-theshepardslamb-
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Chapter Seventeen: Surprises All Around
Tuesday May 8th 07', 11: 15 a.m.
"You are aware there is a cannibal on the loose correct?" the detectives voice floated through Gabrielle's mind.
She focused on his features...Tall, slightly muscular, and looked very weather worn,....like he had followed one too many leads. Gabrielle felt a light smile cross her face. She wasnt overly worried about this man, he didn't seem like he had the energy or the wits to catch the good doctor...She wasn't even worried about who he worked for. He wasn't an "agent" which ment there was no one important (the F.B.I. for example) involved yet. Even if they were she wasn't too worried. The only agent who knew the doctor at all was killed in the line of duty years back. She felt the issue float away as she let it go...The next problem latched on like a leech...
Her father....His face came to her without being called for and would not leave, no matter how hard she tried to push it away. He was in France. Her beautiful sactuary, her safe haven is now threatened and she felt helpless. She knew the possibility of running into him was slim to none but the fact that he was in the country was frightening enough. Then without warning another face entered her mind and pushed her father's face right out of its way.
Dr. Lecter stared back at her now, and he looked at her with a comforting smile. He had promissed to protect her; to keep her father away from her. To keep her safe...As she looked into the eyes of this vision in her mind she felt something. It was that feeling she couldn't place, the one she felt come from him in intense moments. It filled her now, surrounding her, almost like it wanted her to figure out what it was. Like it was demanding that she figure out what it was. It almost looked desperate as the feeling took the shape of deep purple mist and begain to weave its way around her and the image of the Doctor.
She pulled away a little and lightly became aware of her suroundings. The feeling got stronger and threatened to nock her over. She felt it, she felt him...his eyes on her, the feeling was so much stronger outside of her mind and when it merged with itself inside her mind it made her dizzy....there was something she was missing...No she wasn't missing it, he was hiding it. Whatever it was she was feeling, Dr. Lecter was hiding from her and only let it loose when he thought she was unaware. But the fact that she had felt hints of this feeling ment he was having trouble hiding it.
Concentrating on this feeling was pulling her out of her meditation, but she didn't mind. Dr. Lecter hadn't noticed yet, so she was able to soak in this feeling so that she might figure out what it was. Whatever it was she was feeling from him was making her both anxious to know what it was, yet totally calm knowing it was aimed at her and no one else...Which in itself was a weird thought, but she brushed it aside as she brushed off the last of her meditative stupor.
Gabrielle took in a deep breath and stretched. She opened her eyes slowly to allow them to adjust. She blew out the ring of candles and stood slowly. Her deep meditations always gave her a small bit of vertigo when she came out of them and she had no wish to fall on her ass. She stepped out of her ring of candles and blew out the ones on the window sill. She felt a shift in his mood as she stepped out of the circle and couldn't help but smile to herself, he was fighting for control again...
When Gabrielle turned around she felt so calm it scared her a little. She made eye contact with the doctor as she crossed the room. She broke the eye contact as she passed him and she passed so close she nearly brushed against him. She opened the door and left it open as she walked across the hall and entered her bedroom.
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Dr. Lecter stood after Gabrielle's door shut and walked out of the room towards the upstairs living room. He had seen something flicker in her eyes as she passed him. Something dark, yet playful at the same time. Her senses were heightened from the meditation...that was easy to tell. She was walking lighter and her movements had been much more fluid than they had been earlier in the morning. Plus her eyes were different, her pupils seemed a little wider than they should have been given the time of day and the placement of the sun.
She hadn't said a word and he hadn't seen any hint that she had anything that she wanted to say as she left the room. The biggest thing that had caught his attention was how long she held his gaze...Dr. Lecter had noticed that she had never kept eye contact with him for more than a few seconds, unless she felt that she was being challenged. She kept eye contact longer with him when that happened, but it always seemed that she was forcing herself to keep the connection. This time was different. This time he was the one who seemed to have the problem keeping eye contact.
When she had looked at him her eyes were so clear. Like a slate that had been wiped clean. He had felt her gaze penetrate him, slipping into his mind and soul like mist through and open window. She wasn't doing it on purpose, he knew that much, her features would not have been as calm if she was trying to fight her way into his mind.
Dr. Lecter sat down on the couch wondering what had calmed Gabrielle so much. What had eased her wounded heart so much, and so easily at that. He sat there for several minutes going through what he knew about Gabrielle trying to answer his own question. He was so lost in thought that he never heard Gabrielle come out of her room and was in the living room till she was nearly apon him.....
