Chapter 1
The plan was to walk the entire length of the beach. Doesn’t sound much put like that, but this beach was over a thousand miles long. It had only two small hamlets at each end and nothing in-between. I had also planned to do it naked. Inland was dry scrub and not much water for several hundred miles. Not a place to get lost in.
I had arrived at Point Hard by boat. There is only one a week which brought in the few supplies that were needed and took out the canned fish that that they made. The village was small and old, with only about thirty or so buildings. A wooden general store that doubled as a pub, snack bar and any thing else that was needed. The rest were just wooden shacks for peoples homes.
The owner of the store seem friendly enough and ask what I was doing in town, he explained that he was also the local law officer so if I was trekking anywhere, I should leave my details with him. This I did and told him of my plans to walk the beach. Not the naked bit though.
He said that there was not much in the way of fresh water and seemed on the point of stopping me going. I explained that I had a water machine that took sea water and converted it into fresh water. What with that and a large supply of freeze dried food I would be all right. He wished me luck and said if I had not contacted him in a month he would report me missing etc.
I set off along the beach and had been going for an hour before I stopped. I moved up into the dunes behind the beach and found a high spot to sit and wait to find out if and body was following me. An hour later and lots of looking with the binoculars I was sure that no one was.
I pulled off my clothes including my boots. After putting everything into my rucksack I set off again. I had no watch as this was a back to nature thing but when I felt that it was early evening I stopped and made camp. I found plenty of drift wood to light a fire but decided not to set up the tent but sleep under the stars.
The night was fantastic. With no light pollution, the sky was full of stars. I lay on my sleeping bag watching shooting stars till I fell asleep.
Morning arrived and after a quick snack I set off again. I stuck to the hard sand near the water as it was much easier to walk on than the soft dry sand further up the beach. As I walked I used the water maker to fill my drinking water.
The day was warm and sunny and it made me feel alive to be naked and have the gentle breeze caresses my body. So I sang and danced as I walked. Life was great, no worries for the next month.
About mid day I move up to the base of the dunes and sat eating a small snack. I carried on walking till mid afternoon then decided to set up camp. I moved up into the dunes, so they gave a bit of a wind break and a view over the sea.
The rucksack had mostly food in it. Some clothes and my boots, for the end of the trip. A nylon bivvy shelter. A fire lighter spark thing. And a thin sleeping bag.
I had two water makers. These are about a foot long and hand operated. I had two just in case one broke, but they were so simple that that was unlikely.
To set up the bivvy I got two short and one long bits of driftwood. During the day I had kept an eye out for the right bits. I pushed the short bit into the sand and tied the long piece to the top then draped the Bivvy sheet over it and peg it down. I again sat by the fire and watched the sky till I felt sleepy.
The days were fantastic as I walked along the beach. Sometimes I stop and fish. I became quite good at fishing so that some nights I had grilled fish for a change. This must have gone for two weeks or so. It was hard to keep track of time. As I was walking one day I could make out the dark shadow on the horizon.
As I got nearer, I could see it was a small hill that jutted up in the dunes and ended with a cliff at the beach. Running down the beach and into the sea were some flat rocks. I thought I could see some movement but the haze made that difficult. Once I was closer I could see a girl carrying a container up from the sea and emptying it in a rock pool. Then going back to the sea to refill it. She looked to be a child about 10 or so and was naked. With this, I was not worried about being naked as well and kept walking towards her.
She had a container in her hands and it looked like it was heavy. She did not seem to notice me so when I was about 50 yards away I called out “Hello.” She turned her head towards me but kept on struggling with the container then put it down. I could see she was not a child as I had first though but and older woman. It had been her height that had fooled me into thinking she was a child. She was only about 4 foot. Her skin was very brown from the sun and wrinkled. From her look I could only assume she was a native of this area.
By now I was next to her and so I picked up the container and walked with her to the rock pools. It was not very heavy for me to carry.
There were 3 pools. One was dry-ish and the other two had cloudy water in them. The word salt sprang into my mind. The girl pointed at one of the part-filled pools and I tipped the water into to it. She said something, but I could not understand her. She pointed at the sea and walked off in that direction leaving me with the empty container.
