Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Title: Rag Doll Ch.  04
Summary: Resolution for Nicky & Ashley, and justice for all...
Keywords: inc,fic
   I sat huddled against the bathroom wall, the cold tiles feeling frigid
against the heat radiating from my face.  My throat burned, and my sides
ached from vomiting so long and so hard.  I couldn't think straight, except
to home in on that one huge, horrifying fact.  Ashley had been raped,
violated, and abused, and it was no impulse crime, no isolated opportunist
attack on a defenceless girl; it had been planned, masterminded, set-up;
that sick, sick fucker, what kind of mental state did you have to be in to
do something like that?
   I could hear Mum crying, weeping hysterically as David tried to console
her and calm her down, and I thought briefly that it should be me
comforting her, but I couldn't bring myself to stand, walk in there and see
her face, not knowing what I did now.  Now I wanted to kill someone, at
last I felt the urge to truly hurt someone, to keep on hurting them until
they were past all pain.
   Barbara, my real Mum in all but fact, the one person who'd kept me sane
as she brought me up, had unveiled what my father had done, how he'd
plotted and planned and carried out that cowardly, evil, bastardly act for
no reason other than to salvage his own ego.  Barbara had told us how he
did it, sent Mum all the details she could find, and then she'd died; the
postmark on the envelope was the day I was busily getting my new passport.
I was preparing for a new life, and she was losing hers.
   I sat bolt upright as a horrifying thought shot through me; dear God,
was this why she'd died?  The thought of that was too terrible to
contemplate, and I heard a low moaning; it was a while before I realised it
was me, hovering on the edge of hysteria.  She'd died after telling Mum the
truth, had she died because she'd told Mum the truth, had she died for
helping me come here?  I begged God, Yahweh, Buddha, anyone or anything who
was listening; please not that, don't make it my fault, please don't let
her have died because of me, not after all she'd done for me, anything but
that...
   I dropped my head down to my hands and cried for her, for what I was
sure I'd brought on her, and swore again the same oath I'd sworn in London,
after I'd seen the news of her death.  I swore that I would give him a
lifetime of pain and blood and suffering for all he'd done.  I swore I
would be there to shove the knife in him, and when I'd stared into his
eyes, and seen him recognise me and know who had stuck that knife into him.
Then I was going to twist it, and twist it again, and cause him pain that
no prayers to God, man or devil would release him from.
   Mum had said she was glad I wasn't the man my father was, but now I knew
she was wrong because I wanted to do things to him that only a sick,
depraved, evil rat-fuck like him would be capable of.  If I was my father's
son, so much the better, I would hurt him in ways only he could devise for
what he'd done to me and mine, to my Ashley, to my Mum, and most of all to
the one I had always loved like a mother.
   I stared into the white tiled wall, seeing Barbara's face, needing her
so much it was a physical pain locked in the base of my throat, trying to
hear what she was saying to me, trying desperately to recapture the sound
of her voice, her laughter, but my mind's eye continually turned to
horrific fantasies of how it had been for her at the end, what he'd done to
her, the woman I had loved since my earliest childhood, and who'd loved me
back unconditionally, who'd made me her own, and had finally made me leave
her at the mercy of that evil, sadistic...
   "Nick!  Nick, where are you?"
   I came back to reality with a bump, all the revenge fantasies vanishing
on hearing a male voice calling me.  It took a few seconds before I
recognised it.  Dr.  Nixon, it was Dr.  Nixon.  Mum!
   I scrambled to my feet, and staggered as a sudden wave of dizziness
rolled over me.
   "I'm...here, I'm coming...!" I croaked, my throat burning and rasping
from the acid vomit I'd been spewing out, and I realised I needed to wash
my mouth and clear my head of the horrible taste and smell of what I'd been
doing.  I also splashed my face with cold water, trying to revive myself
and clear some of the fog from my brain.
   Finally feeling a little better, I stumbled back to the living room, to
find Mum still huddled against David, and a small part of me thought how
natural she looked being held by someone again.  But the memory of what I'd
read returned when I saw that damned, hateful, horrifying letter on the
table in front of her.  Barbara had spoken to me one last time and what
she'd told me had destroyed what remained of my old life, filled me with
rage and nausea, and given me one more reason to hate that hell-bastard I
called a father.
   I knew what I had sworn was never going to happen; people like me, like
us, never get to take revenge or plot payback, we can only fantasize about
it, and that knowledge gnawed at me as well.  We would have to live with
this knowledge forever, and that son of a whore was going to live a life of
freedom and ease, never paying for what he'd done, happily giving us the
finger from 3,000 miles away.
   I squatted down next to Mum and put my hand on hers.  She jumped like
she'd been burned, her eyes flicking open and seeing me.
   "Nicky, how could he...how...what...?" she stumbled, her fingers twining
in mine as she squeezed our hands together.  She was still near tears, as
she looked from me to David and back again.
   "She never did anything...!"
   I didn't know what to say; boasting about what I'd do to him was a
hollow waste of time and wasn't going to undo this serpents tangle, and all
I could do was lean my forehead against her arm to show her I was with her,
that she wasn't alone here.  The sight of her in distress was making my
eyes well-up too, and I was still having trouble believing a man could
store up that much hate and rage to commit such an ungodly, diabolical act
against an innocent girl.
   David was reading the letter again, a look of profound disgust on his
face as he absorbed the full nastiness of what Barbara had revealed. 
Suddenly he looked keenly at me; obviously something had struck him.
   "Nicky, what date was this letter sent, please, check the postmark..."
   I didn't need to, I'd already seen it.
   "Last Friday morning, it's time-stamped.  And yes, Barbara killed
herself that evening, after she posted this.  So what, how does that help?"
I asked dully, crushingly aware that we were helpless to do anything about
it, people like us don't have the resources to make something of a mess
like this and so we just had to live with the injustice of it, especially
Ashley, the one person in all this who couldn't possibly have roused any
kind of ire in that man and yet she'd paid a price no-once should have had
to pay.
   David looked thoughtful.
   "Nick, I have a couple of friends with the FBI, I think they should see
this; this looks like something that should be investigated properly, by
the federal authorities.  Julia, can I take this with me?  I promise I'll
keep you fully informed whatever happens."
   Mum nodded agreement, and I shrugged because I felt deep-down inside
that nothing was going to fix this, and that smug bastard hiding 3,000
miles away in England was going to get away with this scot-free.
   Mum spoke up, talking to David and me.
   "Nicky?  David?  I don't know if anything will come of this, so please,
please, don't let Ashley know about this; that poor child's had enough to
deal with without handing her any false hopes or pretending that this is
going to come out right, so just keep this between us, OK?  We let David's
friends do what they can.  In the meantime, life goes on as normal.  Will
you both promise me you won't say anything until something can be done
about all this?"
   I exchanged glances with David, but Mum was right; the last thing I
wanted to do was rake this over for Ashley all over again, but I certainly
wasn't happy about keeping secrets from her.  If David's friends could
swing a way to make that bastard pay for what he'd done, then I would be
the first one to tell her, let her know that she had some hope of justice,
but until then I would keep silent.
   "I...promise, mum, I won't say a word until it's time to tell her.  But
I get to tell her, OK?  If we have a way to drag that sick bitch's bastard
over here and stuff him in a hole forever, I want to be the one to tell
her, so she'll have no doubts as to how I feel about him.  Agreed?  "
   Mum nodded, her hand tightening on mine as she did, and David nodded as
well, sealing our conspiracy.  I really hated the idea of basically lying
to my girl; even if I was lying by omission, I was still lying, but I hoped
she'd understand that we'd been trying to do something about it.  It would
be so much worse if she found out that we'd known, but had done nothing...
   David stood up, folded the papers and documents Barbara had sent and
slid them back in the envelope.
   "Nick, as you and I were going for breakfast, for the sake of normalcy I
think we should go do that, and I think you should join us, Julia; let's
make a start on getting everything back to normal as quickly as we can."
   I could see she wasn't really in the mood, hell, neither was I, but I
understood that we had to try and make things look normal again.  Mum and I
would carry this if it meant Ashley didn't have to.  She forced a thin
smile, trying to maintain the charade.
   "This wasn't the build-up to a date I was anticipating, but yes, I think
I'd like that..."
   We went to breakfast at a diner David knew, false smiles pasted on our
faces, pretending that there was nothing wrong in our world, working hard
at letting this all crust over so we wouldn't give ourselves away.  It was
going to be a hard charade to carry out; I can't lie to save my life, and I
really didn't know how I could keep this from her for very long; only time
would tell.
   During breakfast, David asked me to come with him that afternoon when he
went to see his friends, as he wanted to take me to meet his friend with
the specialist European car repair shop.  Mum would collect Ashley from
school, telling her I was with David and I'd gone to see a man about a job,
as had been the plan this morning before the world caved-in.  Hopefully, if
I was offered a job, I could be happy and off-edge enough to not think
about what kind of day I'd really had, and Ashley would remain none the
wiser.  It was a thin hope; she was so in-tune with me she could almost
read my mind, but I held on to it.
   After he dropped Mum back at home, David asked me if I could talk with
him, in private.  I agreed, and so we drove back to his house, where we had
a long discussion about my father, what kind of man he was, what my
brothers were like, and my life with Barbara.  As we talked, I could feel
myself uncoiling inside.  Telling this man about the life I'd had before I
came here, about school, about England was almost therapeutic, relaxing,
even, and I warmed to him even more.  His penetrating wit and warm sense of
humour were a delight, and I found myself comparing him to my father and
finding no points of comparison.  I know now what he was doing, but right
then I was drawn to him, not understanding his motive for drawing me out
but feeling better for the experience.  He'd said to me before he was no
therapist; I think I'd have argued that point with him now.
   Eventually, after several coffees and a long, searching, and
invigorating talk he dropped me back home, my spirits considerably lifted,
reminding me that he would be picking me up at two o'clock to drop the
documents off at the FBI then we would go to meet his friend.
   While he was dropping me off, he had another, brief chat with mum, and
whatever he said seemed to have lifted her spirits considerably by the time
he left.  Mum actually smiled at me several times; it appeared David was
good for her too...
   Mum and I had a light lunch and were just clearing the remnants when
David arrived.  Mum looked suddenly worried again, but David reassured her
that all he was doing was taking those hateful documents to his friends,
and they could decide how to proceed; he and I were focusing on landing me
a job, so not to worry, and we'd see her later that afternoon.
   David's friend, Mark was a true Brit-car enthusiast, and his shop, Mark
One Auto-Sport, was a mecca of classic British roadsters.  Scattered around
the shop were a selection of MG A's and BGT's being stripped and
refurbished, an original Mini Cooper S with rally roundels side-by-side
with a pristine Triumph Stag and a stunning silver TVR Cerbera.  In
addition, a Morgan 4/4 with the Ford Germany Zetec engine, and several
older Jaguar's were in various stages of repair.  My eyes were drawn to a
beautiful Caterham Seven in the classic Lotus livery of British Racing
Green with the yellow nose-cone, and Mark followed my gaze.
   "She's a beauty, isn't she?" he asked me, and I grinned back at him.
   "This is a customer vehicle," he said, "but one day I'm going to get
myself an original Lotus 7, with the Colin Chapman badge, just so I can say
I own one; then let's see David lord it over me with that Bristol of his!"