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As Gabrielle came out of her room she actually felt pretty. She looked into her meditation room and found it empty. She hadn't expected Dr. Lecter to stay there after she left, but you never know. She shut the door and walked down the hallway. As she walked into the living room she found him on the couch seemingly lost in thought. She couldn't help but wounder what he was thinking, and almost as if he had heard what she was thinking, Dr. Lecter's eye snapped up to meet hers.
Dr. Lecter made eye contact and saw the same clam he had seen a few minutes earlier. When he noticed her change in attire he couldn't help but look her over. Gabrielle's hair was in a half ponytail with a small strand hanging down to the side of her left eye. She was wearing silver chandelier earings and her make-up was of light earth tones. She was wearing a white corset that laced up in the front. It was pulled together and tied at the top in a knot, not a bow. It had white lace sleeves that came down to her knuckles and belled out. The corset came to a point just below her navel, and he could see she was wearing a studded bar with dangles that showed just below the point on the corset.
She was wearing a flowing, very pale, pastle pink skirt that sat perfectly on her hips. It waved and moved around her legs like water when she walked, and when she stopped he noticed it came down to just below her ankles. She was wearing white open toed heels that were at least two and a half inches in height. A bird flew by the window and caught her attention. When she turned to look for it Dr. Lecter noticed she had the rose clip in her hair that she had worn to the first play he had taken her too. As he looked over her jewelry again he notice that it was all the same jewelry she had worn to the first play.
"Are you ready to go Gabrielle?" Dr. Lecter asked pulling her attention back to him.
"Yes, I am Doctor." Gabrielle answered as her head snapped back to him.
Dr. Lecter nodded as he stood up and motioned for Gabrielle to proceed before him. He waited to follow until there was a little distance between them. Something was different, he wanted to study her. The first thing he noticed was the way Gabrielle walked. Normally when she was in heels the girl had a bounce to her step...There was no bounce, it was like she was floating across the floor. Her steps were now fluid, like one constant movement. Not only that but her steps were nearly silent.
One thing Dr. Lecter had learned was that although Gabrielle's dance and martial arts had taught Gabrielle how to carry herself while she was flat footed, she had yet to transfer that knowlege to when she was wearing heels. Yet as she walked towards the stairs she sounded like she was wearing anything but heels.
As Gabrielle rounded the banister and started down the stairs her skirt billowed out and follwed her like a ribbon. When Dr. Lecter rounded the stairs she was already at the bottom and making her way to the door. Dr. Lecter made his way down the stairs and stopped at the door to his study. He checked it to make sure he had locked it, once he was saticefied he continued down the hallway. He found the front door open when he got to it, but when he looked to either of the cars he saw no one near it.
"Gabrielle?" Dr. Lecter called.
There was no answer. There was a light breeze and out of instinct, Dr. Lecter lifted his head slightly and took in a small breath. He smelt her, her sent was very strong which ment she hadn't gone far.
"Gabrielle?" he called again.
"Yes?" she called back.
Dr. Lecter looked to the direction of her voice and saw her come out of the shrubery on the left side of the driveway. She had a smile on her face and she was holding a small bunch of wild flowers. He was amused by how even the smallest things pleased Gabrielle. Her eyes were fixed on the flowers which ment she wasn't paying any attention to where she was going. The Doctor inspected the ground in front of her and saw nothing but the gravel the driveway was made of.
She was a little wobbly on her feet, given the uneveness of the ground, so out of precaution the Doctor started towards her. The first thing he saw was her foot catch an a rock that was bigger than all the rest. As she started to fall the Doctor took a handfull of large steps and caught her before she fell half way to the ground. Through the fall Gabrielle had dropped her flowers in order to prepare to break her own fall.
"Are you ok?" Dr. Lecter asked.
"Yeah I'm ok..." Gabrielle replied as she looked up to meet his gaze, "Thank you so much."
"What?...Did you just expect me to let you fall?"
"No,...to be honest I was lost in my own little world...."
"Meditation does that."
"I don't think I've ever seen anyone move that fast before."
"What?" Dr. Lecter asked tilting his head slightly.
"The way you caught me...I know you were by the door...then out of no where you catch me."
"Why were you in the bushes to begin with?"
"I saw some beautiful flowers..." Gabrielle stopped short and looked down, "Where did they go?!?"
Gabrielle looked around her feet as Dr. Lecter looked behind him. He spotted them a little ways behind himself and turned to pick them up. He bent down to pick them up and he felt a hand on his back.
