Royal Flush Ch. 07

And, with that, Patience led Andrea away into the house. Meanwhile, Sally took Tamsin round to the back of the house and showed her around the stables. These took up one side of the courtyard and the stalls opened out onto it. Four of these were occupied. Sally took Tamsin to each horse in turn and 'introduced' her to them. She seemed to assume that Tamsin would share her passion for the animals. In fact, it was quite hard to tell where Sally's first love lay, with Patience or with the horses. She was still extolling their virtues when the back door of the house opened and Felicity Ambrose, Elizabeth fforde and Augusta Frogmorton all appeared, each carrying a holdall.

"Hi guys!" Felicity called out as they came towards them across the courtyard. "All ready for the pony show? Bright eyed and bushy tailed?"

"We're fine," Sally answered for them both. "I've just been showing Susan around the stables."

"You've been boring her with your beloved horses, you mean."

"No, really, she's been most interesting," Tamsin put in.

"If she has then that will be a first," Felicity replied.

Tamsin could tell that this was just friendly joshing and Sally was well used to it. Indeed, it was clear there was real affection between Felicity and Sally, all part of the tangle of friendships and partnerships that made up the 'Sisterhood'. They all came together and there was a lot of air kissing.

"Well, if you're all here then I guess that it's time to get changed," Sally said after a while. We all know what happens if we're not ready when the jockeys arrive. Come along."

She led them into the body of the stables and on to the tack room which was quite crowded once they had all packed in. Those with holdalls put them on the work benches and, as if it were in no way out of the ordinary, they all started to disrobe. Sally explained that Tamsin would be acting as groom which led to expressions of sympathy from the others with comments such as 'maybe next time' or 'I was so looking forward to racing against you'.

Tamsin quickly discovered exactly what being the 'groom' entailed. There was a clothes locker in the corner of the tack room and, as the others undressed, they passed their clothes to her to hang up them to avoid creasing. At first it was almost as if they were getting changed at the gym; they were just four women getting undressed together. However, once they were naked, it wasn't leotards they were getting changed into.

"Susan, darling, could you possibly give me a hand with my harness?" Elizabeth asked as she hauled out a complex web of black leather strapping from her bag. Once they had untangled it Tamsin could begin to see how it all fitted together to form a 'harness' with a spider's web of straps all leading from a wide leather belt. Here and there it was fitted with 'D' rings so that the harness could, indeed, harness the pony. As Tamsin fastened the straps, Elizabeth reached into her bag and fetched out matching wrist cuffs.

Next out of the bag was the horse's tail. The long strands looked silky but were actually quite course. Tamsin wondered if they were made from the real thing; they certainly seemed to be. At one end the strands were gathered together into a chrome ferrule which was, in turn, attached to a leather strap. It was no surprise at all to find that, on the other side of the strap, there was a butt plug similar to that fitted to her puppy tail.

"You'll find some lube in the bag," Elizabeth said with a grin. "Don't be too stingy."

She turned away from Tamsin and leant over the workbench, taking her weight on her elbows. Tamsin had had this done to her often enough but now the boot was on the other foot. She thought about just applying the lube to the butt plug. Surely that would be enough? However, in all conscience, she felt she had to do the job properly. She slipped on a latex glove from the pack in Elizabeth's bag, squeezed a good portion of lube along her forefinger, came up behind Elizabeth, reached down, and slid her finger into Elizabeth's waiting sphincter. To her consternation, Elizabeth pushed back.

"Ooh, that's nice. Make sure I'm good and slippery."

"You just like taking it up your backside," Augusta quipped. "And don't hog the groom. You're not the only one who needs to get ready."

Tamsin glanced around the tack room. Felicity and Sally were busy assisting each other and Augusta had got her harness fixed but she was holding her tail, waiting for Tamsin to help her.

"I'll be with you as soon as I'm finished here," Tamsin told her.

"Just bear in mind that if we're not all ready and in our stalls by the time the bosses arrive...."

"OK, but I don't want to rush this. I'm sure you won't want me to rush yours."

"Can I remind you that you still have your finger inside me and, nice as it feels...."

