The Celtic Dragon Saga - 4. Chapter 4

D.W.: We will now follow Brigit as she tells her tale of woe and how it made her stronger so she would be able to shoulder her burden of prophecy when her time comes

“This is something I should have dealt with years ago, but didn't. My adopted father, Donald, doesn't even know about this. I think Angus might know about it, if he does he never said anything directly, so as far as I know the only person that knows about it is Pansy.” She stopped to take a drink from the glass of water before saying, “Once I start to tell this I don't want to stop, so get comfortable and don't interrupt me. If I stop I know I won't have the strength to pick back up and finish it.”

“When I was 15, just before my 16th birthday, I was raped and got pregnant. I was out on a date with my boyfriend. After we had gone to dinner and saw a movie, we went over to a party at a friend of a friends house. When we arrived we were told that the guys parents were away on holiday on the countryside so we there were no adults there to keep an eye on us.

“I have to admit, after finding out that Donald and Pansy weren't my real parents, but instead some kind of distant cousins, I went off the deep end in regards to defiance, I mean I turned into the epitome of the rebellious daughter. So when I found out there were no adults around I grabbed the first cup of alcohol that came into reach and every other cup and shot glass I could get my hands on. Apparently somebody, I still don't know who, slipped something into one of my drinks. I hadn't noticed at the time but, my boyfriend was over on another couch snogging some girl that I had never met before, when I did notice it grabbed the nearest guy and started grinding into him right in front of my boyfriend and the girl on the couch. I remember someone handing me another cup of beer,I noticed it tasted a little funny but didn't care, so I drained it all in one go. That is the last thing I remember is being half carried up the stairs into a bedroom.

“That is where I woke up the next day, there were several other people still laying around the room passed out and most of them were either naked or at least partially naked. I looked around as quietly as I could, trying to find my clothes, I don't even know how I got undressed much less where my clothes were. The only thing I knew at that point is I had a hangover to beat all and that I was extremely sore.... down there.... and when I found my dress, and one shoe, I went into the bathroom and that is when I noticed the blood on the insides of legs so I cleaned myself up and ran out of the house, almost tripping over my other shoe on my way down the stairs. I looked around but couldn't find my boyfriend and his car wasn't there either.

“Looking around I realized where I was, I was in the next division over from where I lived, so I caught the trolley that was going by and took it all the way over to the street next to Donald's pub. As I was trying to sneak in the back door of the house I heard Pansy suddenly speak up from the next room and say, 'You can give up on trying to sneak in, your father is already at the pub doing inventory and I know you are standing there with your shoes in hand, so why don't you turn around and come in here with me, have a cup of coffee, and tell me where you have been all night.'

“ I slowly walked into the room, felt like I was walking towards my death, head down and dropped into the chair on the opposite side of the table. Pansy slid a cup of coffee over to me then just sat there watching me over the rim of her cup. She was still in her favorite powder blue robe, the one I gave to her for her birthday several years before, her silken blonde hair was uncombed and just piled onto her head in the loose bun that she wore to bed every night, her eyes, had I been paying any attention to them rather than focusing on my hands in my lap, held signs of warmth, love, frustration and worry all at the same time.

“ I sat there growing more and more uncomfortable until I finally started to speak, 'I'm sorry I was...' that is all I was able to say before Pansy interrupted me by calmly saying 'Just drink your coffee for now, we will discuss this afterward. I am not going to yell at you, so you can relax about that, I just want to discuss what happened. So just drink up an calm down.' I looked up at her shocked that she was being so calm about this, had Donald caught me coming in at this hour after being gone all night I would be lucky to even be able to exit the house without him ever again, much less be able to speak. Not that Donald is an unreasonable ogre or anything, contrary to the way it appeared last night, I have never seen him act like he did last night. I don't know why he acted that way, but that is beside the point right now.”

Taking a drink of the water on the table in front of her she said, “Thank you for the water by the way. As I was saying she was calm about the whole thing and just wanted to talk, it was at this point that I started to realize she was trying to treat me as an adult rather than a child to be scolded and reprimanded. After we had both finished our cups of coffee Pansy reached across the table, refilled my cup and said, 'Do you want to tell me what happened last night and why you didn't come home like you were supposed to?' I just looked up at her and started crying because I felt like I deserved to be yelled at and she wasn't doing it. She just sat there until I got control of myself and started telling her what I could remember of the previous night. I told her the truth, what I could remember that is, I told her, 'Johnny and I went to dinner and a movie like I said we would, then after the movie let out there was still time before we had to be home so we went over to the house of this guy that one of Johnny's friend knew. When we arrived we found out that the guys parents were on holiday and the guy decided to throw a party.