"Did you find them?"
"They're not that hard to miss Gabrielle." Dr. Lecter said as he chuckled, "It's not like we're looking for a missing contact lense."
As the Doctor stood, he noticed how close Gabrielle actually was. There was bairly an inch between them. Gabrielle saw his eyes go wide for a second, then started to feel that feeling she couldn't place only it was practically as intense as when she was meditating. She had to take a small step back because it was so overwhelming. She saw the Doctor take one as well and he handed her the flowers.
"Here you are. They don't apear to be ruined."
"Thank you."
Gabrielle couldn't help but smile as she took the flowers from him. They kept their distance as they walked to his car, but Gabrielle noticed that he stayed close enough to catch her again if he saw her start to fall. As always, Dr. Lecter opened the door for her and she buckled up as he made his way to the driver seat. He kept the top up so the wind wouldn't ruin Gabrielle's hair or her flowers, and as he pulled out of the drive way he came to the conclusion that she was right on one thing. Things between them were still the same, yet at the same time, completely different.......
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Forty-five minutes later they pulled up to the entrance to a resturant, the name of which Gabrielle couldn't pronounce. Dr. Lecter handed the vallet to keys and went to Gabrielle's door as another vallet opened it. She accepted the hand the Doctor offered with a gentle smile and got out of the car with as much grace as she had getting in. Dr. Lecter saw both vallets exchange looks of awe and he could see a yearning of the dishonorable kind in their eyes. Gabrielle put her arm around the doctor's as they walked towards the front doors. She had seen the look on the closer vallet out of the corner of her eye and she felt like showing off a little bit ... just to see if he would try anything later, when they left.
The doctor gave the hostes "Williamson" as his last name and Gabrielle held back a small chuckle. It seemed a little weird to hear Dr. Lecter called by his 'cover' name now that she had gotten used to calling him by his actual name.
"So what are you in the mood for today Gabrielle?" Dr. Lecter asked as he helped Gabrielle to her seat.
"I'm not sure Doctor." Gabrielle said as Dr. Lecter sat, "What's good here?"
"Well, their chicken parm is pretty good."
Gabrielle opened her menu to look at it then put it right back down. Dr. Lecter chuckled and Gabrielle rolled her eyes as she sat back in her chair crossing her legs in the same movement.
"You like bringing me to places where I can't read the menu don't you?" she asked with a little sarcasm in her voice.
"Yes, yes I do"
"Any perticular reason why Doctor?"
They paused the conversation while the waiter poured water into their glasses and handed Dr. Lecter the wine list.
"Because it means you're getting quality French quisine. Anything thats in English is usualy ment for tourist and I know some resturants try to,...I think the correct term here is 'hustle', the American clientle."
"I see. Well you know what you're doing, so...surprise me."
"Are you sure you want me to do that?" Dr. Lecter said as he raised an eyebrow and smiled mischieviously.
Gabrielle chuckled picking up on the inside joke and said, "Nothing too exotic Doctor."
Dr. Lecter chuckled and then was a little taken aback when she added in a much lower tone, "At least not today."
He had no chance to respond because the waiter had come back. Dr. Lecter gave him their order in French and by some of his tones, Gabrielle thought he was trying to stress some points on how something was to be made. The waiter took everything down patiently and left quickly after the Doctor was done.
Dr. Lecter looked back to Gabrielle to ask her what she ment but noticed something had caught her eye. He followed her line of sight and found two small children (a boy and a girl) playing in the open courtyard just outside. Gabrielle had noticed when they came in, that their table was the closest to the back door. She was contemplating whether or not Dr. Lecter had planned that when she saw the young girl fall and scrape herself. Gabrielle got up without thinking and went over to the girl. She was sitting now, and crying her little head off.
"What's wrong little one?" Gabrielle asked as she knelt infront of the girl.
The girl's crying lessend as she held up her hands, showing Gabrielle that she had scraped them a little. She took the girl's hands in her own and examined them.
"You've gone and scraped your hands little one." Gabrielle said as she saw there was a little blood on each hand.
The girl nodded. She was just sniffling now, her crying had stopped now that someone was paying attention to her. Gabrielle let go of her hands and picked her up, setting her on her hip as she turned back into the resturant and returned to her table.
"Lets get you cleaned up, shall we?"
The girl nodded, and then it hit her...the girl understood english...it was a curious thing. Gabrielle sat down and put the girl on her lap.
"Now lets see those pretty little hands of yours little one." She said as she grabbed her napkin and dipped it in her water.
