part 3 "I still think it's unfair- I haven't gotten off all day," complained Jason. The three of them were walking down the hall toward the elevators. "Oh I don't know," retorted Mandy, as the elevator- `lift' she reminded herself- arrived, "you seemed to be enjoying yourself." "You know what I mean," Jason answered, "I'm still..." He paused as an elderly couple in fancy clothes passed them. He didn't think they were likely to approve of the topic at hand. He wondered what they thought of all the wild-looking members of the Skin Two convention. "...horny," he finished, as the elevator arrived. It was empty. "It goes without saying," Mandy replied, "you're a male, you suffer from testosterone poisoning. Tuck your collar in," she added. Flora had put her purple rubber miniskirt back on, along with the strappy pumps, but Mandy had insisted that Jason didn't look submissive enough for her tastes. To his relief, she hadn't made him change into anything TOO embarrassing, although he now sported a boned leather posture collar, festooned with d-rings. He fingered the straps to see what Mandy was talking about, and found one that had not been buckled properly. He tucked it in. The elevator doors opened, and a fascinating sight greeted them. The lobby was full of leather and rubber-clad people, of all shapes, sizes, and descriptions. Apparently, quite a few convention members had shown up while they were upstairs. The range of clothing and gear was amazing, too. A few wore nothing more outre than a leather motorcycle jacket with jeans, while others were decked out in full fetish regalia. Jason noted one woman in particular who was negotiating the busy lobby carefully on a pair of unlikely-looking platform pumps whose skyscraper stiletto heels must have been fully twelve inches tall. With her upper torso and arms tightly encased in a laced patent leather body binder, she was lucky to have the support of her female escort who stood beside her and held one protective arm around her waist. "Good grief!" exclaimed Flora, "if this is any sign, this'll be twice the size of last years con'." "That's because they didn't advertise last year, remember?" answered Mandy. "It was invitation only." Jason looked startled. "You mean you guys have been to one of these before? Why didn't you tell me?" "You didn't ask," retorted Flora. Mandy just grinned at him. They pressed through the crowds lining up in front of the registration desk, grateful that they had been registered since yesterday. A sign at the doors into the event area pointed the way toward the dealers room, and they moved in that direction as best they could through the press of bodies. Jason was amazed and delighted to be surrounded by what seemed like hundreds of people, all with an apparent interest in bondage, discipline, and various fetishes. Eventually, they arrived at the dealers room, where a leather-uniformed police officer checked their convention name-badges, to verify that they weren't just curiosity seekers off the street. At closer range, it became obvious that while said officer looked tall and imposing in his black leather state-trooper uniform, he bore no badge, his shoulder insignia were actually membership patches for the National Leather Association of America, and his prominent belly was almost certainly non-regulation. After checking their badges, he tipped his hat to the ladies, and stepped out of the way. The inside of the dealers room was positively wedged with bodies- bodies of every conceivable shape, sex, and size, covered (more or less) in every conceivable fetishey material, and some that had certainly never occurred to Jason. The first table on their right, just inside the door, was covered in pamphlets and tended by a serious-looking young man dressed in spandex. Mandy took a pamphlet absent-mindedly, while Flora and Jason ogled the sights. Mandy appeared to be searching the room for something. "Well, I'm not going to just stand here," declared Flora, "Come on!" This last directed at Jason. Jason followed, calling over his shoulder to Mandy, "Meet you back here in an hour?" while Flora tugged his hand. In short order, both Flora and Jason were in seventh heaven. The merchandise on display was the best bondage and discipline equipment, fetish and bondage-oriented clothing and accessories that England and Europe had to offer. Every table and booth was chock full of the most ornate and finely-crafted items, made from polished wood, stainless steel, leather, and rubber, and not a few substances Jason was hard-put to identify. The two of them stared, fascinated, as a young couple representing Talley Girl Products, demonstrated their wares, which appeared to be primarily elaborate and expensive chastity devices. The woman, who possessed an incredibly small and obviously corseted waist, had a male model to demonstrate on, while her male partner manipulated the equipment on a woman. The two models were in no position to complain, as their forearms were strapped behind them to the display framework, and their heads were totally enclosed in tightly laced black leather discipline helmets. Jason