“ The party was going fine I had only had a few drinks when I noticed Johnny on a couch with another girl grabbing him all over and kissing him. I got angry and started drinking more and I think someone put something in my drink when I wasn't looking because the last thing I remember was being held up by some guy that I didn't know and being helped up the stairs to a bedroom and put on the bed.

That is the last thing I remember until I woke up this morning. When I woke up I noticed I was naked and there were several people passed out around the room either half or completely naked. When I got off the bed, I noticed I was very sore, I went around and found my dress and took it into the bathroom across the hall to get dressed. As I was getting dressed I saw blood on my legs, I don't know how it got there so I grabbed a rag from under the sink and used some water to wipe off as much of it as I could get. Then I found my shoes discovered Johnny had apparently left me there so I caught the trolley home.'

“I looked up at Pansy again and noticed her hand was shaking and she was very pale. That is when I saw that she was soundlessly repeating the word 'No' over and over then she said 'No, not again, it can't happen again....' and just started rambling on and on about something not happening again. I had no idea what she was talking about, I had never had anything like this happen to me before so I couldn't figure what she meant.

“ I jumped up and ran over to her, as soon as I laid my hand on her shoulder she let out a blood-curdling scream before collapsing into her chair, completely unconscious, she then fell to the side into my arms. I knelt there holding her for several minutes calling out to her saying 'Mom... mother.... Mom wake up...Mom' until she started to come around again looking around herself with confusion showing clearly in her eyes.

“'What happened, why am I sitting like this, and how did you get over here you where just sitting in the chair across the table from me? I don't understand.' I looked at her and started to tell her what happened, 'Mom, you passed out. I was telling you about last night and this morning and you started saying 'No' over and over and things like 'It can't be happening again' then when I got up, came around the table and set my hand on your shoulder, you screamed like a banshee and passed out.'

“Pansy sat there for several minutes before saying, 'Brigit, dear, I am going to tell you something that I have never told another soul in my life, when I was about your age, maybe a little older, I went to a party at the Uni and I was raped by several of the rugby players while they were drunk. Somehow during that time I got pregnant, too this day I don't know who the father was because I have managed to block most of the memory out of my mind. Well there was no way my parents would understand so I talked to a friend who said they knew of someone who could get rid of the baby for some money and no one would ever know that I had been pregnant. I still regret that to this day and I will carry that sin to my grave, that is why I could never give birth to a child.

Your father believes that I am just barren, and even though he would love to have a child of his own, we both love you just as much as if I had given birth to you. Now, I think it is time for you to go up and take hot soak in the bath, I will send the maid Molly up to help you out, I will call the doctor and set up an appointment for you to see the doc later today to make sure there are no problems, you said the insides of your legs were sore and there was blood on them correct?' All I could do at that point is nod my head in answer so she continued, ' How are....things... feeling now? Are you still sore?' Again I seemed not to be able to speak so I just nodded my head once more before turning around and walking out of the room and made my way slowly towards the stairs.

“As I started walking up the stairs I thought about what my mother had just told me and started to connect it to what had happened to me the night before. At first I didn't want to believe it, 'Mom is just over reacting that is all,' is what I thought, 'I mean there has to be some other plausible explanation to what happened.' That mindset got me up the stairs and into the bathroom where the maid was with a warm bath waiting

“While she was helping me take off my dress Molly, the maid, said, 'You have known me your whole life and what I am about to say is mot definitely outside of how a maid should speak to the family she works for, but I am going to say it anyway. As you know my family has worked for your mothers family for several generations, just so you understand I grew up with your mother, and I also overheard the conversation you just had with her in the breakfast parlor. The friend your mother referred to, the one that took her to have the abortion that wrecked her insides, was me. That is another thing your father can never know about, as you can understand.

“What you described in there as happening to you was almost word for word what happened to her all those years ago. I still carry the guilt, for my part, all these years later. I was also the one that talked her into sneaking out of the house with me to go to that party that night. I sometimes wish that it had been me that got raped that night and got pregnant, at least then the child would have been able to live, even if I had to give it up for adoption. The greatest part of the guilt that I carry is, that your mother can never have another child and the blood of that unborn child is on my hands...'