   We talked about what I'd done in college, the manufacturer
certifications I had, and the specific diagnostic skills I had learned, and
he appeared satisfied.
   "OK Nick, I think you have what I need.  I can't start you as a Senior
Technician, so I'll make you a deal; you sit out the probationary period as
Junior Technician and study for your ASE certification, at my expense, and
we'll talk about advancement after your probation is up.  The money's not
that great to start with, but it'll get better if you show me what you can
do.  Deal?"
   I looked over at David for a cue, and he smiled and nodded slightly, so
I grinned.
   "When can I start?"
   Mark grinned back.
   "Bring your Social Security documentation as soon as you get it, but I
see no reason why you can't start...a week Monday?  That should be enough
time for all your paperwork to be finalized.  I have a couple of MG SRV8's
and a 1986 Esprit S3 HCi due in for servicing about then, so they're yours.
Welcome aboard!"
   I was grinning like a pumpkin; I had a job!
   Mark walked me around the shop, and introduced me to the other
technicians, who were intrigued at the idea of having an Englishman working
with them, and I had to explain several times I was an American, brought up
in England, which they seemed to think was odd; if I was American, why did
I sound so British...?  That aside, they were a friendly bunch, and
genuinely welcoming, and I even got to potter around with a couple of them
inside the engine bay of a lovely Jaguar XJS while Mark talked to David; I
was looking forward to working with them.
   After washing up, David drove us to the FBI building on McCarty Avenue,
and introduced me to his friend, Special Agent Mike Walker.  After a short
preamble, David handed over the documents Barbara had sent us.
   "Mike, this arrived from England this morning.  Nick's stepmother sent
this to him last week; she sent Nick to London to escape his father, and
the next day she was dead, apparently she took her own life the same day
these documents were mailed, last Friday afternoon, in England.  She and
Nick were badly beaten by his father the night before, which is why he was
sent away.  Nick, do you mind...?"
   I stood up and unbuttoned my shirt, pulling it up at the back so Agent
Walker could see my back.  I heard the sharp intake of breath as he
surveyed what that man had done to me.
   "Jesus Christ, what the fu...!" I heard him mutter under his breath.
   David quickly checked my back and told me to do my shirt up, before
turning to the FBI agent.
   "His father did this to him five days ago.  He abducted Nick when he was
a small child and took him to England, and Nick only returned a few days
ago when he found out where his Mother was.  This is the kind of man we're
dealing with here, Mike, and I have to be honest, the coincidence of Nick's
stepmother mailing these documents to Nick's mother, his ex-wife, and then
dying the following day is stretching my credibility to the limit.  Do me a
favor, please; ask the police in England if you can what their
investigations into Barbara Davies' 'suicide' turned-up, if anything?  I
just have a bad feeling about this, and from what I've seen in those
documents, something bad and very dangerous is going on here; 'by the
pricking of my thumbs...', you know what I mean?"
   Agent Walker nodded slowly.
   "I'll pass this on to Alan Dubowski, he's the Special Agent in Charge
here in Albany, I think he's definitely going to want to see this; he can
get this moved up to a higher level if anyone can.  Leave this with me and
I'll see if I can get some quick action on it."
   We stood up to leave, and Agent Walker smiled at David.
   "Please, give my best to Judy.  How's she doing these days?"
   David grinned back.
   "Judy's...Judy, what more can I say?!"
   Agent Walker grinned even wider.
   "I heard that!  One day either she'll be working with us, or her
picture's gonna be on that wall out there with a reward notice, and I
wouldn't want to bet which one it's going to be!"
   David laughed out loud, and we took our leave of his friend, an intern
escorting us to the lobby.
   I was quiet on the way home, and eventually David asked me what was
troubling me.  I stayed silent, not wanting to talk about what I was
thinking, until I noticed we'd arrived at David's house.
   "OK Nick, we had this talk this morning, tell me, what's going on?" He
asked.
   "I want that son of a bitch to stand in front of me so I can rip his
fucking throat out, that's what I want; I want him to look into my eyes as
I kick the chair away from under him, and I want to see the look on his
face and the fear in his eyes when he gets that short drop and the sudden
stop!  I want him to scream in pain, and know it's me doing it to him, and
I..!"
   David cut me short.
   "Stop it Nick, now!  This is not you, and you know it.  We've done all
we can, you've done everything you could; now it's up to the authorities to
drag that bastard over here and make him pay.  Leave it alone, Nick,
revenge is not you, there's too much of your mother in you to behave like
him!  I heard what you did to those two boys in the burger joint; anyone
else would have put them in hospital, but you had enough restraint to teach
them a sharp lesson without actually injuring them; that's the mark of a
man, not the capacity to plot bloody revenge.  Confucius once said 'Before
you embark on a journey of revenge, first dig two graves', and you know
what?  He was right; don't deliberately set out to become the man your
father is, you're better than that!"
   I sat there and listened to him because I respected him, and because he
made sense, but the anger remained, and I had no way of cooling it down
without feeling that I'd let Mum and Ashley down.  As I pondered his words,
I could feel myself calming down; one day, the people here would yank that
complacent bastard out of his smug little hideout and stretch his neck, and
we'd get, if not justice, then at least payback.  Then, we could walk away
secure in the knowledge that he was paying for everything he'd done,
everything he'd set in motion, and all the hurt he'd caused the innocent.
   David watched me calming down and accepting that this was how it would
have to be, then grinned, and patted me on the shoulder.
   "Good man, that's the stuff.  Don't worry, Nick, just have faith in the
system, he will fall, believe me!"
   I had to grin at his optimism, and clambered out of the car with him,
wondering why we'd come back here, so I asked him.  David just grinned at
me and told me to follow him.  He opened one of the four garage doors and
there was a silver Dodge Caliber.
   "This was Judy's car until she decided that she was going to save the
planet...with a Prius, pardon me while I barf...!  Anyway, I don't need it,
Judy doesn't want it, so I was wondering if you'd maybe like to borrow it
until you can get your own car, or make me an offer for this one.  You're
going to need a car to for work, and this is just gathering dust, so..."
   I was speechless.  I tried to thank him but he just waved it off.
   "You need it; I don't, so it's yours for as long as you need it!  You
may need to use the battery-charger over there; the car's been sitting for
several months so the battery's probably dead."
   We puttered around with it until we got it started using the jump-box
David had.  Once it started we let it run for a few minutes, then turned it
off and I hooked-up the battery-charger, just to make sure.  While we
waited, I thought I'd do a little digging of my own.
   "So, David, where are you taking my Mum this weekend?" I grinned,
watching him blush again.
   "I was thinking of a nice Italian place I know on Colonie, I know Julia
likes Italian," was his response.  I looked quizzically at him.
   "You really like her, don't you?" I asked and he grinned ruefully.
   "That obvious, huh?" and I grinned happily, glad to have something to
take my mind off our troubles.
   He continued.
   "She's different to most of the women I meet.  The dates I've been on
recently, well, perhaps not all that recently, were all with women who were
either gold-diggers or opportunists looking for a doctor for a husband. 
Judy used to spot them and launch into them, and I came to trust her
instincts, so I kind of fell out of the habit of dating.  Your mother, now,
she's different; for one thing Judy likes and trusts her, and she's self
reliant; she's not looking for a free ride.  I know she's had a hard life
over the last few years, and I think she deserves a little pampering.  Judy
filled me in on what it's been like for her, and yet she's kept her head
up, and made a life when everything fell apart, and I find her wholly
admirable, and beautiful, of course.  So, to answer your question, yeah, I
really like her, and I hope she likes me too, because I plan on seeing a
lot more of her, with your permission of course!"
   I grinned again.  "She's over 21, David, and I've only been back in her
life a few days; you really don't need my permission, but for what it's
worth, I approve, and I feel sure Ashley will too; my mum needs a good
bloke, hopefully that'll be you!"
   We chatted some more as we walked back to the garage, where I unplugged
the charger and tried turning the engine over.  It started immediately, and
I grinned over at David.
   "Are you absolutely sure about this?" and he nodded back.
   "Go ahead, she's all yours for as long as you need her, my pleasure,
Nick, I'm just glad I can help!  Oh, and almost forgot; don't worry about
tags and insurance, she's fully covered and you'll be covered to drive it.
If you decide later on you want to buy her, we'll worry about that stuff
later."
   I jumped in and waved at him as I headed home; I had a car, I had a job,
and I had a beautiful girl waiting for me at home; my life was coming
together, and things were changing for the better for my family, except for
just one detail; the knowledge of who had raped Ashley, and why, still
sizzled in the pit of my stomach.  I knew it wasn't New Year's, but I made
a resolution; I would do all I could to make those people pay for what
they'd done to my Ashley, but I'd keep out of it until the time was right,
then anything I could do, I would do.  Punishment was due to somebody, and
I promised myself I'd be there to see it handed out.
   ++++
   I pulled into our driveway and parked behind Mum's car, bursting to give
her my good news.  As I came in, the first person I saw was Ashley, her
smile lighting up the room as she saw the expression on my face.
   "How did it go, Nick?" she asked, and I couldn't help grinning.
   "I start a week Monday!  I've got a job!"
   Ashley squealed and jumped on me, and Mum came out of the kitchen to see
what all the noise was about.
   "Mum, I got the job, I start a week Monday!" I exulted, making sure I
kept all trace of what had happened earlier out of my voice.  "And I've got
a car, come see!"
   Mum and Ashley came outside with me, Mum astonished at the car, and
Ashley looking curiously at it.  I explained the deal with David and the
car; Ashley looked at me oddly as I explained, but said nothing.  After
we'd had dinner, I asked her if she'd like to go for a drive so I could
show her off.
   Ashley looked at me with a big, artless grin on her face.
   "So tell me, brother of mine, who are you going to show off; me or the
car?" she asked almost innocently, and that earned her a pinch on the bum
that made her jump and giggle as I shooed her out the door.
   "Perhaps we need to visit a 'quiet place' again, Nick!" she murmured in
my ear, and I smiled to myself as I picked-up on what she was saying.
   We took a long meandering route this time; I guessed she was taking me
to one of her more rural hidey-holes.  We drove a fair way out of town,
eventually skirting a large lake and following a path through the forest to
park in among a stand of broad-leafed hardwood trees; maple, I guessed,
although I'm no botanist.
   I admired the view; there was a lot to admire, wild-looking woodland and
forest alive with bird sounds and the sound of the wind soughing in the
trees, and the occasional glimpse of the dark water of the reservoir just
visible through the trees.
   "Ashley, where are we?" I asked, and she hooked her arm in mine.
   "That's the Tomahannock Reservoir down there, Vermont State line's over
that way, and Massachusetts is over there.  Daddy used to bring us out here
and detour over to the Berlin State Forest because he used to say you can
see three states from there.  I never saw it, though; one clump of trees
and poison ivy looks pretty much like another!"
   I leaned back against the car, holding her and enjoying the warmth and
smell of her, a delicious light flowery scent with undertones of vanilla;
she smelled delicious.  She leaned against me, her head on my chest and her
arms around my waist, enjoying the silence together.
   After a while she began drumming distractedly on the small of my back, a
light tapping that I noticed she did when she was thinking, a rhythm that
seemed to focus her concentration.
   "Nicky," she asked, hesitantly, "If I ask you something, will you be
completely honest with me?"
