Firefly. Part 16

"Gotcha." He turned, put his arms at her back and knees, and picked her up. She knew she was no lightweight, but he was strong; he heaved her into the air. He carried her the few paces to his car.

She caught at the handle and yanked the door open. He set her down at the edge of the seat, and she slid in. The operation was clumsy, and her towel was dislodged, but that was not of much moment at this stage. Frank closed the door and walked around to the driver's side while she yanked as much of the towel up and across her front as she could.

"I'd better take you first to a doctor," he said.

"No! No doctor!"

He looked at her, pausing as he was about to turn the key in the ignition. "May, your left ear's bruised, you right eye's bleeding, your left breast is swelling, and you walk as if you've been raped. Let the doctor confirm the fact that you've been physically and s.e.xually a.s.saulted, and we'll put your husband away. It's got to be done now."

He was one observant cuss! "Frank, I can't, I just can't. He's my husband and I can't testify against him. I've just got to get away from him!"

He started the motor and pulled carefully onto the street. "And change your name again, and start over somewhere else?"

"Mid will help me! I just have to stay away from Bull!"

"You never struck me as a frail, fainting creature. Not like that Brown woman. The man is a wife-beater! Why won't you let us help you?"

"I can't, Frank. Believe me, I can't. Please, take me somewhere I can hide until Mid decides what to do."

He shook his head. "d.a.m.n it, we can't prosecute if you won't testify! But it stinks to high h.e.l.l!"

"Thank you for helping me, Frank." she said quietly.

Scowling, he drove on out of town. In due course he pulled in at a house somewhere beyond. "My wife will help you while I see about getting you into hiding."

She nodded. They got out, and she walked on the cool gra.s.s beside the drive until reaching the shadow of the house.

Frank took her to the front door. He opened it a crack. "Hey, Trudy, I brought her here. We need your help."

Trudy appeared. She was a woman of about May's own age and heft, with short, straight black hair. "Here?"

Frank gestured May in. "May Flowers," he said. "My wife. Trudy, she doesn't have anything to wear. I don't know what to do for her."

Trudy frowned. "Well, come to the bedroom, then," she said to May.

May followed her to the bedroom, which was homey and neat, with twin beds. So they didn't sleep together.

Now Trudy got a better look at her. "Your face!" she exclaimed. "What happened?"

"My husband found me."

"Husband?"

"We've been married eighteen years. I've been apart from him the last three. He wasn't pleased."

"Let me get a cloth and some-you need to see a doctor!"

"No, I just need to get away from him."

Trudy got the cloth and dabbed at the eye. "He hit you?"

"Yes."

"How could you stay with a man who did that?"

"I couldn't get away. I supposed I hoped it would get better, but it didn't."

"If any man hit me, I'd be gone instantly!"

"Frank doesn't get violent?"

"Him? Never! He hates domestic violence. I just wish he hated job insecurity as much."

"Job insecurity? He seems secure enough to me." But May knew what the woman was talking about; it was just that she did not find it expedient to reveal her research.

"He insists on standing up for what he sees as right. It's cost him two jobs, and if he throws this one away, I'm leaving him. I can't stand the disruption of moving, starting all over again, losing all my contacts."

"I'd trade for mine," May said sadly.

"Let me see the rest of you. I think my clothes should fit you. We're about the same size."

May removed the coat. Trudy stared at her breast. "He did that?"

May nodded.

"And he raped you?"

"Technically, no. I didn't resist."

Trudy shook her head. "Frank gets all upset about abuse. I knew it happened, but it didn't mean anything to me. Now I begin to understand. You've got to take him to court!"

May simply shook her head no. She preferred to let others believe it was fear that restrained her, rather than the whole truth.

Trudy dug out bra, panties, skirt, and blouse. They fitted reasonably well, but her lacerated left breast hurt when constrained.

"Wait, I have an old maternity bra buried somewhere," Trudy said. "We never had children, but at one time we thought we might, and I got it." She rummaged in a closet, found a package of old clothing, and pulled out the bra. It was huge, with flaps allowing exposure of the nipples for nursing.

May put it on, opening the left flap. That helped; her swollen nipple looked awful but suffered no extra pressure. The blouse was loose enough to accommodate it without touching. The skirt had good elastic, so adjusted well enough.

Trudy tried one of her shoes on her, but the fit was uncomfortably wrong. She rummaged and found an old pair of sneakers; these were large, but tight lacing made them suffice. May was back in business, after a fas.h.i.+on. "Thank you," she said. "I will return these to you when I can."

"No, don't bother," Trudy protested. "I had no idea what you'd been through! I wish you'd at least see a doctor."

"A doctor would have to make a report. I can't have that."

"You're protecting that monster! How can you do that?"

"Shame," May said simply.

"I can't understand that!"

"I'm glad."

They went to the living room. Frank was waiting. "I have a place for you," he said. "It's not much, but it should be safe."

"Thank you. Can we go there now? I'm very tired."

"You've got to see a doctor! There could be internal bleeding, and that eye-"

"Please, can we just go?"

He threw up his hands, literally. "Come on."

She followed him out. She eased herself into the seat and leaned back. She had not been fooling about being tired; she was about ready to pa.s.s out. But one comment of his stuck in her mind: internal bleeding. She hadn't thought of that. The penetration had been so hard, there could be a tear. That would not only complicate evacuation, it could- She stifled the thought.

