A nice warm sommer afternoon Christina makes a stop in a small town.  She is on her way to New York, where she has planed to surprice her fiancé, by accompaning him on a business trip to Europe.  It is a two days drive, so she look for some place to spend the night, so she can get something to eat, a nice warm bath and a good nights rest, before driving on the next morning. 

While Christina is enjoying her meal, a man sits down at her table.   He says, he is the towns sheriff, and begines asking her about, who she is, where she comes from, and why she is in town.  She tells him about her plan to surprice her beloved, and that she has told nobody, where she is going, because she didn´t want risking, somebody will phone her fiancé and spoil the surprice.  Therefore she has told her mother, she has gone a small trip to the weekend cottage in the hills together with a girl friend. 
 

"I am afraid, I have to tell you, the car, you arrived in, has been reportet stolen.  I must ask you to hold up your hands, so I can put these cuffs on you.  You are under arrest on the suspicion of car theft, and you will have to come with me to my office for further questioning."

"Hey ! - That car is not stolen.  It is mine! 
My father gave it to me as a birthday present, when I became 20.  It has been mine for a year now, and I have never reportet it stolen.  You can see my name is on the registration. You can call my father´s office, he is an important bussiness man, and - - - ." 

"Calm down - It´s most likely a mistake, but we must first be sure.  There are a lot of suspect people travelling through our peacefull town and we must always be aware, so we can keep it peacefull. 
 

"Thanks for the tip James.  
You will receive the usual reward."

"Oh, thank you sheriff.  
It is always a pleasure being able to assist the law!"
 

"Tomorrow morning you will come before the court. Then we will straighten out everything."  
 

There is not much sleep for Christina that night. 

"Why should this happen, when I am in a hurry?  
Now I wil be to late for the boat, and he will sail to Europe without me." 
 

The next day Christina is taken directly to the court, and the sheriff tells the judge, she is charged for have been driving in a stolen car.  
Christina is left speechless, when the judge without questioning her at all, tells her, she is found guilty, and is sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour.
 

"Noo - This is a misunderstanding. 
It is my car.  I have never stolen anything. 
 Please let me go. This is ridiculous!  Even if I was a thief, hard labour for life would be an unheard hard punishment." 

"HELP! - Will anybody help me??? 
I am innocent! 
Oh - Please help me!" 

Nobody reacts on her cries for help. 
It seems like the site of a handcuffed girl being dragged through the streets from the courthouse to the mine area, isn´t an unusual site in this town. 
 

"Where are you taking me?  What is this place? 
Please, let me go! " 

"Hey - Open the gate, so we can get this 
tomboy secured.  She has being trying to slip away from me all the way from the courthouse." 
 

"Stop fighting girl!  The outer gate is closed, so you have no change of escaping any more." 
  

"Now strip of everything, and don´t be to long about it.  We have already wasted to much time on you."
  
Terrified Christina starts stripping by 
taking of her shoes.
 

"No! - I willn´t do it! 
You can not make me take of my clothes. 
I demand you call my parents right now, and---"
 

"Look into my face white slut!  
I am Maria, and I am head girl here.
You do as Master and I tell you to do!
I shall show you what happens, every time you do not obey any comand at once."
 

"OWW - NO STOP! -  I will do it! 
Please stop.  You are hurting me." 
 

"Look at that bimbo.  She is wearing black underwear!  It is very lucky, Master Sheriff got her away from the streets.  Such a naughty girl!" 
 

"Take those hands down, so I can see you girl!"
 
"She looks strong and healthy Master.  I will put her to the hardest labour right away." 

"Yes - Do that Maria! 
But we used the last of the old sacks on the two girls, we recieved yesterday, so let her keep her own blouse and skirt." 

After having recieved her new collar, Christina quickly puts on her blouse, glad of being able to cover her breasts again. 

"Lay your feet over the rail girl!"

Christina do as she is being told.
She don´t want to be beaten again. 
The iron collar feels cold and heavy, and she is very conscious about neither wearing bra nor panties under her blouse and skirt anymore.  She pray for her nipples can´t be seen through the thin material. 

"O.K. One more blow and you are secured.
Now you willn´t get any silly ideas 
about running away from us. "

"She is all yours Maria.  
Don´t hesitate using your cane on her. 
This upper-class chick has most likely never done 
any hard work before in her life ." 
 

"Stop crying and get up girl! 
And don´t ever pretend being sick. 
There are no sick slaves here.  Anyone who can´t work goes directly into the bone pit. 
If you want to live, you work very hard 
every second every day."
 

"Crawl into that tunnel girl, and hurry up! 
I have a lot  of other slaves to attend to, 
after I have put you to work." 

"I told you to hurry up girl.  Crawl faster!"

