Before Donna could say another word, he had seized her arm. More magic flared, and then they were no longer in his office. Instead they stood on an unpaved dirt road, somewhere in the countryside. Where was this? she wondered, even as he waved a hand and their clothing changed. He still was all in black, but there was something faintly medieval about the styles, at least she remembered having seen pictures of people dressing like this in the Middle Ages. Her own t shirt and jeans had disappeared, to be replaced by a simple gray tunic, with no pockets or seams, little more than a sack with holes for her neck and arms.

"What--what is this place?\rdblquote Donna sobbed, "where are you taking me??"

He didn't answer. In silence, a silence made more terrible by the look of rage on his features, he half-walked, half-dragged her down the road into the outskirts of a city, though it wasn't one Donna could remember having ever seen, even in pictures.. The general style of the buildings looked almost medieval to her, like something out of a history book, or perhaps a fairy tale.

They reached a building, and Tompkins told Donna to wait outside while he went in. Then, to ensure she did just that, he magicked up a length of chain with which he secured her to a post, so she couldn't try and run away.

She watched as he talked to two women standing near the entrance, who by their clothing, more like uniforms, seemed to be some sort of guards. What was this place, she wondered? Where was it? The building itself was a dull gray stone, with no windows that she could see. She looked around. From where she stood, she could see this was a courtyard of some considerable size. There was a building almost identical to the one she stood in front of on the opposite side. In the space between the two buildings were several rows of benches. Beyond those was what looked like a platform with a podium on it. What did this all mean? She had a very bad feeling about it all, but knew she'd find out soon enough, and probably wouldn't like the answer. Considering Tompkins had brought her here, she knew it could mean nothing good.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been standing here--it seemed like a while, but she didn't have a watch; it had disappeared when he'd changed her clothing earlier--when she saw Tompkins again emerge from the building, two more of the uniformed women walking behind him. He unchained her. "I have made arrangements, Donna. You will be going with them," he said. "Do, please, try not to cause trouble. Remember it was your own foolishness that got you into this."

"Mr Tompkins--" she started to say, but one of the women cuffed her to silence.

"She'll be fine. We'll have her nice and cooperative in no time." said one of the women. Her companion nodded, smiling smugly. That didn't reassure Donna in the least.

"I am certain you will." Tompkins said. "Now, I have other business to attend to, so I must go. Do remember what we discussed."

The women nodded, and Tompkins turned and walked away.

Donna nearly cried out. "What--where's he going? He can't leave me here--" She got no further as one of the women struck her again. "Quiet! You'll learn the rules, and be quick about it! The first rule is, no talking back!"

"You just do exactly as you're told, and don't give us any trouble, then everything will be fine, understand?" said the second woman. Her tone implied they could very easily make it really difficult for her if she didn't comply. That was reinforced by what Donna was picking up from both of them. No, damn it, she realized, Tompkins had removed the block on her empathic sense! She didn't need to endure that on top of being stuck in this strange place; but she knew with a sick certainty that this, too, was part of Tompkins' so called 'lesson'.

Donna struggled, but they were both of them together too strong for her. Between them they forced her into the building, through a corridor past several doors and finally through a large set of double doors into an enormous room.

Which, Donna could see as they entered, was not empty. While there were no furnishings that she could see, there were girls everywhere. Dozens of them, she couldn't be sure without counting. Some were around her own age, some much younger, and all of them were dressed in the same shapeless grey tunic as Donna herself.

"All right, all of you listen up! Now!" snapped the first woman. "We've got a new one, and I expect all of you to teach her the rules! Got that?"

There were nods from several of the girls, and no few of them murmured, "Yes'm."

"Good." With that both women--who reminded Donna a lot of the sort who'd been prison guards when she'd still been allowed to visit her mother--turned and left.

Oh, god, Donna thought, Tompkins was gone, and he was leaving her here. Since he'd left her open, the raw emotions of all the girls here were now bombarding her. She fought to shut it out, so she could think clearly enough to find out what this place was, what this was all about. The bad feeling she'd had earlier, outside, was stronger than ever now.

"Please, what is this place?" she asked, looking around at them all.

Two of the oldest-looking girls, both looking to be in their late teens, came over. "I'm Jessamyn and this is Karilee," the taller of the two, a slender girl with long pale blonde hair, said, indicating her companion, who had short curly hair of a brilliant, almost fiery, red.

