Chapter 116: Chapter 116: The Girl Who Was Hunted - Chapter Thirty-Two

MICHAEL “What’s our line?” says James quietly. “How mad at her are we?”

How do I answer that?

The woman I love abandoned me and left me numb with fear for her….

“Hugs first,” I say. “Mad later…. Mmmm…. I’m just going to take a look at her, now the worst of the dirt should be off. See what state she’s in.”

With the shower running, dousing herself from the head downwards, facing up into the water stream, she doesn’t hear me enter. On her arms and shoulders, down her thighs, all over her body, she is covered with bruises, just fading to blue and purple. And clean, her face shows more bruising; over one cheek and eye.

Her shower has the look of ritual. She is cleaning off more than honest dirt.

“How did you get those?” I ask, nodding at the blue markings over her.

She startles, spinning to face me, then, for the first time since the day I met her, seems bothered by her nudity. She looks down, not speaking, wringing her hands together, looking down, trying to cover herself.

“Charlotte…”

She bursts into tears. I step into the shower with her, still fully clothed, wrapping my arms around her.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry….” she cries.

I rock her in my arms. “Shhh…. It’s alright. You’re safe now. And so’s Beth.”

James appears at the door. I meet his eyes, head-pointing down her body at the bruises. A rainbow of emotions crosses his face: anger, pity, sympathy, horror… “I’ll get a medic here,” he says and vanishes back into the lounge.

He returns five minutes later. “Doctor’s coming.”

Charlotte is still weeping uncontrollably. “I’m a bit wet,” I say. “Here, you take her. Get her into bed.” I pass her to James, who enfolds her in a large towel, then carries her out. Stripping off my soaked clothes, I go in search of dry ones.

I find the two of them in the bedroom, James rocking her in his arms, kissing her wet hair. After a few minutes, her breathing steadies and she falls asleep, her head resting against his chest. Laying her back against the pillow, he pulls the covers over her.

We sit in the lounge but keep the bedroom door open a little.

“What do you think?” he asks. “Just beaten? Or raped too?”

“Raped too, I think. When I went in there, she tried to cover herself from me.”

He snorts, a sound of bitter laughter. “What could possibly be funny?” I ask.

“She’s gone out, against every protest and effort to stop her. She’s achieved what she set out to do;

Beth is back with Richard. She’s certainly been beaten, perhaps raped. She got home, God alone knows how…. That’s obviously what all her interest in the City plans was about, so she anticipated that too…. She’s pulled up out of the sewers…. and now she cries…” He sweeps his hands back through his hair, his expression helpless.

“Did you ask for a female doctor?”

He nods. Mmm, yes.”

There is a knock on the door. “Ah, that should be her.” But instead, it’s Richard, with Beth.

They stand, wreathed in smiles until they see our expressions.

“James? Michael? Is everything alright?”

“She’s been beaten. She’s covered in bruises. And we think she’s been raped.”

Beth brushes past us. “Here, let me talk with her….”

She returns after a few minutes, patting both me and James on the arm. “She hasn’t been raped. But she is pretty much at the end of her resources. She’s been running for days. She was beaten while we were held, and she took some more damage while she was running, and…” She gives James a long look. “She thinks you’re going to punish her. She really isn’t in any state for that right now.”

He stares down at her, his expression blank.

“James isn’t going to punish her,” I say. James swings to face me, arms akimbo. “Are you?”

For a moment, I think we are going to argue over this, then his eyes soften. “No, she’s been through enough. Perhaps it will have taught her a lesson.”

“That, I doubt,” I say. “Let me handle it.… when she’s ready.”

Beth nods. “Right now, I’d say that what she needs, is the pair of you, and to sleep.”

Richard stands. “We’ll come back later. Give me a buzz, James, when you think she’s ready to talk.”

As Beth and Richard leave, James eye-points the bedroom. “’Hugs, then?”