Tamsin removed her finger, reached for the tail assembly, smeared some lube over the butt plug and lined it up. As Tamsin pushed and twisted so Elizabeth pushed back and, in no time, it was slipping inside her. Even so there was a squeak followed by a sigh as the thickest part of the plug passed her sphincter until it closed around the neck, holding it tight. Elizabeth then stood up and flexed her backside, getting the plug to sit as comfortably as possible. Tamsin did up the straps at the back while Elizabeth did the ones at the front.

"How does that look?" Elizabeth asked, wiggling her backside so the tail shimmied behind her.

"Not bad, not bad at all." Tamsin replied and, in a bizarre way, it did look pretty good. As with her puppy tail, it appeared to spring from the base of the spine and cascaded down to just below the knees. The colouring was a perfect match for her hair.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, stop showing off and let me get on," Augusta said rather brusquely.

"I'll be right with you," Tamsin said as she stripped off the latex glove and reached for a new one. Augusta got into position and, for the second time that afternoon, Tamsin had her finger up another woman's backside.

As Tamsin fitted Augusta's tail Elizabeth was fitting herself with a bridle. The basics were a strap running around the head just above her eyes and another, crossing it, which ran under her chin and over the top of her head. From these ran numerous other straps encasing the head. From the top there was a mounting for a plume and Elizabeth fitted hers, an ornate feathery confection in bright red. The bridles were fitted with blinkers so the ponies could only look forward and, significantly, there were two short straps which jutted forward, stopping just short of either side of her mouth.

Once the bridles were fitted a pair of pony boots made up the next piece in the jigsaw. These did not come from the high street shoe shops; they were expensive and custom made for pony wear. The basics were knee high leather boots with six inch heels but the toe of the boot had been fashioned into looking like a horses hoof. As Tamsin slipped Augusta's feet in she could see how the tightly laced leather gripped the calves and ankle, supporting them, enabling her to stand in such high heels. Tamsin was not the tallest of women and, now that the four ponies were wearing these boots, they towered over her.

However, there was one last thing to do before leading the 'ponies' to their stalls. For each one there was a bit that went between the straps either side of the mouth. This was, essentially, a hard rubber bar with chrome loops either end to which the reins could be attached. Once clipped to the straps it fitted into the mouth, not filling it as a gag would, but restricting it all the same. Sally had explained that, at this point, they effectively became ponies and 'pony rules' came into effect. Tamsin attached reins to the bits and, as the final touch, fastened their wrists behind their backs before leading them to their respective stalls.

And then there was not much to do but wait. Reckoning that someone like Patience would be on the lookout for excuses to punish and, even as groom, she should not assume immunity, she tidied around, making sure that the tack room was spotless and even taking a broom to the main aisle of the stables. As she made her way along the aisle she could see the ponies, both equine and human, waiting patiently. She couldn't be too fast to judge, after all, she knew all about the allure of being a puppy girl, but this seemed harsher, more impersonal. Puppies got playful cuddles; what did ponies get?

She was still sweeping up when the door to the stables opened. Tamsin looked up to see the assembled Dommes coming down the central aisle. They almost pointedly refrained from noticing her as the carried on past and up to the stalls where the 'ponies' were waiting.

"This is Foxtrot," Patience announced as she opened the door, unhitched the reins and led Sally, now Foxtrot, out into the main aisle of the stables. "Why don't we hitch her up to a sulky and you can take her out to the paddock, see how she runs. Groom!" Patience turned towards Tamsin. "Fetch a sulky at once."

Tamsin's confusion must have shown on her face.

"Down the end, on the right," Patience said with some exasperation. "Hurry up, girl, we're waiting."

Tamsin went down to the end of the aisle where, in some empty stalls, there were stored a number of wheeled contraptions. She wasn't completely sure what a sulky was but two bicycle wheels either side of a seat with long shafts running forward seemed to fit the bill. She untangled it from the rest and brought it back down the aisle. Of course, the easiest way was to stand between the shafts which meant that, as she returned, she was pulling as if a pony.

"Doesn't she look pretty between those shafts," Patience said with a little laugh. "Next time you come down I really must insist. I'm sure we can some spare tack for you and we'd have this one racing before you could say Jack Robinson. Now, come along, let's get Foxtrot harnessed."

