Jack the Ripper Victims Series: The Double Event Read Online Free PDF Page A

Andersdotter’s house.
    “Your uncle—”
    “Gone to sea.”
    Klaudio got up, donned his clothing while she watched. Increasing her unease, she noticed he was handsome without clothes too.
    “I must go to the privy,” he said. “If you are not here when I return, I hope to see you soon.”
    He exited the room and left the door open.
    Elizabeth donned her clothing and walked in the late autumn chill across Ösp Lane to Hortense’s house.
    She discovered that morning had, in fact, long since passed. The house was cold since the fires had been allowed to go out. Hortense sat in the kitchen, bundled in the blankets from her bed. She had missed a meal because Elizabeth had not been there to prepare it for her. After hurrying to build a fire in the kitchen stove and in the fireplace in the parlor, Elizabeth sat the old woman down in the kitchen and fed her.
    “I’m so sorry to have abandoned you,” she said, but out of shame, she made no effort to explain further.
    Hortense remained silent and thoughtful for a moment, then said, “As long as you’re happy, I’m not concerned. I know you needed to get away for a while.” She smiled. “You are forgiven.”
    Thankfully, Hortense asked no questions about the matter. The poor old woman had every right to be angry. With her gracious response, Elizabeth’s task of forgiving herself became more difficult.

Chapter 4: For Her Trouble
    Elizabet h’ s horror at finding sh e’ d lost her virginity to a relative stranger came less from moral outrage than from a sense that sh e’ d been tricked out of a formative first experience. She wished sh e’ d been awake and aware for the event. Although angry with Klaudio, and somewhat afraid of him, sh e’ d been thinking about his naked body ever since.
    As a child, Elizabeth had been baptized and confirmed in the Swedish Lutheran Church. She had studied the Small Catechism of Martin Luther, and taken the examination conducted by the Church, but her commitment to the religion was only as strong as that of her parents. They had shown no fervent belief through the years. Too busy perhaps making ends meet and raising their children, they had exhibited the bare minimum of devotion to the church required to get along with others of the community.
    One afternoon after a bath, she looked at her body in a mirror in her room, trying to determine if Klaudio had seen something in her he might want again. She stood about five and half feet tall, and had light-brown curly hair and grey-green eyes. Her long neck, small breasts and a thin face gave her a willowy look. She still had the lips and nose of a young girl, but her eyes were quite attractive. Her right shin, slightly lumpy where her broken tibia had not been set properly, bowed forward a bit. At certain angles that could not be seen. Despite liking most of what she saw, she couldn’t know if Klaudio had found her especially appealing.
    He didn’t come to see her. When coming and going from the house, Elizabeth hurried past his uncle’s house to minimize the chance that she’d see him. As the cold, lonely months of November and December passed, though, her restlessness grew and in early January, she sought his company again.
    Klaudio wanted to introduce her to a British merchant seaman friend, Mr. Robert Turner. The friend met them at The Siren’s Promise. Mr. Turner was introduced to her as Robert.
    Elizabeth had balked at the idea of returning to the tavern after her last performance there. Klaudio put her at ease, telling her the establishment served so many people that surely no one working there would not remember her. When the two men and Elizabeth arrived at the tavern, she noticed that the establishment was much busier than the last time she visited. The smoke-filled air burned her eyes. As they looked for seating, Klaudio and Robert shouted their words to be heard over the raucous laughter and conversation. Finally, they found a table in a cramped corner a bit less