Pantry

Anna stripped down to her bra and panties. The reaction from between my legs showed that I was improving. That feeling became stronger as she put on a suspender belt and eased fully fitted stockings up each leg. She knew she was teasing me. Perhaps that was why she wanted to dress as Rosie, not to exorcise demons, but to give me a strip tease show?

The full petticoats fluffed around her before she wriggled her way into the fitted dress. She asked me to zip her up at the back. I think that was an excuse to get me close and for us to kiss again before she picked up the mask and wig. The plastic mask could be laced together behind her head but Anna had just eased it into place before putting the wig on top.

Anna's voice was slightly muffled but clear.

"This is Rosie, or rather she isn't. With the mask, I'm Mary. Mary doesn't wear an apron. She just is. Rosie wears an apron and works in this kitchen. Now you've seen Mary, I'm going to change into Rosie..."

Anna couldn't get the mask off. The blonde wig had stuck. The mask and wig made a complete hood over her head. Her fingers scrabbled frantically at the join. I could hear her beginning to panic. I eased the wig away from the mask and took both off as Anna's hands flapped. I put them down and hugged her as she sobbed against me.

"I'm sorry," she said eventually. "I thought I could do this but when I was stuck as Mary it all came back..."

"Please don't do it again," I said. "It isn't worth it. Why...?" I stopped as Anna kissed me.

"Why what, Mike?" She asked when the kiss ended.

"Why, if being Rosie or Mary is so hard, were you dressed as Rosie this morning?"

"My friends in the cooperative wanted me to be the face of Rosie's Pantry. I wasn't sure but knowing that for the first time in months I had another person in my house, I thought I would try."

"But in my state I would have been useless if you had panicked, Anna."

"Rosie wasn't too bad. I like dressing up sometimes even if Rosie's costume isn't practical enough for a working farmer. I've had no one to dress up for and I thought..."

"Thought what?"

"That you might like a full skirted Rosie, Mike."

"A full skirted Anna? Yes. Rosie? Rosie was weird. I thought I was having more hallucinations when I first saw you. Your face and hair were so unreal. Even when you washed your face and took off the blonde wig you still looked scared."

"Scared? I suppose I was. Scared of you, and for you because you had been so unlike yourself. Scared of being Rosie? Slightly. Very scared of being Mary. But I'm OK now. I want to do one last thing and I need your help, Mike."

"How?"

"I want YOU to be Mary, as Wayne was Mary."

"You're sure?"

"Yes," Anna said firmly. "Then I'll throw the mask away forever."

"OK. I owe you a lot, Anna, but I've only got out of a dress, and you want me to dress up again? I couldn't wear the dress you've got on. It's too small and too tight. It emphasises your assets..."

My mouth was stopped with a kiss. Anna's assets pressed against me.

"The other dress is much larger. It was far too big to fit Wayne. It will fit you with the stuffed bra he used. I could have dressed you in it this morning instead of that long denim dress but I couldn't face seeing you as Rosie then. I think I can now."

I wasn't convinced. Anna was still pale-faced and strained. But I let her go to fetch the other dress. She was gone for at least five minutes through the third door in the kitchen. She was right. It was much larger. I stripped down to my boxers. Anna fitted a heavily padded bra on my chest. I stepped into several layers of petticoats before Anna lowered the dress over my head. My arms went through the armholes as she pulled the bodice up to my neck. She zipped the dress up at the back. It was tight on me and she couldn't close the zip completely. She arranged the skirt over the petticoats. I looked down. The skirt seemed ridiculously wide and longer than the dress Anna was wearing as Rosie.

"We'll forget the stockings and shoes, Mike. If you put the wig on, I'll add the apron and you can start as Rosie."

The wig still felt as if I was blinkered with the stiff blonde hair obstructing my view left and right. Anna untied her gingham apron before putting it around my waist.

"Please walk to the end of the kitchen and back again, Rosie," Anna asked. "I'm not going to use make-up because I'll see the effect from behind."

I walked up and down the kitchen towards the metal door several times. As I did, Anna seemed to relax. Finally she stepped in front of me, wrapped her arms around my waist and we kissed.

"Thank you, Rosie. Thank you, Mike. Now for the real test. You as Mary."

Anna removed the apron and hung it on the rail on the AGA. I eased the blonde wig off before sitting down on a stool. Anna gave me white elbow length gloved that went up my arms and under the short sleeves of the dress.