“Pansy walked into the room while Molly was telling me all of this. She stood there with her arms pulled around her as though to ward off a blow. She interrupted Molly saying, 'There is no blood on your hands Molly, I only let you think you were talking me into going that night. The truth of the matter is that I had planned on going either with or without you, so what happened was an inevitability that had no bearing on your presence, or lack there of, at the party that night. I have been telling you for nigh on twenty years that it was not your guilt to carry. I am the one that made the decisions, on whether or not to continue, at each step of the way in regards to what happened all those years ago, as such the only person with the blood of an innocent child on their hands is me. That is the last we will speak of what happened, as you know so well yourself Molly these walls most definitely do have ears and they also have tongues that like to wag. It is better to let the cards fall where they may because the only ones that can alter them, no matter how hard we try, are the Fates of old, and they are no longer here so we must use the cards we are dealt then move on.'

“She then turned to me and says, 'As for you, the doctor will arrive in about an hour to check you over, make sure there is no lasting damage and give you something for the pain, as well as a sedative for you to get some rest and peace of mind.' with that Pansy turned and walked away arms still clasped around herself tightly.”

Brigit stopped her narrative there and said, “ I need to go into bathroom for a few minutes and gather myself for the next part of what happened. As I said before, this is the first time I have talked about all of this to anyone so bear with me.” then with a small sad smile she said, “That was the easy part of this pathetic tale so I will return in a few moments and continue with the rest.”

Brigit got up, and taking her purse with her, walked out of the room leaving the two guys sitting there in silent shock at what she had already said. As she walked towards the bathroom inside the bedroom she reached into a concealed pocket inside her purse and retrieved a piece of paper that had been folded so many times that the folds were starting to spit and fray at the edges.

Unfolding the page once more, she read the words printed there, even though she already knew them by heart. After shedding a few more tears, she splashed her face with water from the sink, dried off and went back into the living room. The only movement that the two guys had made was to refill the three coffee cups now sitting on the table. As she went to sit on the couch once more she reluctantly handed the paper to Brian.

Sitting back down Brigit looked at Brian and started to speak once more, “The paper that you hold in your hand is the Certificate of Stillbirth for my son. As I was saying before I left, Pansy had left me, with Molly, in the bathroom. I was still perfectly calm and in total denial about the rape until I stepped into the tub and sat down. As I took the soapy sponge Molly handed me, before she went to set out my nightgown and turn down the bedding, I started to wash myself normally but noticed that my eyes were tearing up, I ignored the tears. Then as I continued to wash I found myself starting to sob, then using the sponge I started to scrub my skin harder and harder until it started to leave bright red welts on my skin, but that wasn't enough so I grabbed the pumice stone that I kept in the bathroom for my feet. I then started to use the pumice stone on my skin until I started to bleed but it still was not enough to scrub out the feelings of filth that I had. I felt like I had been rolled in the mud for hours then dipped into tar and left to dry, the filth just would not come off of me. I started to screech and used my nails trying to dig the filth out by any means possible.

Molly had heard me screech from the other room and rushed in to see what the problem was. Upon seeing me with blood everywhere and the furrows I had dug into my skin she ran over to me, grabbed my wrists, and physically pulled me out of the tub and carried me, screaming, to the bed and forcing me to stay there while she used the intercom on my nightstand to call another maid to bring the first aid supplies and to get Pansy up to my room immediately.

A few minutes later the other maid ran into the room carrying the medical kit that was kept in the kitchen and handed it to Molly. The other maid said something like, “The Mistress will be here shortly, she said she had to wait for somebody to arrive. I didn't recognize the name, but it was a man's name, she said and I know it wasn't the Master. Who could she be waiting on that was more important than her daughter?”

Molly got upset at the insinuation in the other maids tone and said, “Number One: help me with bandaging up this girl. Number Two: keep your snakes tongue in your mouth while you help me.”

That was as far as she went for the moment until she had the worst of my cuts bandaged and the blood wiped up. Once that was all done, just as Pansy and an older gentleman carrying a bag stepped into the room, Molly concluded her earlier statement by saying, “ And, Number Three: gather your things and await me in the parlor you no longer work in this house.”

The other maid stomped off in a rage muttering obscenities under her breath as she left. The one thing that I did hear her say clearly, as she passed by Pansy and what turned out to be her private doctor, was the now former maid say quite loudly, “SLATTERN!”

