable brewing of some tea Marilyn asked,

“What do I owe the pleasure of your company this fine evening? Did you catch those rustlers?”

“Yes… Yes we did. They were nicked on the M4 near Reading. They’d run out of diesel.”

Marilyn sniggered. Then she looked at me.

“Marilyn… are… are you seeing anyone at the moment?”

She smiled wistfully back at me.

“Why Peter, are you asking me out?”

“Yes, damm it Marilyn. You know I’ve always fancied you. We had just the one date before you switched to Nick.”

“I know. And despite that you were the perfect Gentleman all the time I was shacked up with your brother.”

She took my hand gently.

“It must have been agony but I appreciate what you did for Nick and myself.”

“No. I saw that you were both happy. Besides, I don’t think you would have been very good as a Policeman’s wife.”

“But you are still on the job so what has changed all of a sudden? You got promoted and you have this cushy number out in the country. What’s changed?”

I looked down at the table for a few seconds. Then I answered.

“I love being here but I’ve began to feel somewhat trapped. It is as if I don’t get out now then I’ll do my 30 years and then keel over and die within two years of retiring.”

That wiped the smiled off her face.

“So why come here?”

I didn’t reply right away.

“Do you remember how I found you the day Nick died?”

She giggled.

“I do. I do indeed.”

Her reaction was not what I’d expected.

“Didn’t you mind? You know me finding you all trussed up like that? I can’t get it out of my mind since I saw you the other day.”

She smiled back.

“At the time I did but after a while, I felt relieved that it was you who found me. Now, I think being locked up like that and being found was all part of the risk in the game that Nick and I played.”

“Would you let me put you in your Pony Girl gear?”

She laughed.

“I think I still have it. Mind you it will need a good clean, I’ve not used it since that day… Does it turn you on?”

A tear came into her eye as she remembered the day her husband had been killed.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned that. Me and my big mouth but seeing you again after all this time…”

She leaned over and kissed me gently on the lips.

“Don’t worry about that. It might be a nice change. It can get pretty boring out here at times.”

We talked for almost an hour remembering the good old days when we were younger and all lived in the same flat. Then Marilyn said,
“About what you asked earlier, I’ll do it on one condition.”

I smiled back at her.

“I think I can guess what that is…”

“It has been a long time since that bedsit we all shared together. I’m not sure if I have much of my stuff anymore, what with all the moves and that.”

Marilyn grinned.

“If you clean all my tack, I’ll do the shopping for you. How about it? I’ve always wanted to buy you some decent clothes ever since that incident at the Christmas Party…”

I felt myself go red in the face. I remembered only too well my total embarrassment when I had a wardrobe malfunction and… lets say, I was very embarrassed and it took me a long time to live it down amongst my fellow officers.

Marilyn took hold of my hand. Just that simple action sent a shiver down my back.

“Come with me,” she said.

I meekly followed her out of the kitchen and into the yard at the back. Her property had extensive outbuildings that formed almost a complete square. A large double gate filled the only gap. I let her lead me into one of the outbuildings. I could see that one side was all horse loose-boxes but the one we went inside had a more substantial door on it.

She switched on a light and pulled a cover off an object in front of me.

I knew instinctively what it was.

“Nick ordered this shortly before… well before he was murdered. I didn’t have the heart to get rid of it. I’d think now would be a good time to put it to good use don’t you?”

I was looking at a Trap. This was the sort of Trap that you hitch a horse too and someone drives it. In this case, instead of a horse, you have a pony-girl.

“Are you sure?”

“I think it would be good to remember him positively after all this time don’t you?”

I squeezed her hand gently.

Things conspired to stop us getting together again for a couple of weeks. I was temporarily seconded to Plymouth to assist on a murder case that ironically bore a lot of the same hallmarks to the shooting of my good friend Nick.

When I returned to ‘base’ I called Marilyn.

“Hello Marilyn, its Peter.”

“Yes, I got back last night. A man was charged with the murder and remanded in custody. I’ve got a few days off… I was wondering…?”

“Yes, I’d like that very much.”

I smiled as I listened to Marilyn speak.

“I’ll do just that.”

I looked up at the clock on the wall.

“Let’s say, around nine tomorrow morning?”

“Yes, see you then.”

I put the phone down. Just listening to her voice again made me feel… well different inside.

I felt rather nervous as I pulled up outside her house. Its location was stunning on the edge of the moors yet in a quiet spot. A couple of fields enclosed by dry stone walls led from the rear of her property down into a valley where a tree lined stream gently meandered its way towards the sea.

