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  I peeked over my shoulder at him. He went to the woman who had given us our breakfast. She was holding a plate in her hands. He took it from her and brought it over to me. I now had the feeling that we all needed to eat something because they were drugging us again.

  He set the plate down in front of me and smiled at me.

  All eyes were on me.

  “Thank you,” I said as I looked at the roll on my plate. There was a knife and a bit of butter there too.

  He stood there watching me.

  I slowly picked up the knife and I noticed that the kitchen lady was watching me too.

  “She is worried that you will pull something with that dinky butter knife,” he explained.

  I looked at the other girls and they were all staring at me while I imagined terrible things like a dead rat in the roll, which he would force me to eat.

  I cut into the bread. It was just bread so I cut it in half. I buttered one half and took a bite. There wasn't anything odd tasting about it at all. I finished the roll and the woman removed my plate and knife. She didn't look happy.

  Herr Glossner said something to her in a language I had never heard before.

  The girls were going by tables to the line that led to the doctor. We heard whipping every once in a while. Once the girls went through the lines they didn't come back. I had to wonder if I would ever see them again.

  We stayed sitting at our table. Every time someone wanted to talk we were told to be quiet.

  Then it was our turn. He told us to get up and get in line. We walked across the room to line up. The woman who had slapped Evelyn before came back and talked to him again. They were arguing. The bus driver joined them too. They seemed to be discussing something and the woman and the bus driver were on the same side. But Herr Glossner seemed to be higher up than the others.

  The door opened and a woman called the next girl in. She went too slowly and the woman grabbed her by her ear and pulled her in quicker. We all looked at each other. What were they doing with her?

  The door opened ten minutes later and the next girl hurried in. As the line moved ahead I was able to get a better idea what was going on in there. There was an examination table and another door. The girls must be going out of that door.

  But what happened after that?

  That we were kidnapped was clear. Were they oppressing our parents for money?

  It was almost my turn to go in through the door. I was really getting scared. I didn't want to go in there. I had a really bad feeling about it.

  “Sandra, come here,” Herr Glossner called me to him. He still had a cane in his hand and I knew how he liked to use it, hard and fast.

  I swallowed hard and went to him.

  “I want you to go last. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He smirked and turned away from me.

  I went to the back of the line.

  “What did he want?” the other girls asked me.

  “He wants me to go last.”

  “You are getting special treatment because you are an American. Do they think that the America government will send in troops to come get you?”

  I shrugged, “I don't know.” I thought about what she had said. It did explain everything, the reason that he didn't whip me for interfering and for bringing me different food. If they got caught they wanted me to testify that I was treated well. But the other girls would testify something else.

  I was getting more and more nervous as I waited in line. I heard crying coming from the room. Were they hurting the girls in there?

  Herr Glossner went to the door and knocked. A second later he just went in and then we heard yelling. He was the one doing the yelling. I had to wonder how many languages he spoke.

  He came back out and grabbed the next girl by her arm and pushed her into the room. He closed the door behind him and went to the fat woman who he had been discussing something with before. She looked mad too. They were both shaking their heads.

  Two more girls were in front of me. Then just one more. We were both quiet so we could hear what was going on inside.

  They wanted her to get undressed and then lie down on her back on the table.

  We looked at each other surprised. My jaw had dropped when I heard that. It was in a sad frown. I racked my brain trying to figure a way out of this, but I couldn't.

  The door opened and then I was standing there all alone. I could feel the eyes of the captors drilling into my back. I didn't dare turn around and look at them.

  The door opened and took a step back.

  Herr Glossner grabbed onto my hand again. He walked me into the room. The woman came along too.

  I didn't really have to get undressed with him there, did I?

  The woman said something to him and then another discussion started. The doctor even joined in this time. I couldn't understand what they were saying but it was so obvious that it was a heated discussion and that Herr Glossner didn't have anyone on his side.

  He picked up a stack of files and went out the door. Next to it was a larger stack of files. That one he left where it was.

  The doctor turned to me. “Remove clothing,” he said in English.

  I looked at the woman and she gave me a get on with it look. I started to unbutton my blazer but then the woman took over for me. She was scolding me about something. I guess I hadn't been fast enough. She opened my blouse and removed it and then my bra. She turned me so I was facing the doctor.

  His hands went right to my breasts.

  I stepped away from him but the woman was behind me opening my skirt and holding me in place.

  The doctor continued with my breasts. When he was finished he wrote something down on the file. My hands went to cover my breasts from any further attacks.

  The woman pulled down my skirt and hit me against my leg to tell me to lift up my foot so she could remove the skirt completely. She then pulled down my underwear and hit my legs again.

  My hands had moved to cover me down below. I leaned forward so my hair would cover up my breasts as much as possible. She was working on my socks now. I lifted my feet before she could hit me.

  Both the doctor and the woman looked me over. They lifted my arms and checked every inch of my body.

