Chapter 10: Monday-Wednesday

Elvira arrived at the Manse at ten o'clock on Monday morning. She was wearing a smart business suit and carrying her lap top. She parked the Mini Cooper behind the Honda in front of the gate to the house and marched briskly down the path. The garage door was still open and the garage was empty. So no naked ladies in wide brimmed hats, she thought as she knocked on the door.

She was welcomed into the Manse by Jeremy. She introduced herself as Elvira Argent and was in turn introduced to Mary before Jeremy suggested she looked over the parish books in his study. Elvira thought both husband and wife, who she identified from Teddy's pictures, looked nervous. Mary, dressed demurely in twin-set and pearls, still radiated a sexual aura. There's a woman who has just been fucked, thought Elvira. Indeed in the last half hour her uninvited guest—now lurking upstairs— had asserted his authority by taking her over the kitchen table while her nervous husband looked on...

There was absolutely nothing wrong with the books but Elvira spun out the audit until twelve thirty obliging Mary to invite the athletic blonde to lunch. At one o'clock Elvira accepted a glass of wine and met Philip Brown, who was staying at the Manse for the time being. Elvira put them out of their misery saying she had booked into the hotel in Shepsville and would not require accommodation in the Manse.

Pip was interested in Elvira and thought what a good addition she would make to his and Byron's stable. The youth quizzed her about when the audit would be finished and the report submitted. Elvira obliged by saying that after tomorrow, when she wished to examine the church and churchyard in detail to assess possible future maintenance costs, she would be submitting her report electronically. After that she said she had planned to take an extended holiday abroad. Have I hooked the little white-slaver? she thought. I hope so. Cheryl has told me what you did to her and I'd be happy to repay some of the pain.

After lunch Elvira asked to be shown around the Manse. She noted the photographic equipment in the main bedroom and the fact that two bedrooms were in use. But who sleeps with Mary? Mary's jodhpurs were on the floor by the laundry basket in the second bathroom.

"You ride, Mary?" Elvira asked.

"Yes, I do. And so does Pip." she replied.

"Oh, where?"

"At a local farm," said Mary.

"I'd love to join you. Is there any chance you could arrange a horse for me tomorrow?"

"Tuesday is shopping day," said Mary.

"But we could surely find a mount for Elvira on Wednesday morning, Mary. If she has finished her report," said Pip giving Mary a "shut up and eat" look.

"I'll certainly be finished by then," said Elvira. And so, my boy, will you if you try what I think you mean to attempt.

Back at the hotel Elvira changed into dark jeans and a black skivvy. She slipped on a hunting vest with pockets for binoculars and a camera and left by the fire door to avoid notice. It took her an hour to find the Toyota parked in the yard of Jefferson's Farm and another hour of careful reconnaissance to find a covered spot from which she could view the action. She identified Byron and the two young women she had seen on Sunday and a man and woman she took to be the farmer and his partner. She took pictures. Tins of paint and plywood panels were being carried into the building the group was working on. There was no sign of the naked ladies in the floppy hats. Elvira decided to come back tomorrow.

Mr Blue collected Mr Brown and Mr Yellow from their homes in the morning and drove south to Shepsville arriving at the hotel just before dinner. The Reservoir Dogs obsessed hoodlums ate well, drank more and talked about tomorrow. Their plan was simple. They had a photograph of the Malone boys taken three years earlier and a confirmed sighting by a Company taxpayer at the Walmart two weeks ago. They would stake out the store and keep an eye out for the wanted boys and a tall blonde hooker. In the meantime they tried to strike up an acquaintance with the young looking blonde with the athlete's body eating alone in the dining room. She wasn't encouraging but had a drink with them and took one of their photographs of the cousins in case she should see the young men they were looking for in her travels.

On Tuesday morning a well fucked Mary stamped her foot in frustration. Pip insisted on the yellow dress, no bra and no pants. Mary was angry and demanded to know why, when the church auditor was snooping around the church lands and property. Pip laughed and said he wanted to observe Elvira's reaction should she see Mary in her whore's outfit. He said he thought the auditor would look good in something similar. They took the Honda and once again Mary had to remove her hat to satisfy the horny driver.

