And so Anna grew into a beautiful young woman, her skin bright from the sun, her hair long and chestnut, with just a slight curl. She even lived better; now that her father and brother had other uses for her, she no longer had to do as many chores, and she was given fine new clothes to wear, dresses with lace, even underthings made of linen rather than wool.
But in exchange, she had to suffer the constant humiliations the two men in her life brought upon her. Her brother had grown so insatiable that he took her two or three times daily. Whenever she saw him she would simply stop what she was doing and hike up her skirt, waiting for the inevitable. He loved fucking her from behind, his hands pulling her head back by the hair, his hips bucking hard and rough into her buttocks, until a few minutes later he would finish with her, wipe himself off on her rear, and go about his business.
But Anna’s father was worse. Her brother’s brief, rough violations she could endure, but her father was like a child with a new toy, and he seemed determined to break her. He only demanded her body a few times a week, but when he did it was always for some new terror. He enjoyed making her choke on his large rod, jamming it down her throat and pulling her face into his hairy crotch. Then he might tie her up, or just force her to take him in as many different ways as he could imagine, lasting much longer than Vladimir. At least once a month she had to spend the entire day pleasing him, and when it was all over her body and insides were sore from the abuse.
Still, she had more free time than before, and she used it to get as far away from her father and brother as she could, knowing that if either one of them saw her and wanted her, her freedom would be at an end. She took to wandering out into the steppes, listening to the lonely calls of the birds, watching the clouds drift over the dome of the sky. It was the only joy she knew, and the more she was out on the plain, the more she felt she belonged.
One day, in early summer, as Anna lay on her back, her dresses splayed out by the wind, she heard hoof-beats sounding from the distance. Raising her head, she could make out a lone horseman riding across the plateau, long hair flying in the wind. From this distance she couldn’t make out the face, but as there was only one and as her father and brother had pretty much removed any fear she might have of anything, she slowly stood and waved.
The rider’s course slowly arched toward her until the stranger was only a hundred yards or so away. There the stranger stopped. The two looked at one another, Anna, curious, the stranger inscrutable behind a kerchief pulled up to the eyes.
“Hello,” said Anna finally. She wasn’t sure what to expect.
“I greet you, horseless one,” replied the rider in a decidedly feminine voice.
“My name is Anna, not ‘horseless one,'” said Anna, feeling introductions were in order.
“Then I greet you, Anna,” said the rider. “Tell me, what business brings you into my lands?” Her voice, if it was a woman, sounded threatening.
“Nothing,” replied Anna truthfully. “That is, I didn’t know these were your lands, and I only came here…” She stopped, thinking better of what she was about to say.
“I am a mighty warrior, horseless one!” said the rider fiercely, but Anna could see the eyes showing something other than threat. “I could kill you where you stand for trespassing on my land.”
“I said my name was Anna,” said Anna sharply. “And I don’t care if these are your lands. I’m not doing anything to harm them. This is no way to treat guests.”
The rider threw back her head and laughed, a musical sound, not filled with malice like all the other laughs Anna had ever heard. “You’re a feisty one, Anna No-Horse,” said the rider finally, uncovering her face and revealing a girl not much older than Anna, with dark eyes and skin like the horse she rode. “I am Noor, but I have done nothing so bold to earn a title, even one as small as ‘No-Horse.'” Noor laughed again.
Anna loved Noor’s laugh; it made her forget everything horrible in her life and just feel happy. “I don’t know what you mean, but I’m glad to meet you Noor, and even more glad you’re not going to kill me where I stand.”
“My father says I am headstrong, but that headstrong, I think not,” Noor said with a grin. “In any case, these are not my lands.” As she talked she hopped lightly down from her horse and walked over to look at Anna more closely.
“You’re not from the town, are you?” Anna asked. “I’ve never seen anyone like you in town.”
“No, not from the town,” laughed Noor. “Nor are you from the plains, yet here you are, and here I am.”
There seemed to be little to say after that, so the two girls stood looking each other over, Anna in her summer dress, rumpled but still clean, and Noor in a woolen costume which hid any signs of her sex from the world, making her look boyish and strange.
“Come, come for a ride with me, Anna No-Horse,” said Noor suddenly, running off in the direction of her horse. “To truly see the plains, you must be on horseback.”
Anna hesitated, but something about Noor drew her, so after a moment she ran giggling after. She climbed up to sit behind Noor in the saddle, their bodies pressed together, and as the horse began to gallop, Anna wrapped her hands around Noor’s torso to keep from falling.
The girls rode wildly across the steppes, laughing and shouting, until the sun began to sink in the west and Anna realized that she would be missed. “I have to go back now, or my father… my father will be unhappy,” she said haltingly, trying not to think about what form that unhappiness might take.
“I too should go back to my tent or everyone will think I’ve been eaten by wolves,” laughed Noor, helping Anna alight from the horse and then turning to look back at her. “But we must meet again, Anna No-Horse. I enjoyed my time with you.” Without waiting for a reply, she sped off toward the horizon, leaving Anna to rush home to face her father.
Anna’s father was out for the evening, so she was spared any undue suffering, but Vladimir used her roughly as the evening turned to night, and once again before she went to bed. She found that, while her brother was roughly pumping his hard length into her from behind, her thoughts were not on the present, but thinking back on her day, riding like the wind over the plains. She was in a reverie such that, when her brother came loudly behind her, his hands clasping her hips to him, she barely noticed. The second time, she did notice, but only because, for the first time in months, the pressure on her womb brought her to a small orgasm, one which Vladimir didn’t even notice as his softening cock slipped from her backside.
The next day, and the day after that, Anna went out on the steppe, looking for Noor, hoping she would ride up and take Anna riding again. But Noor didn’t ride up, and Anna began to think that it had all been a dream, an escape from her life of pain which was too good to be real.