realized now why the event was restricted to adults, as the man dropped the skirt from his models waist, leaving her bare. He held up a complex-looking device, made from shiny black rubber and polished stainless steel, in front of his audience. "Now these pants," the man was saying, "are quite a bit more expensive, but they offer several more rather nice features." He held them open for all to see. "You see, there is the same silicone rubber dildo in the front, which is removable and washable, and comes in a variety of sizes and shapes. This dildo can of course, be interchanged with vibrating or inflatable versions as well. The rear is where it gets interesting, however." From his accent, Jason guessed the man was from Germany, although he spoke the Queen's English as if he were born with it. He took a card from the table, as the man continued. "This device is a short, five-sided anal speculum, built into the seat. When the pants are being worn, one simply twists the two rings with these two tools. Once expanded, there is sufficient friction built in that the rings cannot be turned without the leverage of the tools, making it quite impossible for the slave to remove." Jason watched with rapt attention, as the gadget opened, like the strangely curved petals of some alien metal flower. "Note," continued the man, "that since the rings have wide openings, the slave is free to ahh, eliminate through the device, while enjoying the sensation of having their ass filled and stretched wide." He twisted the tools, and the speculum closed again. When closed, it had the appearance and shape of a rounded dildo. "This device is custom made in our shop, and since it has six curved sections, with softly rounded edges, it will never pinch or abrade your slaves rear end. Also notice that the front and rear accessories are joined by an external strap of stainless steel, stiffening the crotch between them. The reason for this will become apparent in a moment. There are one or two more features, but I think it best if I simply demonstrate." He stepped back to his model, and lifting each foot in turn, pulled the shorts onto her. "In the interest of entertainment value," he went on, "I think I'll swap this for the inflatable version." He unscrewed the dildo and replaced it with another, nearly identical-looking one, having a short valve stem, which protruded from the threaded fitting in the front of the crotch. "A little lube front and rear," added the demonstrator, "and she's ready." He pulled up the shorts, while easing the steel speculum into her rear, and the dildo into her front opening. Jason thought he saw a perceptible shudder run through the model, as the cold steel entered her. "Now I just turn the rings," the man said, "and she'll find her ass distractingly full. You need to practice with this, so that you know just how big it becomes when the rings are turned a given amount. Let's fill up her front now, shall we?" He attached a bulb inflator to the fitting in front, and after several squeezes, managed to evoke a certain amount of wiggling and swaying in his captive manikin. "Now... remember that steel reinforcement in the crotch? That simple addition now prevents her from expelling the front plug, since it is leveraged against the speculum in her ass. The drainage holes in front, and wide open rear make it possible to wear this little wonder for literally days at a time, although we don't recommend it for more than twenty-four hours. Now then, while it is secure, and can't be removed, it might still be possible for busy little fingers to relieve their owner, thus the steel straps around the thighs and waist. Once locked with a few small luggage padlocks, there'll be no relief from that direction. That leaves one problem area, massaging through the thick rubber itself." He demonstrated by pressing his fingers into the tight rubber covering the crotch of his subject, eliciting more wiggling from his model. Jason thought he might have heard a moan from inside the skin tight helmet, but it was impossible to be sure in the noise of the crowd. "There is a pocket attached to the front of the shorts," the man went on, "and extending right down to the front accessory fixture. One need merely insert this curved piece of stainless steel, and voila! The crotch becomes rigid and inaccessible." While several people actually applauded, he stood back from his model, and began handing out color brochures and business cards, blithely ignoring the swaying hips and twitching legs of his model. Jason turned away, and found Flora grinning at him, a brochure clasped tightly in her hand, and a glazed look in her eye. She leaned close enough to make herself heard over the din of the crowd, and said, "Guess what I want for Christmas?" The next table that really grabbed their attention had another small crowd gathered around it. When they managed to migrate to the front, they saw why. A man was applying plaster bandages to a seated womans head and shoulders, answering questions from the audience while he worked. "NO, NO!" he said, "we don't form the metal while the person is IN there, we