"As to where you are," Karilee said. "Don't you know this is the Girl Mart?"

\ldblquote Everyone knows that.\rdblquote Jessamyn added.

"'Girl Mart'??" Donna repeated blankly, the term meant nothing to her. "Please, I don't know anything, I'm not from around here, wherever here is. What city is this? What country?" She was sure nothing like this building, or the city around it, could be in the United States.

Both girls stared at her as if she'd said something completely insane. Of course, from their view, she had. Donna sighed. "I don't know how to explain it, but please, I'm not crazy, and I'm not making anything up. I really did come from someplace else, and I don't know where I am, or what's going on here."

She explained how Tompkins had brought her here, and simply handed her over to the guards without telling her anything.

Both girls nodded. "He must be a wizard, then. That's why the guards would do anything he asked. The Queen lets any wizard do pretty much anything they want, as long as it's not against her." Jessamyn said.

"Just tell me what, and where, this place is, and what's going on." Donna pleaded. Jessamyn's comment had triggered more questions. A Queen? Wizards--okay, so this must be a place where magic was well known. This couldn't be the world she knew, then. Donna felt a shiver of fear. So this time Tompkins hadn't just taken her to somewhere else in their world; instead, it was another world entirely. That was the only thing that made any sense.

"You're in the city of Franklin," Jessamyn said after a moment. "Capital of the Kingdom of Rud."

That confirmed what Donna'd already suspected, about this being another world of some sort. There was no "Kingdom of Rud" in the world she knew. Why had Tompkins brought her here, though? She still didn't know the answer to that.

"Why we're here, is because of the taxes. Our families couldn't pay, so they took us instead." Jessamyn said.

"They'll get as much as they can for us sooner or later." Karilee sighed.

"What in the world??" Donna cried out. "Are you telling me this is some sort of--of slave market??"

Jessamyn nodded sadly.

God no. Now she saw what Tompkins had had in mind. He'd wanted to strand her here, and leave her to be sold to the highest bidder. Without any transport magic, she'd likely never see home again! She tried hard not to start crying. It didn't help that she was getting much the same emotions from nearly every girl here. Some had resigned themselves, given up; but most--especially the youngest ones--were in the same boat as Donna herself. The very youngest had given in to helpless weeping. The older girls were doing their best to keep the youngest ones quiet; too much noise, Donna was told, would bring the guards.

She couldn't be sure of how much time was passing, without a clock or watch, but it didn't seem like very long before her worst fears were realized. A bell rang somewhere, three short, sharp notes. The women guards entered and coldly, ruthlessly, herded everyone outside. They were marched into the square Donna had seen earlier, and told to stand on the platform.

The benches now were filled with men in all types of dress; some wearing the finer clothing of rich folk, others seemed to be tradesmen, or peasants, judging by their coarser attire.

On the opposite side of the square, apparently being guarded, were a number of boys dressed in the same shapeless grey tunics as the girls.

"That's the boys who've been sold. They have a separate auction for them before they bring us out. They keep the boys in that building over there," Karilee whispered to Donna, pointing at the building across the square, which was almost identical to the one they'd just left.

Once again, in what was becoming something she was all too used to, Donna felt like she wanted to be sick, but that simply didn't happen. Nor did the ground open up and swallow her whole, which was the other thing she found herself desperately wishing for, as some way of escaping this.

All she could do was watch helplessly as first one girl, then another, was made to stand forward and allow the audience to look her over. There were calls of what Donna assumed were amounts of the local currency--she had no idea what else 'rudnas' could be--and now and again the auctioneer would declare a girl sold. Some of them began wailing if they were selected, a few collapsed, and the guards had to drag them to their feet to bring them to their new owners.

It'd be her turn any minute, and what was she going to do then? What could she do? Without being able to transport, she'd not a chance of getting away. She'd already seen one girl beaten for trying to run, and knew the same thing would happen to her if she tried.

Jessamyn wasn't picked, but Karilee and several other girls were.\par Including, Donna saw with horror, no few of the youngest ones, some of whom tried holding on to each other until they had to be separated by force. There was a lot of weeping and wailing; the guards would cuff anyone who made too much noise, tried to fight, or escape, though they did seem to be holding back from doing anyone any real injury. Donna realized that when she heard some of the audience calling out things like "don't damage the merchandise!" As if people could or should be 'merchandise'. Donna thought bitterly. Damn this place and damn Tompkins for leaving her here!!