I slipped off the backpack and picked up the container and noticed that there was another one as well. They were only about 5 gallons each and it would be easier to carry one in each hand for balance. When I got to the girl, who had stopped to wait for me, we both set off for the sea. The containers were filled and we walked back to the pools. I did 4 trips and by now the 2 pools were nearly full.
The girl moved towards the hill and beckoned for me to follow her. I picked up my pack and she led me up into the dunes and along a small cliff face. About 50 yards back was a large overhang and underneath were two more girls, sat around a small fire. I should say women. I could see they were all older than I had at first thought. They were very brown, and about 4 foot tall.
They seemed friendly and smiled at me. One patted a log for me to sit on. They offered me a bowl with water in it. I drank it. They were talking to each other, I could not understand what they were saying, but thought they were talking about me. I could see from the few items laying about that they did not have much. So I opened my pack and got out 4 fruit bars and offered them one each.
They looked at them and were unsure what to do, so I tore off the paper and ate the end off mine. They did the same and started to babble and talk. They were all smiles and offered me something to drink from an old bottle. It had a pleasant taste and was quite sweet. I had a gulp then handed the bottle back.
I sat and watched as a fish was removed from a clay wrap under the fire and broken open. A pot was brought from the back of the cave and placed on the fire. The fish was shared and the old bottle passed to me again. They smiled as I drank and ate. They showed me various objects which I took to mean were important to them, glass beads and beaten copper jewellery, etc.
I showed them the water maker and how it worked, they looked liked I had performed magic when they drank the fresh water I had made from the sea water. Then we went through my rucksack and I showed them the food and my clothes. I even let them try on some of the things.
They kept giving me the bottle to drink from and smiled and laughed a lot, it was quite the party. I was starting to get a bit of a muzzy head and acting a bit silly. You're getting drunk I thought, but what the hell I was enjoying watching how delighted they were with me and my things. It was a party. Then I took a long swig from the bottle. They all clapped and chanted something so I downed the rest of the bottle.
I felt alive, I could feel the breeze on my body and I was getting aroused. Then my legs started to go a bit numb, with like pins and needles. So I sat down and giggled. My head started to spin and they laid me down on the ground, face down. I don’t like that position as it hurts my quite large breasts, so I tried to roll over but couldn’t move.
They picked up my arms and draped them over the small off my back. While two of them held them in place with my hand near my elbows the third wrapped them in a length of what felt like sacking material. It was quite tight and several layers were wound on. The pot that had been placed on the fire was brought over and using a flat stick the smeared a layer of the goo over the hessian. It looked like some sort of resin or pitch, very black and molten, but not too hot to burn me.
One of the women used her hands to rub it into the material. Till it was soaked all the way through. It felt warm but not too hot. More hessian was used even up past the elbow and again this goo rub in. They got up and put the pot back on the fire and went off to gather more things they needed.
A metal bar with a rings at each end was held against the base of my arms and rope was wrapped around to hold the bar in place. Then more goo was used then more of the fibber like rope. Soon the whole thing was about 6 inches thick of rope, hessian and this resin type goo. It was to be left to harden.
After quite some time I was turned on to my back. Although the wrap around my arms dug into the small of my back this was much more comfortable as my breasts were no longer squashed by the weight of my body.
A rope with a ring on the end, through which the rest of the rope was pulled to form a loop, was put over my head and pulled snug around my neck, the other end was tied to a very large stone with a hole through it. I could probably pull it around, but it would be hard work and running would not be an option either. I could also see the loop tightening and choking me.
One of the women went to the end of the cave and came back with a small box. From it she took a stick with thin fishing line wrapped around it and a fish hook. Another woman had what looked like two green bottles that had broken in half. They must have washed up on the shore as they had been gowned soothe by the wave action.
More of the goo was put on the edge of the bottom side of the bottle and just in time I managed to shut my eyes before she placed the bottle bottom on my eye socket. I could feel the goo squish around the edge of eye socket. They smoothed the edge around the bottle and my skin.
Next she threaded the fishing line onto the fish hook and working along the eyebrow and the skin on my cheek and nose, making a grid over and around the bottle to hold it in place. Pushing the end of the fish hook into my skin was painful but I could not move or cry out, just suffer. The skin was stretched and pulled up the side of the bottle and held in place with the line. I opened my eye lids and found I could not see anything.