make a mold of their head, and form the metal into THAT. You need a negative mold anyway." It soon became clear that this company was using a technique they called "explosive metal forming" to make precise, form-fitting helmets out of stainless steel, that when finished, would fit the owner like a second skin. The customer he was molding now had asked for a special version that included a mold of the neck and shoulders, so that when the two halves of the finished product were clamped on, it would totally immobilize the head. Flora and Jason stared for a moment, remembering the fantastic boots that Mr. Dodds had brought during his last visit. They hadn't fit Flora, but they had fit Jason perfectly... Rounding the corner of the next aisle, they nearly ran into Mandy. "Oh good," she exclaimed, grabbing Flora by the wrist, "come on, I've got something I want to try, er, show you." Jason followed reluctantly, having just spotted a booth where liquid latex was being painted onto a bald womans head. After weaving through half a dozen aisles, Mandy stopped them in front of an undecorated and rather unremarkable-looking booth. RimaWear Incorporated, declared the small sign on the back wall of the booth, and one gentleman, dressed in rather mundane coveralls, stood behind the counter. His entire stock in trade seemed to be either brassieres, or breast-bondage equipment, depending on how you looked at it. Dozens of unusual items lined the three walls of his booth. "Ahh, Mandy!" he exclaimed as they approached, "perfect timing! This is the first break I've had all day. Is this the young lady in question?" He nodded in Flora's direction. "Hello, Hatchet," replied Mandy, "Yep, she's the one." She grinned over at Flora. "What do you say love, are you up for some tit-play?" Flora feigned distress for all of five seconds. "Here? Now? In front of God, Freud, and everyone? Weelll, okay!" "Actually," said `Hatchet', "there's a curtain here, we can close off the back of the shop..." "Yeah," interrupted Flora, "there's a curtain- we can close off the back of the shop." "That WON'T be necessary, WILL it?" retorted Mandy, with a quick glare at her slave. Flora didn't quite succeed in looking subdued. "No, ma'am," she answered. Jason just spotted the faintly amused grin she shot at him through lowered eyes. Mandy turned back to Hatchet. "She doesn't know it yet, but she wants to try them out... all of them." Flora shot an alarmed look at Mandy, but allowed her mistress to guide her into the booth along with Jason, after Hatchet raised the hinged counter top. "Okay." Hatchet looked at Mandy... looked back at Flora. "Sure." He took Flora's chest measurement, grunted to himself, and grabbed the nearest of the unusual contraptions. "Well, she's big enough for one of these to work... 'ere then, this one should fit," he said. "Lose the jacket," ordered Mandy. In a moment, Flora stood facing the rear of the shop, nude to the waist, her face rapidly flushing, and her breathing deepening. "You're pierced, that's luck," observed Hatchet. He reached for one ring, glanced at Mandy. "May I?" "Of course," she answered. Hatchet examined the two loops with their twin pearls appreciatively, while Flora gazed steadily at Mandy, embarrassed, but loving it. "Nice work. Might have to replace 'em with rings for one of my toys, though." He fitted the cups of the new bra-like gadget to Flora, while describing it's features. "This 'ere is an inflatable bondage bra. Once we've got 'er in it, we just firm up the back and the straps a bit- completely adjustable, see? You want it plenty tight, for it to work. It's a good job she's got big ones, this is no good on the smaller girls. Oh, and if you want her to keep it on, you just drop a little padlock through one of the strap holes, this side of the buckle." The bra was certainly unusual enough. The cups were transparent latex, which had a slight amber color, but the rest was reinforced black rubber, with a thick, rounded portion surrounding each cup. A small tire valve protruded from the back of one strap, and a bulge was visible within the strap, indicating a tube of some kind. Flora's slowly erecting nipples and decorated rings were clearly visible through the transparent film of the cups. "Now then, the next time you want her to look her best, just pump it up." Here he attached a small puffer bulb to the valve and gave it a dozen or so pumps. In short order, Flora's breasts underwent a bizarre transformation. The black portion framing the cups was evidently hollow. It slowly swelled and stiffened, raising her tits slightly, and squeezing them into the transparent cups. Flora's eyes widened, and her chest began to rise and fall somewhat more rapidly. "So, and then the next time she's really bad," continued Hatchet, "you can really put the pressure on." He smiled at Mandy. "Go on, give it a try." Eagerly, Mandy grabbed the bulb and squeezed repeatedly. The bra didn't get much larger on the outside, but Flora's breasts were obviously being constricted for they swelled forward considerably, stretching the thin latex of the cups. Flora was breathing rather