It all seems surreal. Tabitha sat, naked, in the middle of the room, Dr White and Reverend Gaunt sat at the table and *me*, the unlikely observer, sometimes participant, until recently a lowly verger and grave digger! A few days ago, I could not have imagined witnessing what I have just seen. I wonder what other surprises are in store!
Dr White quickly moves to next business.
“Now, Tabitha,” he says. ”Are you ready to tell us the names of the other girls who were in the woods with you?
Tabitha hesitates for only a moment. She glances at the clamps, still lying on the table.
“Yes, sir,” she replies, quietly at first and then repeats herself. “Yes, sir,” she says more clearly, looking directly at Dr White.
“There were four?” Dr White asks.
“Yes,” confirms Tabitha.
“And their names?” he prompts her.
Again, a very slight hesitation.
“There was Sarah Proctor.”
Sarah Proctor; the daughter of one of the other smallholders and a very religious family.
“Elizabeth Smith.”
Elizabeth Smith; the daughter of a shopkeeper and another very respectable family.
“Agnes Walker.”
Agnes Walker; the daughter of the local magistrate! A little older than the other two and, frankly, a stuck-up bitch (just like her mother)! I, and a few others, would love to see her, and her father and mother, taken down a peg or two!
Tabitha hesitates.
“The fourth?” prompts Dr White, a little impatient.
“Emily Smith,” Tabitha whispers, obviously with reluctance.
“Speak clearly!” commands Dr White.
“Emily Smith, sir,” Tabitha repeats, more clearly, this time, but still reluctantly.
I am not surprised at Tabitha’s reluctance. Emily is the daughter of her master and mistress. Emily is the young girl I saw, this morning, clinging to her mother when we took Tabitha away from them. Emily is youngest of the four, by a margin.
Why am I getting horny, again? Am I imagining how Dr White might approach his interrogation of the other girls? For some reason, I find the idea of them undergoing the same suffering and indignities as Tabitha has endured, to be even more arousing! Whilst, at the same time, I feel varying degrees of pity for them, especially for young Emily.
As Tabitha speaks each name, he records it in his notebook.
“Good,” declares Dr White, when she has named all four. “Well done, Tabitha. It seems that you have learned the value of cooperating with us,” he tells her, smiling.
“I think that we are done with questioning you, for today,” he adds, seemingly to everyone’s surprise.
“Jonathan,” he says, turning to me. “Take Tabitha back to her cell. You can just slip her smock over her and she can dress properly, once she is there. I think that when she is in the cell, you can remove the shackles. I don’t think that she is going to escape. Make sure that she has food and water and then return here.”
I busy myself with Tabitha. She looks relieved that her interrogation is over, for today, at least.
Dr White turns to Reverend Gaunt. “Thank you for your assistance today,” he tells him. “Of course, what happened in this room must remain between just the three of us. I would not wish word of my methods to reach the ears of others and, potentially, forewarn them,” Dr White explains.
“No, of course,” replies Reverend Gaunt. “I’ll not speak a word!” Of course, he won’t!
I take Tabitha back to the cell. She takes her drawers with her. There I release her from the shackles. There is still bread and cheese from lunchtime and water in the bucket.
“I will come back with fresh food and water, later,” I tell her, as I lock her in the cell and leave her to dress.
I return to the vestry. Dr White is sat, alone, behind the table.
“What do you make of it, Jonathan? Do you know the girls that Tabitha named?” he asks me.
“Yes, Dr White, I know them all. It is a small community.” I explain and then I tell him what I know of each of the girls. Dr White takes notes, as I do.
“It will come as a shock to many that they could be involved in such a thing,” I tell him.
“Indeed,” he replies. “But the Devil seeks out the innocent as well as the not so innocent to promote his evil!” he tells me.
“I think that we need to move proceedings into town. It could be too dangerous to continue here, amongst the community. Besides, we do not have the facilities that I require to continue my investigation,” he explains.
“I will give you a letter of authority. Tomorrow, I want you to go into town and commandeer sufficient constables of the nightwatch to enable you to arrest the girls whom Tabitha has named. I want them arrested and detained individually, in such a way so as they cannot communicate with each other. Indeed, I don’t want them to be aware whom else has been arrested. It will test the capacity of even the town gaol, but I want them kept separate and incommunicado. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Dr White,” I reply. It seems that things are going to escalate significantly.
“Oh, and we should transfer the slave, Tabitha, to the town gaol, for her own safety, too,” he adds. “And have my trunk transported there, at the same time.”
“Yes, Dr White,” I reply, again.
I can understand why Dr White wishes proceedings moved out of the community and into town. There will be uproar when the girls are arrested, tomorrow!
“I am putting my trust in you, Jonathan,” he says to me, almost conspiratorially. “I know that you were disappointed, earlier, when I asked Reverend Gaunt to assist me, rather than you, but I had my reasons,” he tells me. Then he adds, “But, fear not, you will have your reward.”
“Now, you are dismissed, for the time being,” he says. “But I want you to bring the slave, Tabitha, to my quarters this evening, at 9pm. I wish to speak to her, privately, without the reverend present,” he explains “Bring her by the rear door, and make sure that no one sees you. Before you bring her, make sure that she is fully toileted and washed, after. Is that clear, Jonathan? Oh, and she will not need to be wearing her drawers!”
“Yes, sir,” I reply, confused as to the full and true purpose of this instruction, but I have no wish to question Dr White.
“You may go, now,” he tells me.
Source: reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/ltqi2x/mmm_ffff_the_devils_work_part_nine