Mr Yellow couldn't believe his luck. He'd only been on watch for five minutes and there they were. The boy was bigger than the photo suggested but there was no mistaking the tall woman for anything but the whore. He contacted Mr Blue by cell-phone who told him to stick to the couple and identify the car they were using. Mr Brown was driving a hire-car parked by the Walmart car park exit. He received Mr Yellow's description of the Honda and followed the vehicle to its destination—the Manse cottage in Skirmish where he saw one of the wanted youths and the tall blonde carry groceries into the building. He did not see the athletic blonde he had bought a drink for last night hiding in the woods. She saw him.

Elvira's eyes narrowed. She had sent a comprehensive report to Carmine the night before. In it she tentatively identified the three hoods as Company men. It was Carmine's policy to live and let live with Company operations but she suspected that Mr Brown was more than a spear carrier. He smelled like an assassin. She asked Carmine that if blood was to be spilt, who should she support— Jeremy Jones and his wife and others or the Eurasian youths and their farmer friends who seemed to be bent on a career of white slaving and pimping. Or should she stay neutral or throw her weight behind the Company's representatives?

At Carmine's insistence Carla Malone contacted the Company on a secure land-line and asked to speak to the Director of Operations. She was received frostily.

"We suspect you of illicit, unapproved, activity in the Skirmish Valley area, Carla. Using your adoptive children as a front is considered low even by your standards. When I have a more complete picture of the situation I intend to take rigorous action to stop their game and bring you before the Company Court if necessary to answer for any breach of protocol. At this stage I have nothing further to say.

"But I do, Director," asserted Carla. "I have no direct association with whatever is going down in Skirmish Valley. I have not seen my boys since before their discharge from the corrective establishment. If Philip and Ronald are involved it is without my knowledge..."

"In which case you will not object if I find it necessary to terminate the activity with exemplary, probably lethal, force. Good day Ms Malone."

She sighed and called the hangar and ordered the helicopter be ready within the hour only to be told the machine was out of commission for the next ten hours or so and did she want a limmo. She shook her head and called Carmine.

"Please ask your agent to try and put a stop to whatever those boys of mine are up to if she can. The Company believes I am behind what they are trying to do and things are looking dangerous," she told the bishop.

The message was relayed to Elvira and she chuckled grimly to herself. Six white-slavers, three Company goons, two naked ladies a lying priest and a loyal, long suffering, wife—where the fuck do I start?

By Tuesday afternoon work on the illegal brothel was moving swiftly. The bar, club room and office were ready for painting. Plumbers and electricians were expected in a few days. A strip on the ridge had been cleared. Matthew doubted it needed grading before being capable of use by light aircraft. Samantha was still angry with Byron and Pip and the twins were a little less exuberant than usual but all lent a hand and they hoped to be functioning within ten days.

Byron encouraged Matthew to join him in breaking Gladys and Agnes. Since revealing her sadistic streak Gladys had become very quiet and submitted to the men's frequent attentions passively. She cried softly when pilloried for not obeying instructions. Agnes, on the other hand, had been eager to obey any order to avoid being put back in the pillory. She fucked the men back aggressively and when she didn't climax she faked a noisy orgasm.

At midday Matthew and Byron were on the roof of the building finishing the repointing of the old chimney. In the punishment room the twins had succeeded in winding four light chains around the windlasses on the home-made rack. They attached adjustable leather cuffs to the free ends. They wanted to use Gladys to test the machine after lunch Samantha told them to wait. She saw a large black sedan pull up at the farm gate and a tall man in a dark suit climb out of the driver's seat. She sent Sarah to fetch Matthew and warn Byron as she and Sandra crossed the yard to meet the stranger.

Mr Blue asked, politely, for directions to the Manse. Samantha said he must have passed the building about eight miles down the road. He asked about the construction activity. Samantha explained they were improving their riding school's accommodation. They were hoping to turn it into something better, she explained. A sort of country club. She asked if he was an official of some kind. He smiled at Samantha, climbed into the auto and, as Matthew came puffing up to the gate Mr Blue had turned the Company car around and driven back down the road to the Manse.

"Probably the vicar's auditor," said Matthew. "What's for lunch?"

Elvira waited to see what the hood intended to do and was pleased that, after making a phone call, Mr Brown turned his hired vehicle around and drove off in the direction of Shepsville.

When she came to the door Elvira was surprised to see Mary in a tight, extremely short, yellow dress. The vicar's wife was clearly not wearing bra or panties Elvira noticed the woman's acute embarrassment and realized Pip was playing mind games. Nasty little shit, she thought.