hard now, and the flush had spread down her neck to her chest. She remained silent, staring fixedly at Mandy, who stared back intently, the corners of her mouth only hinting at a smile. Mandy kept pumping slowly. Flora's breasts now bulged absurdly out through the inflated rings of the device, looking not so much like breasts as oddly shaped gourds. The bra was apparently putting some uncomfortable pressure on her, for she winced occasionally, yet the only other signs she gave were a deepening of her breathing, and opening her mouth. Jason noted that her nipples were still prominently erect, although flattened somewhat by the tightly stretched cups of the bra. Feeling rather self-conscious, he looked over his shoulder to the front of the booth. To his relief, no panting crowd had gathered to watch, and while an occasionally passerby stopped to examine the wares pictured in the albums on the counter, they only glanced at the goings-on in the back of the booth. They might have been interested indeed, but apparently were polite enough not to intrude. Slowly, Mandy reached out one cocked finger, and snapped Flora's nipple through the thinly stretched rubber. Flora gasped audibly, and looked wide-eyed at Mandy, not saying anything with her voice, yet sending an unmistakable message with her body and eyes. Slowly, she raised her hands, looking the question at Mandy, who nodded. Flora looked down, for the first time at her painfully distended breasts, fascinated. She reached up and traced a finger over each nipple, shuddering slightly. When she started to cup each breast with her whole hand, Mandy finally broke the silence. "No." She moved Flora's hands back by her side, while Flora bit her lip. "That's enough. We'll take it. What's next?" Hatchet deflated and removed the device from Flora, who somehow managed to look both relieved and disappointed, Jason thought. "Yes, well, THIS is an interesting line I came up with last month. Got the idea from a short story in <> magazine." He held up a bra that might have been right at home on the set of Barbarella. The body was again made of black rubber, but each bullet-shaped cup had been molded in clear acrylic plastic. As he showed it around, Jason saw that each cup also had a thin latex gasket glued to it's rim, and that the exaggerated nipples molded into the cups were actually smaller cups in themselves, maybe half an inch by one inch, with small chromed valves at the tips. "You'll want to remove her loops for this one," said Hatchet to Mandy, and began digging through a trunk. "Damn, where's that lube got to," he muttered. Finally he surfaced with a bottle of lubricating gel. He lubricated the latex rims and the entire inside surface of each cup, then fitted them over Flora's breasts, wrapping the straps around and fastening them in back. "From that last performance," he went on, "I'd say her tits are more sensitive than most girls- that's good, it seems a waste to sell my toys to some big-chested woman who can't feel anything but pain." "She's pretty sensitive, alright," confirmed Mandy. For the first time since they had entered the shop she grinned just slightly at Jason, who grinned back. He knew very well how sensitive Flora was, but he also knew that Mandy too, could be aroused to a frenzy by breast-play. He wondered how Mandy would react if he told the man, then thought better of it. "Now then," continued Hatchet, "just attach the pump, and have at it." He had a more aggressive pump this time, the sort of thing used on those bogus `penis enlargers', sold in novelty stores. As he stroked it, Flora's right tit swelled visibly as the skin was sucked into the partial vacuum. Flora moaned very softly, but stopped at a sharp glance from Mandy. It was obvious from Flora's expression of barely concealed smugness that she was enjoying the sensation. Hatchet repeated the procedure with her other breast. Eventually, both breasts were squeezed out to fill their cups completely, pressing up tightly against the clear plastic, and forcing them into the same bullet shape as the cups. Her nipples could be seen trying to swell out into the smaller cups at the tips of the cups. Jason glanced at Flora's face. Her faint smile was gone, replaced with a faint expression of concern. Her mouth was open, and as he watched, the pink tip of her tongue showed enough to lick her lips once, twice. "This is where it gets interesting," added Hatchet. "Watch her nipples." He continued pumping and as he did, Flora's nipple swelled even further, the areola stretching, until it had swelled to the size of a finger and filled the nipple cup. In very short order, he had the other teat pumped out as well. Flora was breathing quite deeply again, and was obviously in some discomfort, although if Jason had to guess, he would have bet money that she wouldn't want it to stop. "There!" exclaimed Hatchet, "A work of art. I should add, that if you leave them on on too long, you'll get some slight hemorrhaging around the nipples, although a little won't hurt her. And if you pump 'em up this much very often, they'll actually increase the size of her nipples