'What the hell are you doing you crazy bitch?'
She stopped, looking directly at him.
'I am fucking your car the way you fucked me you bastard.'
She continued her work with the shovel, now surrounded by a crowd. Fleubert stepped in and grabbed the shovel out of her hands. She hit him, sending him stumbling backwards. He recovered his footing and came at her. He never stood a chance. She was fitter, more experienced, and far more determined than him. In a frenzied attack that lasted much less than twenty seconds she broke his right leg, three ribs, and his left arm in two places. His right arm was dislocated, as was his jaw, his left eye socket was shattered; it would need reconstructive surgery but would never look quite right again. The bruising and swelling that followed later was astonishing. Only her anger saved his life. She wanted him to suffer, to know pain. She could have killed him in three seconds, or crippled him for life, but she did not want anyone feeling sorry for this pathetic excuse for a human being. She wanted him to suffer, and suffer he did.
Now she was here, charged with theft, assault, and property damage. Things did not look good for her. He was still in the infirmary. She, facing the end of her career. Her advocate stipulated that the other twenty-one witnesses to the assault and property damage would testify much the same as the first. Severine's heart sank. She could not bring herself to tell the full story; just that he had made inappropriate advances towards her. She had no evidence of him raping her, no witnesses. She had probably even looked willing to an onlooker. She knew she could not return to her life in the army; prison followed with a dishonourable discharge loomed. She whispered to her advocate that she wanted to make a deal.
13:27 05 November [12:27 05 November GMT]
Home of Mme Margaret-Julia Pascal, Felletin, Central France.
At nine-two years of age, Mme Margaret-Julia Pascal had seen and experienced more than her fair share, although most didn’t guess it to look at her. Appearing to others as the archetypal grandmother did not bother her in the slightest; being paternal grandmother to Severine was one of the joys of her life. A few of her comrades from the old days knew her well, but these became fewer each passing year. The younger generation, now pensioners themselves, had heard the stories but not the names. Margaret-Julia knew all the stories, all the names, her code name “The Raven” was central to most of the stories.
Since receiving the call from her granddaughter, she had been busy; airing the spare room, making enough chicken casserole for them both and had even a baked dessert. As the blackberry and apple pie was cooling on the side and the casserole slowly turning from ingredients into a meal, she found herself singing along to “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” on her radio, her heart elevated by both the song and the imminent arrival of her little Sev.
Grandmother and granddaughter had built a special relationship during Severine's school holidays whilst her mother was glad to be rid of her for a while. With no distractions at her grandmother’s Severine avoided trouble. Mme Pascal was much more “real” with her granddaughter than other grandmothers, talking to her from a relatively early age about life, relationships and even sex, aware that when she started dating her little Sev was seeing girls as well as boys.
15:41 05 November [14:41 05 November GMT]
Train from Paris to Nimes, France.
Severine loved taking the train; it was both practical and romantic at the same time. The practicality came from the ability to actually do stuff on the train, read, write, hold a conversation whatever you wanted or needed. Driving means you can’t do anything other than drive, becoming more tired the further you travel. On the train, you can shut your eyes. Try that driving.
She also loved the romantic side of train travel with the infinite possibilities that it opens up. Sharing your journey with others, and them sharing their journey with you. The longer her journey, the more people she could meet or the longer she had to talk with them. Nowhere else do you get such a mix of interesting people as you do on a train.
Severine was doing a little people watching over the top of the book she was reading. She liked to guess at their lives, trying like a detective to pick up clues so she could ascertain what they did, their status in life and their secrets. Most of the time she had no idea whether she was anywhere close. However, now and again she would get the chance to engage them in conversation to check her observations. More often than not, she was correct.
She had just finished watching a man in a suit further down the carriage when he got up and left at the stop. Her carriage was almost empty so she was a little surprised when a woman who had just boarded the train asked if the seat opposite her was free.
'Of course it would be my pleasure.' The woman gave her a smile and settled into her seat. As the train pulled out of the station, the woman leaned forward, offering her hand to Severine.
'I'm Anne-Marie.' she said.
'I'm Severine'.
Severine was captivated by the aura of the woman. Not only very pretty, she seemed to have a gravity all of her own. Severine found it quite intoxicating. Desperate to make conversation she said the first thing that came into her head.
'Are you travelling somewhere?'
'Yes.' Anne-Marie replied 'That's why I'm taking the train.' She smiled as if to try to ease Severine's embarrassment.
Damn, damn, damn, what a stupid thing to say, are you travelling somewhere! Arrgghhh!
'What about you? Are you travelling somewhere?' Anne-Marie asked, again with the smile and this time a glint in her eye.
‘Yes.’ Severine replied, somewhat bashful now. 'I'm going to my grandmother's.’ Severine felt about eight years old.
They talked for ages, laughing and joking. Severine, on discovering that Anne-Marie was staying in La Courtine, decided to change at Clermont-Ferrand with her. It was only a few miles further to her grandmother's home in Felletin and she was in no great rush. On the bus, they exchanged details straight away; aware that time was passing quickly. They parted with a kiss on both checks, Severine feeling more positive than she had in a long while.
