Father Brown and the Baxter Twins

AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: My views are going up so hey, at least people are reading! If you're reading send me a review, tell me what you think! I went for fluff this chapter, lots of cute stuff and a lot more explaining. Enjoy the next chapter

Chapter 4: The Boy who was Naughty (unedited)

"I suspect you should call Inspector Valentine. I've been gone a week now; Finley can't have taken that well. The Dock's are probably littered with corpses," Seraphina said with a shaky laugh. "My brother always did have a temper."

"Inspector Valentine?" Father Brown echoed.

Seraphina nodded. "He's the Inspector in charge of all the Baxter files, on me and my brother. Not the smartest man but even he must have realized I'm gone by now. Someone would have told him."

Father Brown smirked but didn't say anything. Probably because they were all thinking it. Inspector Valentine hadn't been that smart when he was in Kembleford yelling at Father Brown for solving his murders. And then conveniently taking all the credit.

Mallory tapped his pen on the tabletop and got her attention once more. "So let's go back shall we?" he asked. "You are related to Finley Baxter, one of the most notorious criminals?"

Seraphina rolled her eyes. "Oh here we go," she snarled. "Yes, I'm his sister. And yes he is a very well known and dangerous criminal."

Mallory opened his mouth probably to ask more stupid questions but Seraphina stopped him. "No more stupid questions. No, I don't usually know what Finley's up to on a regular basis, no I don't know where he's hidden any of the things he's stolen, nor do I know about any past, present, or future bodies or crimes. I can't tell you where he hides his money, I barely know who works for him and I won't be telling you about the few that I do. I do not work for him in a criminal capacity, or at least not that I'm aware of. Usually I just take messages for him and relay them. No I don't know what they mean, they're all coded and I don't know the code. Now. Can we get on to what happened to me?"

Mallory opened his mouth once again, probably to ask her what it was that happened to her but once again Fina beat him too it. "I was out for a drink, yes I was alone. Yes, I was looking for company. Yes, I found company," she said glancing over to Sid as she said so. Something in his stomach turned and he quickly got up and walked away from the table to lean on the window sill and look out the window. He didn't want to think about any other man who put his hands on her.

"Yes, that company knocked me out and I guess took me out here. That was on Saturday night, so judging by the date a week ago. I recognize now that the two men who held me in that hole and did… well… some pretty stupid and painful things to me were Anthony St. Clair's men. He's a new man on the docks, he's got a little corner under his thumb and is striving for a little more. Wants to take Finley on, I guess taking me was meant to either scare him or maybe use me as ransom for money or more control of the docks," she explained.

Mallory had leant in. "Do you think it worked?"

"Neither Finley or I respond well to threats of this kind. Besides, it's well known that Finley has a temper. An eye for an eye. So let's hope Anthony St. Clair doesn't have a sister or her head might be in his bed by morning," she said with a shallow laugh. She caught the Inspectors stare and she sighed again. "I'm not saying he's done it and I don't know of any confirmed head severing's, I'm just saying that from what's been published of him—and not proven mind you—it sounds like something he would do."

Mallory took all of this in. "Yes, well… I think we should hear about these things that they did to you so I can charge them correctly," he said.

"Is kidnapping and hostage holding not enough?" she asked, but Mallory just eyed here with a look that clearly told her no.

Seraphina opened her mouth to tell him, Sid could see it in the reflection in window. The thought of having to hear it, hear what was actually done to her in detail was too excruciating, hell it was painful just to look at her and know that she only saw him as some lanky beanpole. He forcefully pushed himself away from the window and stormed away, being sure to mumble "I'll be with the car," to Lady F as he went.

He was painful aware that Seraphina's eyes were on him as he moved, he could feel them burning into his skin as he left.

Mallory left not long after he got Seraphina's full statement. Father Brown had commended her for being so brave in the face of such terror. Seraphina had merely stated that she had lived in the slums of London all her life and that was nothing and then she asked to use the phone.

Father Brown hadn't wanted to listen in on the conversation but when she opened with "Yes Daniel, I'm alive," he couldn't help but listen to the rest.

It was a standard conversation. But she made no mention for him to tell Finley that she was alright, she merely asked about someone named Sarah, told him to check on her house and that she wasn't sure when she would be coming back London. He found it strange that she made no mention of Finley and getting a message to him that she was alright. In fact, he found it strange that she would not call Finley herself.

Maybe he didn't have a phone, but surely she would have a way to communicate with her brother in case of such emergencies?