   I nuzzled her, enjoying the feel of her hair against my lips.  "Of
course, Princess, always, you know that!  Just ask away."
   "Nicky, when you came in earlier, when you saw me you looked like a deer
in the headlights; why?  All afternoon Mom's been all sweetness and light
and all is good with the world.  I thought at first she was just happy
about having a date for Friday, but then I realised she was acting exactly
the way she used to be when she'd come back from the hospital and I'd ask
her about daddy, and she'd say he was fine, when we both knew it was all
going badly."
   She paused, looking back up at me with her clear, frank gaze.
   "Then there's you, acting happy-clappy and peppy, not your normal self
with your little jokes and puns and that goofy grin of yours, and now Dr.
Nixon suddenly gives you Judy's car.  Tell me something OK?  Why?  What the
fuck is going on?  And don't even think about lying to me, I can read you
like a book, big brother!"
   Shit.
   I tried to squirm my way out of it.  "It's nothing, babe, I'm really
happy I got a job so quickly, and mum's just happy for me too...!" I
trailed off as she slowly shook her head.
   "Nick Davis, right now I can see a great big 'I Am Lying' sign flashing
on and off over your head.  What am I missing here?  Talk, English-boy, or
sleep on the porch, and I mean it!"
   I was busted, and she was right, I couldn't lie to her, or to anyone,
come to that; I just wasn't set-up that way.
   I sighed and wrapped my arm even tighter around her, cuddling her close
to me.
   "Look baby-girl, it's about ...what...happened to you."
   Ashley looked up at me.  "I was raped, Nicky, say it, it's OK, it
doesn't have any power over me anymore; you can mention it, you know!"
   That was encouraging.
   "Baby, about the ...rape, we had a letter today, from England,
from...Barbara.  She sent it Friday, the day..."
   "...the day she died, Oh Nicky, I'm so sorry!" finished Ashley, her hand
suddenly cool and reassuring on my cheek.  I cleared my throat and
continued.
   "In the letter she gave details, lots of details, about what happened to
you.  I'm so sorry, I wish I didn't know ..."
   Ashley looked worried.
   "What Nick, what is it?  Tell me!"
   I stared at the ground as I began to speak, unable to look her in the
face.
   "Baby, what happened to you, it was planned, it wasn't some random
lowlife, it wasn't an opportunist crime; someone was sent to do that...by
my father..."
   Her eyes were two saucers, shock and outrage growing in them.  I could
feel her tensing and drawing away from me, and I was already regretting my
honesty, but it was too late to backtrack now.
   "You knew this...and you yet still brought me out here?  Why, why would
you keep something like that from me?"
   I swallowed.
   "Baby girl, there's more, oh God it gets worse...!"
   She looked at me big-eyed and fearful.  "Worse, what do you mean, how
much worse...?"
   I avoided her eyes.  "When that...creature...did what he did to you, it
wasn't you he was waiting for; you just happened to walk in at the wrong
time...!"
   Her eyes narrowed, then widened in horror.  "You mean...!" she gasped,
her hands flying up to her mouth.
   I nodded miserably.
   "He was waiting for mum, that's what it was about; my father, that sick,
twisted rat-bastard set it up, we saw the emails, Barbara sent them all;
he's fucking insane!  This was his way of punishing mum for leaving him! 
Remember I told you he was vicious and vindictive?  Well now we know just
how far gone he really is.  Barbara said he'd never let her go, I should
have listened to what she was telling me...
   He bided his time, and then he decided to set this in motion, for
reasons that only make sense to him, and you got caught in the middle; I'm
so sorry, baby, I wish I could make it all un-happen..."
   Ashley's mouth was an 'O' of shock, horror rising in her eyes as she
realised that she'd been caught in a trap set for our mother, and had paid
for it by being raped in her place.  I tried to hug her to me, but she
pulled away from me, shaking me off and backing away.
   "Don't...touch me!"" she flared, looking at me with something akin to
hatred in her eyes.  "You're his son, how do I know I'm not hooking up with
the son of fucking Frankenstein?  For all I know you're as bad as that
fucking maniac, so keep the fuck away from me!"
   The hurt roared through me as she said that, and she knew that because
she resolutely turned away from me, her arms clamped tight around herself
as she sank to her knees.  My eyes blurred as I realised I'd blown it with
her, I'd tried to protect her and instead I'd shown her how to hate me.
   Her shoulders were shaking as she sobbed silently, and all I wanted to
do was hold her and comfort her, but I was the son of Satan right now, and
she didn't want to hear anything from me.  I tried, anyway, though...
   "Ashley, please..."
   She stood up, turned, and glared at me, her face working, to stalk up to
me and push me aside.
   "Get out of my way!" she gritted, so I did, allowing her to climb back
in the car.  She slammed the door and I heard the locks go on as she leaned
on the wheel.  With one last hate-filled glare at me she started the engine
and skidded away, spraying me with sour-smelling leaf-mould and leaving me
standing there, alone, and pretty much lost in the woods somewhere around
the reservoir.  I had a sort of clue as to which way we'd come, so I
started walking, but I didn't know how far I'd get; darkness was falling, I
had no money, my wallet with my ID was in my jacket, and my jacket was in
the car, and I hadn't seen any houses or other cars the whole time we'd
been here; also, and just to make it easier, it was the dark of the moon,
so I'd have nothing to give me any light once full dark set in.
   After slipping and stumbling for two hours (according to the trusty
'Transformers' watch Barbara gave me when I was nine), I was pretty much
completely lost.  As night fell the forest had become first a deep gloomy
wall, and then a deeper velvety blackness under the tree canopy, and
oppressively silent, except for my yelps as I stepped in things, tripped
over things, or walked into things.  One of those things' I walked into
really hurt, and I did get some light then, big stars that bloomed and
faded in front of my eyes as I smelled and tasted brass, and I could feel a
sticky wetness seeping down my face and into my eye.  Blood, I assumed, but
I couldn't tell, as I couldn't see my hand in front of my face by now.
   Eventually I came onto a cinder track, actually I tripped over something
and landed on the track, which is how I knew it was there, more a country
lane than anything, and where it led was anybody's guess; I was so
completely turned around in the dark that I could have been walking to
Canada for all I knew.  I mentally flipped a coin, and trudged in the
direction indicated, again in complete silence.  The cloud had been hazy
and low earlier in the evening, and now it felt like I was walking in an
anechoic chamber where the only sound was that of my breathing.  I had
never seen a night so black, or so silent, and if I had been of that turn
of mind, I would have been freaked by it.  At least I was going somewhere,
though, even if I had no clue where.  I walked along that track for over
two hours, seeing no cars or signs of human habitation and by now I would
have welcomed anything to break-up the pitch blackness, a house, a
gingerbread cottage, three bears, anything.  Scenes from 'Deliverance' were
beginning to play out in my head when I heard a car in the distance and saw
headlights splashing the trees when I looked back over my shoulder.
   I stepped onto the verge, not wanting to be run down by whoever was
gunning that car along this deserted track at this time of night; they
wouldn't be expecting me to be walking along the middle of it at dead of
night.  They probably wouldn't even see me until it was too late.  So, with
a vague notion of flagging them down, perhaps begging a ride, or even just
getting some directions, I waited on the verge, waving my shirt as it was
light coloured, something to catch in a headlight.
   I tried not to look at the headlights as the car approached.  After so
long in the dark the glare was painfully bright, so my eyes were slitted as
I waited for the approaching car, not really knowing whether whoever was
driving would stop for a battered looking stranger with no shirt in the
middle of the night.  The car slid to a halt and the door opened.
   "NICKY!!" screamed Ashley, running at me full tilt and slamming into me,
almost knocking me over.
   "Nicky, I'm so sorry, I left you alone out here, oh God, you could have
been killed, I went back and you were gone and I couldn't find you and I've
been driving for hours looking for you, I left you all alone, Oh Nicky
please, I'm sorry, you could have died out here, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she
gabbled, her arms locked around my neck.  I was just so glad to see her,
and apparently she didn't hate me anymore, so no harm, no foul as far as I
was concerned.
   Ashley tugged me back to the car, and ran her gentle fingers over the
nice big lump over my right eye.  Now that I had light, I realised I could
barely see out of that eye.  She pulled down the vanity mirror so I could
see the damage for myself; a three-inch gash ran across above my eyebrow,
and the blood had caked the side of my face and limned my eye.  She ran
light, trembling fingers across my face, tears rolling down her cheeks as
she looked at the cut, and the blood smeared across my face and forearms
where I'd been using them to wipe the blood out of my eyes.
   "Look at this Nicky, oh God, look at this, it's my fault, I left you out
here alone, you didn't do anything and I just left you here, supposing
you'd been killed...!"
   I tried to laugh it off by telling her it was my fault for letting a
tree bite me, but she wasn't having it.
   "Hikers go missing up here all the time, there's sink-holes, dead-falls,
or you could have fallen in one of the ponds or marshes, they're
everywhere, or fallen in a ravine, and I left you here, in the dark, oh
God, you could have been killed, I just ran off and left you out here
alone, oh God...!"
   I held her close while she trembled and cried, and I have to say,
holding her again was the best feeling in the world, after the way she left
earlier.
   When she'd calmed down, she told me we had to find the Ranger Station. I
asked her why, and got an answer that surprised me.
   "To let them know you're safe; the Park Rangers, State Troopers, Doctor
Nixon, Judy, Mom, they're all out looking for you; this is Pittstown State
Forest and we're miles from where I dumped you; you were heading toward
Vermont, but if you'd stayed in the forest we might never have found you
again, and it would have been my fault...!"
   She started crying again, and I held her some more, calming her, and
letting her know it was alright.  Eventually she started telling me what
had happened after she left me.
   After she'd gone a few miles she'd calmed down, and turned round and
come back, but I was gone.  Not knowing what to do, she'd gone straight to
Judy, and told her the whole story.  Judy had flipped when she heard Ashley
had left me alone in the forest at night, and went and got her dad, who'd
driven up to the Ranger Station and told them I was lost somewhere in
Pittstown Forest.
   Meanwhile, Judy and Ashley had gone to get Mum, and then the four of
them had fanned out along the roads leading away from where Ashley had left
me.  Ashley got the road I was on by sheer luck.  While she was talking,
she took a packet of Kleenex from the glove box and wetted one from a
bottle of water she found in there, and started cleaning that cut over my
eye as well as cleaning off some of the blood from my face, arms and hands.
When she cleaned the cut, that's when I discovered how much pain I could
take; if she hadn't been sitting astride me I'd have launched right through
the moon roof...
   Once she'd cleaned the worst of it away, she made me put my shirt back
on, and she put the car in gear, turning around to head back the way she
came.  We eventually got back to blacktop near some houses, and she pulled
over and pulled out Judy's spare cell phone, telling me she was calling
Judy.
   Ashley had a quick conversation with Judy, just telling her I was safe,
and that I was going to need her father, no I wasn't badly hurt, just a
little dinged-up, as she put it.
   We rendezvoused at Judy's home; mum's car was there, and a State Police
cruiser, with David outside talking with the two troopers, before waving me
in and following us.  Mum jumped up when I walked in and her eyes filled
when she saw my face, as did Judy's.
   "Poor Nicky, you keep getting hurt!" she whispered, and again I tried to
laugh it off.