The girl held out her hands and only winced a little as Gabrielle cleaned her hands gently.
"See its not so bad, just little scrapes."
Gabrielle dried the girl's hands and smiled at her. The girl gave her a huge smile back and threw her arms around her neck giving her a hug.
"Thank you!" the girl said in a thick French acent, "You are a very nice lady."
"You are very welcome, little one." Gabrielle replied as she set the girl on her feet, "Now go find your parents so they can put some ointment on it."
The girl nodded with a smile and ran off. Gabrielle smiled and looked back to Dr. Lecter only to see a smile on his face.
"What!?!" She asked, tilting her head.
"Nothing..." he replied the smile not leaving his face.
"Tell me!"
Dr. Lecter shook his head a little as he said, "It's just..."
"Just what? What did I do?"
"Your compassion amazes me sometimes."
"Really?"
"Truely."
"Wow."
"I'm sure that little girl's father would agree with me."
"It was an automatic thing to be perfectly honest with you."
Their conversation was cut off again by the waiter. He was carrying a tray of food in one hand and a lovely bouque of roses in the other. He set the tray on a stand near the table and handed the flowers to Gabrielle with a smile. He started speaking to her in French and she had to look to the Doctor for a translation.
"He says they are from the resturant owner. Apparently that little girl you helped was his."
"Oh." she said as she turned back to the waiter and said, "Thank you."
The waiter nodded with a smile and proceded to lay out their food. He smiled again and left.
"Like I said." Dr. Lecter said before taking a bite of his meal.
Gabrielle chuckled and said nothing, taking a bite of whatever it was that Dr. Lecter had ordered for her...
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Dr. Lecter and Gabrielle talked throughout their meal. When they were done Dr. Lecter paid and they left. Gabrielle was on his arm once again as they walked out the front doors; only this time she was smelling her flowers. She looked up just in time to see a flash of shock, dissappointment, and jealousy cross the vallets' faces. She managed to keep a full blown laugh down to a chuckle and the doctor looked at her. She saw at once that he new what she was thinking and he chuckled as well as their car was brought around.
"I think I can handle it." Dr. Lecter said to the vallet as he went to open the passenger side door.
"Yes sir." the vallet studdered, "I ment no offence."
"None was taken."
The vallet smiled at the Doctor's words and walked away.
"Thank you Doctor." Gabrielle said as he opened her door and helped her in.
Another vallet tossed Dr. Lecter his keys as they crossed paths; one to the driver's side and the other away from it. As they drove away Gabrielle saw the vallets talking to each other. She knew what they were talking about because they were looking right at her. Gabrielle couldn't help but laugh this time and was glad the Doctor had decided to be a speed demon today.
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Ten minutes later they pulled up and parked infront of a small dress boutique. Gabrielle became confused, but had no time to ask her questions because Dr. Lecter was already out of the car and on his way to open her door. He opened it and pulled her out gently. The pulling was nessiscary because he felt her resistance to get out. He just chuckled and shut her door, nearly pushing her into the store. A small bell tinkled as they entered and emediately a man came to them.
"Ah, Doctor right on time." The man said greeting Dr. Lecter, "I take it this is the lovely young woman you told me about earlier."
"Yes, it is." Dr. Lecter replied and turned to Gabrielle, "This is Francisco Jaques, Gabrielle. One of France's most famous, undiscovered dressmakers and designers."
"Well isn't that an oxymoron." Gabrielle said, then turned to the Frenchman, "Pleasure to meet you Mr. Jaques."
"Please call me Francisco." he said with a smile, "Now lets go take your measurements so we can get started."
"What?!?" Gabrielle said and looked to Dr. Lecter, "Would you mind telling me whats going on here?"
"Yes, I would mind." Dr. Lecter answered, "Therefore I'm not going to...Now go, you're keeping this creative man waiting."
"I.....ehh.....wha.....Doctor!" Gabrielle growled as Francisco pulled her along.
"I get the feeling that he's never going to hear the end of this..." Francisco chuckled when they were out of earshot.
"You would be absolutely correct my friend." Gabrielle chuckled.
"So you have absolutely no idea as to why you are here today?"
"You would be correct on that as well."
"Hmmm...maybe we can work so surprises for him into his surprise for you."
~Fool say what?!?~ Gabrielle thought to herself, ~Imma think'n Mr. Frenchie has got the very wrong idea!~
Francisco lead Gabrielle to a quiet room. There was a pedistal in the middle and a five pannel mirror in front of it. There was a couch off the the side and another door in the corner. As Gabrielle looked around She saw a window that had a white shear curtain in front of it and a water cooler as well. There was also a long table full of food and she could hear soft music playing in the backgound.
