Chapter Six
Trainees
With the start of the second week the work went on much as before, except that now the women had to circumnavigate the ring carrying bands weighted with sand strapped around their ankles. Round and round they went, all day long.
Since they were no longer supervised in the shower room, they were able to talk freely among themselves at the end of the day. Meris listened but did not contribute to their murmured complaints. And in the stalls after supper, Meris would not allow her groans to join the chorus of those whose legs, like hers, were massaged by the grooms.
Come Thursday morning a pretty disgruntled group was assembled under the trainer’s critical eye. How relieved they were to hear the command to ‘Step off’ with tired legs that had not been plied with extra w