Father Brown heard a sudden crash and turned to see that Sidney had kicked the presbytery garbage can over and it looked like he and Lady Felicia were in a very heated discussion. Seraphina appeared beside Father Brown and looked out the window with him, shoulder to shoulder. She said nothing as they took in the conversation between them, Sidney's wild gestures to the house and then to his own body and Lady Felicia's stern glare.

Father Brown turned to her. "Is everything alright in London?" he wondered.

"Quite. The message will get to Finley that I'm alright. Hopefully he hasn't done anything too rash. And I heard Anthony St. Clair has left London for a vacation in the country side," she replied.

Father Brown tried to hide his alarm. "You don't think he's coming here?"

Seraphina had a cool look about her as she turned back to him and said with a deadly cold in those suddenly hardened green eyes: "If he is, he'll have a nasty surprise waiting for him."

Father Brown was suddenly worried about the capacity for evil he saw hidden in the eyes of this girl. He wanted to ask her what surprise could be waiting for a criminal. And if this criminal was coming here for her, wouldn't Mallory need to know? But Mrs. McCarthy was there, hat on and ready to go.

"Come dear, you'll be lodging with me until you're ready to go back to the city," she said.

Seraphina blinked her eyes. "But… I thought I'd just be staying with Sidney…"

"With that man? For another night? Girl, I won't let you be that stupid! It's just not proper!" she cried, and then grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the house.

Father Brown watched from the window as Seraphina allowed Mrs. McCarthy to drag her down the drive, not fighting her, only escaping her grip once to go to Sidney. It looked like she was telling him what Mrs. McCarthy was doing. She put a hand to his chest and for a brief moment Father Brown saw something in Sidney he had never seen before. Whatever it was he brushed it off quickly along with her hand, and then Seraphina seemed awfully hurt by whatever Sidney was saying. The next thing he knew Mrs. McCarthy was pulling her away and Father Brown guessed that Sidney had been very vocal about being happy to have the girl out of his camper.

Once Seraphina and Mrs. McCarthy were out of sight Sid's angry demeanour faded and Lady Felicia hit Sidney square in the chest with her hand bag. Father Brown sighed and shook his head; he recognized the look on both their faces. Lady Felicia was very angry and very disappointed, but Sidney was wearing the look of a lovesick calf. Why Sid had let her go if he was going to be miserable without her? Father Brown could already guess the answer and while it delighted him to think that Sidney had acted chivalrously and that might find someone to love and love him back in return he couldn't help but feel like maybe this was a little too reminiscent of that Brewer's girl.

She's not a proper lady.

Sidney kept repeating that mantra in his head as he walked towards Mrs. McCarthy's house. Seraphina wasn't a pure woman like he had originally thought her to be, he had learned that from her own admission. Others had been with her and others would probably be with her. So why shouldn't he be one of them?

That afternoon she had told him that she didn't want to go with Mrs. M, had said she'd rather stay with him, and he would have gladly kicked Mrs. McCarthy to the curb to have her had he not been so angry. Instead he had sent her packing. He had done it for both of them. To protect her from his reputation and to protect himself from falling for her.

So why was he sneaking into Mrs. McCarthy's back yard just a couple minutes after midnight? Because she asked him to. Right before she left with Mrs. McCarthy she had shot him one last desperate look and mouthed to him to come at midnight. He hadn't answered her and she hadn't looked for an answer but he knew he would be there, and she probably knew it too. He hopped over the fence being careful not to damage any of Mrs. McCarthy's flowers. He could already see which window was Seraphina's and luckily she was given the room just under the trellis. The guest room. Chosen specifically because it was under the roses so the room would always be the most fragrant in the house. It was also the only room with a light on.

Sidney scaled the trellis with ease and before he even got to knock at her window Seraphina was there. She was in nothing but a nightgown, one of those lacy silky things from Lady Felicia's closet. Once Mrs. McCarthy got some more food into her Seraphina would fill that nightgown in nicely, but at the moment it was hanging off of her. And she still looked completely ravishing. She smiled at him with a smile that said she was all his, he could take anything he wanted from her at this point and boy was he longing to take whatever he could. She fairly tugged him into the room and Sidney had to stifle a yelp that would have woken up Mrs. M.

"I heard you climbing over the fence," she whispered to him. "You really need to work on your stealth."

Sidney would have said something to her about how offended he was but as soon as he was fully through her window and standing in her borrowed room she threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips fully to his. She was tall for a girl, the top of her head just reached his chin and he was 6 feet 3inches. She fit nicely to him though but he didn't say that to her. He hungrily kissed her back, clutching her to his chest he felt every inch of her against him every bit of her molded to him like she was made to fit there.

