Regenesis

Samantha - Afternoon walk

The crocodile of identically dressed girls out with their identically dressed nannies separated almost as soon as it left the Nursery boundary, with two couples turning left along the lane, three right leaving Samantha on her own with Nanny Green following the very road she had taken earlier that day. The sun was out, and normally Samantha might have enjoyed the gentle heat on her face, but this particular afternoon was anything but normal. Nanny Green held on to her hand and her tether but was otherwise silent for the first few minutes of the walk, as they approached the centre of the small town. From this angle, the larger and older buildings of the town had an appearance of tradition and quintessential Englishness about them. The light coloured stone of the terraced offices and townhouses matched the flagstones which made up the wide pavements. The town seemed livelier than it had when Samantha was last on it, but maybe she just had not noticed her surroundings after the shock of her meeting at the solicitors and the subsequent spanking she had received in the reception area. She blushed just at the memory. The townsfolk had a bustle about them as they completed the various shopping and social commitments of their weekday lives. They passed a quaint looking tea shop with bay windows looking out onto the Main Street, with middle aged ladies mainly occupying the prime tables. There was a bakery with an array of delicious looking cream cakes and assorted buns in the window. The butchers was busy with meat being weighed and placed in paper wrapping before filling the ubiquitous wicker shopping baskets most of the ladies seemed to be carrying. There were hushed conversations between customers, who seemed to all know each other, and Samantha became aware of the close knit nature of this strange town she had joined. She considered her own appearance, and wondered why it attracted so few stares, especially the humiliating apparatus lodged in her mouth. Unconsciously she raised her free hand to cover it, in the vain hope that it might pass unnoticed. "Put your hand down at your side, Samantha, please". They passed first a church, with a spire and well-kept gardens incorporating a graveyard, the noticeboard advertising Sunday services, Bible classes and various community events for the locality. On the other side of the road, behind a row of terraced houses, Samantha could make out a second church, of a more recent architectural style. Nanny Green brought her to a stop outside a door which suddenly looked familiar. It was the office of Beckwith and Partners, solicitors. Samantha recoiled and looked up at Nanny Green imploringly. Nanny Green ignored her plea and pushed open the shiny door and ushered her charge into the reception area. Sitting at her desk was Joanna, whose smile seemed to have taken on a slightly sardonic look when she recognised the visitor. She stood politely again and curtsied to Nanny Green. "Good afternoon, Nanny. How nice to see you. I will let Miss Beckwith know you are here. Please take a seat" Nanny Green chose one of the more upright chairs for herself and indicated a spot next to her for Samantha to occupy, standing. Nanny Green drew Samantha towards her and fussed with removing her bonnet and blowing her nose, hindered by the apparatus Samantha now wore below it. She then made a great show of lifting Samantha's skirts, showing the bulge created by her new underwear, and then slipping one finger under a leg cuff to check for wetness. Joanna looked up from her work, clearly enjoying the spectacle, the smile now hardly hidden, and Samantha just wanted the floor to open up and swallow her, such was her complete humiliation. Satisfied that all was well, Nanny picked up one of the magazines from the table and began to thumb through it, oblivious to the discomfort of her charge who stood trying to find somewhere to look and something to do with her hands. Normally she would have taken her mobile phone out and checked her emails and social media, and she even wondered if her belongings were still somewhere within her reach in the office, scant hours away in one sense, but a lifetime away in all others. The telephone rang and Joanna rose to answer it. "Yes, Miss Beckwith. I'll show them in." And she gestured to Nanny Green politely, who nodded, stood and removed the tether from Samantha's wristlet, before taking her by the hand and waited to be led into the main office.

Samantha's shame increased when she considered how much things had changed in just a few hours. Gone were the designer clothes, shoes and even underwear of her earlier meeting. Gone were the stylish hair, the manicured fingernails, the expensive earrings and the make-up. But most importantly gone was the arrogance, replaced by a sudden timidity and, for the first time in her life, fear. She was no longer in control of her life. Everything had changed.

As they walked into the familiar room, Samantha behind her new Nanny, she realised that the furniture had been altered: there was now only one guest chair on her side of the desk and Nanny Green occupied it, leaving Samantha to stand directly in front of Miss Beckwith feeling in every way the epitome of a naughty schoolgirl in front of her headmistress. Even that would have been a promotion.

"Oh dear, not a good start to your time in Nursery I see. A punishment pacifier on your first day. And you can't even tell me what you got that for...."

"Bad behaviour in the dormitory Miss Beckwith" came the reply from Nanny Green.

"I see, Nanny Green. And how long will she have to wear it?"

"Until bedtime, Miss Beckwith."

"How inconvenient, especially as you will doubtless have so many questions to ask your sisters in the Nursery. Let's hope your behaviour improves tomorrow then, shall we?"

Samantha nodded nervously.

"Now I imagine you are curious to know why you are here again so soon after this morning's meeting. Well.....your grandmother, in her very wise way, thought you might be a little too keen to get your hands on her money, and not read the contract you signed in full. She quite generously inserted a clause in the will giving you a chance to back out, once you knew what was in store for you. If you do back out, your belongings will be returned to you, you will be delivered back to the railway station and you will be free to leave.... minus the inheritance of course. This is your chance to return to the life you left this morning, but without the financial support you have been receiving thus far in the form of the monthly allowance......In short you will have to find a job."

Miss Beckwith left this last statement hanging in the air, as the dreadful truth sank in. She opened the familiar file on her desk and took out a single sheet of paper with just two lines of print followed by a line of dots underneath.

"Nanny Green and I will leave you here for five minutes. When we return, you will either have signed this addendum to the contract you signed this morning confirming your earlier decision, or you will have left it blank."

Both ladies rose without speaking and left the room.