over time. Personally, I consider that a feature, not a bug." He chuckled. Mandy walked around Flora, whose frontage now had the appearance of a 1954 Cadilac, if Cadilac bullet bumpers had been made of clear acrylic tightly filled with swollen breasts. She looked at the price tag hanging from one strap. "Why so much?" she asked, nonplused. Hatchet shrugged. "Believe it or not," he said, "they are more labor -intensive than the inflatables. I have to cast the acrylic by hand." "Hmm. Okay, we'll take this one too." Hatchet smiled. "Hey, if you guys are going to buy out everything I brought today, I'm going to close up and do some shopping myself." Jason doubted he would be closing, since the walls of the booth were still festooned with gadgetry and clothing articles. Mandy ignored his comment for the moment and instead `deflated' Flora's tits. This time, Flora's look of relief seemed genuine. "What else have you got?" Mandy inquired, unstrapping the bullet bra from her slave. "Well, your usual breast-vices and clamps, nipple clamps... Oh hell, I almost forgot." He pulled down yet another brassiere-shaped contrivance from a hook. I don't get much call for these, since not everyone is pierced." What he held up looked less like a foundation garment for humans than one for robots. There were two recognizable breast cups, formed from chrome-plated, curved metal rods, and like the acrylic pump-up bra, these had extra space over the nipples. But there the similarity ended. At the bottom front of each cup was a small chrome-plated device, like a motor, from which wire leads hung. The whole exotic framework was supported in a beautifully-worked black leather harness. "This one was custom- they don't all look as fancy. The buyers moved though, and I've never heard from them since. I call it the Tit-ilator. It looked so fancy after the chrome job I had to give it a name." Mandy gave Jason a long-suffering look, to which Jason grinned. "If you have some plain beaded rings for her tits," added Hatchet, "we can get started." It turned out that the rest of Flora's piercing jewelry was in the room, so Jason was dispatched to fetch it, while Mandy and Hatchet chatted about tit-bondage, nipple-torture, and slaves in general. Jason was back in less than ten minutes, apparently as eager as Mandy to see the fancy mechanism put to work on Flora's long-suffering breasts. Once Mandy had put the rings through, she helped Hatchet strap the gadget onto Flora. Jason saw that the spacing of the rods forming the cups was closer together on the bottom than the top, and that they actually supported Flora fairly well. "Now then," said Hatchet, "these little cranks are attached to the gear motors, and the position of these sliders on the cranks are set by little set-screws, see? The sliders have o-rings, kind of like heavy-duty rubber bands, with hooks on 'em. What you do is, you rotate the crank around like this, until it points away from the nip." He held up a small control box which he plugged the motor leads into. "You need the speed turned all the way down." Next he reached his fingers between the bars of one cup and snagged Flora's nipple ring. "Now, pull the nipple out until you can get it over the hook... then pull the slider out until she can't stand it." Jason peered around Flora to watch. As Hatchet pulled on the tiny slider, the o-ring/rubber-band came taught, then stretched slightly, while Flora groaned. He stared at the amazing gadget as Hatchet repeated the procedure with the other nipple. Once again, Flora's eyes were closed, and she had begun to breath heavily. "Now then," Hatchet continued, "this knob sets the speed, and here's the on-off switch." He handed the control box to Mandy. "If you'll do the honors?" Mandy switched it on, and immediately, the tiny gearmotors turned, rotating their cranks, alternately tugging and releasing Flora's nipple rings. Flora moaned again, louder. Mandy shut off the box. It had not escaped Jason's attention that she left the speed set at minimum. -=O=- By the time they left Hatchet's stall, Flora had regained her composure, and was chatting merrily away. "Oh God, Mandy, I can't wait to try these out some more- they're wonderful! Except... well... what worries me is that they can all pretty much be overdone, you know? I mean, when he pumped out that bullet bra, I thought he'd be milking blood- it was really starting to hurt! God, my nipples are so sensitive now, I wish I still had one on! At least then, my jacket wouldn't be rubbing and driving me nuts," and on and on in a continuous stream until Mandy wheeled about and put her finger to Flora's lips. She smiled thinly. "Flora. Dear. You are driving ME nuts. Kindly shut up. Or would you like me to start shopping for a pair of tongue stocks?" Flora silenced. Jason chuckled to himself, but checked it at a sharp glance from Mandy. -=O=- They found the Ellen Schiffer booth near the back of the huge room, where Ellen was signing autographed pictures of herself modeling her own fantastic creations, while a pair of drop-dead gorgeous models handed out her new color catalog. Ellen was her own