Baudelaire's

Baudelaire's: Part V

    Man and boy hopped into action. Claudia was able to take the moaning, bruised, and bloodied girl on into the curtained off bedroom and lay her down gently.  Cattleya followed with a lantern.
    The girl Freya gazed up at him, with half closed weary eyes, dried blood under her nose and a swollen busted lip. She opened her mouth and cried out, stretching out her arms to push him away.
    "No!!. . . No!!" Her hands clenched into fists and she again to strike him with the last of her strength.
    Claudia stepped away and Cattleya sat on the bed and gathered the shivering Freya into her arms and rocked her as the girl broke down in tears.
"Shhh. . . " Claudia heard Cattleya coo softly as he made a quick exit, closing the curtain behind him.
Benedict Blue stood at the open door, peering out into the darkness, iron rod still in hand.
"A friend of hers?" Claudia asked.
"An acquaintance from one of the brothels."
"Does this happen often?" Claudia asked taking up guard duty with the boy, who had yet to soften his angry expression.
"For what she can provide, yes." Benedict confirmed, "But they are not usually beaten up like that."
"Benedict," Cattleya called calmly, yet firmly, "Come here, please."
Both Benedict and Claudia moved at once, but Benedict halted Claudia with an outstretched hand and his index and middle fingers pressing into Claudia's chest. For a moment the boy merely glared at him. How such delicate features could be so hard was beyond Claudia.
"That girl does not want to see you, Lt. Colonel." he said in a low growl, "Just be on guard here at the door, like a good soldier boy."
Then he turned and disappeared behind the drawn curtain.
With Benedict to gather her supplies, Cattleya stayed with Freya and undressed her until she was completely naked. She then assessed the damage done to the girl's body, just as much as any medical doctor could do.
After the exam, Cattleya cleaned her up from the dirt and blood as Freya continued to weep softly. She was then dressed in clothes Cattleya provided and only then did Cattleya start the questioning with Freya's permission.
"I was walking home and was caught in an alley." Freya replied, curled up in Cattleya's arms where they sat together on the bed.
"Yes. . were you all alone?"
Freya nodded. "But Dinah was with me the whole way. We live so close. She was already inside her place when I walked passed the alley toward mine. And . . . that's where they grabbed me."
"They?" Cattleya tried to keep the alarm out of her voice, "How many, Freya?"
"T-two. . .maybe. I only heard two. . ."
"Soldiers, Freya?"
Freya nodded, shakily.
Cattleya sighed, sadly. No wonder she had fought the Lt. Colonel with all the strength she had left to her.
"I have here with us a commanding officer, Freya. I know you'd rather not, but you have got to help him bring discipline to his men. Would you be willing to do that?"
At first Freya just hid her face against Cattleya's chest and sobbed, but then nodded. "I can't let something like this happen to Dinah."
"Exactly. Now, let's give it a few more minutes and we'll bring him in. Alright?"
"Take off your uniform tunic," Benedict demanded before letting Claudia go beyond the curtain. "You'll get a lot further with her if you look more like a civilian in this case."
Claudia nodded and took off his tunic, leaving him in his trousers, button down linen shirt and tie, and suspenders.
"That's better," said Benedict Blue approvingly, only then stepping aside.
The bedroom was about half the size of the other, but organized in such a way that it seemed just as spacious. Light reflected off wall mirrors on each wall, making great use of Cattleya's single lantern. Claudia saw a bookshelf housing a good many volumes about women's reproductive health, no doubt belonging to Cattleya's late mother and grandmother. Midwives were certainly the medical doctors of their day when it came to bringing babies into the world, but in Leiden, even a bachelor like Claudia knew that the role of the midwife was becoming a thing of the past.
He quietly took a chair away from the bed, where the girls held onto each other. The girl Freya with long auburn colored tresses still hid her face. Cattleya looked at Claudia where he sat, her eyes never leaving his face, her mouth neither smiling nor frowning.
"Thank you, Mr. Hodgins." she said.
Claudia merely gave a nod, and listened as Cattleya gave Freya's account.
"May I ask questions now?" he asked, and waited until they let him proceed.
"Did you catch what they looked like or was it too dark?"
Freya whispered her answer to Cattleya and Cattleya answered Claudia. "No, too dark."
"Alright. Let's focus on the sound of their voices. Remember their voices from earlier in the evening?"
Freya whispered to Cattleya.
"No, apparently they were not patrons of her establishment last night. . . In fact, she says they were being very threatening about her and her place of work."
And yet sexually assaulted her. . . thought Claudia miserably. Sons of bitches. . .
      "Did they happen to call each other by name or even rank?"
     Freya sat up and turned herself to look at Claudia with wide green eyes. "No," she answered shakily, "But they kept on calling each other 'potchik'."
     "Pot-chik?" Claudia repeated, then looked at Cattleya. "That word means 'brother'. . . "
      "In old Gardarik." she finished  for him.
       Claudia stood from the chair. "A Gardarik strike force may be in the area, and two of the bastards fucked up royal.  I must get this information back to the Colonel."
        Cattleya nodded in agreement, as Freya turned to hold onto her again. She watched as Mr. Hodgins, stepped back into the front room, and heard him make a couple of demands of Benedict, who amazingly enough did not argue, that she could make out, anyway. Then she heard the door close, and wondered if she would ever see him again. The majority of her wanted to very much.
    "Hey," said Benedict's voice from the other side of the curtain. "Is Freya going to be alright?"
      Cattleya placed her hands on either side of Freya's tear streaked face.
      "Have you made a decision?" She asked the girl. "You do not have to make it this very moment. I can give you a light sedative to help you rest here for the night, then you can answer in the morning."
      Freya stared at nothing, then blinked and shook her head. "No. I've made my decision. I cannot have a baby,"  The green of her eyes shimmered in a pool of fresh tears. "How unfair for a baby to be born into all this. . .being conceived with such hate and pain. . ."
       Cattleya embraced her, looking up where Benedict peeked in. "Go fetch my apothecary chest please." she said to him.
      The boy nodded and disappeared.