  The doctor patted the table. He wanted me to sit down there. I looked at the woman and she looked like she was getting really mad. I went and sat down perfectly straight. The doctor looked in my eyes. “Contacts or glasses,” he said in very bad English.

  I shook my head no. He wrote that down on my file. He looked in my ears and down my throat. The doctor looked at my teeth very closely and then he wrote on the file again.

  He listened to my heart and my lungs and my stomach.

  Then he pushed on my shoulder, he wanted me to lie down completely. He grabbed onto my leg and I sat right back up.

  “No,” I shook my hands at him.

  The woman took hold of both of my shoulders and pushed me back down. The door that Herr Glossner had left through opened. I looked at the door but it was a woman coming in not him. She closed the door right behind her.

  The woman came over and grabbed my ankle and lifted it high in the air. The other woman did the same with my other foot. The doctor ducked down and looked in between my legs.

  He smiled and said something to the women. The one that had been there the whole time moved around so she could look too.

  They laughed a little and I started to cry. This was just terrible. The women let go of me. The one from before pointed to my clothes.

  I got dressed in record time. I was finished before the doctor was finished with his writing. He stood up and waved me forward.

  I was relieved that I finally got to see the other girls again.

  The doctor moved his hand in a way that said ladies first. It was a little too late for him to play the gentleman.

  I stepped out and saw Herr Glossner leaning against the wall. He didn't have a cane anymore but still I knew that he was dange
rous even without it.

  Herr Glossner held his hand out for the file. He opened it and smiled over at me while the doctor started to argue with him.

  He snapped at the doctor and held his hand out in my direction. I went to him, knowing I didn't really have another choice.

  Chapter 4

  Herr Glossner walked me down a long corridor. There were open windows that overlooked a grassy area. I could see the other girls outside in the courtyard. They stopped talking with each other and watched me being taken away from them.

  He opened a door with a key and pulled me in with him.

  This was the first instant that I thought that maybe I had been singled out because they hated Americans. You saw that a lot in movies and by the way people talked I knew they felt that Americans weren't as smart as Europeans. We were often the butt of their jokes.

  He led me to a staircase and went up pulling me along behind him. At the top I could see that this was the living quarters. There was an old fashion TV and the furniture looked like it had come out of the fifties too. It was almost museum-like in the way that nothing modern was in here. He brought me into a room with a bed, a wooden chair and a wardrobe. My bags were in here on the bed.

  “Sit down and stay sitting.” He pointed to the chair in the corner.

  I went to the chair and sat down. He opened up my things and unpacked everything out onto the bed.

  I sat there quietly while he did that. He seemed to be separating my things into piles. When he was finished he lifted up my stuffed animal bunny.

  “Who is this?” he grinned.

  “Carrots,” I answered.

  He laughed and laid my bunny on one of the pillows nicely. He picked up a pile and laid it back in my suitcase. “I want you to take off your uniform and give it to me. I need the shoes too.”

  I nodded at him that I understood.

  “I'm waiting.” His eyes were still on me.

  I just sat there and looked at him. Did he really expect me to undress right in front of him?

  “Have I ever said something that I didn't mean?”

  I shook my head no.

  “Then why aren't you obeying me?”

  “It's just that I feel that you could step outside of the room and wait patiently for me to change into something else and then come back to collect the uniform.” I spoke uncertain, but I could see that he was entertained by what I was saying.

  “No, get undressed now. You know the punishment for not obeying me. Do you want me to remove your uniform and spank you again? And besides who said that you get to wear something else once you are undressed?”

  I gasped and he smiled. He was really the bad guy and my opinion of him, which wasn't high in the first place, dropped even lower.

  “Sandra, I need you to be very good for me. Can you do that?”

  “I don't know,” I answered him, wondering what he really meant by that.

  “I understand that little girls sometimes have problems being good, but I need you to try. Now stand up and take off the uniform. I need to get rid of it.” He picked up my carry-on like purse and put it in my bag too. I opened my blazer and laid it over the bed end.

  My fingers were shaking as I removed my skirt. I laid that over the bed end too. I bent down and removed the shoes. The only thing left was my tie and blouse. The tie I took off and laid over the bed end. I looked back at him and pleaded with my eyes.

  “Sandra, you are testing my patience.”

  I hung my head and my hands went to the top buttons. I opened them slowly and reluctantly. When I ran out of buttons tears filled my eyes, and I sniffled.

  “Hey, you don't need to cry. It's just me.” His arms were around me holding tight. He was saying shh just like he had after my spanking.

  He moved his hands away from my back and removed my blouse for me. “I knew you were beautiful.” He looked at me for bit. I was still in my bra, underwear and my knee-high socks.

  He went back to the bed and put my blouse in the bag. He zipped it up and lifted it away from the bed. “Wear the dress on top and the rest I want you to put away in the wardrobe wherever you can find room. If you have to you can shove some of my things to the side.” He went out and locked the door.