best model and was, as usual, dressed more-or-less head to toe in latex. Her minidress was quite tight, showing off her undoubtedly corseted waist, and was made in a striking pattern of diagonal black and white panels. Several dressmakers dummies as well as the two female assistants, showed off more of her designs. After Mandy, Flora and Jason had drooled over the vast array of patterns and designs in the photo albums and catalogs, Ellen came over to greet them. "Hello," she said in an amazingly low contralto voice, "is there anything I can help you with?" Jason decided that if it weren't for Mandy, he might have fallen hard for this woman. "Well," he started, cleared his throat, and started again, "well, I was admiring that dress your model is wearing... no, the redhead... could we take a close look... thank you. I was wondering whether all those straps were decorative, or ah, functional." Ellen looked pleased. "Yes, yes," she said, "I'd be happy to demonstrate. Cheryl, would you step up here please? Thank you." Cheryl stepped onto a low platform perhaps twelve inches high, revealing a beautiful pair of red patent knee-high boots, with at least five inch stiletto heels. After a double-take, Jason noticed that the boots were heavily boned, like corsets, making them quite rigid from sole to knee. Ellen guided Cheryl's feet so that her toes went into toe clips, and the heels of the boots fit into sockets. She tightened thumbscrews on the sockets, and Cheryl's boots were now firmly fixed to the platform. The platform must have been mounted with a lazy susan because Ellen easily rotated Cheryl around by the shoulders to show off the features of the dress. It was an elegant, long-sleeved, ankle-length evening gown in red leather- what Jason called whore-house red. The top section featured fitted bust cups with zippers, allowing each to be removed. The rest of the front was decorated with straps and buckles across it, from just under the bust all the way to the ankles, while the back of the skirt had a heavy zipper from waist to hemline, which was open to mid-thigh. The open zipper relieved the size of the skirt section enough that the model could walk in it. Two more heavy zippers were attached to the sleeves, which fit quite snugly. The mating halves of the zips ran down the back from the shoulders to roughly the small of the back. If that wasn't enough, a row of eyelets ran down the center of the back, with lacing threaded very loosely between them. "You see," said Ellen, "by zipping down the back, the sleeves become a kind of single-glove, binding the arms to the back of the dress." She demonstrated, and soon had the models arms immobilized behind her. The model, Jason noted, continued to smile placidly, just like a model. "Moreover," continued Ms. Schiffer, "the skirt zips closed and becomes in essence, a hobble skirt, which may be tightened by means of these straps at the front." She worked her way down the dress, tightening the straps viciously. When she was done, the model was quite immobilized, her legs pressed firmly together by the dress-cum-body-binder. Ellen unzipped and removed the bust cups, revealing the girls smallish breasts. She paused to cup one rounded tit momentarily, then moved to the back again. Jason saw that one of the girls nipples was pierced, with a barbell through it, and wondered where Ms. Schiffer got her models... he doubted it was from the usual agencies. "The lacing across the back serves to improve sloppy posture," she said, demonstrating by tightening the lacing. Sure enough, the models shoulders were pulled back even further, and her breasts were thrust out more enthusiastically. Her Barbie doll smile never wavered. "Ta-daa!" cried the owner, and the little audience that had gathered for her demo applauded, then slowly melted back into the throng as she unlaced, unstrapped, and unzipped her model. "So," Ellen said to Mandy as she helped her model down from the stand, "what do you think?" "I'm impressed. I've never seen any of your leather things- it's a new line for you isn't it? But I don't think my slaves are really worthy of your talents." She smiled at Flora and Jason, who were trying hard to look offended. "Actually," she continued, "I was looking for something dramatic for myself." "For the ball tomorrow?" asked Ellen. "Actually, I've brought a wardrobe... I didn't think you'd be able to make anything overnight..." "You might be surprised, but it's usually best to take our time." "Yah. Anyway, I'm sort of looking for something... different... something that not only looks good... but is stimulating to the wearer, too. Well, not TOO stimulating... I don't want to collapse on the dance floor!" The two women laughed, while Ellen dragged out several more folders of sketches and photographs. The two began poring over the designs. Jason touched Mandy's shoulder. "Umm, Mandy? If you're going to be here a while, do you mind if we look around?" "Hmm?" Mandy didn't even bother to look up from the design that Ellen was quickly and deftly sketching. "Oh. Sure." Jason and Flora headed off, Flora in the lead. ...to be continued --