It was all Donna could do to keep from passing out herself, the raw emotions from the girls were almost too much.

Luckily, no one demanded Donna come forward-at least, not this time. Eventually, the auction was over, and Donna, Jessamyn, and the other girls who hadn't been chosen were marched back into the building.

When the guards had withdrawn, leaving them alone again in the large, barrackslike room--though there weren't any real beds here--Donna sat cuddling one of the remaining youngest girls on her lap, while Jessamyn sat beside her with another one.

"Is it always like that?" Donna asked. "What's going to happen to Karilee, and the others?" She was afraid to ask, but knew she had to. She had to know what could happen to her, or any other girl here, on the next auction-or the next.

Jessamyn sighed. "It all depends on who those men were that bought them, what they need girls for." she said. "Some of the girls could end up as maids in rich people's houses. Or working in a tavern, maybe even weaving mills. Some end up picking crops in the fields--though they mostly take boys for that. Boys also go to the mines and as crews for sailing ships." She shook her head. "Those girls I just talked about will be the lucky ones. There's some who'll end up in--" she lowered her voice, leaned close to Donna and whispered. "brothels."

Donna couldn't keep the look of revulsion off her face at that. Tompkins had to have known about that part of it, she realized. That had been why he'd brought her here--he was hoping she'd end up in someplace like that. It would be just like him, she knew only too well.

What was she going to do now? she asked herself. She knew she'd have to at least try and get away--but how? Simply running would only get her caught and dragged back, she knew. Besides, she didn't know anything about where was where in this world, and not being able to transport meant she couldn't get back home. Unless she was lucky enough to find some wizard willing to help her, and she didn't count her chances of that too highly.

All these poor girls--especially the five and six year olds, who barely understood anything other than that they'd been torn away from their mommies and daddies-Donna knew that as bad as it was here for the older girls, who at least had some idea of what lay ahead, the youngest ones didn't, and that frightened them.

So Donna spent much of that first night trying to console them. At least it distracted her, kept her from thinking too much about her own situation.

* * * * * * * * * *

That had become the pattern for the next several days. They'd be awakened early in the morning, fed a filling but tasteless something that resembled porridge for breakfast, then left pretty much alone until noon when they were marched out to the courtyard for another auction. Always some of the girls were taken away after that, then the rest returned to the building and again left alone--unless someone made too much noise, or tried to escape--until dinner time, which usually consisted of scraps of underdone or burnt meat and dry hard bread, washed down with water.

At each day's auction, Donna had to stand there with the rest, terrified that this would be the time she was hauled away to who knew what fate, never to see her mother or home again.

It was hard, too, getting to know anyone here and then having them taken off at the next auction. That'd happened to Karilee on Donna's first day here, and now Jessamyn was taken away as well.

Several of the girls had started asking Donna about the world she'd come from, and so she'd decided to try and pass the time by telling them what she could, though she avoided mentioning Tompkins in too much detail, not wanting to think about him, or frighten them. These poor girls were going through enough as it was. However, there was a lot she could still talk about. Though it was hardest on Donna, not knowing if she'd ever see home again; at least these girls were in the same world as their homes and families, even if they were miles away from them. There was still a remote chance they'd get free and go back someday. Donna didn't have that option on her own, but she clung to the slim hope that she would get back home someday, somehow. She had to hold on to that, or there'd be nothing left for her.

On her fourth day there, a girl about Donna's age, with light brown hair, approached her. "Hello," she said, "I'm Alysande, they just brought me here yesterday."

Donna nodded. "I saw," she said. "I guess that means I'm not the newest one here anymore."

"No, I suppose not." Alysande sighed. "I wanted to ask you, though. Some of the other girls were telling me the strangest things. Are you really from some other world?"

"Yes." Donna replied, and once again began to tell her tale, the edited version anyway.

That'd been the beginning. Of all the girls trapped in this place, Alysande seemed the most interested in hearing about the strange world Donna had come from. To these girls who'd never seen anything faster than a horse-drawn cart, her stories of airplanes and cars, trucks, trains, and so on--in short, any type of motorized vehicle--were the most astounding. These girls had not even heard of bicycles, and that had predated all the rest in the world Donna had come from. This world, though, hadn't invented any of those things.