   "Mum, I'm OK, really, a tree jumped out at me, but I fought it off,
honest!" and I saw a quick smile flit across her face.  David came in then
and told me sit so he could examine my forehead.  When I complied, he
pulled on some examination gloves and gently prodded the cut, squeezing the
lips together to check the extent of the swelling, and opened a bottle of
some brown pungent stuff.
   "This may sting a little, try and not cry, kick or bite please!"
   He picked up a long curved hemostat and wrapped a length of cotton wool
around the jaws, poured the liquid on it, then swabbed the cut.  The pain
was incredible, like being painted with acid, and I had to use all my
willpower not to jerk away.
   "I thought you said it would only sting a little?" I asked.
   He grinned.  "Yeah, well, I lied, but would you have sat still if I said
'this is going to hurt sooo bad, now just sit there please?  I think not.
Now sit still and shut up!"
   When he'd finished swabbing it, he picked up a thing that looked like
the satanic offspring of a nail-gun and a desk stapler and grinned at me. I
shrank back.
   "What is that thing?" I asked, and he grinned even wider.
   "It's a surgical stapler, Nick, and it does what it says; it staples. 
Now look over there and keep still!"
   "Is it going to hurt?" I asked, and his answering grin was evil, I
thought; he was definitely enjoying himself just a little too much!
   "Yes, it is going to hurt, I think I can almost guarantee that!  I can
give you a local, but to be honest, this is will be over in a minute; if I
give you a local it's going to feel like your eye wants to fall out of its
socket for the next two hours; it won't, it'll just feel like it.  It's
your choice, quick and painful, or long, drawn-out and weird, which is it
going to be?  Or I can hand-suture, without a local, in which case it's
going to feel like someone's gnawing your eyebrow off.  Decision time,
Nick!"
   I had to grin.  "I'll have the quick and painful, when you put it like
that, how can I refuse?"
   He put three titanium staples in and painted the wound again, dried it
off, and sprayed a clear dressing over it.
   "All done, the staples will have to stay in at least a week, come see me
and I'll remove them for you if they're ready to come out."
   Ashley hugged me, all her anger of earlier forgotten, diluted, I
suspect, by a large amount of guilt, but I wasn't going there; I'd come too
close to losing her to chance screwing it up again.
   "I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to freak you out, honest!" I
whispered in her ear, and the answering nibble of my earlobe was what I was
waiting for, her way of telling me it was over.  Judy, however, seemed to
have something on her mind.
   "Ashley, may I speak with you, alone, now!" she gritted, and Ashley let
go of me, looking sheepishly at Judy as she trailed after her into the
dining room.  Mum gently ran her fingers over the swollen lump over my eye.
   "Every time I see you, you look more banged-up and injured.  This has to
stop, Nicky!" she smiled, and I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.
   "Whatever you say, Mum!" I grinned, and tweaked her nose lightly, making
her gasp as the memory of my doing that so long ago suddenly rose up for
both of us.  Lately, more and more memories were surfacing, images of Mum
when she was much younger, with longer hair, and blurry memories of a man,
who I assumed must have been James.  Something occurred to me, and I
thought I'd ask her while we were alone.
   "Mum, I remember doing this," and my hands formed into a series of
shapes and gestures.  "Why do I remember that, what does it mean?"
   Mum smiled sadly.
   "James had a hearing-impaired older sister, Ashley, he was teaching you
to hand-sign for her, what you were doing there was 'Hello Ashley'.  She
died when my Ashley was two.  You had quite a vocabulary, James used to
talk to you like that, before Brian..."
   We were interrupted by raised voices coming from the dining room,
Judy's, for the most part.
   "....and so you just drove off and left him there?  He's only been here
a few days, what was he supposed to do, follow a trail of breadcrumbs? 
Wait for Goldilocks?  Hope the seven fucking dwarves found him?  Of course
he went wandering; it was night, and he was alone in the dark, and he was
lost.  He could have died out there, but you never thought of that, you got
in a snit and you just fucked-off!  I thought you loved him!"
   A lower voice, Ashley's, said something indistinct, and Judy's cut her
off.
   "Whatever his lunatic father did, it wasn't Nicky; didn't you see his
back?  Don't you remember what brought him here?  And with all that, you
still just fucking abandoned him in the forest, with no idea where he was
and no way of getting home!  Who knows what the fuck is roaming around in
those woods, supposing he'd startled a bear with cubs?  How long would he
have survived?  Did you even think of that?  You might as well have just
backed-over him a few times and finished him off; it would have been
fucking kinder!!"
   I thought I'd better step in there; this looked like it was getting out
of hand, but mum put a hand on my harm.
   "Wait, Nicky..." as more muttered comments came through the door.
   There came the sound of a slap, and mum nodded at me.
   "OK Nicky, now you can go break it up!"
   As I reached for the double doors into the dining room, they opened, and
Ashley came out, her head down and one hand on her face, followed by Judy,
red-faced, tears on her cheeks, but her eyes still alight with anger.  I
took Ashley in my arms and gently tilted her chin up; on her left cheek,
was a clear hand-print.  Judy looked at me, and I held out my hand to her,
and she hugged me too, burrowing her head into me.
   "We were so worried about you, Nicky, that place is a fucking death-trap
at night!" she muttered into my chest, her voice muffled by my shirt.
   I smiled; I hadn't realised I'd made such an impression on her, but it
was gratifying to know that I'd made a friend already.  As she hugged me
Ashley kept her face buried in my shoulder, and she was crying again, which
I really didn't want; it had all turned out OK, so no harm done (other than
a world-class scar I was going to tell my kids I got when I fought a bear;
hey, if you're going to lie, make it a good 'un...)
   As the two girls hugged me, Ashley's hand came up and hugged Judy as
well, gently stroking her shaggy mop-cut hair as she included her in her
hug, so I guessed that particular argument was over as well.
   Just then David came out of the kitchen with a large tray.
   "Anybody for a late supper?  We have Monterey Jack, Ardennes P té, wheat
crackers, some English Stilton that you really should try, Jewish Rye bread
and black olives; dig in or Judy'll eat most of it!"
   Mum tried to refuse, saying we'd already put him out enough, but David
wouldn't take no for an answer, once again taking the opportunity to spend
some time with her; I nudged the girls and glanced over at our respective
parents, noting again how good they looked together as they ate and talked,
a natural couple if I'd ever seen one.
   At last mum decided we really should leave, it was very late, and we'd
had a real roller-coaster of a day, so time to rest.  Judy and Ashley
kissed and made up; the mark on Ashley's face was already fading, and Judy
apologised for slapping Ashley, but mum surprised us all.
   "There's no need to apologise, Judy, you saved me the trouble! 
Goodnight, dear!"
   Ashley drove me home; my right eye was almost swollen shut now, so
driving at night was a little hazardous with almost no depth perception.
   When we got in I got a good look at myself.  Boy was I an ugly sight; my
hair was matted with dried blood, my shirt was stiff and crusted with dried
blood, and my face and forehead were streaked with dried blood, while what
looked like a bulging third eye was trying to erupt above my eye.  Mum
stood behind me and studied me.
   "Get a shower, Nicky, just be careful of that dressing; much as it
weird's me out to say it, you should ask Ashley to help you, she's a lot
gentler than you are!"
   I grinned at that and at mum's expression, and she smiled back, so I
relaxed.  Ashley came out of our room in time to hear mum suggest I ask
her, and of course she said yes.  Mum looked coolly at her and walked away,
leaving her looking guilty and sad.
   "Don't worry; she'll be fine in the morning!"I grinned, and pulled her
close for a quick fondle and grope.  She smiled as she held herself against
me, her nearness enough to trigger a particular male response, and her eyes
widened as she grinned, nipping my ear.
   "Are you ever not horny, Nicky?" she breathed in my ear, reaching down
to tweak the end of my cock.  "Wash first, you're covered in blood, you
look like Hannibal the Cannibal!"
   I followed her into the bathroom and stripped off, Ashley pursing her
lips at the myriad small cuts and bruises I'd collected during my walk in
the forest.  She had me squat down and lean back against the wall as she
gently washed the dried blood out of my hair, the sight of the diluted
blood running in streams down my body making me feel distinctly nauseous,
then she washed the dried blood off my face, finally washing, and dabbing
dry, all the little cuts, nicks and grazes.
   She then moved to my back, carefully dabbed and dried me, and declared
me fit to be seen in public again.  She was of course naked in the shower
with me, and I was sorely tempted to take a run at her again, maybe try for
a reprise of our last shower escapade, but sanity prevailed when she
slapped my hand away and reminded me that mum was still up and around, and
she probably wouldn't appreciate the two of us hooting like howler monkeys
two doors away from her bedroom; she'd put us in the end-bedroom for a
reason...
   Ashley toweled me off and left me to do the bits I could reach while she
wrapped a towel around herself and disappeared into our room, where I soon
heard the sound of a dryer.  Once I was as dry as I felt comfortable with,
I made haste to join her.  She was wearing a long t-shirt and panties, her
standard sleeping attire; not for long, if I had anything to say about it!
She stood up to hug me again, whispering apologies again, apologies I
brushed away; I wasn't interested in hearing her say sorry, only in having
her hold me again as though this evening had never happened.
   I held her close, needing her presence and contact with her after the
trauma of the day, and Ashley responded happily to me, holding me close as
my hands roamed over her back and around her waist.  I leaned down to kiss
her, and she kissed me back hungrily, her hands in turn gently gliding over
me, carefully avoiding my back.
   My hands just naturally slipped down to cup her lovely firm bum cheeks
as we kissed, and she ground against my rapidly hardening cock, making
approving noises as she felt it grow against her.  I slid my hands into her
panties, sliding them down a little so I could hold and squeeze those firm
peach buttocks of hers, holding and gently pulling them apart as we kissed
more and more passionately.  We moved to the bed, and lay down together
without once breaking our kiss until I reached down to lift the hem of her
shirt and pull it up, Ashley sliding her panties off and kicking them away.
   Once I had her naked, I could nibble, bite, kiss, and lick her all I
wanted.  I kissed her in a line down from her chin, along her neck and
between her breasts (not forgetting a quick nibble and suck of her nipples)
before continuing down to swirl my tongue in her navel, drawing a quick
breath and a giggle from her before kissing and lightly licking my way to
her bald slit.
   As soon as my tongue brushed her slit, she sighed and quivered, opening
her legs slightly to allow me better access.  I moved between her thighs
and dipped down to lightly lick and brush my flattened tongue against her
shaven, dark pink folds of soft flesh.  As I licked I could feel those
folds start to swell, her scent becoming richer and stronger as her arousal
rose.
   She smelled and tasted divine; if I could have, I would have spent the
rest of my life licking and tasting her while I inhaled her warm, heady,
exciting, scent.  Ashley wriggled and murmured as I flicked my tongue along
her damp slit, pointing my tongue into her pink little rosebud, making her
gasp and wriggle more, then flattening it and licking in long slow strokes
to the hood covering her clitoris, lapping insistently at her tender flesh.
   I parted the folds of her wet gash, poking my tongue inside her, making
her giggle and sigh as her legs opened even further.  As I brushed the hood
of her clit, I could feel the hard little bean beneath sliding out into the
open, slick and buttery with her juices, the scent, and taste of her
inflaming and drawing me in.
