AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Grabbing a tissue, Natalie dabbed at her eyes.
“What did your grandparents say when they found you?”
“They were angry, called my father—their son, all sorts of names I didn't understand at the time. Grandpa Frank phoned him and told him to come and get me, but Dad refused. He told them they could shove me in an orphanage for all he cared. Grandma Esther told Grandpa to put me in bed in the spare room and she would deal with the situation the following morning.”
“Did they?”
“Grandpa Frank decided they would keep me even though Grandma wanted to put me into foster care. He was sick, dying, and said it would be easier on Grandma if she had me when he died so she gave in to his wishes. He was kind but, unfortunately, he passed when I was eight. When it was just me and Grandma, she moved us to Fisher, to the house she lived in until she died.”
Natalie paused.
“What happened then?” I continued caressing her hands.
“The beatings started. She was clever and would never leave marks where someone could see them, not that it really mattered because she never let me go out or see anyone. She would refuse to allow me food or drink if my grades weren't perfect and would lock me in the basement when we had visitors. Most people didn't even know I existed.” Tears slipped down her cheeks.
I felt a powerful hatred for the woman I'd previously admired and wished I'd known what she had really been like. I would have spat on her too.
“Why didn't you tell a friend, a teacher?”
“Grandma taught me herself and I wasn't allowed friends. Hell, half the time I didn't even have clothes. She saidthe Lord had delivered me naked and I was meant to stay that way so when I was wicked or disobeyed, she could lay me across her lap and punish me with a strap.”
“Fuck, what sort of a woman was she? Who treats little girls that way?”
“She did. I tried so hard to be good, to not make her angry but she didn't need an excuse to punish me. As I got older, she would tie me to hooks in the wall and hit me repeatedly with a belt.” The tears flowed faster. “She chanted at me for hours and said I was the devil's whore.”
I pulled Natalie onto my lap and rubbed her back soothingly. Never in my life had I felt such anger toward another person. If she had still been alive I swear I would have made her pay for her cruelty. “How did you get away?”
“I was sixteen and cooking dinner. She came to the kitchen and saw I had a pan of peas on the stove. She screamed at me and said she had told me she wanted corn. She picked up the pan and threw it at me. She dragged me by the hair, tied me to the hooks and beat me. The pain from the burns was excruciating and I passed out. When I came to I was on the floor in a pool of my own urine. She had gone out and for some reason, the doors weren't locked, so I washed, dressed in one of her frocks and fled. I never went back and never saw her alive again.”
Tears welled in my eyes as my heart broke for this beautiful lady. I held her close and, as she leaned into my chest, I kissed the top of her head. I ached for this beautiful woman. How the fuck did this happen? Why didn't anyone know? Why, for fuck’s sake, did she think anyone would want to judge her for what she had been through?
“Where did you go?”
“I struggled, barefoot through the snow, into Macksville. I hid whenever cars came along in case it was Esther. I reached town after midnight with no money, no clothes...nothing. I knocked at the door of a bed and breakfast...Regina Phipps was the owner. She opened the door and I collapsed into her arms. It was four days before I woke up in a clean bed wearing a nightdress I had never seen before. The pain was slightly better, but I was still in agony. There was a drip in my hand and fluid was being pumped into me.”
“You were lucky to survive.”
“I almost didn't. Regina said she had to cut the frock off me and bathe pieces of it away from my burns. An infection had already set in. She called the doctor but refused to allow him to take me to hospital like he wanted. Instinct and the state of my back warned her I was running away from someone who had tortured me, so she wanted to keep me hidden. She forced the doctor to treat me where I was.”
“Thank god she did.”
“Yes. For five weeks Regina and the doctor attended to my burns, the open welts on my back and made sure I stayed safe. The infection caused high fevers and I was delirious for most of the time.”
“What happened after you got well?”
“I stayed with Regina, helped her run the bed and breakfast and attended college to become an accountant. She died eight years ago and left everything to me. I was twenty-six years old, qualified as a CPA and ready to face the world again. I sold her assets, bought this apartment, and started my business.”
“So, who is Paul?”
Natalie shifted on my lap so she could see my face. “Paul was a man I thought loved me. We became close but when it came time to be intimate, he couldn't deal with my disfigurement and left.”
“His loss,” I placed a soft kiss to her lips.
“Maybe. I'm far from a pretty sight under this jacket, it's the reason I haven't been with a man for a long time and the reason I cover up regardless of the weather. I expect I'll always send men running. I don't know why I think you'll be any different. I've become used to the idea that I'll always be alone.”
I eased her to her feet and stood.
Chapter Six
