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Pulling on the ropes tightly, applying the knots robotically as if they had performed this duty many times previously, a group of burly men lashed him against the post. Crying openly now, Richard lifted his head and screamed out, “Why are you doing this?” Fear and confusion gave way to anger and frustration. He strained uselessly against the ropes, but he was held fast, wrists already red raw from where the cord chaffed at his skin. Sagging against his bonds, his voice was now nothing more than a mumble. The voice of one defeated. “Please, please stop. We don’t deserve any of this. What have we ever done to you?”
The rhythmical chanting his only answer, Richard watched through eyes blurred by tears as they brought his dad over to join him. His unconscious, dead-weight body proved to b
