A creak outside her door made her stiffen. She sat upright. Her eyes opened wide as the doorknob turned slowly.
"Are you all right, honey?"
Sighing, Patty relaxed. It was her aunt.
"Yes, much better, thank you. I…"
"That's good," her aunt interrupted. "Your uncle and I are going into Oberlin for a while."
Aunt Martha pushed the door open and stepped into Patty's darkened room. The girl could see her aunt was dressed to go out.
"Oh, can I go? Please, I feel much better."
"Now you listen to me, young lady. You just get your rest. Now, get out of those clothes and under the covers," Aunt Martha said, arching her eyebrows.
There was no arguing with her. How could she explain her terror at being left alone? Slipping out of her dress, Patty pulled back the quilted coverlet and slid under the sheets.
Aunt Martha bent over and tucked her niece tightly in.
"You don't have to worry. Jack's going to be around. He has some chores to do. I told him you weren't feeling well and he said he'd come up and look in now and then," Aunt Martha chortled, bending down and kissing her niece on the forehead. "And it's a good thing you're staying in. You're burning up!"
Jack coming up here? Jack coming up to look in on her? Patty could guess what was on his mind!
"No, please, I want to go. I…"
But Aunt Martha was firm, not listening to any of Patty's vehement protests. Even when the girl tried struggling out from under the sheets, Martha pushed her back in. Patty wished she could tell her about her son, about the terrible things he'd done and what he was probably going to do to her tonight.
Scooting back under the sheets, Patty watched with terror-stricken eyes as her aunt said goodnight, switched off the lights and closed the door.
The minutes ticked by like hours. She heard her aunt's fading footsteps, the sound of the front door opening and closing, the roar of her uncle's car as it rumbled from the drive and out to the main road. Then came silence.
Patty lay stiff as a board, her fingers still gripping the sheet so tightly that she nearly tore the material. Every sound, every little creak made her start. She stared at the door, her gaze fixed on the doorknob. At any second she expected to hear Jack coming in.
But nothing happened. For what must have been a half hour Patty lay quietly, expecting the worst. Then she felt herself dozing off. Twice she caught her eyes closing and she shook her head, stretching her legs, trying to keep her awake.
But the strain of the last two days was simply too much for her. Her head sank into the soft pillow, her fingers relaxing around the edge of the top sheet. In the distance she could hear crickets chirping peacefully. Oh, it was so relaxing, so sleep inducing. Once again the girl fought to stay awake.
"Ohhhhh!"
Sleep came as her fears cased even more. Maybe Jack didn't want to mess with her any more. Perhaps seeing her go off to town this afternoon made him worry about the possibility that she had told his folks about the brutal way he'd fucked her in the barn. Then images of the young man as he pistoned his dick into her wet, clenching cunt drifted across her mind's eye.
Patty had no idea how long she'd been asleep. She woke up with a start. At first she thought Jack had kicked down the door. Something had roused her quickly from her sleep. But no, the door was still shut. Then the girl realized what had awakened her. There was the sound of motorcycles, several of them, coming through the closed windows.
Carefully Patty swung her bare legs over the edge of the bed and stood up, padding softly to the window. She pushed back the curtain and peered down into the yard. Jack was there, leaning against the barn door with a can of beer in one hand. Ten, maybe twelve other boys were there, some of them drinking beer, others riding around on their bikes, jerking back while holding tightly onto the handles and wheeling around the yard. It was the strangest thing she'd ever seen in her life! She instinctively put one hand to her throat, watching the scene of confusion with wonder.
"Hey, man, when you gonna show us your cousin. We seen her in town a couple, of times. She a good fuck?" someone shouted out.
Patty was mortified. It was as if someone had pulled a trap door open under her. Had he told them? Had he explained in detail how she had moved, how she had begged him to fuck her in the end?
"Yeah, she ain't bad. I just had 'er the other day, though. Maybe you guys oughtta work 'er over… you know, kinda tender 'er up. Then I'll try her again and see how she fucks," Jack slurred, tilting his head back and taking another swig of beer.
Patty backed away from the window, letting the lace curtain drop over the glass. She let out a cry when she touched the bed with the backs of her legs. She had to get away from here. Those men out there were crazy! Her aunt and uncle would be gone a long time. God only knows what would happen to her.
Patty stumbled around in the dark, frantically searching for her clothes. She didn't dare put on a light.
"Ugh!"
She stubbed her toe on the dresser leg. She managed to find her dress. Gathering it up in one arm, she carefully opened the door. They were still outside shouting and bragging about how many times each one was going to fuck her. She crept out on tiptoe, every sense alive to the slightest disturbance. Slowly she moved down the carpeted corridor. Patty had a plan. She'd slip out the back while they were still outside and run like mad until she was well away from the house. Then she would put on her dress and run to town. There she'd call her mother and father. They could deal with her cousin, her aunt and uncle. She'd had enough of this madhouse. Surely her parents were intelligent enough to detect the note of hysteria she would be sure to put in her voice.
"Hey, man, come on. We wanna see this little bitch you fucked last night," someone called out.
"Yeah, I got a hot dick just waitin' for a pair of lips to swing on!" another guy shouted.
Sick! Oh, they were all sick, sicker perhaps than her cousin. She moved quickly, running down the stairs just as she heard footsteps clattering on the porch.
"Come on. She's upstairs. My old lady trusted me with her," Jack said, leading the pack into the living room.
Patty had slipped by just in time, ducking into the darkened kitchen and flattening herself behind the swinging door. She was almost sure they could hear her heart pounding loudly as they trundled up the stairs shouting and cursing.
When the last of them had gone up, she bolted from her hiding place and headed for the door.
"Hey, man! She's not up here!"
It was Jack's voice. Gripping the doorknob, she pulled open the kitchen door and scurried out, her heart beating like a trip hammer. She heard the young men scrambling down the stairs and shouting. The night air was cold against her flesh. Her dress flew out behind her, the material whipping at her moving thighs as she ran into the darkness.
"Look around the yard. Shit, my old man's gonna be on my case if she starts talkin'!" Jack shouted.
Patty ducked behind a clump of bushes. She could see the men running around the yard, some of them heading into the barn. When most of the young men disappeared from the yard, Patty backed away, turning around slowly and starting to run once more.
"Oh!"
She tripped on some thick ground cover, and she pitched forward, sprawling on the ground. The sound of her cry echoed through the night. She felt her courage slipping when she realized someone had heard her.
"Hey, I heard somethin' out there!"
Patty felt her flesh crawling. Desperately she struggled to get her feet untangled. But the vine-like plants held onto her. Gasping, tearing at the leaves, Patty felt panic rising quickly in her chat when she heard pounding footsteps.