Pansy grabbed her by the arm and backhanded the woman across the face and said, “You will now wait on this very spot until the constabulary arrives to escort you off the property.” While the woman was still in shock from the strike across her face Pansy pulled her mobile phone out of her pocket and proceeded to call the constable.

To be honest as far as I can remember that is the only time I have ever seen Pansy that angry and the closest I had ever seen her come to hitting anyone was when I was younger and she would pop my mouth for cursing within her hearing.

After Pansy had finished with her call the woman started up her mouth again saying, “I know all about the various men you have traipsing through this house while your husband is away. You and that harlot of a devils spawn over there.” pointing at me. She then continued making vile accusations about seeing me out on the steps in the red-light district every night, taking in, whoring with, and robbing every man that I could grab hold of for more than thirty seconds.

When the constable arrived she gave her vilest accusation yet, she said, “I also know all about the black magic potions you have been brewing in the locked shed at the back of the compound, using the fetal umbilical cords and placentas that you rip out of the women that come to you from the other whore houses down the road. And the infant sacrifices to the Devil that you carry out on every full moon in that bonfire you build. You thought that no one would find out about that one didn't you? Well I swear before God Himself that you will not get away with this for another moment.”

At this point the fact that Pansy had had enough of this show of dramatics was written on her face. She looked at the constable and said, in a cold but respectful tone, “Kind sir, would you please remove this vile piece of filth from my presence and property and hold her until I can file formal charges later this afternoon.”

The officer who had been watching the whole scene could tell by the looks of shock and outrage on every face in the room, except the former maids, that every word that had been spoken by this... woman, because he could not even bring himself to think of her with the term 'lady', had been nothing more than malicious lies to try to defame the honorable people in the room. He pulled his radio from its holster on his hip and called in to request that another officer and a car be sent to take the former maid into custody. Once he was told that a car was in route to his position he turned the woman around and placed the handcuffs on her tightly enough that she couldn't get out of them but not so tight that they interfered with the blood flow to her hands. He then led her out of the room saying, “I will return shortly to get statements from everyone here.”

As he said the officer returned rather quickly while the doctor was looking at the furrows that I had dug into my flesh, trying to decide whether any of them needed stitching or not. When he re-entered the room the officer told Pansy, “Even though I believe all that she said was hogwash, those were some serious accusations she was making and, you understand, I am bound by law to investigate her claims. So if you would, please explain to me what you believe she was referring to then accompany me to this shed that she spoke of we can clear this up in just a few moments without any undue stress.”

Molly spoke up then and said, “I believe I can elaborate and clarify what she was referring to with the fires. You see, my husband Tom is an unbelievably superstitious man. He is the grounds keeper and every month on the full moon he gathers all the clippings and trimmings that have accumulated throughout the month and burns them. I do not know where he gets this notion that the only time you burn the clippings is at the full moon but his father, who was the grounds keeper before my husband took over the job, is the one that started it and that is the way he taught his son to do the job. He then takes all of the ashes from the fire and mixes it in with the fertilizer and fertilizes the plants on the new moon every month. As for the rest of what she said the shed back there is only used to store some of the gardening tools. And on occasion broken furniture gets put in there until there is enough to either take to the landfill or be burned.”

The officer thought that was all reasonable explanations but he still needed to see the evidence for himself. Still thinking on what had been said by the former maid and the one he was speaking with he said, “Your husband isn't the only one that only burns on the full moon, my Seanathair..er..grandfather does the same thing. Would your husband happen to have the keys to this shed that is in question?”

Molly replied, “Tom is at the farmers market over in the next county today, trying to find some good seeds for my herb garden. You know what they say 'parsley, sage, rosemary, and time heal all wounds', but he leaves that key ring on the rack by the door when he is not using them. I will go with you and get the keys so we can have a look see at the old shed. Then we can come back up and you can have a chat with the Mistress. Today is not really a good day for all this because her daughter is having some problems as you can tell. That is why the good doctor is here.”

With that Molly left the room with the officer and the doctor started asking personal questions such as, how many men I had sex with in the last year, did your use protection...and other questions of a similar nature. I told him that as far as I knew I had never had sex with anyone before the previous night and I didn't even know if I had sex then or not because of whatever they had slipped into my drink.

He pulled down the sheets that were covering me and started to examine between my legs. After he pulled the sheets back up over me he said, “Well you clearly had sex with someone so if you were raped..”

“I never said I was raped!” I yelled at him.