As we enter, Charlotte is sitting in bed, finger-combing wet hair. She looks up at us, then looks away.

“Are you very angry with me?”

James sits beside her, kisses her on the cheek. “Yes, we are, but that doesn’t mean we’re not happy to have you back.”

I can’t quite bring myself to touch her, instead standing, watching her, my arms folded. She looks up at me, then drops her gaze. “I’m sorry,” she mutters.

I nod, lost for words. “I’ll leave you with James, eh.” And I go in search of the wine bottle.

*****

CHARLOTTE I wake to find my Master sitting beside me in an armchair, long legs stretched out, working on his laptop. As I stir, he looks up and smiles.

“Hello. How are you now? Did you sleep well?”

“Do logs sleep? Yes, very well. How long was I.…?”

“About ten hours. You were exhausted.”

“Yeah... I’d not slept properly for a few days. I didn’t dare sleep above ground in case they found me.

And I didn’t dare below ground either….”

“Why not below ground?”

“Rats. Hundreds of ‘em. Not sure what they’d do with a sleeping human body, but you read stories….”

He says nothing, just looking at me. I can’t gauge his mood, his expression. “What is it?” I ask.

His head tilts, but his eyes are soft. I don’t think he is angry with me. Then he stares up at the ceiling.

“Where do I begin?” His voice is almost a sigh.

“Are going to punish me? If you are, I’d rather just get it over and done with….”

He gives me a long look. “Believe me, it came up in conversation. What you did was brave and noble on the one hand, but reckless and inconsiderate on the other. Michael was beside himself, especially when we lost your signal. Even Richard was upset. He thought that we’d lost both you and Beth. And no, I’m not going to punish you. Looking at the physical state of you, I don’t think it’s appropriate.

However, I believe Michael has something he wants to say to you.

“Oh….”

“Yes, ‘Oh’….”

“Where is Michael?”

“I’m not sure. I believe he wanted some time to think. He’s pretty unhappy right now about the way you behaved.”

“But Master, there was no other way we were going to get her back. The police had no idea where….”

He eyes me. “Are you going to tell me where you got all that bruising?”

“Um, different places….”

“You’ve been beaten?”

“Yes, some, but it wasn’t too bad. I thought it would be worse….” His eyes widen, but he says nothing.

“Some of the damage, I took while I was running. It was dark, and I was just going pell-mell; couldn’t see where I was heading, just away. I kept crashing into things, trees, rocks; I tripped and fell a couple of times. Then in the sewers, there was a spot; I had to cross the stream. I was trying not to have to wade, so I jumped instead. But it was slippery. I lost my footing, fell in, banged my head…. that was the worst….”

Still, he looks down at me, dark-eyed. After a moment, “Was that the worst?”

A bit disconcerted, “Um, yes. Not sure what you mean?”

He speaks quietly. “Beth thought you’d been raped? Michael too. But then you told Beth, no.”

“Raped? No…” Suddenly it makes sense, his attitude, his quietness. “No, Master. I’ve not been raped…. Um… I’ll admit it came close. for a while, I thought….”

“But Charlotte, Michael said that when he saw you in the shower, you tried to…. cover up. That’s why he thought…”

“Master, look at me. I’m black and blue. I didn’t want him seeing me like that… and... and…”

“And what?”

“They took my rings, Master. The ones you and Michael gave me. They took them.”

Suddenly everything wells up in me, and the tears come again, but now he sits beside me on the bed, wrapping his arms around me, kissing my hair. “Shhh… It’s alright. It doesn’t matter. They’re only rings, bits of metal. We’ll get you new ones….”

“But they’re not just bits of metal, Master… they’re special… and they took them…”

He chuckles as he holds me. “Every time I think I’ve got the hang of women, I discover I’m still on Mars and they’re on Venus... Charlotte…. The rings are symbols... That’s all. If you come out of what you did with no more damage than that, you should be thankful, not crying… Now… just calm down. We can talk about things properly when you’re ready.”