Chapter 37

Bleeker Farm

Outside Hume, VA

Spencer

He didn't really know what he'd expected.

When Elizabeth called him at work today and said there were two kids, a brother and a sister, coming up tonight he'd told Morgan, and after work they had gone to pick her up. He had a vague sense that Morgan was keeping Hotch in the loop from the way Hotch was looking at him, but other than that he hadn't dared to ask. Given that this was outside of the bounds of the Bureau it felt like and adventure.

Elizabeth was in full on work uniform, the same all-black version she'd worn for the lawyers, and had packed along what looked to be bags of clothing and toiletry kits, and two bibles. When Morgan had asked she had just sighed. "They've never read it for themselves, only excerpts which the men in their community interpreted as they read. But everyone ought to have a right to read it through and make up their own mind. Granted that assumes they can read it through."

"Literacy is an issue then?" Morgan asked as Spencer listened from the back seat.

Elizabeth nodded. "Homeschooling in and of itself isn't a bad idea, it lets you tailor the education to each child's abilities and interest, and if your child is the type to attract bullies or has certain learning issues it can be the only way they will learn. However, in order for it to work you need a fair amount of one-on-one time for each child. When you're the middle of twelve and it's just Momma trying to teach you and keep the house and care for all those babies, you really don't get a chance to learn much."

"So what's going to happen to them?"

"The people up in New York will give them room and board, usually in exchange for helping with child or elder care, and they'll be encouraged to go to school for the GED and eventually college."

"Helping with child care." Morgan considered this. "How is this different from what they were doing?"

"It's usually only 2-4 hours a day, as opposed to 24/7. The families they go to aren't that different, in some respects, from what they left. The women dress modestly, for example, and there are certain codes for behavior, most of them don't have TV's in the home, that sort of thing. But these families value education, and truly believe that everyone has a right to their own thoughts and decisions. It gives them a chance to ease into secular society at their own pace while not feeling like they're a burden on someone's charity."

"All right." Morgan said. "So what happens now?"

"Well, we'll meet Nanny down there; it's about a 90 minute drive. We could just be there for supper, or we could be there for a day or two, depending on if anyone is hurt. Once Nanny gives them the all-clear Sam and Danny will drive them the rest of the way to New York."

"Sounds like the Underground Railroad." Morgan commented.

"Something like that." Elizabeth replied.

Now they were pulling in to what almost looked like an abandoned farm in the middle of a lot of snowy nowhere. "Looks like we're the first ones here." Elizabeth said, hopping out of the car.

"Now, just wait here. Let us have a look first." Morgan seemed instantly annoyed. Elizabeth just smiled indulgently and handed him the house keys.

After carefully checking the surrounding area and then the house they came back out. A blackbird in the snow, he thought, her curls almost look red in this light. A red winged blackbird. "There's no power." Spencer told her. "It's a freezer in there."

"I know." She replied. "The water pump runs on a battery, and there are lanterns and a wood stove to heat the house."

"Wood stove?" Spencer was dubious. She expected to heat that house with a wood stove?"

Elizabeth leaned in and kissed him lightly, "You are such a city boy." She said, exaggerating her accent. "Come on. Y'all need to bring some wood in."

Wood stove. It turned out that she did not expect to heat the whole house with it. Most of the house, like most of the rectory, was closed off and wearing dust clothes over the furniture. But the big stove in the kitchen heated it and the bedroom at the head of the stairs nicely, and after a few minutes the pipes came back to life and water in the tank ran clean. They had stopped on their way out for what seemed like way too much chicken dinner, which was now keeping hot in boxes on the counter. She'd put the kettle on, and there was tea.

The first to arrive was Nannette. She turned out to be in her early 30's, calm and quiet. They had helped her bring in a couple of bags and a box of medical supplies, and hauled them up the stairs for her. "What kind of injuries are we looking for?" Spencer asked her as they came back downstairs.

"It's not unusual for girls to decide to leave after their father tells them that someone they dislike has been courting them. Usually they've been suspecting the suit for some time, and someone in the network has made contact with them after catching them crying about it. When they refuse the suit they get a severe beating. The next time the family leaves the house the girl calls for the first runner and they go, well before they've had a chance to heal. So bruising, lacerations, occasional broken bones and potential kidney damage are all a possibility here. The kidneys are the biggest problem, depending on how bad it is I may have to put them on IV fluids for a while to minimize the risk.

"What about rape?" Morgan asked.

Then

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Little Rock, AR

Elizabeth

By now she rather wished she could lose consciousness. It would be preferable to what had happened so far today. Everything hurt, a bone-deep ache overlaid with the burning of torn, abraded skin. If she moved wrong or breathed too deeply she could feel ribs grinding against each other. And every so often her muscles cramped in a pain so sharp and deep she literally couldn't breathe until it was over. And that was just her torso. Her legs were much worse. And she didn't even want to think about her face. Her nose was broken at the very least. How she'd managed to cook oatmeal for a flock of children like this she'd never know.

But the worst pain had been the look on Joshua's face when the State Police walked her out the door. He looked so horribly guilty. She'd wanted to tell him that it was her fault, from beginning to end. But she couldn't. Not there. Not then.

Now all she could do is lie here and try not to think about it. To disconnect her mind from her body as much as she could.

"Can we roll her over?" She heard someone ask dimly. "We need to run a rape kit."

What's a rape kit, she wondered. I'd rather just lie here for a while. But then hands were turning her over and…

Now

Bleeker Farm

Outside Hume, VA

Spencer

"Elizabeth? Elizabeth?" Do I get that way, Spencer wondered, that lost, not there look in my eyes. Not blinking, just staring off into the past. "Elizabeth?"

She turned and smiled at him. "I'm all right."

"Here" He handed her a cup of tea. Physical sensation, action, wasn't that supposed to help.

"Fast learner." She chuckled and curled her hands around the mug. "Thank you."

"That never happens." Nanny replied to Morgan.

"Never?"

"No, the girls are watched much too carefully for that. Their physical virginity is counted among the families financial aspects." At Morgan's shocked face she nodded. "It's not a formalized dowry system but a way to cement business relationships. My father got a substantial chunk of commercial property from my father-in-law for considerably less than market value when he married me off."

"I probably shouldn't ask, but…"

Nanny smiled without any humor. "I was sixteen, he was twenty-seven, I was his second wife, and he was a catch." She chuckled. "He wasn't over thirty yet, after all. Granted I had a stepson two years younger than I was, but at least my husband wasn't twenty years older. Then when I was in my first trimester I fell asleep one afternoon and didn't cook dinner."

"I can guess what happened." Morgan said

Nanny nodded. "That Sunday when one of the ladies asked me what happened and I told her she said she could get me out. I realized life wasn't going to get any better; he was already trying for another one after all. So I followed her out to her car. Turns out both her and her husband were part of the network. I made it up to New York, worked as the Rabbi's nanny while I finished high school, and went to nursing school on a scholarship. And I haven't looked back."

Morgan smiled. "Now that's something to be proud of."

Nanny smiled back, and then turned at the crunch of tires on snow. "They're here."