"Do you have any prefrance to a certain type of music?"
"Do you have a way to connect an I-Pod up to your sound system?"
"Yes we do."
"Then could you hook mine up. I'm not one for regularity, so there's a lot of different genres in there. Hope you're not opposed to any of it." Gabrielle replied handing him her I-Pod.
"Not at all miss. I'll just be a moment then"
He left through the second door and Gabrielle looked around the room again. She made her way over to the table and deciding that she was too full to eat anything at the moment she got herself a glass of water instead. She walked over to the pedistal and walked around it rather then getting on it...she figured she would be up there soon enought anyways. She turned to look at herself in one of the five mirrors.
She twisted and turned to see every angle of herself. She felt vain doing it but at the same time, seeing herself so together was a very uplifting thing. She stopped and smiled when she heard Paramore's "Decode" coming through the speakers. About two minutes later Francisco walked back in with two women at his heels.
"Thank you" Gabrielle said as he came up to her.
"It is no problem miss...Now if you would please take off your shoes and step up on the pedistal we can begin to take measurements"
Gabrielle nodded and did what was asked of her. Her part was real simple. She just had to stand there with her arms held out at shoulder length while Francisco took measurements giving each to one woman while the other walked in a continuos circle around her taking notes of her own.
When they were done with measurements, the woman working with Francisco handed her a portfolio of dresses and what looked like a bingo marker. Gabrielle took each and the confusion was clear on her face.
"The marker is so you can mark the styles of dresses you like. This is all to help us find you the right dresses." Francisco explained.
"Ah ok."
Then Gabrielle sat down on the pedistal and started flipping through the book. She was done after about twenty minutes. She had marked roughly about a third of the book. As she handed the book to Francisco (or 'Frenchie' as she called him in her mind) the lady who had helped him earlier stepped forward again.
"Now what colors do you like?"
"Deep tones are my favorite. Deep blues, greens, purples, and crimson tones are my favorite; and black of course."
"Alright miss, the girls will be back in a few minutes. I must go to the front of the store for a moment."
"Ok."
Francisco nodded to Gabrielle then turned to his assistance and spoke to them in French. The three of them left the room, leaving Gabrielle sitting on the pedistal.
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Gabrielle paced around the room. It had been ten minutes already and neither the girls or Francisco had come back yet. She wondered what was taking them so long. As she finished this thought the girls came through the door with not one, not two, but three racks of dressses.
"Dear God!" Gabrielle said, "We're gonna be here until tomorrow!"
One of the girls left the room while the other handed Gabrielle the first dress and lead her to a changing area behind the mirrors that she hadn't seen. She quickly changed and walked to the center of the room. Both girls were in the room now and one came to her holding a pair of three-inch heels. Gabrielle was helped into them, and when the girl stood up Francisco had walked back into the room.
"Ah I see u have just started."
"yup"
The dress she had on was deep purple and was in the style of the old rennasance sun dresses. Gabrielle was happy with it until she turned to the side to get her profile.
"I love the style but..."
"but what?"
"When I turn to the side I look pregnant..."
Francsico made a hand movement and one of the girls grabbed all the dresses of the same or similar style off the racks and left while the other handed her a new dress. They went through this process for the next two hours and by the time she was back in her own clothes she had thirteen dresses that she liked. The last dress was the only one on the rack that was in a black dress-bag. It was the "special" one Francisco had been talking about...she had been allowed to look at their "specialty" dresses and pick one that she liked.
There was a nock at the door and Francisco answered, "Come in..."
Dr. Lecter walked in and closed the door behind him.
"Are we done?"
"Yes, finnaly" Gabrielle answered, "He insisted that I try everything, that he had brought in, on!"
Dr. Lecter chuckled and walked to the dress rack.
"I see you have found quite a few that u like."
"Yeah, but Francisco won't let me narrow them down."
"Do you feel as if you have too many?"
"Have you seen the prices on these dresses?!?" Gabrielle asked as she raised an eyebrow, "It's way too much!"
"No its not."
"Say what?!?...how is it not?!...I did a rough estamate and without the thirteenth dress it puts the total a little over a thousand dollars! The last dress alone is almost two hundred!"
"You're point is what exactly?"
"Thats WAY too much money!"