Once they were satisfied that the bottle was firmly held in place they did the other eye. My world was a dark place in more ways than one. I could understand that this was not some temporary fix but was to be permanent. If I couldn’t see I couldn’t run away.
As I am laying there, unable to move, I beginning to feel sleepy, but suddenly one of the women is pushing a small packet of leaves into my mouth, between my gums and teeth. It has an odd taste and I was not able to spit it out so just lay there and drifted off to sleep. I woke several times and still had difficulty in moving but it was getting better each time I did wake up. I could hear them snoring so I guessed it was still night. My head hurt and I had a weird taste in my mouth. It felt like I had drunk some bad wine that left a bad taste and a splitting headache.
I could hear them get up and move about but decided to play possum and try and find out what was going to happen to me. I felt the rope around my neck being moved and then a tug in an upwards direction, so I sat up. More tugs got me to my knees then standing up. A forward pull and I was forced to follow her.
After a short walk I felt a hand on my stomach and stopped. Then a kick to the inside of my foot made me spread my legs. She made a noise like pissssss and I realised I was to pee. My bladder was full so I squatted a bit and let go. Being blind helped as I couldn’t see if she was watching me.
On the way back to the fire I tried to talk, but was rewarded with a sharp pain across my bottom. The bitch had whipped me. A downward pull on the rope, which I resisted, led to me again feeling the sting on my bottom, and I was soon kneeling. I was hand fed a sort of porridge which was kind of dry.
I was given the upward tug on the rope and was led out into the dunes and down to the beach. I was very odd sensation to be walking blind and not be able to see. I stumbled several times as the sand was not flat in the dunes but once on the beach it was flat and not hard to follow the line of the rope. The sound of the women talking also helped.
The sand changed to rock and I knew we were at the rock pools. I was again forced to kneel. I sensed that I had a woman on each side of me and soon hands were tying what I assumed were containers to the ring fixed to my arms. The rope was jerked up so I stood.
You may wonder why I did as I was told and did not fight back. Well how could I run away? I could not see. Could not use my arms. The nearest habitation was ten days away down the beach. I had no food or water and that bloody whip hurt like fuck.
I was led to the sea and out till it came to my waist, then turned back to the shore. As the water level went down I could feel the weight of the now full containers, pulling on my arms. Walk to the rock pools, knell and empty the containers, stand up, back to the sea fill up and so on and so on.
The rope was my guide and the whip my employment incentive scheme. Hour after hour this went on. Several times when I was kneeling to empty the sea water she gave me a drink. I think this was the most boring thing I have ever done, plodding back and forth. I think the women changed during the day but they did not allow me any rest breaks. Pee breaks I got when I was in the water. Not so much as a break but I was still for a few moments and I could go with out it running down my leg and the water cleaned me.
I was getting very tired and the employment incentive scheme was starting to come more often. In fact the back of my legs and bottom was getting very sore. Then after kneeling one time to empty the water I was led off back towards the cave. I would have cheered, but knew I would get hit again if I did.
Once back in the cave I collapsed on the ground, as I was so knackered. They had not even removed the containers from my arms. A bit of shoving and pushing got me on my knees with my head down near the ground. A bowl was pushed under my face and I could smell food. Without waiting I ate everything and then licked the bowl. The bowl was then filled with water and I drank that dry.
A finger in my mouth made me open wide and a small wire cage with a piece of string on each side was pushed into my open mouth. The strings were wrapped around the back of my head and tied off. I could close my mouth but not push out the cage. I could taste the leaves again so figured that was what was inside the cage. What was this, some sort of drug! More tugs and I felt the rope being tied off and that was it for the day.
I could move about and no-one stopped me, only the rope trying to strangle me if I move too far. I soon found a place to lie down on the sand and fell asleep. Some time later I woke up needing to pee but all I could hear was snoring from the women so though it best not to awake them. I moved as far one way as possible then peed then move back to the dry place and went back to sleep.
When I woke I had the headache and bad mouth taste again. I was led outside to pee then back to eat. Made to kneel and the cage was remove and the bowl placed in front of me, so I eat and licked the bowl clean. Next a bowl full of water then the cage, full of leaves was put back into my mouth. I could tell that a new type of leaf had been put in the cage leaving a bitter taste.
Tugs on the rope and its “off to work we go” as the seven dwarfs would say.
