Flint, Eric Ring of Fire SS anth Grantville Gazette Vol 4

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Brandy's own tears started rolling down her face. "Dirty. You feel dirty and ashamed and you don't think
you'll ever be clean again. You feel so dirty that you can't imagine ever being worth anything to anyone.
Not even to yourself."
Justine's eyes widened in shock as she looked into Brandy's eyes, and understood what she saw there.
"You! It happened also to you?"
"Oh, yes, Justine," Brandy said. "It happened to me, and I don't even have the excuse that I was running
from soldiers. I deliberately went somewhere I wasn't supposed to go and was doing something I wasn't
supposed to be doing . . ."
"Like at a certain frat party, with a certain young man I told you to stay away from, maybe?" Donna
knew she should have kept quiet. She hadn't been able to stop the words. Both young women stopped
talking, exactly what Donna didn't want.
"How long have you been standing there, Mom?"
"Long enough, Brandy, long enough," Donna admitted as she walked into the room. "You two were so
intent that I guess you didn't hear me come in. I've thought for years now that something must have
happened to you and that whatever it was, it had to be pretty ugly. You just wouldn't tell me and I wasn't
sure what to do except wait. Go on, finish your story," she continued, as she sat down and put her arms
around her daughter. "Get it out."
"I don't know all of it, Mom. I think he slipped me some kind of drug, maybe. I have flashes of memory,
sort of pictures in my head." Donna held her daughter tightly as Brandy started shaking. "They're awful.
He did things, things that make me sick to think of. I couldn't talk about it. What would you have thought
of me, if I told you? What would anybody think?"
All three women were crying, and talking at once. In Brandy's case, years of poisonous thoughts,
self-recriminations, fears of betrayal and discovery poured out. For Justine, it was months, but the
feelings of degradation weren't limited by the time. Eventually, the emotional storm began to wear down.
Gradually, over a space of time, the weeping diminished. Finally, Donna stood and shook herself into
some kind of order.
"Okay, you two. It's out. You can go on with life and we can make it better. There's not a thing we can
do to the man who hurt Brandy, Justine, but there is something that can be done about this Arend person.
You need to tell your brother."
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"Mein Gott, Henning! It is so late, he will be worried. I must go. He does not know where I am. He
was to meet me after the work, and I am not there."
The knock on the door startled everyone. Donna was relieved to find Blake Haggerty standing on the
porch, along with another young man in an MP uniform. Behind them stood another man who, judging
from his looks, could only be Henning Drugen, Justine's brother.
"Mrs. Bates, do you know where Brandy is? We were passing the research center and found Henning
here going a little crazy trying to find his sister. Mr. Reardon said that Miss Drugen might still be with
Brandy."
"They're both here, Blake. Gentlemen, come in," Donna answered. "There's a bit of a problem, and
you're just the people we need to see."
* * *
Mary Emerson smiled as Gannon sat down at the dinner table. For a change, all four of her family would
have a chance to talk over dinner. The last two years had been incredibly hectic. Between Gannon
working the "B" shift, her own work at the library, young David's birth, and the Ring of Fire, Mary
sometimes felt like she had lost touch with her family.
"There's nothing like a dinner with two beautiful women to make a guy happy," Gannon joked. "A
couple of gorgeous blondes, a bouncing boy, and a quiet dinner at home seems like heaven to me."
Mary and Vicky both grinned at Gannon, pleased to be together. Even the two-year-old David gurgled
happily in his highchair, chanting "Da, Da" sounds and making the usual mess with his food.
So much has been going on in our lives,Mary thought. The addition of the housekeeper and her daughter
to the household, while relieving her child-care concerns and domestic responsibilities, had also added an
element of reserve between Mary, Vicky and Gannon. Tonight, with Margrethe and Eva away, Mary
had both the time and the privacy to pay attention to her husband and daughter.
"Vicky, I swear it seems like you've grown-up all of a sudden. I never noticed that outfit before tonight.
It looks really good on you."
Vicky blushed, a bit, and breezily answered, "Well, I haven't had it very long. All my old stuff was
getting kind of short. I wonder if I'm ever going to stop growing up and start growing out."
Gannon looked a little embarrassed suddenly. He hastily changed the subject, "All your investments must
be going pretty well then. I was kind of surprised when I had to buy a new shirt. Just couldn't believe the
cost."
"Oh, I'm in pretty good shape, Dad. I can afford a few things."
"You know, Gannon," Mary said, "that reminds me about our own savings. That money is just sitting in
the bank, not doing much. Don't you think that we should probably take advantage of having a financial
genius in the house? Vicky, I used to think that you might be a little young for this, but now, with you so
grown up and all, maybe you could recommend some investments for me and Dad."
* * *
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