✅1️⃣ Trusting the Babysitter

Chapter 33 - Time for Fun

"No, run over there!" Lorelei yelled, and Claudia quickly turned on the spot. She was out of breath now, and didn't think she'd done so much physical exercise in years. But it wasn't particularly unpleasant, so she didn't try too hard to resist the orders. They had already been required to play leapfrog, and Lorelei had directed Adam to clumsily put flowers in her big sister's hair, but there hadn't been anything genuinely nasty there. Did that mean she'd forgiven the imagined bullying from two years ago, and they would just be able to play?

Claudia didn't think it was likely, but she could hope. A few times she tested her ability to resist commands, just seeing if she could understand the concept of not doing what she was told. Sometimes she could wait a few seconds, which could have meant the effects of the drugs were wearing off. When she knew a command was coming, she hesitated and made herself think about it. Making her own choice about whether to obey.

So far, she had decided to do what she was told. She didn't want to upset Lorelei, not if it was possible to avoid it. She would rather play these stupid games running around the garden than let her sister keep on hating her. They were playing some kind of game with frisbees now, running all around the lawn. Claudia didn't understand the rules of this sport,, and she was pretty sure Adam didn't either. But Lorelei kept on calling out a score, and telling them where to run to, so it didn't matter so much. Maybe she was just making up each order on the spot, or maybe she had some set of rules in her head that she didn't feel like sharing. It didn't matter either way; Lorelei was just playing with them like they were dolls, and seemed to be enjoying herself enough to stay out of trouble.

"Ooooh Adam cheated!" Lorelei called out, and both of the teens turned to face her. Adam kept jogging on the spot, looking around as if he might be able to understand what he had done wrong. He opened his mouth to ask, but Lorelei was already cutting him off. "You're on both sides of the line! That's bad! Don't answer back."

Then she turned to Claudia, showing the evil grin that meant she had come up with something that seemed particularly malicious to her.

"Adam's a bad girl," she declared. "Tell her she's bad."

"Bad girl, Adam. You shouldn't cheat. But maybe she's too little to understand the rules?"

"No, bad girl. Really bad. You got to smack her bottom. So she knows it's bad."

Claudia nodded and walked over to Adam, then hesitated for a moment.

"We're not allowed to hit little girls," she said, obviously struggling with every word. "That's bad, there's rules against it. Mum said that loads of times."

"I'm in charge!" Lorelei almost screamed, and Adam looked around twitchily, vaguely hoping that the neighbours wouldn't hear the tantrum and come to investigate. "Bend over, Adam. And Caddy you got to smack her. Now!"

Adam started to kneel down, and then realised that this was exactly the kind of instruction he should be able to deny. They had been practising for a long time now, and he had to have some of his self control back. His knees came to rest in the short grass, but he got to his feet again as quickly as he could. This was where they were going to draw the line.

"No," Claudia shook her head. "The babysitter is here to make sure you're safe and happy, not do everything you say. This is too much. I don't mind playing your games, because I want you to have fun. But you can't make me break the law."

"Awww, no fun," Lorelei pouted, but then the smile came back to her face. "Let's have a picnic! Caddy get the little table out. And lemonade and juice and snacks. Adam go to my room and get my pony lunchbox. Now!"

"Wouldn't it be..." Claudia started, but as soon as she heard how emphatic Lorelei was being she stopped arguing. This was an order, not a request. And it was an order that she didn't have any real reason to refuse. If they were just playing along, having some snacks in the garden, that was a reasonable demand. The kind of thing her mother would approve of, and she didn't want to risk parental anger later in the evening. She walked over to a shed in the corner of the garden, then realised what she was missing and returned to the house in search of her keys. On the way she passed Adam, hurrying up the stairs to Lorelei's room.

She wanted to stop him and give some advice; tell him to be careful. She knew there had to be something wrong here, because something just didn't feel right. But she couldn't wait, because she had instructions to carry out. And right now, she still felt like she had to follow them. As long as they seemed safe, she could only resist for a second. They were getting closer, and in half an hour she would be properly free, but she still couldn't interrupt what she was supposed to be doing to brainstorm suspicions and try to second guess when the other shoe was going to drop. They would have to play along with Lorelei's game for now, and deal with the next surprise when it happened.

So Claudia went back out and opened up the shed. She lifted out garden furniture; a cheap plastic table and a mismatched array of chairs, as well as a fancy parasol with a tendency to fall over. She even pulled out a couple of plant pots across the lawn, and two to put on the table, to create the impression that they were eating in the middle of some kind of flowery wilderness rather than just the lawn. Lorelei gave a little giggle, and Claudia could feel proud of that. Maybe there was hope for their relationship after all.

If only the rest of the day could have been so easy.