Anna brought the mask. Unlike on her head it wouldn't just rest in place. She had to lace it at the back to make it stay on. It felt weird. I could smell Anna's perfume on the soft lining. I could see through the eye holes and breathe through the nose holes but the mouth was fixed. Once Anna had replaced the wig I felt that I was completely wrapped as Mary. Everything I could see of me was covered as Mary. My lower legs and feet were still Mike but the long puffed out skirt didn't let me see them.

"Another walk please, Mary?"

I walked up and down. Just beside the metal door was a small mirror. From the other end of the kitchen my reflection looked like a 1950s housewife. As I got closer the falseness of the mask was obvious.

"Stand there."

That was an order. I felt a slight resistance to obeying it but why shouldn't I do what Anna asked. I stood in front of the AGA.

"Hands out."

Another order. I stretched my gloved hands out towards Anna. She clamped the handcuffs around my wrists before attaching the chain to the rail of the AGA.

"Now sit down in the armchair."

I sat, flicking my skirt out of the way as I sat.

"Thank you, Mary," Anna said. "Wait there while I make some more coffee. I need it even if you can't drink it as you are."

Would Anna leave me as Mary? I was cuffed and chained again. I had enough slack in the chain to move around the kitchen but I couldn't remove the wig and certainly not the mask with cuffed and gloved hands.

A telephone rang from some distance away beyond the door Anna had gone to fetch the larger Mary/Rosie dress.

"Please stay there while I get that."

Again Anna was giving me an order. I didn't have much choice but to obey. Or did I? I stood up and walked around the kitchen as far as the chain let me. I was disobeying Anna. Surely that was a good sign? Or was it an order? Or just a request?

Anna didn't return for about ten minutes. I had heard her Rosie stiletto heels early enough for me to be sitting demurely in the armchair when she came back into the kitchen.

"Sorry I had to leave you. I'd left my personal mobile upstairs because the signal isn't strong down here. It switches to the landline in the corridor or the extension in the packing shed. That was Helen. She'd been to a Boot Fair this morning and found some dresses that might do for me as Rosie, dresses without the unpleasant associations of this one," Anna twirled, splaying her skirt wide, "or that one you are wearing as Mary. How are you enjoying being Mary? Helen is coming here."

I tried to speak. To my horror, the mask that had been loose on Anna was tight across my mouth. All I managed was a strangled squawk. I was effectively gagged. I didn't want my sister Helen to see me like this.

"Can't speak, Mary? That's a shame, isn't it? You're hooded, gagged and shackled and you can't stop being Mary even when you want to. You might not be enjoying it but I am. Seeing a male Mary so helpless is helping me."

I tried to protest again. I shook my head.

Anna came across to me and hugged my head.

"Sorry, Mike. I was teasing you. Helen isn't coming for a couple of hours. You won't be Mary then. In fact, as soon as I have made the coffee, you can stop being Mary and become Mike again. Sit there for a few minutes more, please."

I relaxed back into the chair. I wanted to stop being Mary, a puppet for Anna to humiliate. It felt odd to be so helpless.

Anna was as good as her word. She made a production of stripping off her Rosie costume and dressing in the skirt and top as Anna again. While the mugs of coffee were cooling she removed the wig, unlaced the mask, took it off and kissed me. The handcuffs and chain followed before I stood up and she unzipped the dress. Once I was back to my boxers and T-shirt I dragged my jeans back on quickly, feeling relief at shedding the Mary persona.

Anna hung the Rosie and Mary dresses over the back of a chair. When I had my trainers back on my feet I seemed to be my normal, pre-drugged self. I grabbed Anna, lifted her off her feet and kissed her hard and often.

"Please put me down," she said eventually.

"No. Not yet," I replied, kissing her again.

"Please?"

"OK, Anna, since you ask nicely."

As I put her down I felt my legs wobble. I had to hold on to Anna to stop myself falling. She helped me to sit back in the armchair. She put my coffee beside me but my hands were shaking too much to pick up the mug. I was shivering and my head was spinning.

"Silly Mike," Anna said calmly. "You're not recovered yet. I'll hold your coffee again."

She had to do more than hold the mug. She had to cradle my head against her breast as I tried to drink.

"Cold," I muttered. "I'm cold."