She had a hard time explaining what tv and movies were, too. Music, they knew about, but only in terms of bards and wandering minstrels. The idea of radio, or even cd's, sounded like magic to them. Donna saw that the more she talked, the more enthralled Alysande seemed to be. Oh, some of the other girls seemed fascinated, too, but Alysande was the most interested of them all. The only rough part about talking to the other girls about her world was that a couple of them thought she was simply making up stories.

"Will you cut that out!"one of them-a girl with long dark hair who in terms of physical appearance reminded her somewhat of a teenaged Christine-had started in. "You think you're fooling anyone with that nonsense?"

"Beccalythe, leave her alone!\rdblquote Alysande had said, trying to intervene. "She's just trying to pass the time, like we all are."

"Fine. You believe that baby talk, then. But some of us still have enough sense to know what's real and what isn't." Beccalythe had snorted and walked off to the other side of the room in a huff.

"Thanks," Donna had said, when the girl was out of earshot, or as much of that as was possible here.

"It's okay,\rdblquote Alysande had replied. "If you'd started yelling back at her, she might've hit you, there'd be a fight, then the guards would come in and we'd all be in trouble."

Donna had had to agree to that.

Donna found herself wishing that she could've met Alysande under better circumstances. She hadn't had a friend her own age since leaving Illinois. Some of Tompkins' servants had children, she knew, but she'd never been allowed to have any contact with them--another one of Tompkins' ridiculous rules, he'd told her socializing with servants was simply Not Done. So she hadn't realized how much she'd missed having other kids around.

In this way, an entire week went by, with Donna no closer to finding some way to escape that wouldn't simply get her dragged back here. She'd seen several times some poor girl try to escape, only to be brought back. They'd punish her, of course, but while the guards were careful to leave no marks, she knew it hurt no less. How could she not know, she had to feel every blow right along with them.

Then, one afternoon, while Donna was trying to settle down a seven year old girl who'd just been brought in that day, the guards entered unexpectedly. All the girls stopped what they were doing to see what this was about; this was at the very least a break in the routine, for those who'd been here a while.

One of the guards pointed right at Donna. "You. Over here, now, and be quick about it!!"

Donna closed her eyes. So this was it. Someone had bought her, but not in the regular auction. She took a deep breath.

"No," Alysande whispered, the look of fear clear on her face. She'd been there long enough to know this was not the routine; and any break there meant nothing good.

Donna hugged Alysande, who returned the hug. They didn't get to do more than that, however, before Beccalythe interrupted. "Cut that out now!" she hissed. "You'd better go, or they'll come drag you out, and we'll all be in for it!"

Donna nodded. She didn't want to be the cause of any more suffering for these girls than they were going through already. Then she thought of something; the only thing she could think to say, under the circumstances. "Alysande.." she said softly, "if I ever do get back, and it's safe, I'll find a way to get back here and find you, okay? Then you'll get to see where I'm from."

Alysande nodded, tears running down her face. "Thank you." she whispered. The girls of the Mart didn't have much to hope for, they took what they could when they could get it. A slim chance was better than none.

Donna eased the little girl into Alysande's arms, and trying to shut out the wailing that resulted as the child realized her new friend was going away, she walked towards the guards. She wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of having to drag her out of here. These women, she'd seen, enjoyed that sort of thing too much, and Donna knew that Alysande or someone else could get hurt if there was a struggle. She wouldn't risk that, she was carrying enough guilt for things Tompkins had forced her to do as it was, she didn't want more.

She let the guards lead her to the exit, and out into the courtyard. That's when she saw why she'd been called out of the building.

Tompkins was standing there, with that smug, self-satisfied look he always seemed to have.

oh, no, Donna found herself thinking. She'd wanted out of here, but not if it meant going back to him. Being away from Tompkins had been the one good thing about this place.

"Don't look so surprised, Donna. Did you really think I'd leave you here permanently--even if this little episode has cost me a fortune in the local currency, to ensure you'd still be in the Mart when I returned?"

Donna looked down at the ground, unable to meet his eyes. Even here, she couldn't escape him? The slim hope that that had brought, now came crashing down around her.

"I trust you have learned a lesson from the time you have spent here." he continued. "I would be severely disappointed if you were to make it necessary for me to do this again. Remember Kate, and what happened to her. Know this, too: if by your rash actions, you compel me to bring you back here, it will be permanently. You are of great value to me, but that value is not without its limits. Do not make the mistake of testing my patience again. Have I made myself clear?" he demanded.

