Start reading on 3 September:

I did a big re-write of the earlier portion and yesterdays post.  If I include the full story to date I think it will be too long.  For now I will just post from yesterday and todays additions.

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Still struggling to make sense of all that has happened; Aidan looks around searching the sand for some familiar landmark, something that will point her in the right direction.  Her stomach rumbles and she instantly brings one hand up to stop the noise and the other up to shade her eyes from the sun as she searches the sky to determine how long she has been here and in the water.  She guesses that it is getting late in the day, but she is not prepared to trust any of her senses, at least not yet.  She wishes she had eaten something before getting into the water this morning.  The heat of the day is radiating down from her scalp and she knows she can not go much further, as her mouth is feeling dry and she can still taste the salt water she must have swallowed.  As she scans the beach trying to determine which way to go, she looks back to where the elderly couple, the families, and the young men were gathered on the beach and decides not to go back that way.  Aidan looks longingly at the life guard tower she just left.  She wonders at the captivating life guard and the enthralling effect he had on her.  She knows can not return there for help, but does not know where to turn.  Off in the distance she sees a pier with what looks like a considerable amount of activity and begins the long trudge down the beach towards the pier.

The music and noise from the pier can be heard long before she reaches it.  Even from a distance Aidan can make out the smells and excitement of a carnival.  Once on the pier she is surrounded by a swirling mass of people.  She tries but can not get even one person to draw their attention away from the sights of the carnival attractions to help her. 

She pushes her way forward through the crowd and can hear the barker announcing that it is time for everyone to come and see the beautiful assistant being tied to the wheel.  As Aidan reaches the front of the mass watching the show she is shocked that the beautiful assistant is not just strapped to a large wheel, painted in red and yellow pie slices, but she is also naked.  The lovely girl is held tightly in place by leather straps at her wrists, ankles, and waist.  She is a strikingly beautiful girl with short dark hair and dark mysterious eyes.  Her deep crimson lips are set off by skin that is a dark olive tone and has been oiled so that it shines in the bright afternoon sun.  A large man steps forward and bows to the crowd as they cheer and applaud.  He gestures to the lovely assistant and the crowd responds even louder. 

A boy steps up to the wheel and when the large man nods to him the boy takes a hold of the wheel and with all his might sets the wheel spinning and the lovely assistant with it.  She spins head over heels and the crowd stills.  Aidan can not take her eyes off the spinning girl when suddenly there is a loud pop that makes Aidan jump.  She has always hated the sound of a balloon popping, but as she turns her attention to the large man she sees that he has removed a long whip from his belt and has unfurled it onto the ground.  It is stretched out before him and as she shakes it out it almost appears to slither across the ground like a snake.  He snapped it again and the crowd, “Oohed.”  Aidan expected the man to pull the knives from his belt but he did not.  He raised his arm and with a heavy flick of his wrist the whip was sent sailing through the air towards the lovely assistant.  Aidan gasped loudly as the whip connected with the spinning girl leaving a heavy red mark that ran from her hip and diagonally up, perfectly laid between her soft breasts, and stopping just short of her collar bone.  The crowd, “Oohed,” again and one lady not too far from Aidan buried her face in the shoulder of the man standing next to her.  The boy then signaled for everyone to be quiet bringing one finger to his lips and the carnival barker instructed everyone that, “This is a very dangerous trick and there must be silence so that Master Merlin the Magnificent can concentrate.”  As a hush fell back over the crowd the large man, Merlin, waves the whip across the ground so that it slithers back and forth and before Aidan is prepared the whip is raised and snapped again and against the assistant’s skin.  A perfect red ‘X’ is raised in welts across her front as the second one begins to show, both lines coming together between her breasts.  The crowd erupts in thunderous applause and Merlin takes his bows.  After his bow Merlin coils the whip and replaces it on his belt, but as he does he removes the knives that hang there.  The crowd begins to spin and Aidan feels suddenly fain.  Fearing what she might see, Aidan pushes her way through the crowd to fresh clean air.  Free of the crowd she hears the barker calling to the crowd to thank Merlin the Magnificent and his lovely girl for their performance, but Aidan moves away as quickly as she can.