17:10 05 November [16:10 05 November GMT]
Home of Mme Margaret-Julia Pascal, Felletin, Central France.
The walk up the country lane had not changed, rounding the final bend she could see her grandmother's house, still the perfect picture she remembered. The fresh air laced with the smell of cooking and the sounds of music. Severine stopped, taking in the beauty of the countryside, the familiar sounds and smells, and the two bed-roomed house that would be her home, for now at least. The house looked like a large very well maintained cottage, a product of her grandmother's natural homemaking skills and her ability to barter with tradesmen.
She continued her approach, a smile insisting itself upon her face as the memories she had of her time here surfaced. This, she thought to herself, is where I need to be right now, a million miles away from the rest of the world.
'Bonjour Julia.' Severine always addressed her grandmother as a friend, just one of the ways in which they were close.
'Sev!’ Julia rushed as best she could to embrace her.
They talked and ate, the afternoon stretching into the evening. Wine appeared and after the third glass, Julia looked intently at her granddaughter.
'Why are you here my dear? I mean it's always lovely to see you and you know you are always welcome, but shouldn't you be in a field somewhere with a rifle surrounded by smoke and explosions?'
'I've left the army.'
'Oh I see...well actually no I don't, you loved the army why did you leave?'
'I...I....’ Severine's voice was breaking with the strain of it all. 'I was raped.'
The tears came now, as Julia had expected. Julia let the initial flood pass and then when they became a steady flow she sat down next to her little Sev and cradled her, holding her tightly and stroking her hair, just as she had when she was little. Severine talked about it at length, stretched out on the sofa, her head resting on her grandmother's lap. Fi
nally, when Severine had finished, Julia spoke.
'It sounds to me like you should have used the shovel on him and not his car.'
Julia was of course thinking how she would have used the shovel on him, would, if she ever got the chance, arthritis or not.
'Don't worry, I did quite a number on him.'
Julia could see her smile, but it was a smile that broke her heart. The bastard, she thought, the dirty rotten stinking bastard, if I ever...
'I think I might go into La Courtine tomorrow afternoon. Do you still have my old bicycle?'
'Yes,' Julia replied, 'and it's still my bicycle, but you may borrow it as usual.'
09:20 06 November [08:20 06 November GMT]
La Courtine, Central France.
Anne-Marie picked up her house phone after just the second ring.
'She has just left her grandmother's place; she is on a bicycle heading south, probably on her way to La Courtine.'
'OK' Anne-Marie replied, 'have you let unit two know?'
'Of course, just as you instructed.'
'Good. Maintain surveillance of the grandmother.'
'Will do, out.'
Anne-Marie called unit two. 'Let me know when she arrives, and where she goes in town.'
'Do you wish us to follow her?'
'No. Just let me know where she is, I am going to make contact again.'
'Will do. Out.'
Anne-Marie looked through the clothes she had at her disposal. The weather today was good, especially for the time of year, the sun quite brilliant and warm. She settled on a close fitting white blouse, tapered at the waist, with a long cotton dress. She looked at herself in the mirror, the sun making a silhouette of her. She turned both ways, good, she thought, I can see my figure quite clearly through this...
Part of the process, getting past the formal and into the intimate, but Anne-Marie was never quite sure how she felt about it. She knew it to be necessary though. There is just something special about a personal relationship that no amount of questions, research, or observations would ever reveal. Still, she thought, I wish there was a better way. Her phone rang again, 'Yes?'
'Unit two, subject has arrived and is headed into the boulangerie.'
'Thanks.' Anne-Marie adjusted her makeup and headed out of the apartment.
There was a queue in the boulangerie, Severine patiently waiting her turn. Anne-Marie entered, quickly gathered some bread, and queued to be served cheese. Severine finally turned round to face the direction in which Anne-Marie was standing. Anne-Marie caught her eye, gave a small wave with her free hand.
'Severine! I thought it was you but I wasn't sure. How are you?'
Severine stepped out of her place in the queue to join Anne-Marie at the back; they greeted one another with a kiss to both cheeks and a warm hug as if they had known each other for years.
Severine looked at Anne-Marie and simply replied 'Bof.'
'Bof?' replied Anne-Marie, 'Why only so-so?'
'Well it would take a while to explain.' Severine replied, her eyes drifting away. 'I've just come into town for some provisions.' She held her shopping aloft.
'Me too.' Anne-Marie matched Severine's gesture holding up a baguette. 'Look I'm free for a while, what say we buy these and then grab a drink in the café?'
'Sure, why not?'
They took a table outside under the gas heaters so Anne-Marie could smoke.
'Here is to new friendships.' Severine offered.
'And to new possibilities.' Anne-Marie replied, smiling again at Severine. She made sure to have the sun on her back so the silhouette of her dress would be maximised. Sitting to the side of her chair, she crossed her legs allowing her tanned calf muscles to glisten in the daylight. She knew that she was an attractive woman and that she could purr like a pussycat when she wanted to. Not yet though, now is the time to make a mental connection, the rest will come.