While Tamsin held the sulky Patience led Foxtrot back between the shafts, unclipped her wrists from behind her back and refastened them to clips next to the handgrips. Andrea then sat, rather gingerly, on the seat of the sulky. Patience passed the reins over Foxtrots shoulders and handed them to Andrea.

"OK, let's see you take her out into the paddock."

"Walk on," Andrea said, with maybe the slightest trace of nervousness and Foxtrot started off, down the aisle, left out of the door, and into the stable yard.

"What are you standing about for?" Patience said rather crossly to Tamsin. "The other ponies need harnessing as well. Go and fetch the rest of the sulkies."

For the next few minutes there was hustle and bustle as Tamsin fetched three more sulkies and the other ponies were hitched up and, one by one, taken out into the paddock. Patience was very much in charge. It was, after all, her stables, her show.

When the last sulky had gone Patience turned to Tamsin and looked her up and down.

"Such a shame," she said wistfully. "You'd look so good between the shafts, a pretty young thing like you, and I'd have so much fun training you. Still, maybe next time. Now," she seemed to pull herself together, "tidy up in here and, when you've finished, you'll find a hamper in the kitchen. Bring it out to the paddock, will you?"

"Of course, Ms Armitage," Tamsin replied, remembering to give a little curtsey. Patience turned on her heel and left.

Five minutes later Tamsin, satisfied that the stables were as tidy as she was going to get them, went over to the kitchen and found the hamper. It was bigger and heavier than she had anticipated and it was quite a struggle to take it all the way out to the paddock. Sweating slightly she put it down on the picnic table she found there. She looked about to see that she wasn't the only one sweating. A selection of fences and hurdles had been used to demark an oval course and the four ponies were being driven around this. Patience had, almost inevitably, a stopwatch and notebook and was keeping track of their times. As Tamsin watched Hermione came over towards them, still on the sulky pulled by Augusta, or Freckles as Tamsin was having to learn to call her. Augusta got off the sulky and came up to Patience.

"What a splendid day for it," Hermione enthused. "You couldn't ask for better. However, it seems that my Freckles is a little off the pace. A certain amount of slackness in training, I fear. I'm as much to blame as she is. Now, she could do with a wipe down. Is there a bucket and sponge available?"

"Well, is there?" Patience asked Tamsin.

"I won't be a moment," Tamsin replied.

"In the tack room, quick as you can, now," Patience said as Tamsin turned to go.

Tamsin found the bucket and sponge in the tack room and, by the look of them, they were the ones used to wash down the real horses. Still, that was what she was asked for so that was what she fetched. A filled bucket is really quite heavy and Tamsin didn't want to spill it all so her return was significantly slower. She took it all over to where Hermione was waiting.

"Well? Get on with it?" Hermione said firmly and Tamsin realised that, as groom, it was her job to do the wiping down. She rinsed off the sponge, squeezed out most of the water so that it would be damp, rather than sodden, and then set to work. She was unsure as to how sexual she was supposed to make this. After all, on the surface, she was supposed to treat Freckles as a real horse. On the other hand, when Tamsin was sponging down Freckles's breasts, there was no disguising the way they were responding and, when Tamsin moved further down, Hermione ordered her firmly not to forget to do between the thighs.

This time there was no pretence whatsoever. Freckles actively pushed herself against the sponge and, in response, Tamsin pushed back.

"That's enough of that," Hermione said after a while. "She hasn't earned that yet. Indeed, unless she picks up the pace a little she won't earn that at all today. Now, let me give her a drink."

Tamsin stood back while Hermione held a water bottle to Freckles's mouth. Whether she was thirsty or not she was encouraged to drink quite a bit of it. Meanwhile Barbara had pulled up along side and her pony, Strawberry, was also in need of wiping down and watering.

And so it went on. There was quite a bit of chopping and changing as the various Dommes rode behind the various ponies, each one wanting to 'try out' the other's ponies. In between Tamsin would be called upon to wipe them down and, quite often, water them as well. There was nothing overtly sexual but the wiping down, especially if done by one of the Dommes, was getting more and more obvious and there were strong undercurrents everywhere.