I knew that she’d found her idyll. She’d waxed long and lyrical about a place just like this on many a cold night in the Bristol bedsit. I knew that Nick would have loved this place.

I walked up to the front door and Marilyn opened it. I gasped when I saw her.

“Marilyn! What have you done?”

She grinned back at me.

“Oh, this? I’ve just cut some of my hair off. No big deal. It will grow back again.”

She’d cut it all off apart from a centre mane. What was left was braided with red and white ribbons.

I stepped forward and lightly kissed her.

“You didn’t have to do that you know?”

“I did if I was going to be as Nick wanted. Come on in and I’ll show you.”

I let her lead me into the sitting room. On the wall above the fireplace hung a painting I’d never seen before. The subject of the work was Marilyn in all her Pony-girl gear strapped into a trap. Her head in the picture was clearly shaven like hers was now.

“Nick did this a few months before he died.”

Nick was a talented artist. It is a shame that he only got into managing nightclubs because he couldn’t make a living with his art.

“When did you do that? I said pointing at her head.

“I heard about the arrest on the radio so I sort of hoped that you’d call.”

“And if I didn’t?” I asked smiling as I thought of her going shopping looking like that?

“I would have just got on with life and might keep it or just let it grow back… eventually.”

That’s what I loved about her. She never took life very seriously.

“I’m all ready for you. I took pity on you and cleaned all the tack.”

She took my hand and as before led me out the back of the house. The trap was sitting there sparling on the sun. She led me into one of the horse-boxes and showed me all the tack including the very same bit that she’d been wearing that fateful day.

“Come on, I want to show you what I’ve bought for you to wear. I think you will like it,” she said leading me by the hand back into the house.

She led me upstairs and into what was a spare bedroom yet was totally furnished. Lying on the satin covered bedspread was my outfit for the day.

“Wow!” I exclaimed as I looked at it.

“I didn’t expect that as all.”

“You like it then?”

“It is…. Very appropriate indeed,” I replied.

“I’m glad you like it. There are a few more outfits in the wardrobe that you might like to try on at some point as well.”

“You shouldn’t have gone to all this expense just for me?”

“Who else do I have to spend it on then?”

There was no one else.

“Thank you very much.”

She laughed.

“You won’t be laughing by the time I lace you into your corset.”

“A corset?”

“Why miss, you can’t go out riding without being properly dressed can one?” she replied in a fake Southern US Accent.

I joined in her laughter. She’d gone the whole way right down to lace up boots and a hat with a veil.

“Isn’t it rather a lot for just trotting around the yard?”

“Who said that we’d just go around the yard?”

I must have gone as white as a sheet.

“You don’t mean that we are going out the gate?”

“I most certainly do. I have not gone to all this trouble just to stay inside.”

Marilyn saw my panic and came to my rescue.

“Well perhaps not today but I want to go out over the moor. That is why I bought this place. There is a two-mile trotting circuit that is just waiting for us outside the back gate.”

“Marilyn? Is there something you are not telling me?”

She grinned back at me.

“When I sold up the place in Bath, I heard that you had transferred down here. I know that you liked it here as you always called it home. I came down one wet weekend last November and looked at a few places. Then I saw this place. It needed doing up but was perfect for me, for us.”

“Us? Marilyn?”

She kissed me long and hard.

“Shut the fuck up and get changed. You are worse than your brother for faffing about.”

With that she left me on my own with my mouth doing an excellent drowning fish impression.
Slowly, it dawned on me. I’d been setup albeit by accident.

Then I slowly began to grin from ear to ear. I’d stood in the background while my more extrovert brother had nabbed the woman I loved right from under my nose. Now it was my turn. My only regret was that my dearly departed brother was not here to see it. I hoped that he wouldn’t mind me taking his girl and that he’d give us his blessing wherever he was.

I picked up the dress and held it up to me and looked in the mirror. A tear formed in my eyes. It had been a very long time since I’d dressed. I’d largely given up when I decided upon a career in the Police but now that I was as far up the greasy pole that I’d ever get, I was thinking of a change. Perhaps being here with Marilyn was what I needed.

Marilyn coming back into the bedroom naked as the day she was born cut my navel-gazing short. My reaction was immediate. She noticed right away.

“I guess that we have some other business to attend to today inside don’t we?”

We adjourned to her bedroom for the rest of the day.

“Breathe in. I need to tie this tighter,” said Marilyn urgently.

“That’s… That’s easy for you to say. You aren’t having your breath squeezed out of you are you?”

“Ooommmppphhh,” I gasped as she pulled harder.

“That should be enough to get the skirt on,” pronounced Marilyn.