   As I lapped and probed her, her hand reached for and found my straining
cock, and began rhythmically squeezing and sliding up as I worked at her
pussy.  As I licked she began to gasp, her head moving from side to side as
I licked and probed her inner recesses, and when I pulled her clitoris
between my lips and sucked, she went wild.
   "OH YES!  Nick, yesss, like that, oh God, OHHH!!  Ohhh!  Jeezus, yess,
like that, oh fuck, oh fuck, OHH FUCK YESSS!" she screamed, her thighs
clamping around my head as her hands twined in my hair.  The blood
thundered in my ears as her thighs tensed, and as I sucked and rubbed her
clit with my tongue, she came like a runaway freight train, her juices
squirting into my mouth and face as she screamed in ecstasy, thrusting and
hunching her pussy against my probing tongue as her hands and thighs held
me fast against her.
   At last her straining thighs relaxed, releasing me as she slumped down,
her face and neck flushed from the recent storm, a sweet smile of utter
fulfillment on her lips, her eyes closed in post-coital languor.  I moved
up next to her, stopping to dip my tongue in her navel again, making her
giggle softly.
   "What about you, baby?" she inquired softly, her hand taking hold of me
and slowly pumping as she grinned at me.
   I knelt up, my aching erection pointing at her, and she leaned up,
bending down to kiss and then slowly lick the tip of my bursting cock.
   "Mmm, you taste nice, I could get to like this!" she grinned, looking up
at me before dipping down again to slide her lips over the end and begin
slowly sucking me.
   I leaned back, my eyes half-closed the; the first time she'd done this,
it was exquisite, what she was doing now was almost unbearably exciting. 
Her mouth was a paradise of suctioning wet heat enfolding my cock as her
tongue rubbed and flicked around and behind the head, and into the slit of
my straining cock, making me jump as she gently plated the sensitive
tissue. At the same time she rhythmically squeezed and pumped the shaft of
my penis with one hand, and fondled my scrotum with the other, gently
squeezing it in time with her pumping.
   I was in heaven; whoever she'd learned this from had taught her well, so
well in fact that I could already feel my scrotum tightening as the urge to
ejaculate grew ever stronger, and the muscles at the juncture of my thighs
began to tighten, together with my abs, signalling that I was close.
   "Uh, Ashley...I'm going to...Ashley!" I tried to warn her, but she just
looked up at me and smiled, sucking and licking even harder, and I lost it.
   I leaned back as bolt after bolt of spunk pulsed out of me, splashing
into her mouth, and she clamped her lips around me, sucking and swallowing
every jet of spunk as it sprayed into her mouth.  I must have shot seven or
eight strong jets into her mouth, filling it with my spunk, and she
swallowed every last one, even swirling her tongue around the head of my
penis after I'd finished ejaculating and only a weak trickle of spunk
bubbled from my still hard cock.
   Ashley continued to suck until all the sperm was cleaned from my cock
head, then she released me with a final kiss to the tip, and a sly grin.
   "Looks like someone's still excited," she husked, "I wonder what he
should do with that thing?"
   With that she lay back and winked at me.  My cock twitched and suddenly
felt almost painfully solid as I realised what I wanted to do.  Ashley held
out her hands to me, and I slid up next to her, holding her as I kissed
her, tasting myself as we kissed.  She took hold of me and slowly pumped
and squeezed, the sensation almost tipping me over the edge again.
   "Waiting, Nicky!" she grinned, and I took the hint, sliding between her
legs and leaning up to kiss and lick her nipples, sucking and nibbling them
as my hands slid under her, to cup and hold her delightful derriere.
   As I moved forward, Ashley took hold of my cock and rubbed the tip over
her wet and swollen pussy lips, teasing us both, before lifting her pelvis
up as I slid into her.  She felt like warm velvet against the head of my
overheated cock, and her breath hissed out as I slid all the way in,
burying myself in her wet, hot depths as I stretched her open again.
   Almost immediately she began moving against me, lifting her hips to
bring her clit into contact with the wiry mat of hair at the base of my
cock, pleasuring herself against me as I pumped into her.  I slid my
fingers around her cheeks to hold her bum more securely, pulling the cheeks
apart as I poled into her, my finger sliding into her tight little anus in
time to my thrusts.
   "Oh God yes, Nicky, like that, yesss!" she muttered as I increased my
tempo, hammering into her as she humped and pumped against me.  I slid
another finger into her tight hole and pumped her as I rammed my cock into
her.
   "Ooooohhhhh Goooddd!" she moaned as I thrust into her, "Like that, baby,
yess, yesss, God, yesss!!" she panted, and I responded by jamming myself
into her as fast as I could, pistoning my aching cock into her as both of
us reached for release.
   She came with a loud whistling groan, her nails digging painfully into
my arms as her cunt walls squeezed me as though they would force me out of
her.  I couldn't resist the sensation, and I came explosively, pumping long
ropes of spunk deep into the recesses of her velvety cunt, mating with her,
filling her with endless jets of my sperm, all my love for her concentrated
in this one act as we joined together in mutual release.
   At last, I finished spurting; I had nothing more to give her, and my
rigid cock softened as we kissed and touched and murmured in the afterglow
of our lovemaking.  I rolled away from her, to lie on my back next to her,
my arm around her to hold her, maintaining that connection that we renewed
every time we made love.
   Ashley was the same, her hand lying gently on my chest, feeling my
heartbeat slow down and normalise.  She pulled herself closer, and my arm
curled around her to hold her close against me.  I looked deep into her
dove-grey eyes, and saw only love and trust reflected back at me, and I
knew, if I had looked the world over, I wouldn't have found another girl as
perfect as this one right here in the crook of my arm.  We lay in silence,
no words needed just yet, both of us enjoying the pre-dawn cool after the
heat and sweat of our sexual encounter.
   I woke with a start, bright sunshine flooding the room and no sign of
Ashley.  I smelled bacon, so I slid into my jeans and padded out of the
room to track it down.  Ashley was in the kitchen, dressed in just an apron
as she grilled bacon, and brewed coffee, the two things on this planet
guaranteed to make me rise from the dead (apart from Ashley, of course; for
her, I'd dig my way out my grave with my teeth...)
   She turned, smiling like sunshine as I came into the kitchen, and I
almost had to pinch myself to believe that this was my girl; God, she was
hot!
   "Good afternoon, Rip van Winkle," she grinned, "I thought you were going
to sleep all day!  It's almost midday, mom's gone to work, and I don't have
any classes today, so you got me all to yourself; just think what fun we'll
have -- after we have a little talk, about yesterday, and some
other...stuff.  Now eat up!" So saying, she passed me a plate of bacon,
eggs and toast, the breakfast holy trinity where I grew up; I had had
something else entirely in mind for breakfast, but bacon and eggs was good,
too...
   While I ate, Ashley checked my staples and got a bottle of antiseptic
and some cotton from the bathroom cabinet, then waited for me, watching,
and smiling impishly while I engulfed the food cooked so well by her fair
hand, which I told her made it taste ten times better.  She smiled at me
tenderly as she said "You are so full of shit your eyeballs are floating!
If you want some, ask, but don't try and lie your way into my pants, you're
not very good at it...the lying, bit, I mean; everything else is a big Ten,
OK!"
   I love that girl's sense of humour!
   As I took my plate and cutlery over to the sink and started to wash up,
she came over and stood behind me, dabbing something cold that stung on the
dozens of little scratches and grazes I'd picked up from my night communing
with nature as well as the bumper collection I'd got as a going-away
present from my dog- cock father.
   Where it hadn't hurt that much before, by the time she'd finished it
would be fair to say I'd been better off not knowing all those little cuts
were there; that stuff stung like buggery, and my back and shoulders were
now on fire, making me twitch involuntarily every time she touched a raw
spot.
   Ashley finally grabbed my ear and hauled me down to her level.
   "Nick, if you don't stand still I'm gonna rub alcohol on your balls;
that'll really give you something to twitch about, now stay still!  Jeez,
you're like a three-year old girl, quit squirming!"
   Once she'd finished torturing me (sorry, 'tending to my wounds'), she
pinched my arse and grinned.
   "OK He-Man, all done, grab a coffee; we have things to discuss...and
some apologies as well, so chop-chop!"
   I followed her into the living room, hypnotized by her spectacular arse
twitching as she walked, the fact that she was wearing nothing except a
brief apron playing trills and arpeggio's on my libido; I was sporting a
more than respectable hard-on within 10 paces, and I had to resort to
shuffling to avoid tangling my balls in the material of my suddenly too
tight jeans.
   Ashley looked back at me over her shoulder, and the combination of that
look, her smile, and the sudden extra bouncy twitch her cheeks developed
had me mentally stripping down and listing an Alfa Romeo SZ gearbox before
I went off like a Roman candle...
   By the time we reached the living room, I was in agony; whatever she had
in mind had better be quick, I had something of my own I wanted to get in
the open, and certain pressing matters I wanted to press against her!  She
led me to the couch and climbed onto it, tucking her legs under and
wrapping the apron demurely around herself.  I sat down, and waited for her
to start.
   "Nicky, about last night, I just wanted to tell you I was so wrong to
leave you alone like that.  Judy was right; you could have been killed, and
it didn't even occur to me, I just drove off in a rage.  I got a couple of
miles down the road and I realised what I'd done, and how wrong I was to
leave you stranded like that."
   "I came back for you, but you were gone, and I called out for you, I
screamed out for you, but you must have been out of earshot; I was so
scared at what I'd done, I thought you were lost, and it made me feel like
I was in free-fall, like stepping off a cliff, and I felt and scared, and
alone.  I guess I never really thought about how much you meant to me until
I thought I'd lost you; I was just happy to float along being in love with
you, without understanding what that actually meant, then when I thought
I'd lost you, all I wanted was you, nothing else, forever."
   "Judy warned me she'd make me pay for what I did, but nothing she could
do compares to what I felt when I found you gone.  I love you Nick Davis,
and I want you, forever, no games, no secrets, no holding back, just the
two of us.  You tried to shelter me yesterday, and I appreciate that, but
from now on, no more secrets.  There's nothing so bad, so god-awful that
you can't tell me, I know that now; yesterday grew me up, and I realized
the one good thing I have is the only thing I'll ever need."
   She dimpled at me and took my hand.
   "I know you asked me once already, but this year's a Leap Year, so right
now I'm exercising my prerogative as spinster of the parish; Nicky Davis,
the love of my life, will you marry me?"
   I gaped at her, then grabbed her hands and held them tightly.
   "Christ, yes, yes, a million times, yes!" I whispered in her ear, my
heart almost bursting with delight after almost losing her forever just a
few hours before
   She grinned up at me and leaned in to kiss me, one of those kisses that
completely wipes your mind and leaves you slack-jawed and drooling.
   "I'm never leaving you anywhere, ever again, I promise!" she laughed, a
clear, bell-like chiming that made me ache for her long legs and smooth
thighs just an arm's reach away under a flimsy apron, and my groin
tightened almost unbearably.
   There's only so much a mortal man can take, and I pulled her to me,
sliding her astride my lap as I squeezed her perfect cheeks, the feel of
those smooth, firm globes nearly tipping me over the edge.
   "No, Nick, down boy, down!" she giggled, "You haven't got time, Judy's
on her way over.  Your new boss called, he needs you to sign some
paperwork, Judy said she'll take you, so go get washed up, now!  Mom won't
be home until seven, so we'll have plenty of time to play when you get
back!"