Dr. Lecter chuckled as he finished looking through the dresses and said something to Francisco in French. They had a short coversation and Gabrielle had a feeling they were talking about her. When they were done the man nodded and headed towards the front of the store pulling the dresses behind him. Gabrielle looked at the Doctor in shock.
"Doctor I just bought five new dresses the other day! I don't need thirteen more! I can pick my favorites out of that bunch.!"
"From what I hear, they all look very nice on you."
"That doesn't mean I need all of them!"
"Yes it does."
"How does that work?"
"Because I say it does."
Dr. Lecter walked right to Gabrielle and looked her straight in the eye. He could see delight mixed with confusion and guilt. He knew she felt like she didn't deserve all of them and that she was uncomfortable with someone spending so much money on her, eventhough she craved to expand her wardrobe of fine clothing.
"I can't believe you're doing this Doctor."
"Well, think of it this way...Now that I've seen them and heard how great they look on you there is no way you're leaving this store without any of them." Dr. Lecter chuckled.
"I'm not gonna win this one am I?"
"Not a chance. Now tell me....whats the one that was already in a dress-bag?"
"You should never ask Doctor." Gabrielle said as they walked towards the front, "It spoils the surprise."
Dr. Lecter laughed, "Touche, Gabrielle, touche."
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Gabrielle didn't want to know how much Dr. Lecter was actually spending, so she was glad that Francisco gave him the total in French. However she had to turn her back to them when he started pulling cash out of his wallet. Dr. Lecter laughed as he tapped her on the shoulder after they had finished paying. Two men were shutting the trunk of the Doctor's car as they walked out of the store.
"Now where too Gabrielle?" Dr. Lecter asked as he started the car and drove away from the store.
"Any place where you can't spend anymore money on me Dr. Lecter."
Dr. Lecter laughed but said nothing. Gabrielle relaxed a little as they drove into the countryside. She figured the were going "home" and that he didn't have anything else planned. She put her head back, closed her eyes, and relaxed. She didn't open them until they stopped and she felt him put the car in park. When she opened her eyes she found they were infront of a barn and she looked at the Doctor, confused.
"Do you like horses Gabrielle?" Dr. Lecter asked.
"Yes! I love horses!"
the Doctor chuckled and said, "Good."
He got out and was helping her out as the bar owner came out to greet them.
"Dr. Williamson!...How nice to see you again!" The man said as he shook the Doctor's hand.
"Thank you Trevor. It's nice to see you again as well." the Doctor said and he motioned to Gabrielle, "This is Gabrielle. She's a friend and horse lover. I thought I might bring her by to see yours and possibly ride a couple. If thats ok with you of course."
"Anytime Doctor. Besides It's time for us to exersize them anyway." Trevor said and he turned to Gabrielle, "Do have any prefrance?"
"If your talking about breed, no, but can I look them over anyway?"
"Sure, follow me."
Gabrielle followed Trevor into the barn, while Dr. Lecter followed a few steps behind. As they walked into the barn Gabrielle's senses were filled with the smell of hay and horses. She stopped as she had a small flash-back.
***Gabrielle was sitting side-sattle on a beautiful horse. Someone came up to her, also on a horse.
"So how do you like the Cape little one?"
"It's beautiful Grams! Can I come live with you?"
"Ha ha...I think your mother would miss you little one."
"But its so pretty down here!"
"How about when you get older. Say like when you're eighteen or nineteen?"
"But thats like three or four years away!"
"I know, but think about it, you still have school. Do you want to leave all ur friends now?"
"No...I guess not. But Grams its so nice and calm here."***
"Gabrielle?....Gabrielle?" she heard someone call and she snapped back to reality.
"Huh?"
"Are you alright?" Dr. Lecter asked.
He was holding her shoulders and looking straight into her eyes. She knew it was his subtle way of examining her. His eyes told her he was a little woried.
"Hmm?...Yeah, oh yeah. I'm fine." Gabrielle said as she nodded, "I was just remembering something thats all."
"Want to talk about it when we get home?" he asked in a whisper.
"Maybe." she answered.
"Alright."
Gabrielle looked around and walked up to the nearest horse. She was a beautiful, chocolate mare with soft eyes. Gabrielle smiled and moved to the next horse. She looked at and pet each horse. She stopped at the nineth and ran her hand along its face. It was a black stallion with calm yet playful eyes.
"Can I go into the stall?" She asked as she looked back towards Trevor.
"Sure, but be careful Ergo is a little difficult sometimes."
"Alrighty."
Gabrielle saw the Doctor walk towards her a little. She also heard him say to Trevor:
"She's a little accedent prone."