After a period of stupor she came to, to discover them at the gate of the Middle Kingdom Ranch. "But I don't want to intrude on-" she protested.

"You aren't." he glanced at her. "You did a nice thing for that Brown woman."

"She was an abused wife. Not physically, but that's not the only component of the syndrome. I happen to be in a position to know."

He nodded. "I understand. It's nice to know you have a human side."

"All too human," she agreed listlessly.

They arrived at the house. George-no, his name was Geode, she remembered-came out. "I can lead you in," he said.

"No, I don't want her b.u.mped worse than she has to be. Take her in yours, and I'll follow. Then I'll know the route."

Geode nodded. He went into the house. In a moment one of the garage doors rolled up, and a car backed out. It was a small foreign-make station wagon marked 4WD. It headed a short distance down the lane, then turned left at right angles onto a dirt trail. It stopped.

Frank pulled up behind it. Geode was out opening another gate by hand. This trail was within the fenced portion of the ranch; May had not known it existed before.

Frank got out and came around to help her out. She tried not to wince as she moved her legs, lest it betray the nature of her discomfort. Her innards were pulsing with dull pain, making her feel a bit like retching. Abdominal injury did that, she knew.

She walked to the station wagon and got in as Geode did. It was odd to see him driving; she had seen him only afoot or on the bike before. She got the seat belt buckled and tried to relax. If the man noticed her distress, he gave no sign.

He moved the car forward, down a trail overhung by trees. It seemed to go right into the water of the lake, but then it turned left and paralleled the bank. Tishner's car followed.

The trail curved tortuously around the edge of the marshy lake. Geode drove slowly, easing over the b.u.mps, but May felt them anyway. She learned to put down her hands and lift her body just before they navigated one, easing the shock to her posterior. It helped, but not enough.

After what seemed like an eternity of convolutions, the trail forged inland and became straighten They picked up speed. Finally it entered a region of large oaks, and then a clearing where-was it a dream?-two brown ponies stood.

Geode pulled up at a ramshackle cabin. He got out and went to unlock its door.

Frank stopped behind the station wagon and got out. He opened May's door and helped her out. This time she could not avoid staggering; only his firm hand on her elbow kept her on course. He guided her to the door and in.

It was desolate inside. There was a kitchen of sorts, and a main chamber with mattresses on the floor. It was hot, but she didn't care; she eased herself down on the first mattress and lay there, hardly caring about appearances. This place was isolated and safe, because it was on Mid's estate; that was all that counted.

She stared at the ceiling, and consciousness faded.

* 19 - GEODE GAZED AT the woman lying there. "She's hurt," he said.

"Beaten up and raped," Tishner agreed. "Concussion, maybe damage to that eye, a chewed-up breast, and I think when he raped her he hurt her inside. She could have internal bleeding. But she won't see a doctor; she's ashamed to let it be known how that man treats her. I've seen it before, too often. She needs medical attention, but I gave my word no doctor. We'll just have to chance it."

"Would she see Cyrano?"

Tishner's jaw dropped. "The exterminator?"

"He's a vet too."

"By d.a.m.n, man, maybe that's a notion! He's in on the secret, he works for Mid, and she knows him. Maybe he could help her some."

"I'll call Mid and ask him to send Cyrano."

"Good enough, Demerit! You do that." He looked again at the woman. "But you know, I don't like leaving her alone like this, with no food or anything."

"I'll bring some from the house tonight."

Tishner went to the window air conditioner. "This thing work?"

"Yes."

He turned on the unit. It cranked up and began blowing air. "That'll help some. Okay, you bring her some food, and maybe bring Jade Brown too; May needs a woman's help, and she helped Brown. I'll bring in food in the morning; you let me in and I'll go right around without bothering you at the house. You can check on her when you do your rounds too. I just hope she's okay."

"Yes."

"She's a good woman, Demerit. I didn't like her, but now I know something about her. I don't want her hurting."

Geode nodded. "We'll come to her tonight."

They went out. "The key-leave her the key," Tishner said.

Geode went back in and set the key on the kitchen table.

Tishner got in his car and looped it by the ponies, who gave way cautiously. Geode paused to fetch a carrot from the store at the house, broke it in half, and gave a piece to each horse. The small one was the bolder of the two; the larger one remained wary as long as strangers were near. "Keep guard," he told them, then returned to the station wagon, not waiting for their answer. He drove it down the trail, back toward the house, about two miles distant.

He wondered exactly what the man had done to May Flowers. As he understood it, s.e.x didn't normally lead to injury, but she looked injured. He wished he knew more about it. But even if he had been potent, what woman would have been interested in him? He would have to ask none, for she surely knew everything he didn't.

He arrived back at the house and went in. none appeared as soon as the door closed. "What happened, Geode?" she asked anxiously. How wonderful it was to have her at the house; his life had a.s.sumed an unfamiliar state of delight since she had come.

"She was beaten up and raped," he said. "She won't see a doctor or let Tishner report it. We must bring things to her."

"Oh, yes, now I will do for her what she did for me!" she agreed. "But why didn't you bring her here?"

"She didn't want to interfere with us."