There wasn't anything else Donna could do at this point except nod meekly. Despair filled her. Would she ever be free of him? The answer to that seemed to be 'no'. Even when her mother was finally released, Donna was sure Tompkins would find some way to keep her in his custody.

He led her away from the city, back to where they'd first appeared in this world. Then he seized her hand roughly.

Magic flared around them; reality itself blurred, shifted, and they were back in Tompkins' office, the same room they'd left from.

"You will keep that dress, as a reminder," Tompkins said. "For now, however, go to your room and clean yourself up. I want you presentable. Christine will be delighted that you have returned. She has missed you so very much, after all. I am quite certain she will have some plans of her own to welcome you back. Do, please, try to be cooperative." His tone implied there would be consequences if she didn't.

That was one thing about Nathan Tompkins. He was always talking about how there were consequences for everything. Donna couldn't help but wonder why it was that no one ever made Tompkins face any consequences for anything. She didn't dare say that aloud, though, or even risk thinking it; she knew it would only get her in deeper trouble with him. She was lucky he hadn't left her trapped in Rud permanently this time, and she knew only too well why he'd taken her there in the first place.

Tompkins continued. "One thing more, Donna. I think it is only proper of me to inform you, that as a week has passed for you in Rud, so a week has passed here. I dare say you have already suspected this, but I prefer to confirm it. Today is January 3, 2000."

She'd missed Christmas altogether, not to mention New Year's. Damn, damn, damn Tompkins and his idea of 'punishment'!! She thought about poor Kate Parker, or what Tompkins had twisted her into, and wondered where she could be now. Donna closed her eyes, trying to keep back the tears that were suddenly threatening to well up. She knew crying in front of Tompkins would do no good.

While it was true she hadn't felt much like celebrating, but she had hoped he'd at least allow her to call her mother. Donna and her mother had never spent the holidays apart until this year.

As she walked slowly back to her room, Donna tried to shut out of her mind what he'd said about Christine.

She had no doubt whatsoever that Christine would be eager to see her. Especially with what Tompkins had said about her having plans; that could only mean that Christine would once again have more of her horrible experiments she'd want to try out on Donna, by way of 'punishing' her for last week. Those experiments of hers were the only things Christine seemed to really care about, aside from Tompkins himself. To Christine, she was nothing more than a white mouse, a lab rat, a guinea pig. Donna knew without a doubt, with \par that too-familiar sick feeling of despairing certainty, that Christne would be wanting her for some 'test' or other, all too soon.

When she reached her room, she found yet another unpleasant surprise.

There, on the desk, lay several editions of The New York Times from the past several days. One look at the headlines, and it was crystal clear to her exactly why Tompkins had placed them here; he'd wanted to make sure that she saw the articles for herself.

The lead stories were all about the fundraising dinner for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in New York City--the very one Donna had attended with Tompkins and Christine a week ago.

The focus, though, was on Kate Parker and how she'd 'mysteriously disappeared' the day after the dinner. According to the articles, she'd left her office at lunchtime that day and never returned, nor had she appeared at her home that night.

Donna felt like crying as she read through the articles. She couldn't shut out the awful memory of Kate, or the cat-creature she'd become, just before Tompkins had set her free to live like an animal somewhere.

What was even worse than that was seeing just how Tompkins had covered his tracks with regards to Kate's disappearance. Kate hadn't, apparently, told anyone about intending to visit Tompkins that day, so no one besides Tompkins and Donna knew she'd ever been there. According to the papers, not only was Kate Parker officially 'missing', but vanished along with her were nearly three million dollars in donations. So now the police were wanting to question her about that, once they'd found her.

Donna knew despairingly that they never would. She couldn't even find Kate herself--Tompkins had made it clear he wouldn't permit that. He'd placed a magic shield on Kate, or more accurately the cat-creature she was now, to keep her hidden from Donna.

The overwhelming guilt she felt over having gotten poor Kate into this, coupled with everything else she'd been through this past week, got to be too much and she burst into tears.

Once again, she cried herself to sleep; something that had been happening all too often, so many times she'd lost count, since she'd come to live in this house.

* * * * * * * * * *

She awakened a few hours later to see something else out of a nightmare; Christine was standing over her, her eyes blazing with anger.. "Oh, my dear," Christine had cooed in an awful mock sweet voice, "I'm so glad you're back with us. I'm sure Nathan told you how much I've missed you." She laughed horribly, and Donna shivered, knowing all the way through her that she was really going to be in for it now.