To which he responded, “Well if you weren't raped then you have lied to your mother and I. Now I have known your mother since she was about your age and I know that the things that woman said about her are complete fallacy. You, on the other hand, I have never met but I highly doubt that your mother would allow any of the things that were said to happen. But if you are lying to us now, we need to know.”

I told him, “I never said I was raped, but I didn't lie to you. I told you that as far as I know I have never had sex with anyone. I don't remember what happened last night.”

The doctor sat down on the edge of the bed and turned towards my mother with a contemplative look on his face. After a few minutes he tapped his finger on his chin a few times before saying, “Well it appears that what Brigit says is true. I can tell by the tearing of her internal lining and the bruising on the inside of her legs that she was indeed raped by at least one person and they were very rough and aggressive while they were at it. As far as what they put into your drink, I can take a few samples of blood and have them tested to see if there is anything left in your system but chances are whatever they gave you has already left system so there will not be enough left for us to trace effectively. I'm sorry.”

Looking at my mother once more, he got up off the bed and left the room.

When Molly returned alone my mother asked her where the officer was to which Molly responded, “Oh, he was satisfied with what I showed him and said that once he had confirmed that her intentions were nothing more than to cause problems he left. Come to find out Toms father and his grandfather were brothers so that explains how they both had that silly superstition.”

Patsy looked relieved that the claims were proved fallacious, as we already knew they were. After a moment Pansy looked up at Molly and asked, “By the way who was that maid I don't recognize her like I do most of the others?”

Molly explained, “She was a new hire and has only been here for about a month, but I have kept her mostly in the kitchen until I decided I could trust her out of my sight for more than a few minutes. From what I can remember when I interviewed her, she had just moved over here from the Americas and this was her first job. I think her name was Mildred Bozeman she was 30 years old and had worked in several hotels over in the States, um, Boston.. I think is where she said she was from. Beyond that I really hadn't gotten to know her very well, she was a very private person and didn't really say much outside of direct comments about her duties.”

Pansy just nodded and dismissed Molly with a wave of her hand. Molly left us alone and Patsy sat down on the bed with her head in her hands. For a while it seemed to me that there was something she wanted to say, but finally she just said, “Go to sleep, you need to rest and recuperate from...what happened.” After that she got up, straightened her dress, and walked out of the room.

It was about two months later and I was starting to get myself together and get back to normal when I started to get really sick of a morning and even though it eased up after a while it never went away totally. I just figured I had a virus and it would go away, but it didn't. I had been sick for about two weeks when I woke up in the middle of the night cramping and hurting. I felt like I was dying from the inside out. I managed to reach over to the intercom and hit the button to call Molly before I blacked out from the pain that I was in. When I came to Molly and my mother were there trying to get my nightgown off of me, that is when I noticed that the gown was soaked and had blood on it.

I must have blacked out again with the next set of cramps because the next thing I knew I was wrapped in a blanket and in the car almost at the hospital emergency room. From that point on I really can't remember much but Pansy told me they took me right in and gave me a shot to knock me out after she explained to them what was happening.

When the sedatives wore off the next morning I could tell that something was wrong. I felt like a part of me was missing... it's.. it's hard to describe. It was almost as if they had taken away my arms or legs...except.. the feeling was inside me not external like it would be if I lost an arm or leg.

The doctor walked in with a bland look on his face, handed me that paper and left after giving me a scowl of disgust while Pansy wasn't looking at him. Right then and there I made a vow to myself, one that I have held onto and reminded myself of everyday since, that I would never, never, accept pity or charity from anyone, no matter what happens or how tough my life may be, I would be strong and would not let anyone make me feel weak again.

That was the day that I decided to change my life and become as strong as I could possibly be. Afterward I did just that, I started to study harder than I ever had in my classes and managed to finish six months earlier than the rest of my age-peers, I started studying martial arts in several various forms until I knew that I could take care of myself physically in most any fight, I also started doing research on psychology and am now attending classes at the Uni for a psychology major with a minor in ancient civilizations specifically Celtic.

“Before you ask, the reason that I haven't been in your class is I am taking that one online.

“By the way Brian it is almost 11:30 and we are supposed to go retrieve our stuff from our adoptive mothers at noon so we need to pull ourselves together ..er.. at least I do. Damn men, all you have to do is make sure you have those damn wallets you carry and your keys then you are ready to go.” she said with a false scowl and a laugh.

Once everyone was ready to go all three of them got into Keiran's SUV and went to Brian's home. As they pulled up into the driveway both Randy and Donald stepped out onto the porch...