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Eugenia moved over to lie on her stomach. She fell into a disturbed sleep. Tears were wetting her cheeks. She was not able to rid herself of her complete helplessness. She only hoped that someone could rescue her. She didn't want anymore of those terrible injections. And she didn't want anyone else touching her body. She had only wanted Drew. She cried, her thoughts turning to words. "Drew… Drew… where are you? Why can't you come and rescue me."
The night sounds outside the window were much different than the night sounds of her parents' homestead. Through her dizziness, she could hear horse's hoofs against the street, the laughter of drunken men, the screams and shouts of men in fights, and the laughter of the women who were in search of a man.
Even though the effects of the injection of morphine were slowly beginning to wear off, it didn't decrease Eugenia's feeling of building helplessness. She bit her lower lip and touching her sore, abused body, she wanted to die.
* * *
Chapter Four
Buttoning the mother-of-pearl buttons on her clean flowered dress, Eugenia listened more closely. She was glad to hear that the commotion outside her door had died down to a silence. Earlier in the morning it had awakened her with a start. The shuffling of many feet, the voices of men, and the whispers of girls. It had only added to her fear when she had suddenly realized where she was. She could still feel the sick feeling of rage and disgust flowing through her veins with her continuing thoughts of what Madam Valerie had led her into. Tears brimmed in her eyes, and she thought that she would never be the same again. She was tarnished. Now, a decent, God-fearing man wouldn't even look at her, let alone touch her. She felt as though it was written all over her that she had been used in such unthinkable ways.
Turning to the mirror on the wardrobe, Eugenia began to run her fingers over her face. The red of the sunburn had faded. Then she noticed the thin lines around her full, protruding lips. She was only sixteen but was already feeling, and looking, like she was twenty. What could she do? She hadn't experienced life yet, but yet she felt as though it had come to an end. Already. And she attributed it to this Madam Valerie. Oh, how she hated her. She had never wished anyone dead before, but she did now. Even though Eugenia had been heavily drugged the night before, she could still feel the woman's fingers and tongue on her body, making feelings similar to what Drew had done to her sweep over her body. She couldn't understand how and didn't want it to ever happen again. If it did, she would most surely kill herself. She couldn't live that type of life, one of constant degradation.
Going to the one window in the room, Eugenia tried to push it up, but only succeeded at weakening herself even more than she already was. It was quite evident that she was to be a prisoner, until Madam Valerie tired of her. She hurried to the door and tried the knob once again and was startled when she felt the door open suddenly, hitting against her, knocking her down onto the floor.
"Oh, I'm sorry," the girl who entered said. "I didn't know you were standing there. Here, let me help you up."
Eugenia hesitated, then put her hand toward the girl, now remembering where she had seen her. She was the girl who had intruded on Madam Valerie's fun the past evening. And except for the black eye on this girl's face, she so resembled Eugenia's sister Elizabeth. She was so tiny and frail, with long black curls hanging around her shoulders and the palest of blue eyes that appeared to be bottomless. The girl's dress of silk rustled as she bent down and placed a hand on Eugenia's arm, guiding her upward.
"I thought Madam Valerie made you leave," Eugenia said, vaguely remembering the details of the past evening; enough so to shudder inwardly.
The girl laughed lightly.
"Madam Valerie won't be telling anyone what to do anymore," she said, walking to a chair and sitting down.
Eugenia pushed some stray strands of hair back out of her eyes, standing immobile, afraid to move. She wondered about this girl who didn't seem to fit into this setting somehow. Her eyes seemed to dance as she talked, and she seemed so young, so educated.
"What do you mean?" Eugenia asked.
A look of triumph shadowed this girl's face. "She's dead," she said, smiling.
Eugenia gasped, remembering her thoughts of only moments ago—wishing … Madam Valerie … to be dead. "Dead?" she whispered.
"Yes. Dead. She died during the night… of an overdose of morphine."
"Oh, how terrible," Eugenia said, slouching down onto the edge of the bed.
"I don't know how you can say that," the girl said, frowning. "Not after what she was forcing you to do."
Eugenia's face reddened, realizing that this girl had seen, had known. She turned her face away.
She heard the rustling of silk, then felt a hand on her arm. "Don't feel ashamed," the girl said. "I was treated in the same manner when I first came here."
Eugenia's eyes widened as she jerked her head back around. "You were? And you're still here?"
The girl sat down beside her, pulling her dress of blue up around her ankles. "Yes. I'm still here. Madam Valerie worked it out quite well for herself."
"How?" Eugenia prodded.
"She got me hooked on morphine," the girl said softly, her eyes visibly misting. "After that, I did almost anything to be supplied each day."
Eugenia's heart seemed to stop as she remembered the injection that she had been given. She eyed the door, wanting to get up and run away, as far away as she could get from this never-ending nightmare. She had never dreamed that getting away from home would mean living like this. She was surprised when as she watched the girl rise and begin to walk toward the door she saw her turn back in her direction. Again, when this girl smiled, she resembled Eugenia's sister so! In fact, the more Eugenia studied her, she knew that this girl was Elizabeth all over again, with her pert nose and pale face, making Eugenia's heart ache and wish she could help this girl out of the hell of a life that she had found herself in.
"You're free to go, Eugenia," the girl said.
Eugenia swallowed hard, not believing what she was hearing. "I am?" she said.
"Yes. I'm the new madam of this house now. And I don't—and won't—stand for anymore abuse like you were an unwilling part of."