"'I'm fourteen and I'm old enough to go to the bathroom by myself'." Christine went on, that terrible tone in her voice making a twisted mockery of Donna's last words to her a week ago. "It was all a trick, wasn't it? A dirty trick! You were just playing games, weren't you, you little brat, you ungrateful little brat! Well, now you're going to pay." Christine snarled, and manifested the energy whip again. "I'll teach you to trick me!" The look on her face was beyond angry; it was downright crazy, and Donna was more afraid of Christine in that moment than she'd ever been before.

Donna scrambled out of the bed and tried to run, but that did her no good; Christine simply came after her and magically prevented her from leaving the room, or even getting out of Christine's reach.

Donna cried out as the whip struck her. Once wasn't enough, though, not for Christine, who hit her again, and again, till her body felt like it was on fire. Christine kept it up, ignoring Donna's screams and wails, until there was nothing in Donna's world but pain and Christine's face leering angrily down at her, screaming all sorts of oaths and insults. Then she mercifully passed out.

When she woke up, Christine was gone, and she ached all over, but there were no marks. She supposed that that was a small blessing. However, she knew she'd hurt for days. That was the way the whip worked, she thought bitterly. Christine so loved using it on her, too; she'd come to learn that the hard way. There had been too many other times Christine had done that for Donna to think otherwise, including that first time she'd tried to escape. She supposed she was lucky Tompkins hadn't decided to starve her this time, as he had after her first attempt to get away from him.

* * * * * * * * * *

The days settled back into their too-familiar, terrible routine. Donna had reached the point where she had to force herself to get up each morning, because she knew that refusing would only get her punished again. She found herself going through each day in a gray haze; pain was all she knew anymore. She'd even caught herself thinking about suicide a few times. The thought of what that'd do to her mother had been what kept her back from that, so far. She had a growing fear that not even for her mother's sake was she going to be able to endure much more of this. How could she risk a third escape attempt, though? Especially since she couldn't involve anyone else without putting them in danger of what Kate had endured.

She tried to hold on to the memories of her old life, time spent with her mother and her old friends. Also, she found herself thinking back to that special place she'd once found in the Shawnee Forest near her old home. The memories of those times seemed further and further away all the while, try as she might to cling to them; almost as if it'd been another person's life and not her own.

The memories of those quiet, peaceful afternoons in the woods were most important to her on the nights when Tompkins came to her room to 'educate' her again, as he put it. Though to Donna, his 'lessons' were nothing more than rape. The only way she'd been able to get through each occasion without going hysterical and angering Tompkins had been by focusing on those memories, distancing herself from the painfully sordid present. In essence, she was 'tuning out' what was happening to her body. She desperately wanted to go back there, physically that is, but there was no chance of that.

It was just as well, she realized, that she couldn't get there, no matter how much she yearned for it. Not being able to magically transport herself on her own, meant that she'd be forced to ask Tompkins or Christine to allow her to go there.

Something deep inside her rebelled against letting them even know about that place. She couldn't stand the thought of either of them knowing about her 'special place'. To tell them about it felt just plain wrong to her, it was the only thing she had left to hold on to, the only part of her that Tompkins and Christine hadn't touched in one way or another, and she desperately needed to keep it that way, if that was at all possible. She had to hold on to something that was hers alone, for the sake of whatever last feeble scraps of sanity she still had left.

* * * * * * * * * *

Tompkins had also continued to force Donna to use her magic to further his usiness dealings, in ways that wouldn't always pass muster ethically or legally. At least, it would be a legal issue if the court system had recognized the existence of magic as anything other than mere trickery, sleight-of-hand illusions. She knew only too well there was far more to magic than that.

However, Donna knew she wasn't in on the details of everything Tompkins was involved in, and she was glad of that. He only told her what she needed to know about those of his plans where her abilities would be--in his opinion--an advantage. For him, of course. How she felt about anything didn't figure into the equation.

She'd been around Tompkins long enough by now, to where she had learned to tell when something wasn't going the way he'd planned. Because on those occasions, he'd become even harsher with her than he usually was; not just with her, but with anyone else in the house as well. So would Christine; whatever displeased or frustrated Tompkins would do the same for her, that's how close the two of them were to each other. They were two rotten peas in a pod, Donna thought, but didn't dare risk voicing that opinion either. She was getting quite good at keeping her mouth shut, she thought bitterly, no matter how much the knowledge that her feelings and opinions didn't matter added to her pain.