'I'm so glad we ran into each other. I was going to call you, soon, but I didn't want to seem too keen. That sounds bad, doesn't it? I just mean that with everything I've been through recently I need a friend. I've been on my own so much I've begun to wonder if life would ever return to normal.'
Severine, intrigued to hear about problems other than her own, leaned in closer, and asked her to go on.
'Well, three weeks ago I became single, jobless, and homeless all in the same week. My position at work had been under review for some time, by boss was a real ass-hole, useless, he blamed me for all of his mistakes, but he was in tight with the manager and that, as they say, is that. Anyway, he made this colossal cock-up, cost the company a lot of money and I got blamed again, so they let me go. They had to give me money though, they knew they could never pin it on me, but I was really pissed off after that. Then came the real problem, I needed someone to talk to, I tried talking to Claudette but she was working nights and I was sleeping through the days. Her brother, François, came round one evening, Claudette having asked him to cheer me up. Hah! Well you can imagine I was in a right state. I had been drinking and not eating properly so I was pretty wasted even before he got there, and he was so charming. He had always been so.’
She stopped to light another Gauloises. She had thought about the substance of what she would say from reading the case. However, she was building the detail from Severine’s non-verbal responses. She continued, confident she was gaining Severine’s trust.
‘Then it started to change, he kept saying how lucky Claudette was and that if he was her he wouldn't leave me alone at night. I was flattered and I guess I may have been too critical of Claudette and too nice to him… when bam! He leaps on me, I never realised he was so strong, I doubt I could have fought him off even if I had not been drinking. What made it worse was he kept saying how he really liked me and that he knew I had always liked him. Like that gave him the right or something? Anyway, he left afterwards and I just waited until Claudette got home then I told her all about it. She turned on me. Saying how I must have seduced him and that I must have always fancied him. I couldn't believe it, twice I needed her to be there for me, and twice she wasn't. I left the next day. I crashed on a friend’s sofa for a couple of weeks and then decided to get out of the city and head down here. I know the area as I was based here when I was enlisted. Sorry I've really gone on. Please tell me more about yourself. I remember you saying you are staying with your Aunt in Felletin. Are you staying long?' Anne-Marie had deliberately said Aunt instead of Grandmother, one more test in hundreds.
'It’s my grandmother's and I don't know how long I'll be staying..........I don’t really have any plans to go elsewhere, yet.'
'Oh, won't you need to get back to...?' Anne-Marie left the question unfinished, hoping it would have the desired effect. It did.
'No. No, I've nothing to go back to. Nothing at all.'
There it came, Anne-Marie was pleased to note. All the details of her life, her poor upbringing in Paris, the emotional mother, and the father she so wanted to be like. The constant disappointments with the army career that showed promise but never took off. Then the final straw, the Lieutenant who had no morals, the board of inquiry weighted against her and so she had left. She had come to the only place that had ever treated her well. To the only person who had never let her down. This one is right, Anne-Marie told herself, I can feel it, I know it, she is ready.
After the third bottle of wine, they headed over to Anne-Marie's apartment. It was getting dark now, the streetlights giving a golden quality to the evening. When Anne-Marie slipped her left arm around Severine's waist, she welcomed it. The warmth, the closeness of a kindred spirit. She was quite smitten with Anne-Marie; the invitation back to her apartment accepted without question. The stairs seemed to sway gently as she climbed them, then a wave of panic came over her, her mind falling back to that night, her losing her ability to think, to function. No, she thought about it clearly, as clearly as she could after a bottle and a half of wine. I should be swaying, she thought, and besides Anne-Marie is a good person
, she has been through the same kind of trauma that I have, I can trust Anne-Marie....
In the apartment, Anne-Marie put on some music quietly. Severine instantly froze.
'What's wrong?’ Anne-Marie asked, suddenly on guard.
'He...He put on music.' Severine's voice was trembling; her face had lost a lot of its natural colour.
'Sorry, I'm so sorry.' Anne-Marie said, switching off the music and opening the balcony doors. 'Shall we sit outside?'
'Thank you. Thank you.' The colour starting to return to her face, Severine sat at the table on the balcony, Anne-Marie preparing some coffee for them both. She joined her on the balcony, a Gauloises in her hand.
'Do you have nightmares?'
'I don't know,' replied Severine, 'I tend to have issues in the day, like just now and when I was coming up the stairs I worried that I wasn't in control. That I should be in control. Then I remembered how much we both had to drink!'
Severine laughed at this and Anne-Marie saw her transform before her eyes, the ghost gone, for the moment. Anne-Marie made the decision then, Passive, with the lights on, let her go at her own speed and in her own way. Make sure she is comfortable all the way.
'I should call my grandmother, that is, if you want me to stay.' Severine looked at Anne-Marie, the fear of rejection evident upon her face and in her voice.
'Of course,' replied Anne-Marie, 'if that's what you want?'
'It is.'
09:40 07 November [08:40 07 November GMT]
Apartment of Anne-Marie, La Courtine, Central France.
The sun arrived that morning through the open balcony doors. They had been cold in the night, colder than necessary, but they had slept in each other’s arms to maintain their warmth. Neither had wanted to venture out of the bed to close the doors, for fear that the spell might be broken.
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