Anna put the mug down and reached for the two dresses. She wrapped them around me, tucking the skirts around my legs. She rested my head against a bundle of the petticoats. She held my head again. This time I managed the coffee.

"Stay there, Mike," she ordered. "I'll make you something to eat. Your stomach must be almost empty. Cheese and pickle sandwich OK?"

I could just nod. This was ridiculous. A couple of minutes ago I had been carrying Anna. Now I couldn't hold a mug. I tilted my head back into the soft petticoats and closed my eyes.

+++

When I opened my eyes again my sister Helen was sitting in front of me. What must she be thinking? I was wrapped in dresses and my head was surrounded by petticoats. I shook my head carefully. No. I wasn't wrapped in dresses. I had a couple of blankets around me and a pillow behind my head. That was a relief. Beside me there was a plate with a cling film-wrapped cheese and pickle sandwich.

"Hello Mike," Helen said. "How are you feeling?"

"Feeling? Weak, washed out and stupid. I should have recovered by now."

"You were very lucky that Anna found you. The local hospital had a couple of dozen cases of severe drug reactions last night and the Police are involved. Your nemesis Tracy was around at the rave. She's been arrested for possible drug dealing."

"Tracy? But she'd never be dealing drugs..."

"Exactly, Mike. Your injunction against her still applies. She shouldn't have been within ten miles of the town, but she was, and she was seen in the pub. She might have been the one who spiked your drink but we'll never prove it. The pub's CCTV didn't cover where you were sitting."

"Tracy spiking my drink? No. I don't and can't believe that. She hates drugs. But how do you know about the CCTV?"

"Charlotte, of course, our friendly local reporter. I rang her a couple of times after I had spoken to Anna this morning. The CCTV has face-recognition software and Tracy was on the system as someone banned from the area. The landlord had more problems than a banned Tracy and didn't notice the alert until Tracy had left. The rave and the drugs will be front page news in the local paper this week. I told Charlotte about the injunction. She told the Police who were grateful because they could arrest Tracy for breaching that, and hold her while they tried to find more evidence about the drug dealing."

"Good. She can be a bitch, but..." Something didn't seem right but I was too confused to work out what. I had to shut my eyes again because I was still very tired.

"You really should eat something," Helen said.

I opened my eyes. Helen was unwrapping the sandwich. She held it out to me. My arm felt like lead as I reached for the sandwich.

Helen was right. After half a sandwich I was feeling slightly better. I finished it as Helen brought me a glass of water.

"You are well rid of Tracy," she said, "but I think Anna might have claimed you. You should be careful..."

"Careful about Anna? Why?"

"Like you, she's had a bad relationship. She needs someone and she thinks that's my brother."

"But we've known Anna for years. What do you know that I don't?"

"Nothing, Mike, but when I find you wrapped in her dresses, nearly smothered in her petticoats, and handcuffs on the kitchen table I add two and two and make five at least."

"You found me like that?" I was horrified.

"Yes, brother, I found you like that. Anna hadn't dared to leave you to get something else to keep you warm. As soon as I arrived she went to get the blankets and pillow. We wrapped you again. The two dresses are over there..."

Helen pointed at the pantry door. The dresses were hanging in the doorway.

"...don't worry. I won't tell anyone. We may fight as siblings usually do, but when it matters we are there for each other. You have saved me from embarrassing situations before and said nothing. I owe you for those. Forgetting about the dresses will be a part repayment. Anna has gone to lie down and have a nap. She was up all of last night looking after you. Later she will make up a bed in the spare bedroom for you for tonight. You're staying here. I've got to be at work in the morning. Anna's work pattern is more flexible. She has promised to be good to my brother. I trust her."

"So do I, Helen."

"And she owes you too. She hated those dresses because of Wayne. Now they are the dresses she used on you. Later perhaps she and you will be able to laugh about them. The Mary mask has been cut into small pieces and thrown in the bin. You've helped her to face her demons. I've been trying for months but a few hours of Anna being in charge of and responsible for Mike have had a big impact. She's not cured but she's on the way."

I still felt very tired. I closed my eyes, opened them briefly an hour or so later as Anna came back into the kitchen and closed them again. I was aware of Helen and Anna talking but unable to contribute.