She heard Trevor chuckle and she pretended not to hear any of it. She opened the stall door slowly. As she walked in the horse got a little restles.
"Shhhh" Gabrielle said as she ran her hand down his neck and across his side.
Ergo snorted a little but quieted down and she whispered, "Good boy."
Gabrielle walked back to the door and took a brush out of the bucket hanging from it. She brushed him over and took some extra time on his mane because it was all tangled and knotted.
"You must have a very gental hand miss." Trevor said as she put the brush way, "He doesn't usually let people brush him so much."
Gabrielle just smiled and grabbed the horses blanket and saddle. Trevor shot the Doctor a nervous look and Dr. Lecter moved a little closer to the stall. Ergo got a little restless when he felt the saddle on his back but Gabrielle just rubbed his back a little to calm him. When she got it all strapped and ready to go the horse layed down on his stomach.
Gabrielle chuckled as Trevor said, "He does that with all the women when they try to saddle him. We haven't figured out why yet."
"I know why." Gabrielle said as she looked at Trevor, "He's very old fashioned for a young horse."
She walked to Ergo and sat on the saddle. After she was settled the horse stood up and she was able to put her feet in the stirups. Gabrielle giggled as Ergo pranced around in his stall.
"Well I'll be damned....Looks like we have a gentleman in our barn." Trevor chuckled and he walked over to the stall and opened the door, "There ya go miss...why don't cha take him for his afternoon run."
"Really?" Gabrielle asked excited.
"I don't see why not. You're already up there, might as well."
Gabrielle giggled and said to Ergo, "C'mon boy...Lets go for a run!"
She nudged Ergo and he ran out the back of the barn into the field behind it.
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There were acres of field behind the barn and Gabrielle help laugh as Ergo jumped over a small stream. The field was so big it took them five minutes to run from one end to other. They ran back and forth a few times and ran around the edge a found that it took fifteen minutes to go around the field once. About half way around the second time something caught Gabrielle's eye in the forest. She pulled Ergo to a stop and looked around. Her head snapped to a rustle in the forest and Ergo got restless. Gabrielle made sure to keep her face nuetral as she freaked out inside.
"Shit" she whispered, then acting like she didn't find anything she shrugged.
"Alright mister I think you've had enough exersize for one day, look at you you're sweating up a storm." she said and kicked Ergo into a run back to the barn.
As they ran back to the barn Gabrielle took her phone out of its holder on her hip and speed dialed the Doctor's number.
"Gabrielle is everything ok?" She heard him answer worried.
"No it's not. Start the car!" She said frantically, being careful not to yell.
"What?!"
"Just start the damn car! I'll explain when I get there."
Gabrielle hung up and put her phone away. She heard the car start as Ergo jumped over the stream and ran into the barn. Dr. Lecter walked looking her over worriedly as she got off the horse.
"Are you ok?" Trevor asked worried."
"I'm ok but that stream is a real speedbump" Gabrielle answered looking at the Doctor as she said the last word.
Dr. Lecter seemed to have gotten her intended message because his eyes went wide for a split second and he held out a hand to her.
"Trevor I'm terribly sorry but we must be going." Dr. Lecter said and gave him a look.
Trevor seemed to get his point and started to bring Ergo into his stall, undoing the straps as he did so, "No problems Doc. Gabrielle feel free to come back and ride Ergo anytime you want, he seems to have taken a reall liking to you."
Gabrielle smiled and grabbed the Doctors hand. As they ran out of the barn Gabrielle noticed the top was down. Before she was able to ask why however he picked her up by the waist and threw her into the car. Gabrielle's surprise kept her from screaming and she landed with her feet on the seat. She was able to sit as Dr. Lecter got in and pulled out of the driveway. He put the top up as they drove off and Gabrielle looked at him in surprise and confusion.
When she was able to catch her breath she asked, "He knows!?!"
"He's one of the only ones here who do."
"How many others?"
"Just the dress maker and the curator at Versailles." the Doctor answered as Gabrielle nodded, then he added, "Sorry I just threw you into the car without warning. There was no time to ask."
"It's ok...It was rather fun actually." Gabrielle giggled then got serious and asked, "Where are we going?"
"Home." Dr. Lecter said simply.
"WHAT!?" Gabrielle asked alarmed, "I counted seven cops in the small spot of forest I had looked at...ARMED cops! How do you know that they don't have the road watched?"
"When I went to start the car there wasn't anyone in the surrounding trees. I suspect they were aiming to surprise us in the barn. Do they know you saw them?"