   I was intrigued as to what I was going to sign, but Ashley just replied
that he didn't say.  I asked why her Judy had to take me, and she actually
blushed shamefacedly.
   "I'd like to take you, but...I'm grounded; at my age!  Can you believe
it?"
   I had to laugh, it was just too funny; Ashley looked indignant, but
eventually she started to see the funny side too.
   +++
   Judy was quiet and subdued as we drove into town, saying nothing, and
flicking the occasional glance at me, until at last the silence got to me.
   "Judy, pull over, please!" I asked her, and she did so without a word.
Once she'd parked-up, she sat with her hands on the wheel, looking straight
ahead.
   I broke the strained silence.
   "OK Judy, what's going on?  You haven't said a word since we set out,
you won't even look me in the eye, what's up?"
   She turned and looked at me, and there were tears in her eyes.
   "Nick, last night, I thought we'd lost you, and it scared me; Ashley's
my best friend; she's like my sister, and I thought she'd abandoned you,
and that made me feel sick and really fucking angry, I thought I'd lost you
as well!"
   She wiped her eyes with the heels of her hands, and stared at me with an
almost aggressive expression.
   I was getting a funny feeling about this conversation; why was Judy so
cut-up over Ashley and I falling out, however briefly?
   I had to say something, just to break the thickening silence building up
in the car.
   "Jude, why would you feel like that about me...ah!"
   She grinned at me, a lopsided, 'at last he gets it' kind of grin.
   "Yeah Nick, that's right, God help me, and I know it's wrong, but I
think I'm in love with my best friend's guy!  And you know the real pisser
about that?  I know he'll only ever have eyes for her, but it still doesn't
change the way I feel.  If there was no Ashley I'd be all over you, but as
it is, I know I'll never have a chance with you, nor would I ever make a
move; I wouldn't ever hurt her like that; you're her happiness, not mine.
So there we are; now you know!"
   I tried to be as gentle as I could; I could see how much pain she was
in.
   "Judy, I..."I began, but she cut me off.
   "It's OK Nick, I know I can't have you, and I accept that.  But I had to
tell you, just once, just so I didn't explode, and now we can go on with
our lives.  Just do one thing for me?  Hug me, please, just once, let me
pretend for a few seconds that you're with me."
   I couldn't refuse such a gracious request, and I pulled her to me,
hugging her as warmly as I could, letting her have her fantasy,
heartbreaking as it must have been.
   One thing I knew for certain, though; despite my promise to Ashley, this
was one conversation I would keep secret and take to the grave; if Judy
ever felt like telling Ashley, well, that was her right; it was her secret.
I would never tell.
   After a while she patted my shoulder and let me go, sliding back into
her seat and swiping her forearm across her eyes.  When she looked back at
me, her pixie grin was back, then she looked over her shoulder and pulled
away from the kerb.
   By the time we reached our destination, she was almost her old self
again, making outrageous and sharply observed comments about every subject
we touched on as we chatted.
   While I filled-in various employment forms and applications, Judy
wandered around looking at the glamorous sports cars scattered around the
service bays.  I kept one eye on her as I filled-in forms in triplicate and
made various declarations; she was a pretty girl in a tiny skirt in a
workshop full of horny mechanics, so I felt a little extra vigilance was
called for.  Judy, however, seemed quite un-fazed by some of the remarks
made to her, and some of her retorts would have blistered paint.
   At one point I saw her leaning against a stunning black Lister Storm
that hadn't been there before, smiling, and chatting animatedly with the
young technician.  He couldn't seem to take his eyes of her, and she seemed
to be making a lot of eye contact, so maybe she'd made a conquest; I hoped
so.  I did love Judy, but only as my girl's best friend and I wished her
nothing but the best.
   When I was making ready to leave, Mark grinned as he nodded toward Judy.
   "When she was seven, she bit my hand so hard it drew blood.  I put her
over my knee and spanked her good!  She's quite something!  Are you and
she...?
   I grinned back.  "Oh no, Judy's my fiancée's best friend.  Ashley
couldn't bring me so Judy got the short straw."
   Mark smiled at me and held out his hand.
   "We're all caught up here, so I'll look forward to seeing you a week
from Monday!"
   As I left the office, I saw Judy write something on a piece of paper and
slip it into the young technician's pocket, and I grinned.  Apparently
she'd gotten over me...
   On the way back, certain things I'd been chewing over in my mind
solidified into a plan, so I asked Judy if there was a men's outfitter's
anywhere near.  She decided to take me to the one her father uses; I wanted
to buy some leather gloves, I thought I was going to need them.
   I bought a pair of tight black calfskin gloves, thin, and supple, what
they call 'Burglar's Gloves' in my part of the world.  I asked Judy the way
to Bobby Czyzyck's home, I had something to ask him, and I was determined
to get some answers.  Judy offered to drive me there, curious as to what I
wanted with that little weasel.
   When he answered the door, he went the colour of old yoghurt as the
blood drained from his face.  He tried to slam the door, but I had my foot
there, and it was easy to reach in there and yank him out.  He was nearly
gibbering with fear as I held him against the wall, my gloved fist around
his scrawny neck; good; just the place I wanted him to be.
   "Bobby," I said, in a friendly, even tone, "do you remember when I said
that if I showed up on your doorstep, it would be because you did something
to bring me there?  You've been a bad boy, Bobby, I know what you did to
Ashley Lowry, and now I'm going to take you for a little drive a long way
from anywhere, and I'm going to hurt you lots and lots.  Man-up Bobby, it's
time to pay!"
   The pathetic little maggot was nearly crying with fear, but I wasn't
finished with him just yet.  I cuffed him a couple of times to get his full
attention, although what I really felt like doing was chaining him to the
rear bumper and dragging him a few miles at 40mph.
   "I'm giving you a choice, Bobby; you can talk to the police, or you can
talk to me, in a forest clearing a long way from anyone who can hear you
scream.  Now what do you want to do; talk to me, or spill your pathetic
guts to the law?  You have until I count to five, then you're just a
distant memory.  One...!"
   No, I wasn't going to hurt him; I told you before, I'm a pacifist
motor-mac, not a mafia enforcer, but after reading those emails, I didn't
feel like asking him nicely for his cooperation.  What he did have was a
deep and abiding fear of me, and now it was time to build on that, turn the
screw a little more.  It was his good fortune that I was nothing like the
man my father was; if it had been him here, right now, Bobby would just be
a pile of anonymous body parts in a garbage sack; I was definitely the soft
option here...
   "Don't...please...don't...!" he stuttered, "I'll go with you!", which
was all I wanted to hear, because I damn sure didn't want to be charged
with kidnapping this disgusting little weevil.  I led him to the car and
shoved him in the back seat, then climbed in next to him, my hand holding
him tightly by the scruff of his neck in case he decided to try and bail
out of the car once we were on our way.
   Judy watched all this in silence until we were in the car, and then
turned to me.
   "OK Nicky, what's this about, and where are we taking this smelly
retard?"
   I gathered my thoughts, emphasising my points with a finger tap on his
scrawny neck each time, and he jumped like he'd been branded each time I
did it, all the proof I needed of his involvement in brutalising my girl.
   "You remember Ashley told you about the emails from England, about the
rape, and the plot my pig's prick of a father set in motion?  Well Judy
Nixon, I'd like to introduce you to Bobby Czyzyck, rapist and scumbag, and
soon to be convicted felon; he's going to confess, aren't you, Bobby?" I
grinned at him, and his eyes rolled up in their sockets as his fear of me
overwhelmed him.  "Remember, Bobby, if you don't confess, if you try and
run, I'll find you in whatever pit you lie low in, and I will drag you into
the daylight, and I will fucking chop you up with a chainsaw, are you
hearing me?"
   Oh I was enjoying playing the heavy!  Of the three fights I'd had in my
life, I'd lost two, and one of those was to a girl, although, in my defence
I was only six, and she was nine, and built like a brick shithouse...
   Here and now, I had no intention whatsoever of hurting the little
kerb-sniffer, but he didn't know that; all he knew was the scary psycho
who'd given him a slapping was back, angry, and out for blood, and he was
alone in a car with him and a girl who'd gladly watch him being fed to the
hogs.  Time to turn up the heat.
   "Actually, Judy, on reflection, I think our creepy little friend here
might try and wriggle out of our deal; there's no guarantee they'll believe
him, and he might try claiming he was coerced into confessing.  What do you
think?"
   Judy picked up on what I was doing right away, smart girl.
   "I think you're right, Nick, he could do a deal and never actually do
any time at all.  I think you'd get more justice if you just took him
somewhere in the deep woods, cut him a little to make him bleed, and tied
him to a tree so the bears and wolverines and weasels and other fucking
vermin can finish him off!"
   Bobby was bug-eyed with fright now; hell, so was I; Judy looked like the
Angel of Vengeance, and she looked at him like he was already dead.  Any
doubts he may have been harbouring about our sincerity dissipated as he
started blubbering and begging us not to hurt him, and pomising in exchange
for not hurting him that he'd tell everything.
   That was what I wanted to hear, so Judy got on the phone and called the
police, telling them that someone wanted to confess to a rape.  A detective
in the Special Victims Unit talked with Judy, and asked her to bring her
'friend' (as she described him) to Arch Street police station, where the
SVU was based.
   I took a moment to remind Bobby that I would be waiting for him if he
walked out of that police station under his own power, and that he could
run, but I'd be right behind him every day of his life until he dropped
dead or gave up.  I think I can safely say, with no fear of contradiction,
Bobby would happily have climbed into the tiger enclosure at London Zoo and
kicked one of them in the nuts rather than cross me right there and then.
   When we arrived at Arch Street, the SVU detective, a tall black woman
named Shauna asked Bobby if he understood why he was being questioned, and
did he want anybody to be with him, a lawyer, or his parents.  He looked
nervously at Judy and me, and shook his head, stating that he wanted to
talk about the rape of Ashley Lowry.
   We waited while Shauna and another SVU detective questioned Bobby in the
captain's office, then I saw him being beckoned upright, turned around, and
have his hands cuffed behind him while Shauna spoke to him; I'd seen enough
cop shows to realise he was being given Miranda, so the little snot was
under arrest.  Shauna stuck her head out and gestured for both of us to be
seated before opening the door and leading Bobby to a holding cell,
presumably until his lawyer arrived.
   Shauna came back to the desk we were waiting at and sat down, tapping
her keyboard.  Finally she looked up at me.
   "So tell me," she began, "why did Robert Czyzyck confess his part in the
Lowry case, and what exactly is your connection to both of them?"
   I explained my relationship with Ashley, and the story of how I'd come
to America, and the documents we'd received the previous day that we'd
passed to the FBI.  I gave her the name of the Agent I'd spoken to, and
suggested that perhaps she could get a more balanced and in-depth view from
him.  Shauna snorted.
   "The feds will share exactly as much as they feel like sharing, when
they feel like sharing it, and if this case involves foreign nationals on
their home soil, well, it's not our jurisdiction and they'll tell us to
keep our noses out of it.  What I can do is put in a request for Agent
Walker to brief me on the aspects of their investigation that involve the
Lowry case, and just how Czyzyck is involved; he's admitting he was there,
but he denies the act; he says it was someone else.  That in itself is
immaterial; accessory to or facilitating a rape is still a felony violation
of Section 130 of the State Penal Code, so he's equally as guilty in the
eyes of the law."
