CHAPTER ONE

-ARABELLA-

“Good morning Arabella, I trust you enjoyed last night’s reading”, Finnigan greeted me as I wandered into the library. “It was quite enlightening my dear Finnigan, but I wonder if there might be something more-“ I paused, trying to find the appropriate way to word my question, “involved, for me to read?”, I asked, smiling at the look on his face as he realised what I was asking.

“Well, this one here is a little more in the genre that you’re wanting, but other than this, I’m afraid I don’t have anything else that will satiate your needs young Arabella”, he frowned, handing me the book in question. I sighed when I read the title. “I know you’ve already read it once or twice, but it really is all I have that is even close to what you’re looking for. Maybe when I’m in one of the larger towns I can see what I can muster up for you?”, he said, shrugging slightly.

“That’s quite alright, Finnigan, I suppose I will read Romeo and Juliet again and maybe I can find a different perspective this time.” Finnigan smiled again, “You’re a bright girl Arabella, I’m sure that won’t be hard for you.”

I gave a small giggle and then said goodbye as I left to head back to my house. A few of the townsfolk greeted me as I walked, even though I already had my head inside of the book. Usually they would whisper and laugh, calling me the strange, yet pretty girl that lived alone with her father. I found myself beginning to wonder why they were being so pleasant with me when it was so out of character for them all.

When I rounded the corner that led to the town square, I realised the reason behind everyone’s chipper mood today. None other than Gideon was kneeling by my front garden, wearing a tailored grey suit and his dirty-brown hair slicked back, a bouquet of yellow dahlias outstretched in one hand while balancing a small black box in the other. My eyes went wide with surprise and I felt a small amount of bile rise up my throat. “Gideon, what are you doing here?”, I whisper-yelled at him, a blush of embarrassment beginning to crawl over my cheeks.

“My dearest, most beautiful Arabella, I am here to take your hand in marriage and make an honest woman out of you”, he announced, puffing his chest and swaying his arms around like he was some kind of royalty. I hurried over to him and grasped his arm, pulling him off his knee, “Gideon, you know that I cannot marry you. I have no interest in any of the men in town, and I have told you this the last three times that you asked for my hand”, I said quietly.

The last time Gideon asked me to marry him, he made an absolute fool out of himself and the townsfolk spent over a week teasing him about my rejection. The man didn’t know how to take no as an answer, and he sure as hell didn’t know anything about self-preservation.  “It was a lovely gesture, really. But I cannot keep doing this”, I said as I passed him to get to my front door. He watched me with sorrow in his eyes. I hated making him feel this way, but if he would just accept my rejection and move on, he wouldn’t be suffering like this.

My father was passed out at the table, yet again, so I helped him to his bed. After preparing his dinner, I went to get my coat. I had a night class to teach tonight, and then one of the ladies had invited me for tea and scones at her house afterwards. I graciously accepted, even though the men in town seemed afraid to be around me. Maybe because they knew I was more intelligent than them and that made them feel threatened?

I peeped through the front window before leaving, to check that Gideon had indeed left. He was nowhere in sight, no doubt off licking his wounds and gathering the courage for his next impromptu proposal. I walked quietly, not wanting to draw attention to myself as I weaved through the town. I knocked on the school house door and it was opened a few seconds later by Mrs Thorpe.

The twelve women and I spent over two hours reading out loud and discussing why some letters make no sound in certain words. A couple of the women were still confused why the word knight had the letter k at the start if it wasn’t necessary. After forty-five minutes of explaining, I decided to end the class there and perhaps re-visit the topic on another night.

Mrs Arlington helped me say farewell to all the other ladies and then we tidied the hall, making sure to put everything back where it belonged, before we walked to her house. Mrs Arlington lived on the furthest side of town, so the walk was quite long. We chatted about what we had been doing with our days, and of course, she had done nothing but cook, clean and tend to her three children since we last spoke.

When we finally arrived at her house, her husband greeted us at the door. His eyes grew suspicious when he saw that his wife was in my company. “Good evening, Walter. I was walking home from the library when I ran into Susie here, and she invited me over for some tea and scones. I hope I’m not intruding?”, I said politely. He nodded slowly, obviously surprised by my formality.

I didn’t stay long before Walter began pressing his wife about how late in the evening it was, and that he had work in the morning. I gave Susie a quick hug, thanking both her and her husband for their hospitality, then began my walk home. The night air was growing cold, a sign that winter had well and truly begun. I pulled my coat tightly around my shoulders and picked up my pace. I’d no doubt need to put wood in the fire place when I arrived home, father would probably still be sleeping if he hadn’t awoken and stumbled to the tavern already. A few specks of snow began to float down around me and I sighed inwardly to myself, I was definitely going to be freezing by the time I made it home.

I wasn’t far from home when a rough hand reached out of a small alleyway beside the bakery and pulled me into the darkness. “Let go of me”, I demanded, shoving the hand away from me. I turned to walk back on to the street when the person grabbed me again, this time covering my mouth while wrapping their other arm around my waist. I thrashed and kicked, trying to escape from their hold, but whoever it was, was much bigger than me, and I had no hope of getting free.

I was spun around and then hands grasped the tops of my arms, holding me in place, “Oh my beautiful Arabella, why couldn’t you have just said yes to me? This could have been so much better for both of us”, he said, as the smell of alcohol wafted over my face. I looked up at his face and could barely make out his features. “Gideon?”, I asked confused. He hiccupped a couple of times and then leant in to try and kiss me. I turned my head and tried to step backwards, “Gideon stop, you’re drunk”, I stated, still trying to get free from his hold.

“This was going to happen whether I was drunk or not”, he slurred, tightening his hands around my arms. I could feel my pulse throbbing in my arms as he began to cut off the circulation. “You’re hurting me, Gideon, let go”, I pleaded with him. He pulled me roughly and then pushed me against the stone wall, pressing his body against mine so that I couldn’t move. “If you had said yes, you would’ve liked this. I wouldn’t have hurt you”, he said while looking into my eyes. “You can’t do this”, I whispered, unable to make my voice any louder. I knew exactly what he planned to do; my father had attempted it in many of his drunken states. He would call me by my mother’s name and then try to force himself on me. I learnt very quickly that it was better to arrive home after him so that he would be passed out and unable to harass me.

“I’ll do whatever I please with you”, Gideon said, grabbing a handful of my hair. My screams for help were useless as Gideon continued to grab at my body in ways that I had never let any man touch me. He was rough and violent with his hands, ripping my clothing with such strength that they caused friction burns on my skin. I forgot all about the bitter coldness of the night as he had his way with me, forcing himself onto me against my will.

I scratched, kicked and pushed as he violated me. Tears were streaming from my eyes as he not only raped me, but continually assaulted me. My face was throbbing from the multiple punches he had laid to it as I yelled out for help, my breasts stung from his disgusting teeth sinking into their flesh, and there were other agonising pains in areas that weren’t his to touch.

When Gideon was finally finished, he threw me to the cold, wet ground and spat on my exposed body. My sight began to blur and black spots clouded my vision as I lost consciousness. The very last thing I heard was a woman’s heavenly voice as footsteps approached me.