"When I first saw one of them it took a minute to process so there was no initial reaction on my face. I kept my face under control as I counted while pretending to look around. Then I talked to Ergo about giving him a rest in a normal tone. He bucked a little when we started off again so I just let him run back, he's a smart creature..."
"You did good."
"What about Trevor? Is he gonna be ok?"
"He'll be fine. He knows was to say if they question him."
"You mean when they question him."
"Well they might not. If they believe you did not see them then they might just leave as quietly as they came. If their leader thinks otherwise they will probably question him."
"How did they even know that we would be there?"
"Thats the more important question." Dr. Lecter said and nodded, "Unfortunately its one I can't answer yet..."
Gabrielle's stomach started to turn and she felt sick as she looked out the window. She felt the Doctor take hold of her hand, holding it gently. He didn't say anything but the look in his eye was enough to know he knew how she was feeling...not necessarily that he was feeling the same thing, but that he understood. She looked out the window again and tried to calm her nerves.
"So what were you remembering when we first got to the barn?" Dr. Lecter asked.
Gabrielle smiled and answered, "The first summer Grams let me ride one of her horses. I was thirteen."
"Was it a good summer?"
"Yeah. She told me, 'Gabrielle you can ride the horses IF you take care of the one you ride. This means cleaning them before and after riding them AND feeding them before you leave the barn.' ...heh, I was so happy that I was finnaly old enough to ride that I rode all seven of them that summer. My favorite was a beautiful white mare. She was about five years old and the sweetest creature I had ever met. I think I became her favorite too, she used to follow me around the yard when Grams let them roam free on the land."
"Animals seem to be very calm and loving around you."
"Yeah, I've never been able to figure that one out. I feel so bad having to leave Ergo like that. I wish I could have brushed him and washed him down."
"I don't think he minds. Like you said, he's a very smart animal. He had a wild and frightened look in his eyes when you came in, and he kept his eyes on you as we said our 'good byes'. I thought he was going to try to follow us as we left."
Gabrielle laughed, "It wouldn't be the first time a horse followed me home."
Dr. Lecter looked at her with raised eyebrows and Gabrielle laughed harder.
"My mom, my step-dad and I were staying at a little cottage about two miles down the road from Gram's house. Her house only had one bedroom seeings how she had it built to give the horses most of the yard. I was walking home and it was staring to get dark. I got kinda spooked by a shadow and started to run. About a third of the way home I heard hoof beats behind me and as I looked back I saw Callisto running up to me. I stopped and climbed onto her back and rode her the rest of the way back to my mom's cottage. Gram laughed when I rode her back and told her the story."
Dr. Lecter chuckled.
"Yeah... I learned a long time ago that I'm a strange child."
"Define normal Gabrielle,...then and only then can you call yourself strange."
"Thanks Doc." Gabrielle said with a slight bite of sarcasm.
Even with the sarcasm, talking about her grandmother helped Gabrielle to feel calmer. They were silent the rest of the way home. As they pulled into the driveway Gabrielle once again began to feel anxious. The car was bairly stopped when she opened her door and started walking to the house.
"Gabrielle" the Doctor called, and she turned around just in time to catch the keys he through at her.
She unlocked the door and left it open with the keys in it for him. She took her shoes off as she walk up to her room. She left her door open and dropped her shoes at the end of the bed and she flopped onto it and lay there face down. She was too tired to do anything and to anxious to sleep. She didn't mind though. If she were to fall alseep now her dreams would be twisted and cruel, and she would wake up feeling worse.
There was a knock on the doorjam and she new it was the Doctor. It took her a second to remember that her dresses had been in the trunk. He must have been getting them when he tossed her the keys. He knocked again and without really moving she waved letting him know he could come in. She heard him enter and put her dresses in her closet with the others she had bought before.
Then he left the room and she noticed she hadn't closed the door. She didnt really care, seeing the cops had scared her so bad it had taken all the energy out of her. She lost track of time as she lay there and didn't even notice that her room had gotten dark. She understood why Dr. Lecter had left her door open as the thick and wonderful aroma filled her room. As Gabrielle started to push herself however she became very dizzy and very tired. Within seconds she became to weak to hold herself. She let herself fall back to the bed and she had passed out before her body hit the bed. Dr. Lecter walked in a second later, picked her up off the bed and carried her out of her room.
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Hope you like it!...I know it was long. Please reveiw, and as always NO FLAMES, but constructive criticism is welcome.
-theshepardslamb-