At last they reach the end of the narrow tunnel, and Christina stops a moment, while she for the first time sees her new workplace. 
 

To the left she sees a young black woman, clad in a old dirty sack, hacking out the coal with a pickaxe.
 

Frightened she looks to her right and sees another slave is working there. 
 

It´s a young white woman, which naked and covered in filth, is bussy shoveling the brocken coals further on.
 

"Look straight ahead girl!  
Slaves are not allowed to look around. 
  
Start filling up those baskets with coal. 
If you are not finished, when I get back, 
you will feel the cane again." 
 

 Oh God!  This is terrible. 
It has to be a nightmare. 

 

But it´s not a nightmare.  This is the cruel reality, and while she thinks about Maria´s cane, Christina takes her first shovelful of coal and fills it into the basket. 
 

In the stale and humid air, she soon feels how her sweat begines moistening  her clothes, as she filles the heavy coals into the basket. 
 

After only filling one basket with coal, 
Christina has to take a short breack,
 to wipe her sweat off her face.
 

Suddently a young girl  dragging  a sledge appears. 
With out saying a word she quickly unloads an empty basket, and lifts the heavy basket, Christina just has filled onto it. 
 

 On all fours she disappears back into the narrow tunnel dragging the sledge after her. 
 

Dragging the heavy slegdes through the narrow tunnels and steep shafts, is a job for the young and slim girls.  The tunnel leading from Christina´s first work place is spacious enough, but other tunnels and shafts are so narrow, the girls have to unload the baskets and push them ahead of them, while crawling flat down on their bellies dragging the empty slegdes behind them. 
 

With out turning her head  the black woman 
horsely wispers: 

"New girl - You MUST  work! 
We work as a group here.
If one is slow, we are all punished!"
 

Instantly Christina resumes her work. 
The site of the scars and wounds on the other women´s backs, tells her, what will happen if she is to slow.  She can still feel the blows Maria gave her with the cane, when she refused to strip.  
 

Durring some time she tries to keep up the same very high pace, as the other women.  
She filles basket after basket, which instantly are fetched by young girls dragging sledges. 
 

But after only an hour Christina, feeling like she has to vomit, has to stop again. 
 

Her back hurts and so all her muscles. 
She is a well trained young woman,  but that was from riding and playing tennis out in the freash air. 
She has never done this kind of work before. 
 

"Ow - I can´t breath in here.  I feel sick. 
I´am sorry - I have to take a breack.  I have to." 

On top of all, her bladder is hurting.  She has been in need to go to a restroom, even while she was put before the judge in the courtroom.  But she had never got the opportunity to ask, before she was dragged away to this place.    

In despair Christina sits down on the dirt, while she feels the contents of her bladder soaking her skirt.  After seeing and smelling the other slaves, she knows, there are no such things as bathrooms here.  
She tries to get her breath back, so she can continue to work, but she is so tirred, hot and sweaty.  And it feels like there is no air down here. 
 

Oh no - I am so tirred.  I have to lie down. 
Only a minute or two. 
Just until I get my breath back---. 
 

But the events, she has experienced durring the last 24 hours, have taken all her strength.  
After a few minutes, she falls into sleep. 
 

"Please - Wake up!  You can´t sleep now. 
You MUST work! 
We will all get punished,
 if we don´t meet the work quota!
Mistress Maria can come any second, and if she sees you sleeping instead of ------" 
 

"Hey!  What´s going on here? 
Why are you two not working? 

Lisa, get back to your place! 
You will both be very sorry for this!"
 

"And who has told you, that you may rest? 
You think, this is a luxury hotel?  
You are maybe expecting room service? 
 

"I shall give you room service! 

Get down on your knees and pull your blouse up.  
You are new down here, so this first time 
I will only give you 20 strocks. 
Now count loud and clear, so I can hear it slave, and kiss your shovel for each blow.  It is must more valuable, than you are!"
 

"1 - 2 Ow 3 Ahhh 4 stop, it hurts! -----------
------18 nooo- 19 please no more! - 20 Ahhh!!!" 
 
"Take your shovel and continue working! 
Next time I will not be so merciful!" 
 

Christina quickly fills a basket, but as soon as Maria has left again, she has to stretch her aching back.  

This is awfull, how can I survive this.
I only know, I must! 
 

Suffering from the terrible slashing, and determined that she will do anything, to avoid getting beaten again, Christina continues her work filling one basket after another. 

Working besides the skinny filthy blond, who´s scared back now is showing some new bleeding welts, and who´s name she now knows is Lisa, Christina strains hour after hour, while she feels more and more plagued by thirst and exhaustion.  She is also hungry.  This day must sometime get to an end, and they will be allowed some food and sleep.  She don´t darre ask Lisa when.  Talking is forbidden, and she don´t whant to be punished again.