   Just then her male colleague came over and had a brief whispered
conversation with her, then went over to another desk and pulled a gun and
his badge out of the top drawer.
   "We just got lucky," stated Shauna, "your friend in there just gave us
the alleged rapist's name and address.  My team member is on his way now to
make the arrest; there's no further need for you to remain here, we have
your contact information if we need to talk to you any further.  Thank you
for all your assistance, we'll keep you posted on the progress of the
case."
   At last, Ashley was going to get some justice for what had happened to
her.  I still wanted my father yanked over the pond and stuffed in a
hell-hole prison for what I was sure he'd done to Barbara, but Judy pointed
out that there would have to be all kinds of negotiations before the US
Government could grab him and try him.  We'd have to settle for what we
could get right now; the mills of God etc.
   Judy dropped me at home but declined to come in; she had a date, with
the young technician, Leon, so she wanted to get ready.
   "See Nick, I'm over you already!" she grinned, before blowing me a kiss
and beeping the horn as she pulled away.
   When I went in, Ashley was watching TV wearing a long t-shirt, but
something about the way she moved told me she was naked under there, so I
formulated a cunning plan to confirm it.  I sat next to her and slid her
onto my lap, having a surreptitious feel while I was doing that; yep, I was
right.
   "Hi baby, wanna fool around?" she leered happily at me, and my cock
started limbering up.
   "Of course, my angel, you know me!" I grinned, standing up with her in
my arms and heading for the corridor.
   Once we were in our room, I wasted no time in stripping off and joining
her on the bed.  She was looking particularly appealing right now, probably
because I'd come so close to losing her, and all I wanted to do was hold
her close (and ravage her, of course, give me time...)
   Before we started anything, though, Ashley propped herself up on one
elbow and looked searchingly at me.
   "OK, Nicky, what's going on?"
   I told her all that had happened since I left at Midday, about grabbing
Bobby and 'persuading' him to confess to what he'd done.  Ashley looked
puzzled at that.
   "Nick, it wasn't Bobby Czyzyck, I know that for a fact!" she stated, and
as I knew he'd already said as much in the police station, I asked her how
she knew.
   "Bobby smells funny, he always has; it's some kind of glandular thing;
that's why he's never had any luck with girls, even with all his money. 
That smell of his is distinctive, and I know it well; he wasn't he one who
did it!"
   I thought I'd smelled something funny in the car, I'd just put it down
to poor personal hygiene on the part of Bobby.
   "There's more, baby, "I told her, "Remember I said Barbara sent details
of my father's plans, instructions to his accomplice over here?  That was
Bobby's step-father, his old partner.  The emails were instructions from my
father on what he wanted done, and to whom, or he was going to expose
Bobby's step-father's involvement in something or the other.  The fact
remains, though; my father was blackmailing Bobby's step-father to have mum
raped and beaten as a punishment for leaving him; the instructions were
explicit, as were the emails back to my father, detailing exactly what was
done; he was supposed to use Bobby, as he could easily control him.  I'm
sorry.  "
   Ashley looked levelly at me.
   "This is what you were trying to tell me yesterday, isn't it?" and I
nodded unhappily; even thinking about it made me depressed and exhausted
and angry.
   "There is one final thing, though; the FBI.  They might be able to use
the UK/US Extradition Treaty to haul that prick over here.  It might take a
while though; my father is contemptuous of the law, but he won't hesitate
to use it to his own advantage; I suppose it all comes down to your State
Department convincing a judge in England that they should hand him over for
justice in America."
   Ashley leaned over to stroke my face gently.
   "Then leave it, Nick, let the big boys fight over it now; we've done
everything ordinary people can do, and it's in motion now; if it takes a
while, so be it.  At least we'll know we tried, and look, something's come
out of it; Bobby and his father and whoever they used to do...what they
did, they're going to jail, hopefully for a long time, so some kind of
justice is gonna happen, and I have closure now.  How about you?"
   I was still keenly aware that there was no justice here for my Barbara,
even though I knew in my heart of hearts that the sick son of a bitch had
killed her; maybe the police would be able to prove it one day soon, and
he'd be punished for that as well, but I still grieved for her, and there
was no closure yet and maybe there never would be, not until that bastard
was twisting in the wind and feeding the fucking crows.
   Ashley pulled me back against her, her uncanny ability to tell what I
was thinking letting her know the tenor of my thoughts.
   "Let it go Nicky, let her go.  She asked you to remember her, so do
that; think of how much you loved her, not how much you think she'd want
you to avenge her; from what you've told me about her, I think she'd be
horrified to see her boy thinking those kind of thoughts, she brought you
up better than that!"
   Something she'd said had struck a chord; her boy.  I was her boy, and
she was my mother, and Ashley was right; I owed her more than revenge. 
She'd asked me to remember her, how could I have forgotten that simple
fact? Whether or not she gave birth to me, she was my mother, and she'd
brought me up to not be like my father, and she'd succeeded.
   Part of me was part of her, and I realised that as long as I remembered
that, she was never going to be far away.  As realisation struck, I heard,
as plain as day, her low musical chuckle and her voice saying something
she'd said so many times when she was teaching me to read; "That's right,
little Saint Nick, you've got it!"
   I started, and Ashley jumped as well.
   "What, what is it Nicky?"
   "I just heard her, I heard Barbara's voice!  She spoke to me!"
   Ashley smiled, and rested her head against mine.
   "I know, baby, you finally let yourself hear her again, just like I had
to learn to hear daddy again after he was gone.  Now you're free at
last,Nicky; doesn't it feel great?"
   I pulled her close to me, luxuriating in the feel of her warmth against
me, her clean, fresh smell, her soft, gentle hands, and most of all the
feel of her skin against my hands as I roamed over her.  Ashley sighed and
laid back down, inviting me to kiss her some more while I stroked and
caressed her, the taste of her lips and her hands on me exciting and so
very stimulating.  As we kissed, my hands cupped her marvellous backside,
the firm round cheeks a delight to squeeze and knead, turning me on even
further as we kissed and probed each other's mouths and lips.
   I slipped between her thighs, licking and sucking her pebbled nipples,
drawing them between my teeth and making her gasp, before kissing down her
flat stomach to her little navel, kissing, and tipping my tongue in the
little jewel before licking and kissing lower.  My questing tongue finally
found her labia, the folds of flesh beginning to darken and swell as her
arousal mounted.
   I probed and licked between the lips, pushing my tongue into her and
finding her clitoris behind the little hood.  My tongue on her little nub
had an electric effect on her.  She arched her back as she grabbed my head
to hold it in place, her hips lifting to push her mons harder against my
mouth, her breath coming in gasps as I probed, licked, and sucked.
   When I flatted my tongue and rubbed against her clitoris, her orgasm
reared-up and rolled over her, making her groan out loud, as wave after
wave made her pussy convulse against my tongue, but when I pointed my
tongue and shoved it as far as I could into her tight little anus that was
when she screamed out loud as a giant orgasm ripped through her, her hole
clenching and forcing my tongue out as she squirted her fragrant juices in
a spray across my mouth and chin.
   Ashley slumped back on the bed, her body twitching and shuddering as
aftershocks rolled through her and faded.  I hovered over her, watching her
beautiful features as she slowly relaxed, her lovely smile finally breaking
out.
   "Nicky, that was so...oh my God, that was so intense!" she smiled. 
"Your turn, baby!"
   With that she lifted her legs and pulled them back, holding herself
behind her knees, tilting her entire crotch up at me.
   "Can you guess what I want, big boy?" she teased, her little anus gaping
open.
   I shuffled up to her, sliding my screaming erection into her puffy slit,
making her gasp with the sudden penetration, but I was just lubricating
myself to do what she really wanted.
   After a few strokes, I withdrew, and pushed my swollen head against the
tight pucker of her back door, and slowly pushed forward, my solid,
bone-hard cock slowly sliding into her.  Ashley caught her lip between her
teeth as I slid slowly but unstoppably into her, until my entire length was
embedded in her tight arse, my balls firmly up against her cheeks.  I began
to slide out again, and her eyes widened as I pulled back preparatory to
pumping back in again.
   "Oh God, yes, like that, oh yes, God, yes, harder, baby, do it
harder...!" she muttered, her eyes closing as she floated in her own
private world.  Her rectum pulsed and rippled against me, the whole length
of my cock gripped firmly by what felt like a warm velvet hand,
rhythmically squeezing me as I pumped into her.
   I couldn't hold out much longer as she pumped against me, and when she
draped her legs over my shoulders so she could squeeze and massage her own
nipples, the sight was too much for me.
   I felt my cock head swell and jam tight in her as my balls tightened,
spunk bolting out of me to spray the inside of her accommodating arse, jet
after jet of hot man-fat bathing her insides and coating her bowels with my
seed.  Ashley screamed as she came, her hands clutching convulsively at the
bed as another hot spray of her own juices bathed my lower belly, cock, and
balls as we rode the crest our mutual orgasm.
   At last I softened and slid from her, slumping down next to her and
holding her close as my heart slowed and my breathing slowly returned to
normal.
   "Do that to me on our wedding night, OK Baby?" she grinned, stroking my
chest and gently running her hand over my back, and I could only grin back
as I nodded breathlessly.
   +++
   Two days later, Judy dropped by with a copy of the Times Union
newspaper, and there on the front cover, at the bottom of the page, were
three photographs.  The first was Bobby, and there was a picture of a
greying middle-aged man, his name given as Michael Czyzyck, Bobby's
stepfather.  The third picture was what shocked me; it was the little
maggot I'd slapped outside the burger joint, Bobby's friend.  He had
admitted rape and felony sexual assault, as had Bobby, and Michael Czyzyck
had been arrested and had admitted procuring a rape, procuring a felony
sexual assault and 2nd degree sexual assault.  He was also being
investigated by the FBI under the provisions of the 2001 USA PATRIOT Act.
   Ashley read the article in silence, then walked into our room and closed
the door behind her.  I made to follow her, but Judy held me back.
   "No Nick, let her be, she needs to do this alone.  She'll be OK, she
knows we're here, you'll know when she needs you."
   We sat in the living room, waiting for Ashley to come back, and I asked
Judy about her date, more for something to break the silence than out of
any prurient interest.  She grinned wickedly.
   "Let's just say that Leon had certain...qualities that I tested to the
limits last night; I only got in at 6.30 this morning!  The boy is
definitely a keeper!" she smiled happily at the recollection.
   "So you'll be seeing him again, then?" I inquired innocently.
   ""Oh, I think that's pretty much a given, Nick!" she grinned, "Something
that good definitely needs a second bite, just to compare to the first!"
   I was happy that our friend was happy, hopefully Leon was the one for
her, but if not, at least she was out there and not moping in some Emo den
somewhere.  We chatted about the news until the door opened and Ashley came
out again.  Her eyes were red and puffy where she'd obviously been crying,
but she was smiling.
   I was there instantly, but she didn't need me, not now.
   "It's OK, Nicky, I'm OK, it's over, it's finally over!" she grinned, and
I had to smile back.