Even so, it took us until mid-morning to get ourselves ready to go out of the house. Marilyn really went to town on her makeup especially around the eyes.

I was fully clothed complete with hat and veil while she wore nothing but her harness that covered precisely nothing. There couldn’t have been a greater contrast I thought to myself as we went into the loose-box so that she could get ‘kitted-up’.

“Are you sure you want me to strap your arms to your sides?”

“Yes, that is how it all goes.”

Reluctantly, I secured her hooved hands to the side of her body. Her feet were already encased in heel-less hooved boots. All that remained was to insert the bit and she’d be complete.

I led her outside and positioned her into the trap and strapped her in.

“How does that seem?”

“Good. I think. The proof will be in the pulling…”

We both laughed at the pun.

I carefully inserted the bit into her mouth and threaded her tongue through the hole. Then I fitted the bar-bell through her piercing thus securing it in place.

“Does that seem ok?”

She nodded her head.

There was nothing left but to climb up onto the trap and start going. That was easier said than done. Four petticoats and a thick skirt made getting into the trap a little difficult but in the end I made it and settled myself down.

I pulled down the veil over my face and picked up the reigns in one hand and the small whip in the other. I gritted my teeth and gently swiped her bare backside with the whip and said,
“Giddy up.”

Marilyn set off with a surprise high stepping motion. The jiggling up and down made the small bells attached to her nipples jingle. I let her do two circuits of the yard before I commanded,

“Walk on.”

She slowed down and started to walk. After a few more circuits I commanded.

“Halt,” and pulled up on the reigns. I didn’t pull too hard as I wasn’t sure about the bit in her mouth. She stopped and pawed the cobbled yard surface with her metal shooed feet. I smiled as I gathered my skirts and climbed down from the trap.
I held her bridle and asked.

“How was that? Was I too hard with the reigns?”

She shook her head.

“Do you want to go again?”

She shook her mane and looked towards the exit gate.

“Are you sure?”

She nodded her head.

“Ok. Let me open them first.”

I left her while I walked over to the gates. As I did so, I heard her bells behind me.
I turned around to see her right behind me.

“Naughty Pony,” I laughed.

She nodded and gave a little horsey sound.

I opened the gates and led her through them. After closing the gates, I got back onto the trap and with a little touch of the whip on her behind, we set off down the track.

She picked up a little speed as we went down a slight downslope. I pulled back on the reigns a little and we slowed down.
The route led down into the small valley, along to the right and then straight back to the buildings. Marilyn attacked the slope up and out of the valley with gusto. I could tell that she was breathing hard by the time we crested the small summit.

I called out,
“Slow girl.”

She slowed to a walk as she got he breath back.

When I felt that she’d recovered, I called out,
“Trot,” followed by a flick of the whip onto her bare behind. I could see a small red mark forming. It made me smile a little.

As we approached the gates I pulled back on the reigns as she slowed down.

Once inside I pulled her up and got down from the trap and went around to the front and smiled at her.

“Are you ok?”

She neighed like a good horse.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

I let her out of the trap and took her into the loose-box where I followed the instructions she’d given me over breakfast to the letter.

I chained her to the wall and locked it in place with a padlock. Then I threw a blanket over her shoulders and gave her a drink of water.

“Are you good?” I whispered.

She nodded her head.

I kissed her gently with a bit of tongue. Feeling her tongue fixed to the bit was a weird sensation but she waggled the tip quite sensuously. It felt funny but I liked it.
“I’m going to get changed and get dinner on. I’ll be back later to rub you down and put you to bed,” I grinned.
She cuddled up to me.

I kissed her once more and left her in the loose-box. I made sure that the box was locked closed before entering the house. This was all part of the role-play we’d agreed on earlier.

I removed the hat, heavy dress, coat and petticoats and hung them up nicely. I’d be wearing them a lot if Marilyn had her way. I put on an Edwardian Maids outfit and after touching up my make-up I went downstairs into the kitchen to start on dinner.
By the time everything was done, it was well after 5pm. I went outside and released Marilyn from the loose-box and led her inside the house. Her nose twitched at the smells coming from the oven.

“There’s nothing in there for you Miss Horsey. It’s hay and oats for you tonight,” I joked.

She pawed the stone floor with her hooves and almost fell over. Luckily I managed to grab her and slowly let her down to the ground. In a panic, I fiddled with her tongue restraint and took the bit out of her mouth whereupon, she started laughing loudly.
I looked at her rather annoyed.

When she’d calmed down, she said,
“Sorry about that but the look on your face was priceless.”