But on the third day, just as she was giving up hope, Anna saw in the distance the small figure of a rider galloping toward her, and her heart jumped. She felt giddy, he face flushed with excitement, and had she taken the time to think about it, this might have seemed strange. But she had never had these feelings before, so she didn’t notice the signs.
“My uncle and his wife wish to meet you, Anna No-Horse,” said Noor when she had hopped from her horse and stood facing Anna. Her hair was loose today, flowing in the breeze like a river of dark water, dark as her eyes. Anna almost didn’t hear what Noor was saying; she was intent on scrutinizing Noor’s features. They fascinated her, being so different from her own.
“Oh,” she said finally, not knowing what else to say.
“Perhaps another day,” said Noor, plainly not concerned. “But when we go, I can teach you to ride properly, so even if you have no horse, you shall at least be able to ride one of mine.”
“I’d like that,” said Anna, meaning it. On horseback she felt free for the first time in her young life, as if nothing could catch her.
The two girls stood staring at each other for some time, silent. Neither one could say how long. Then, finally, Noor giggled. “You make me feel like a young bride,” she said, blushing prettily. “Stop your staring, I am not a statue.” So saying, she turned as if eager to be gone and hopped back onto her horse.
“Wait!” cried Anna, afraid Noor would ride off. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stare. It’s just…”
“I know,” said Noor slowly. “I am strange to you. This must be why we stare; we are curious.”
Anna shook her head. “No, you aren’t strange,” she said, trying to articulate her feelings. “You are… that is, you are…”
“Do not say it,” said Noor, her eyes downcast. “I know it too, know what you would say. But soon I will have to move on, and you will stay here, and then we will never see each other again. This is the way of things.”
“No,” said Anna fiercely. “No, even if we can only be together a short time, I’ll take it.”
The two girls stood staring at each other again. Finally, Noor spoke. “You really think I am beautiful, in dirty riding clothes with no fine things like you have?”
“You really think I’m beautiful, even though I can’t ride and I’m weak and pale,” asked Anna in return.
There was no need for either to answer. Smiles played across their lips, which turned to giggles, which turned to laughter. “Climb up behind me, beautiful one,” said Noor, still laughing. “Let us ride and catch the wind.”
“Whatever you say, lovely,” said Anna, hopping into the saddle behind Noor almost before she was asked. The pair said nothing as they sped across the plains, their two small bodies pressed together by the motion of the horse. Anna inhaled Noor’s scent, low and musky, with every breath.
When evening came, neither one noticed, until the lengthening shadows made everything difficult to see. Then Anna started, as if wakened from a dream. “Oh no!” she cried. “I should be home, should have been home hours ago!” She almost fell from the horse in her rush.
Noor quickly turned the horse around and headed back in the direction of Anna’s house, as fast as she could. When they arrived at the fence surrounding Anna’s father’s fields, Anna leaped from the horse in a panic. “Wait!” called Noor, dismounting herself. “I… I cannot let you go like that.”
Anna was torn, but in the end she stopped and returned to Noor by the side of the horse. “I have to go,” she said, her eyes nervously scanning for any sight of her father or brother. “I’ll be punished as it is.”
“Then come away with me,” said Noor simply. “I know how you suffer. You do not need to tell me; I can see it in your eyes. Whatever they would do to you, leave them and come with me.”
Anna was shocked, and ever more shocked when Noor leaned to her and kissed her lips passionately. Anna had never been kissed like this before. It was not like her brother or his friends, slobbering over her lips, wanting nothing but a quick fuck. It was not like her father, too repulsive to think about, his breath stinking of vodka most times. This was a kiss of purity, one which wanted nothing in return. She fell into Noor’s kiss and the two girls embraced, their bodies pressing together, until everything faded but the two of them.
When they finally, reluctantly broke the kiss, their eyes remained locked for a few seconds more. “Come with me,” whispered Noor.
“I can’t,” said Anna, heartbroken. “I… I just can’t.”
Noor’s eyes looked as heartbroken as Anna felt, and the girl turned to her horse and slowly climbed into the saddle. She did not look back as she rode slowly away, not until Anna cried out, “I love you Noor! I love you more than life itself!” Then she turned her head slowly and gazed back at the small figure of Anna, fading into the gloom.
“I will be here tomorrow,” she said slowly. “And every day until you come away with me. Do you hear me? I will not leave until you come with me.” Then she was gone into the gathering darkness, the sound of hoof-beats fading into the distance.
Anna turned, everything but her agony forgotten, and made her way home through the fields. She even forgot about her father and brother, that is until she came through the door and saw the two of them sitting, waiting for her.
“So the little bitch finally comes back,” said her father. “We’ve been stewing here all evening waiting for you, and you’ve probably been out jaunting around in your new clothes playing games while there was work to be done.”
“I’m sorry father,” she began to say, but he cut her off.
“Sorry isn’t good enough,” he growled, standing and slowly approaching her, filled with menace. “I think you need to learn that fine clothes and free time are only for good girls. Your brother has been wanting a bit of tail all day, and without you here he’s had no release. And when I come home from a hard day’s work, if I want you, you’d damn well better be there. So now you’re going to be a good girl and give us what we want, and then some, or by St. Barnabas I’ll beat you ’til there’s no skin on you and then let the dogs have you.”
As he was saying this, Anna’s father grabbed her by the hair and pulled her violently into the bedroom, ignoring her sobs. Anna could hear nothing but her brother’s laughter, cruel and biting, as her new dress was ripped from her, along with her underclothes, leaving her naked under the lascivious stares of the two men in her life. She wondered whether she would see the morrow.