   ++++
   Work took up a significant amount of my time.  Ashley had decided to go
to college, she was studying for an MBA at SUNY right here in Albany, so
while I worked, she studied, and mum grew ever closer to David; I suppose
the turning point in our understanding of their relationship was the first
time he stayed over; I got up early one Sunday morning to relieve myself,
and apparently so did he; I almost walked into him coming out of the
bathroom.  After a moment's awkward silence we both grinned and carried on.
As soon as I got back to our room, I shook Ashley awake.
   "Ashley, I know something you don't know!" I sing-song'd at her, and she
stared blearily at me.
   "Nicky, it's Sunday morning, it's too early for guessing games; either
tell me or let me go back to sleep!" she croaked.
   I was grinning like a Cheshire Cat.  "David's still here!"
   She bolted upright.
   "NO!  Really?  Oh my God!"She picked up her cell.
   "What are you doing, baby?" I asked, although I had a fair idea.
   "Calling Judy, this is big, this is real big!"
   She spoke for a few seconds and hung up.
   "She's on her way over; she wants to see for herself!"
   Ten minutes later, Judy was sitting cross-legged on the end of our bed,
grinning like a pumpkin.
   "I told you, I fucking told you!" she crowed, "pay up, Lowry, you lose,
I win, Oh yeah, I am so smart, you're not, ha ha!" She was obviously
enjoying herself immensely.
   Ashley looked at me with her hand out.
   "Nick?"
   I handed her my wallet and she pulled two tens out and handed them to
Judy, who gleefully snatched them and took her time putting them away,
smirking cattily at Ashley.  I sat there wondering how it came to be that
Ashley lost bets but I had to pay up; must be a relationship thing...
   We heard mum stirring around in her room, so we all quietly hustled into
the dining room and sat around the table waiting for her to show up.  When
she walked in we all grinned at her at once, big, insincere, happy,
innocent grins, and watched her slowly go beet red.
   I decided to put her out of her misery.
   "We don't mind, mum!  We like David, Judy likes you, if you guys want to
be...together, no biggie, honest!"
   She stared at us, and smiled guiltily, then looked back over her
shoulder.
   "Sweetheart, can you come here please?" she called, and he appeared at
her shoulder, wearing just pyjama bottoms and smiling slightly sheepishly
at Ashley and me; then he spotted Judy.  His expression was priceless; I
wish I'd had a camera!
   "Hi dad!" she piped up, giving him a small wave and grinning slightly
maliciously, "What are you doing here so early, and where's your clothes?"
   Ashley stood up and hugged mum.
   "I'm so happy for you, Mom, for both of you!"
   Mum looked relieved, and then sat down.
   "You're sure both of you are OK with this?  Really?" we both nodded,
followed by Judy.
   She smiled.  "Good, because we were wondering how to tell you, but as
all three of you are here, now's as good a time as any." She looked at
David who nodded and put his arm around her shoulder.
   "Kids, all of you, David and I love each other, and we want to be
together.  David has asked me to move in with him.  I told him I'd only do
that if all three of you agreed.  I didn't want anyone to feel I was
leaving them behind, or," glancing at Judy, "invading their home, so I want
to tell you, and ask you how you feel."
   Ashley leaned over and kissed her.
   "Nick and I are fine, Mom, honest; if it's what you want, do it, David's
one of the good guys, so go for it!"
   Judy tapped her father on the arm and hugged him, then hugged Mum,
before grinning at them both.
   "One up-side I can think of springs to mind right away; at last, someone
will be there who can actually cook, no more dinners with microwave cooking
times printed on them, oh boy, I can hardly wait!"
   Mum, David, and Judy soon settled in as the nuclear family, while Ashley
and I remained at the house, which I slowly began to renovate; I wanted a
nice, cosy, secure home, as we had plans, and we needed our home ready for
that part of our life.  However, David and mum surprised us with an
announcement; they were getting married.  Not that surprising, you may
think, but part two was; mum was expecting.  Ashley was in a haze when she
heard, Judy more so.  They were both getting a sibling, and they would be
step-sisters.  Judy asked Ashley if that meant she was entitled to take a
run at me, as they were going to be sisters, and Ashley's reply was short,
pungent, and to the point;
   "Stay away from my man, you bandy-legged little trollop, or so help me,
I swear I'll teach you the true meaning of the word 'pain'!"
   Judy just grinned; she was still being bent double and pummeled by Leon
at every possible opportunity, she just wanted to see the expression on
Ashley's face when she asked her...
   I had become Senior Technician at Mark One, and as word got around that
they had someone on-board who was actually certified for the various
specialist cars from Britain that came in, their owners kept coming back.
Mark got his Lotus dealership, and the look on his face when the first
tranche of Exige's and Elise's were delivered was a sight to behold.  They
were sold off the trailer, people were so eager to have them, and because
we were a proper Lotus dealership, people knew they had the full warranty
and service backup those kind of cars demand.
   The day Mark told me he wanted to sell up and live a little was a sore
blow; I'd been busily building a relationship with every customer, and with
jobs so hard to find, all that would be gone; there were no other places
like Mark One; I was sunk.  Or so I thought.
   I got a call one day to come and see David right after work, so I
collected Ashley and went to see my parents, as I now thought of them.  Mum
was looking radiant; she was nearly seven months along now, and was
absolutely beautiful, and David had that soppy 'expectant father' look
permanently pasted on his face, but he was still rational, thank God.
   After the usual family courtesies, mum went off to make dinner with
Ashley in tow, leaving David and me alone.  David got right down to
business.
   "Nick, I heard from Mark what his plans are and I think you and I could
do something there.  I'm seriously considering buying the business and I'd
like you to run it; when Ashley finishes college, she may want to step-in
on the business side, I know Judy's not interested, she's finally decided
to study medicine, so I need someone who knows what they're doing to be the
one to move the business forward; are you interested?"
   Of course I was; this was a God-send!
   I gabbled out my thanks, but David waved them away.
   "Nonsense, this is to do with family, so I'll have a meeting with Mark
tomorrow and see if I can't beat him down a little on his price.  Now let's
go and see if the ladies need a hand."
   There was one other piece of good news, and I saw it quite by accident,
as I happened to pause my TV channel hopping on CNN one evening two years
later.
   My father had been fighting extradition for almost two years now; he and
Michael Czyzyck had been very naughty boys, selling black market computer
chips and special solid-state batteries, the kind used in cruise missiles,
to Iran, through a dummy company based in Odessa, on the Black Sea coast.
   The Court of Appeal in London had finally decided that he had committed
an offence against the United States; under the USA PATRIOT Act that
constituted grounds for granting the State Department's request for
extradition.
   The bastard was coming here, and with any luck they'd stuff him in a
cell with a huge rapist where he'd spend the rest of his miserable life
being Bubba's gang-bang bitch.  I could hear Barbara's laughter as I
watched the news segment, seeing that face I'd honestly hoped I'd never see
again collapse as the judgement was given against him.
   The next morning, I was woken by the sound of Ashley being noisily sick.
I immediately jumped out of bed to see if she needed help, but she waved me
away as she wiped her mouth and rinsed with mouthwash.
   "Baby, are you Ok?  What's wrong?" I asked, hovering over her.
   "Nothing baby, I'm fine, everything's fine, this is normal!" she smiled.
   I was still worried.  "You don't sound fine, you sound terrible, healthy
people don't yark like that...!"
   She turned and smiled at me, then laid her head on my chest.
   "Nicky, we're fine; both of us are fine, honest!"
   Now I was puzzled.  "What do you mean both of u...Oh, OH!  Oh MY GOD! 
You're pregnant!"
   She smiled shyly at me and nodded.  I was shaking, I was going to be a
father, we were having a baby, OMIGOD!
   "Nicky, Nicky, NICKY!"
   Eventually I calmed down enough to realise she was talking to me.
   "Calm down, baby, we're not having it today, relax!  Call Mom and Dad,
call Judy, and then get dressed.  Move, baby!"
   I was floating; after the initial euphoria, all I could think was 'I'm
going to be a dad; I'm going to be a dad!'
   I never saw or heard of my father again.  Much as I had wanted to push
him off someplace high with a stout rope around his neck, I knew that was
not the way to deal with someone like him; his greed, his contempt for the
law, for his fellow man, and for his beautiful, wronged, wives had brought
him to this, but I wouldn't rejoice in his punishment; Barbara had brought
me up better than that.  His punishment was just and fitting, that was good
enough for me.  The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceeding
small...
   ++++
   I knelt by the grave in Stanwix Cemetery in Carlisle, on a cold
late-November morning.  The wind coming in from the highlands of Scotland,
and frigid with the promise of early snow, blew leaf litter and small twigs
around me as I finished clearing the gravesite.  I dusted a few more away,
and then I could finally cry.
   Ashley stood back, tears sparkling in her eyes, with our little daughter
held against her to keep her warm in the frigid wind, letting me have my
moment alone with my mother so I could say goodbye properly.  The new
headstone simply said 'Barbara Davies, beloved mother, taken too soon.  I
love you, Mum'.  We'd had the original headstone, an ornate stone slab
covered in his phony, lying, un-felt messages of love, a disgusting
monument to my father's hypocrisy, taken down and crushed for road-stone,
and had this one put in its place.  My father was currently serving a
40-year term in a federal penitentiary 3,000 miles away with no hope of
parole, so I doubted he'd be objecting.
   Ashley had finally convinced me to reach out to my two half-brothers, to
let them know that I was back, and ask them to meet me one last time;
they'd never responded, and I was in no mood to pursue them.  There was no
evidence they'd ever come here to see their mother, either, even though the
cemetery was only half a mile from the house; the grave had been untended,
neglected, and overgrown.  Even now they'd elected to stay away, but I was
relieved and untroubled by their absence.  Whatever tenuous link we'd had
was gone now, and I was free of any further encumbrance from this part of
my family; with Barbara's death, all connection to these people had gone,
and that was how it should be.
   The baby finally squirmed out of Ashley's grip and toddled toward me, so
I picked her up and showed her to her grandmother.
   "Mum; this is your granddaughter, her name's Barbara!  Baby, say hello
to my mummy!"
   My little girl dropped the flower she was carrying onto the grave,
enunciating lovely little pear-shaped sounds as she grinned toothlessly at
me.  Ashley knelt and arranged the posy she was carrying in the little
flower-holder, and with that there was no more to say or do, so we left,
all three of us, to go back to our life and our loved ones; I don't think
I'll ever go back; I don't need to; no-one is truly gone until you stop
saying their name, and with my daughter named after her grandmother, I will
never be done saying her name.
   We drove away, and pointed north, heading for the M6 motorway to take us
back to Birmingham and our hotel for our flight from Birmingham
International in the morning.  I'd just taken the southbound exit for the
four-hour drive from Carlisle to the airport hotel when Ashley flicked on
the radio and my one-time favourite FM station, Lakeland Radio came on.
   I listened to the end of an old Neil Diamond track and the DJ announced
the next lunchtime request, another oldie, a special request for Nick, from
Barbara.  My eyes widened as the Beach Boys sang 'Little Saint Nick'. 
Ashley went to change stations, but I stopped her; it could have been a
coincidence, but I felt somehow that it wasn't, that it was a message for
me, my mother finally telling me it was over, and saying goodbye, and so I
listened with tears on my cheeks as I said goodbye to her for the very last
time.
   to be continued....
   pics---->> http://bit.ly/1QdQXsD
  
RagDollCh04