There we were, sitting on the stone floor of her kitchen, her naked apart from her harness and me, a police inspector dressed as an Edwardian Maid. If my colleagues could see me know, they die laughing.

I sat her up and kissed her gently.

“Apart from this last bit, did you enjoy that?”

“I did. It was better than I’d ever dare hope.”

Then she kissed me back.

“You are a lot like him you know despite not being related.”

I chuckled,
“We shared a bedroom for nigh on ten years. We were as close as real brothers. You know that so why did you bring it up now?”

She looked a bit guilty.

“I really wanted you in the first place but Nick had a way…”

“Yeah, I know, he could always chat up the fairer sex better than me. That’s why he got you rather than me. That was the one area where we were really competitive,” I gave a big sigh, “but he always won in the end.”

“Well, you got me now,” joked Marilyn as she jiggled the little bells that hung from her nipples.

“I know and don’t get me wrong, this is nice but I know you have an ulterior motive.”

“I don’t,” argued Marilyn.

“I know you well enough to know otherwise. So spill the beans or I leave you trussed up like that until you do. Understand?”

“I like it when you are stern like that. Nick was never like that.”

“Don’t try to change the subject. What are you trying to do?”

She sighed.
“I want you to quit your job and come a live here with me. We can have days like today or we can go shopping together. Do it while you have the chance. You said so yourself that if you did your time and retired you’d be dead inside two years. I’m offering you the chance to get out now and live a bit with me. Is that so bad?”

“What’s the catch?”

“There is no catch.”

She sank back and looked up at me with her doleful eyes.

“I miss Nick and I can never forget him. But I’m lonely and I know you are too. Together we can get together and… well not be lonely any more. We both have a kink and here we can enjoy ourselves without harming anyone at all. What harm is there in that?”

“If I agree, then you’d have to let me be the boss. No arguments about if I put you out in the stables for the night? Or longer?”

“If I do agree then you’d have to change as well.”

“You mean live as a woman, full time?”

“Yes. I know you can do it. If you do, I’ll even let you brand me as yours.”

I didn’t like the idea of her being branded but I felt that the idea of living full time as a woman was becoming more and more attractive as I toyed with the notion in my mind.

“I can’t make up my mind right now. Do you understand why I can’t?”

“Yes I can. Don’t take too long over it, I can’t pee properly trussed up like this.”

I saw the funny side of what she’d said.

“I get the hint. I’ll release you.”

“You will do not such thing. You will feed me, let me pee and then take ma outside for the night just as we agreed,” said Marilyn sternly.

I knew when I was beaten so we dined together. It was somewhat surreal with her all trussed up like that. As she ate, the bells on her nipples tinkled. I was sure that she was doing it deliberately. I didn’t mind, it all added to the comic book nature of the evening.

Once she’d eaten and peed, I led her out to the loosebox for the night. As we’d agreed, I locked her to the shackle bolted to the wall and then hobbled her like you would a proper horse.

After covering her with a blanket I refitted her tongue into the bit and secured it tight. I gave her one long kiss before covering her with a blanket and then lying her down onto the bedding. I gave her a final kiss before leaving her alone for the night.

I spent the night alone in the spare bedroom contemplating my future. Today have been fun and I certainly wanted more of it but was I prepared to give up everything for more of this? As I fell asleep, I still didn’t have an answer.

Nothing was clearer the next morning as I let Marilyn free.

She disappeared off to the shower while I changed back into my male clothes. I had a shift starting at Midday.

We sat down at breakfast together. Neither of us was saying much.

“Marilyn…”

“You don’t have to say anything Peter, I know I put you on the spot last night and I’ve sacred you off,” she said sadly.

“No Marilyn, its not that. This is a big decision for me to take. I have a lot of things to consider. Deciding to give up everything you have worked for is not an easy decision to make.”

Marilyn sank back into her chair resigned to the fact that I wasn’t coming to live with her.

I looked at her. For the first time, my head and heart said the same thing. It was then I knew my answer.

“I’ll do it but you are going to have to wear something under your tack when we go outside for long periods. You will catch your death.”

Marilyn laughed.

“Then you will have to wear Victorian or Edwardian dress all the time apart from when we go into town or further. I will too unless I’m in a harness. Deal?”

“Deal?”

As we kissed each other I felt truly happy and alive for the first time in a long, long time.
[The end]

This is a departure from my normal style of story. I walked the 'Pilgrims Way' back in 2012. North of Sevenoaks, I came upon a Ponygirl in a trap. I wrote most of this tale sitting in a Pub in Canterbury at the end of the walk.