They kissed, his lips teased hers, he moved to her neck, hoisting her up on tippy-toe to get to her and he found that she purred in this delectable way when he hit those soft spots he found that second night he held her. Her lips naturally found his soft spots too with an instinct that surprised him, as if she had already known where to go. He back them towards the bed and when Seraphina felt the comforter against her leg she pulled him down on top of her and as they landed, with Sidney in between her legs, a soft cry of pain escaped Seraphina's lips.

Sidney pushed his weight off her immediately and looked down at her. She looked so lovely with her hair splayed out behind her head, with her pale cheeks flushed a rosy colour. Those light green eyes sparkling at him as if he were the only man in her world. But she was still grimacing in pain.

Sidney moved his hand away from her side. "Are you okay?" he asked in the merest of whispers.

She nodded and reached a hand out to stroke the stubble coming in along his jawline. "Yes, it's just… well… Mrs. McCarthy thinks a rib might be broken, the doctor couldn't come out to see me today but will be coming by tomorrow for a check up," she told him. That husky low whisper that came out of her mouth worked in the exact opposite way that he wanted.

He tried to repeat the mantra in his head. She wasn't a proper lady, she probably liked it a little rough, a little pain wouldn't have stopped her before, but Sidney couldn't find it in him to go any further. She moved to kiss him again and Sidney ducked her and slid off of her. There was a look of hurt on her face as he settled himself beside her, being sure to keep his arms around her.

He knew what she was going to ask before she asked it. "Not if you're hurting," he whispered. "I don't want to make it worse."

Seraphina didn't seem to like that answer, she frowned up at him, concern alight in her eyes but Sidney ignored it. She pushed away from him, getting up only to turn off the lights. "Are you going to stay?" she asked him.

He should have said no, but he was already taking his boots off. His jacket and shirt followed but to remind himself that he had no intentions of sleeping with her he kept his pants on. She unmade the bed as he undressed himself and was already curled up under the blankets when he lay himself down. She arranged blankets around them in a soft and tender way before placing her head over his heart and sighing in the most content way.

"You know, you keep saying you're not a gentleman but you haven't shown me otherwise," she whispered to him, she had a finger playing the a bit of the chest hair that was visible, the sensation causing a sort of tingling in him that made his leg twitch a bit.

"I'm really not," he whispered to her before putting an arm around her, draping it over her shoulder and loosely curling a few strands of her long ebony hard around his fingers. He was holding back his own content sigh, one he didn't want her to hear. Her breaths evened out almost immediately and Sidney pressed a small kiss to the top of her head. He could feel the attachment to her growing in him like the ivy climbing the trellis outside her window, he tried to stamp it down, but as he drifted to sleep a few more tendrils snaked a claim in his heart.

Mrs. McCarthy had let the poor girl sleep in. She busied herself with making scones and tea for the doctor who was visiting and a hearty breakfast for Seraphina when she woke up, but she wanted Seraphina to be alert and ready for when the doctor came and that would be in an hour. So Mrs. McCarthy walked up the steps to the guest room, in her mind she figured it would go as well as waking up any child, they wouldn't want to without the right incentive.

She didn't bother to knock. It was her house after all, she threw the door open ready to tell the girl to rise and shine and was stopped in her tracks by the sight in front of her. Seraphina lay on one side, the side with the all the bruises, and lying next to her, spooning her, was Sidney. His arms cozily around her waist, holding her to him the two of them fast asleep. She could see his shoes, his shirt and jacket, discarded on the floor by her bed but no sign of his pants.

It dawned on her that maybe Sidney's pants were still on and by god was that a miracle. She quickly scampered across the room and picked up Sidney's discarded things, before leaning over the bed and grabbing the man by the ear.

"Sidney Carter! You're the devil you are!" she cried while Sidney yelped in pain and shock as she forcibly pulled him out of the bed. "I don't know who you think you are, but if you think I will have this unholy union in my house… that you can have premarital relations under my roof you have another thing coming!"

Seraphina had propped herself up on her arm to watch sleepily as Mrs. McCarthy dragged the yelping Sidney. She smiled softly and waved at him. "Bye Sidney!" she cried before flopping back down on the bed. "Thank you for coming!"

"Oi! Fina!" he cried as if he expected her to come to his rescue but the girl had seemingly gone back to sleep.

"And you best be out of bed by the time I get back, you need to have a big breakfast before the doctor comes and you best not think you'll escape a lecture just because the doctor's coming round!" Mrs. McCarthy warned and the girl just groaned into her pillow.

That mixed with Sidney's hisses and yelps of pain were music to Mrs. McCarthy's ears. She'd teach these two heathens propriety yet!