*thunk*

*knock knock*

Marie rolled over in bed, wondering who would dare disturb her at such an early hour. Grumbling to herself, she grabbed a robe from a chair and stumbled toward the door. Just before she opened it, she paused and checked to see if she was wearing panties. She wasn't. She nodded briskly to herself and opened the door. She looked out and saw nothing other than cariad and suchaminx walking up the hallway toward her office, giggling as usual. She frowned.

A rustling noise at her feet made her look down. At her feet was a body, tied up nicely in the not-for-climbing-purposes ropes. Marie took a moment to admire the knots, during which time suchaminx and cariad arrived at her door.

"Who's that, Miss Gonzales?" cariad asked.

Marie spotted a piece of paper attached to the sack on the body's head. She grabbed at it and, as she pulled it off, the sack came off, revealing a very angry Ted Stoat. The women laughed at his muffled outrage.

After tossing the sack into her office, Marie stood and looked at the girls.

"So, ladies. What do you propose we do with him?"

"mmmMMMMffffFFFFFFFLLLLLARRRRRGGGGHHH!!!"

Suchaminx giggled and said, "I think he'd like to be untied, Miss Gonzales."

Marie considered that for a moment and said, "You're probably right. But there's really no need to hurry, is there? Would you ladies like some coffee or tea? I'll put a fresh pot of water on." She turned and walked into her office. Cariad and suchaminx looked at each other, shrugged, giggled, and stepped over Ted's struggling body.

The three women enjoyed a cup of tea and some scones cariad had swiped from the kitchen. As they chatted over breakfast, Ted began to thump his way into Marie's office, his muffled protests growing louder. Finally, cariad said, "Um. Do you think we should untie him, Miss Gonzales?"

Marie sighed, put down her plate and said, "Yes. I suppose we should. Let's go, ladies."

The three women walked across the room to where Ted lay, flopping on the floor. They stood over him, barely suppressing their laughter, for a moment.

"Ted! Do stop moving around. We can't untie you if you flail like a haddock just removed from the water!"

Ted lay still and the women attempted to untie him. The knot work was quite good and it appeared that all of the not-for-climbing-purposes ropes were used to bind him. It took the three of them quite some time to untie Ted.

Finally, the last rope was removed. All that remained was the leather restraints binding his hands behind his back and the tape over his mouth. Ted glared at them. "Mmaa nna aaaaapppp oooo gggmmme!"

Suchaminx whispered, "I think he wants us to take the tape off his mouth."

"Ooooh...that's gonna hurt," cariad said. "I'm not doing it."

"Me, neither," suchaminx said hastily.

Ted glared at the students, then at Marie. "Mmmmmoooowwwww!"

"Sit still, Ted. I'll take the tape off." Marie reached down and pulled.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!! "

There was a crashing noise from elsewhere in the building. Marie later found out it was the Headmaster dropping a bottle of his beloved JD.

"Get those bloody cuffs off me!" Ted snarled.

Marie looked at his arms. The cuffs required a key. She stood. "I don't have the key."

"Then help me up! Don't just stand there!"

The three women helped Ted to his feet and he stormed off, yelling, "Oi! I'm going to find you, Widget! You'll be sorry when I do!"

Marie looked at the students. "You'd best be off to get ready for classes." They giggled and left. Marie spotted the note on the sack and read the contents. She paled, then blushed, then folded the paper and tucked it in her bra.