Come four o'clock and Patience announced that it was time for afternoon tea. Under her direction Tamsin took the hamper out from under the table and took from it a number of cakes, biscuits and petit fours which were laid out on plates on the table. Then she was sent to the kitchen where all the bits and pieces for making tea had been left out ready for her. Ten minutes later she was carefully carrying the tray laden down with teapots and cups, all in the finest china. When she entered the paddock she found the Dommes sat around the picnic table while the ponies, now unhitched from the sulkies, were knelt on the ground. The bits had been removed from their mouths and their hands fastened behind their backs. She put the tray down and, encouraged by Patience, poured out tea all round.

Whilst the Dommes were drinking tea Tamsin was ordered to feed and water the ponies. They were fed the same cakes and pastries that the Dommes were eating but, rather than tea they were being given water from bottles that were stored in the hamper.

"So what have you got planned for the rest of the afternoon?" Hermione asked. She had reached down and was idly playing with Freckles's nipple as she knelt beside her. "I mean, this has been lots of fun and all but...."

"My dear, the best things come to those who wait," Patience replied, haughtily.

"That's all very well but I'm with Hermione on this one," Barbara put in. "A couple of hours spent watching pretty ponies' backsides has given me an appetite, and not just for sticky buns and tea. I've got an itch that needs scratching. Here we are with four very sexy ponies, and all we're going to do is drive them round and round. Surely we can do better than that."

"Well, if you really can't wait," Patience replied rather peevishly, "there's nothing stopping you taking one of the ponies for a quick run back to the stables. Or maybe right here, in front of us all, if your 'itch' is that urgent. What I was actually planning was a bit of racing with, maybe, a few incentives to spice things up a bit."

"What sort of incentives?"

"Oh, I don't know. A dozen stripes for the loser, half a dozen for third, and something rather more pleasant for first and second. What do you think?"

"So it's more of the same with a few smacked bottoms to round things off? Isn't that just the same as we did last time? Seriously, Patience, I know that pony play is your thing but we're not all quite as fanatical."

"What about you, Celia? I know you like to do things properly."

"If we're going to have a pony show then I feel we ought to have a pony show," Celia replied. "We ought to do things properly. We've come all this way and it would be a shame not to make the most of it."

"And that just leaves Emma; what do you think?" Patience asked.

"Err... I'm the new girl here and I really don't want to offend anyone but, for what it's worth, I'm with Patience. Her house, her rules, sort of thing. But maybe we can compromise. Sure, lets have some races but surely there's time for other activities as well."

"How about we all drive each other's ponies and the winning rider in each heat gets to take that pony to the stables?" Barbara suggested. "As an added incentive, the losing pony gets, I don't know, half a dozen with the crop."

"And how do you propose to select the ponies? Car keys in a bowl, maybe?" Patience said caustically.

"Maybe not that, but I agree with the principle," Hermione put in. "Come on, Patience, let's have a little fun."

"Fun...," Patience Armitage looked exasperated. It was clear that she was losing the argument and it was clear that she was unhappy about it. "Well, if that's the way you feel then I guess we will have to compromise. So how are we going to chose who rides which pony."

"Give me your notepad," Elizabeth asked. Patience handed it over and Elizabeth tore out four pages. On each page she wrote the name of a pony and then folded it up tightly. These she put on a plate which she held out.

"Car keys in a bowl," Patience muttered but she reached out and took one all the same. "It looks like I've got Freckles. Groom, get her back in harness, will you."

While Tamsin reharnessed Freckles to the sulky the other Dommes were selecting their ponies. Racing against Patience was Celia being pulled by Strawberry. Once they were both ready Tamsin led the ponies to the start line, Hermione put them under starter's orders and they were off.

In an odd, rather juvenile way, it was quite fun watching the ponies pull the sulkies around the track. The boots gave them a rather awkward gait which meant that grace and posture were more important than sheer strength and neither pony was an expert. In the end it was Patience who won and Tamsin led the two ponies, puffing from exhaustion, back to the picnic table.

"Well, are you going to take your reward?" Celia asked rather pointedly as she got up out of the sulky.

"I'd rather not," Patience replied, also dismounting.

"Come on, you're the winner, or do you want to wait and watch Strawberry get her smacking?"

"No, it's not that, I'd just rather not," Patience said, rather shortly.