During the morning I felt kind of light headed, a bit away with the fairies so to speak. A brief thought of ‘was it the leaves’ went through my mind then faded away. The trudging up and down the beach did not help either.
Some time in the afternoon I had a bad stomach and then the runs. One of the women washed me off then we got to the sea. It happened twice more then things settled down. The day seemed to fly by in my half drugged state and soon we were back in the cave. That format was repeated day after day, minus the diarrhoea, thank god.
About the third or fourth night after being fed I was made to sit. The women were all around me and started to plait my hair. They made about 5 plaits but as my hair was only about 5 or 6 inches long so, it did not take too long to do.
Holding the ends they smeared resin on to the plaited hair. I could tell it was the resin by the smell and the small tugs as it was applied to the hair. Over the coming nights they would tie things to the hairy resin spikes. It was like they were decorating my head. I could hear some of them rattle against each other. I had no idea what I look like other than my head was getting heavier.
I think several weeks had gone by but I was not sure. I was finding it very difficult to concentrate on things. My mind seemed to be blank. Late in the day and first thing in the morning, the effect of the leaves seemed to wear off a bit. But I think the level in my blood was building up as even this seemed to pass.
One afternoon we seemed to stop very early. I really did not care any more, I just seemed to be a zombie. I knew this was not right but couldn’t work things out in my mind. The only good thing was when they played with me at night and gave me a nice warm feeling between my legs, but to get this I had to lick them. All very strange.
I was led back towards the cave. Somehow I could work out where I was by the slope of the ground and the feel of the sand under my feet. We seemed to have stopped at the edge of the dune were it started to rise up. The containers were taken off. I thought this was the first time since they had been put on but couldn’t be sure. Difficult remembering things.
I could feel a pole being pushed into the ring by my elbow and then being tied off. A tug on the rope and I walked forward and could feel I was pulling a cart of some sort. After a short time I was stopped and made to kneel. A stick with rope on the ends was tied into my mouth to act as a bit. Then I felt the cart move as though someone had climbed on to it. Then a flick of the reins and the sting of a whip on my bottom and I moved forward.
A pull on the left side of my mouth had me turning in that direction. After several minutes of being turned this way and that, I was stopped. I could feel more weight on the cart and assumed the other women had got on board.
Flick, whip and I was off again. After awhile more flicks and whip made me speed up and so on till I was running dragging the cart behind me. I could hear the women shouting and hollering as we charged about the beach.
The routine changed after this. Mornings I was plodding up and down filling the rock pools, and afternoons pulling the cart.
We would walk along the high water mark. How did I know you ask well you could feel the difference in the sand. Below it was hard packed and damp, above soft and dry.
I was led by the reins and we would stop every few yards for stuff to be put into the cart. This made it harder to pull as we went along. Eventually they had enough stuff and would climb on the cart. Usually only one of the women took me out. But if they found heavy stuff they wanted, the other women would come out to lift it onto the cart.
A sharp tug on the reins and I would be turned back towards camp. Once on the harder sand they would make me run. The first weeks were hard but my legs and core were getting stronger and so the speed grew. The worst part was over the dunes. Often the cart would be half unloaded and two would push the back while the other would use the employment incentive scheme on my bottom and legs.
By the sound of things, when they were loading or unloading, it was wood, for the fire I assumed. Other stuff I was not so sure of. The other task I had to perform was the carrying of the dry salt back from the rock pools to the cave. There seem to be a lot of salt and I wondered why. It was much more than they could be using themselves.
One night there seemed to be a lot going on but I could not make out what. But the next morning I was hitched to the cart and it was loaded up. This was most unusual as normally I pulled it to the beach empty. A tug on the reins and I was led away along a path I had never been on before.
The ground was hard packed so it was just within my ability to pull the cart despite how heavy it was. My feet had been well toughen by the sand and rocks so I did not have any problems with that. Some times, if we came to a steeper part, I could feel the women pushing on the cart, a big help.
The sweat was poring off me in the hot sun. It was so dry the heat. Before the sea had kept the air cooler so while it was hot I was Ok, but this was something else. Luckily they would stop a give me water to drink every so often, but boy was it hard going.
We stopped for the night and I just collapsed. They fed me and I was asleep almost before I finished eating and drinking.