Helen went out to her car and brought in a suitcase of clothes for me and bags of the dresses she had bought at this morning's Boot Fair. Anna made a pot of tea and they sat at the kitchen table talking about me as if I wasn't there.

Anna asked about Tracy. Helen explained that Tracy had been my girlfriend and had wanted to marry me. I was attracted to Tracy but she was sex mad. She wanted me to be a complacent husband who would let her fuck any man she fancied. She had thought I would be a good provider, a base for her to come back to, and that she could use me while she slept around. When I had found out that Tracy was having sex with several other men as the same time as me, I ended the relationship about eighteen months ago.

Tracy was upset because she had convinced herself that I would be great for her, and she turned into a stalker, chasing me everywhere on and offline. Her antics became so worrying that I had arranged for an injunction to be taken out against her, banning her from contacting me, and she wasn't to come within ten miles of the town where Helen and I lived and worked. It took several months to get that injunction. By the time it was in force, Tracy had almost ceased harassing me anyway.

The injunction seemed to have worked. Tracy had completely stopped chasing me. Since there had been no breaches by Tracy the injunction would expire in a couple of months' time. Until last night. As Tracy had been in the pub last night, she had been well within the ten mile limit. But why? She seemed to have accepted at last that Mike was an ex-boyfriend.

Anna commented that she and I had both suffered damaging relationships but were recovering. She too was puzzled that Tracy should have broken the injunction. How could she have known I'd be in that pub? Helen said I didn't usually go out for a drink on a Saturday night. She was right. It was my first visit to that pub for six months at least.

Helen had brought some of my clothes, my shaving and washing kit, and my mobile phone. There had been a message on my landline from the Police that had been forwarded to my mobile, but Helen couldn't access it because she didn't know my passwords for the answering machine or my mobile. Should she ring the Police herself?

They decided to wait until I was conscious again. I didn't tell them that I was conscious and just had my eyes shut. They whispered for a few seconds. Helen suggested that Anna should try on some of the Boot Fair dresses -- my eyes opened.

Helen laughed at me. Anna left the kitchen taking my clothes upstairs.

"I thought that might bring you round, big brother. But she's not doing it now. The strip tease will be after I've gone. When I have gone, do what Anna says. You're not recovered yet."

Do what Anna says? That was an order, from my sister. I thought the drug had worn off. It hadn't. Helen's casual remark felt like an instruction I couldn't disobey. I shook my head. Ouch. That hurt.

Helen stood beside me and stroked my head gently.

"Mike, please be careful. Whatever drug they used was very strong. I wish I could stay to help Anna, but I can't. She will look after you, not just because she's my friend, but because she likes you. Just sit there and we'll bring things to you."

I thought that would be all I could do, but I felt nausea returning. I stood up. Helen looked worried.

"I need a bucket," I said weakly. "There's one in the pantry. Don't peek."

Some hope. I needed Helen to prop me up as I weaved across the kitchen and into the pantry. I retched drily over the bucket before I propped myself up against the bench and peed. I wanted to empty the bucket myself but Helen took it from me and emptied it herself. She supported me back to the kitchen and armchair.

"You need to eat, Mike. There's one of my casseroles in the AGA. It should be ready in half an hour. Until then just rest."

Anna returned as Helen was talking.

"What's he been up to?" Anna asked.

"He needed the bucket." Helen replied.

"I wish I had the downstairs toilet today. It's one of the projects being started tomorrow, a conversion in the pantry. But my bedroom has an en suite bathroom. He's not well enough to leave alone so he's going to be with me. Before you go, Helen, could you help me get Mike to the farmhouse? It's a long way. I don't think Mike can make it without both of us."

"Of course I will, Anna, but should I be helping my brother into your bed when he's in no state to consent?"

"He's also in no state to do anything, or to endure anything I might think of doing to him. He'll be as safe as he would be in his own home. What I'd like to do with Mike will have to wait until he's better."

"It will," I said weakly, closing my eyes again, "unless you want vomit all over your bed..."

"Mike?" Helen said. "You had a message from the police on your answering machine and on your mobile. Are you up to listening to it?"

I opened my eyes.

"I think so. If I can't, I can try again when I can."

Helen passed me my mobile. I entered the password. The signal was barely adequate as I listened to the police message. They wanted to me to come to the police station to talk about last night and Tracy. Could I ring to make an appointment? I could ring anytime because someone could enter a time in the detective's diary.