“There are forty-seven more strokes to go my love, tryto breathe and stay calm, all will be well.”Brian went back behind Giovanna and swun...g the cane forthe fourth time, this time the wooden rod did not drawblood but it did raise welts which were quickly turningblue, the fifth stroke however cut skin again and morecrimson droplets flowed down the young woman’s butt anddown to her tights. Giovanna screamed each time the canehit her and in between she was just sobbing. The problem was that she had no real idea of what to do about the two of them. She knew that if she approached the police and told them that men were following her, they might keep an eye out, but that wouldn't really make the men go away.So for now, she was running. She took a quick turn out the side exit of the mall and into the parking lot, then ran to a line of cars and ducked down. Two minutes later, the men came out of the doors and headed for the parking lot. Jane watched the men look. ” A pause, then a light bulb flashed on suddenly above his head. The bar manager returned the lighting to the previous dim setting, and a eureka look crossed Ben’s face. “Oh, you mean the wallet I found at the restaurant! It was left on the seat where I sat. I was trying to return it to the waitress before she hurled orange juice at me.”“About that morning, in the-” He cut me off with a laugh.“Yes, that was rather good fun! Cute little thing, wasn’t she?”“Did you know her?” I asked, regretting. But on the other hand, I was afraid of what might happen if mom and dad started arguing again and nobody else was around. Dad had pushed her when I was in the house, there was no telling what else he may do if it were just those two. Uncle Paul could sense that I was a little uneasy due to the news he just shared. "Hey Tony, don't worry about your mom. She is a big girl and she has my number on speed dial if she needs me to pick her up at any time. While sis is gone, I thought just us boys.