  I darted to the bed and grabbed the dress. I slipped it over my head and made sure that it was sitting right. I had wanted to look mature and older and perhaps even cool as I walked around Bucharest with my friends. Now I wished that the dress covered my knees. But it was just as short as my uniform.

  My heart was racing and I played the events of the last few days through my head. Everything was so confusing. The most important question was what was going to happen to me next.

  I looked around the room again. It was so bare and showed no personality. I looked back at my things on the bed. He had been clear about what he wanted from me.

  I went to the bed and opened my laptop. I wanted to play a bit of music while I waited for what was to come next.

  Then I thought about e-mailing for help. I didn't have any bars, meaning no Internet. I hit my favorite playlist and turned the volume down low. I looked around for a place to plug my laptop in. I wondered if maybe I would get a bar or two that way. I hoped that the plug in would be the same as in Switzerland.

  I found one and I could plug it in. I grabbed my cord and tried that. It fit and my laptop didn't explode.

  Nothing. Not even one bar.

  I cleaned up the cord and went to the wardrobe. He had said I could push his things aside. Was this his room? It wasn't much. His rooms back at school had been nicer. Why was he doing all of this?

  The wardrobe was full but I had so little that I squeezed my things in. Did me unpacking mean that I was going to be staying here awhile? I went back to the chair and sat down. I got up again and moved it to the window so I could look out. I could see nothing but fields and woods. The fields were overgrown and looked abandoned. There were only mowed directly next to the building below the window. We were in the middle of nowhere.

  I soon got bored with looking out of the window. I went back to my laptop and played a movie. It was in English but it was a little funny too. I needed to relax so badly. I was so frightened that my muscles were tightening up and my chest was hurting. I lay down on the bed and just watched.

  That was how he found me. I was lying on my stomach with my feet up in the air behind me and my head was resting on my hands. I had Carrots wrapped in my arm.

  “Sandra, it's time for lunch. Turn it off and come with me.” He held out his hand while I sat up and clicked away closing up the laptop.

  I got up and went to him.

  He was really big on holding my hand. He took me back the way that we had come in.

  We past the courtyard and I could see around ten girls in there. I noticed that there was a swing set and balls lying around. Most of the girls were ignoring them and were huddled into a group. But two were kicking a ball back and forth. They were all still in their uniforms. I wondered about that.

  He looked out at the other girls too. He gave them mean looks. “Those aren't very good girls. They aren't like you,” he said to me as we swiftly walked past them.

  We ended up back in the dining hall. Others were already there and eating. This looked like a staff meeting.

  He let go of my hand and I thought about running for it. He pulled up a chair for me and I said thank you before I could think about it. I sat and he pushed the chair in.

  Everyone was staring at us. They all looked shocked. Jaws had fallen open. I looked over my shoulder to see if he had a knife or something in his hands. He was just smiling at everyone and then he sat down next to me.

  A plate of food was already in front of me. It was some sort of goulash. Fat puddles were swimming here and there. Potatoes were under it but they were completely covered with the reddish brown sauce.

  I decided to try it. I picked up my fork and took a tiny bit of meat. I bravely brought it to my mouth. It was so spicy and fatty that I wanted t
o spit it out. I forced myself to swallow it down and then I reached for my water.

  Everyone had been watching me. They were all laughing at me. I hung my head and just stared down at my lap. I moved my hands to my lap too. I folded them and just sat still.

  In Europe it is considered very rude to hide your hands under the table, but I wanted to make myself as small as possible.

  Herr Glossner laid his hand around the back of my chair and said something loudly in another language. The laughing stopped immediately. Someone removed my plate and walked away with it.

  His hand moved from the chair to my waist. He pulled me close and whispered in my ear, “Don't worry I'm not the strict kind that makes little girls eat what is put in front of them.”

  There it was, another joke about me being a little girl. He did that all the time and it was getting on my nerves. I wanted to yell at him that I wasn't a baby but my pouting about it would only prove his point.

  A woman laid a plate of just potatoes in front of me. She went back to her spot and hung over her plate and scarfed her food down. Everyone here seemed to have really bad table manners. Even Herr Schweitzer. Only the woman who had undressed me and Herr Glossner were eating nicely. The bus driver was also here. I was starting to notice a resemblance. They looked like brothers now that they were both dressed casually.

  I ate nicely but slowly. Everyone else was finished and talking while I still ate. They were still loud about it but it wasn't the arguing from before. Herr Glossner still had his arm on the back of my chair. It was clear that he was the boss and that he was giving the others instructions.

  Some of the women got up and started setting up the line for food. I watched them to see if there was a door in the kitchen that led out of here.

  I saw what I wanted. There were even double doors in the kitchen. It looked like a delivery van was parked there. Was that my ticket out of here?

  A door opened and the other girls were coming in to eat again. They took a plate and the woman slopped the food on it. Lots of the girls said no thank you to the goulash. They sat down and complained about the food. A few had noticed me and they were looking my way. I lifted my hand to wave at them.