Davec5299
Magistrate
Chapter 26 – The Doctor Calls
Ellie’s head is hanging down, her mouth slightly open. Since Pugh raped her she’s been burnt in more than a dozen places by Sutty wielding her own dagger, re-heated several times in the flames of the fire.
Ellie has screamed herself hoarse, vomited bile countless times, pissed herself dry and plopped runny shit over the cellar floor. She has been digging her fingernails into the palms of her hands so hard that they are bleeding. She is shivering uncontrollably after having many pails of freezing rainwater thrown in her face to revive her. Jeffers has been bending down and screaming questions at her, but she has still not told him her name. She has not told him anything.
The noxious smell of her own burning flesh hangs in the air around her.
Jeffers stood and looked down the bound girl’s heaving body. Broad, bright, weeping, blistered burns scar her shoulders, flanks, stomach, hips, thighs and calves, in addition to the earlier, narrower burns on her arms and feet. One particularly nasty burn, stretching across her pelvis from her left thigh, has singed some of the curly, dark hairs around her bleeding sex. Out of his sight, Jeffers knew the girl’s buttocks and parts of her slim back also bore wide, fresh, agonising scars from where Sutty had patiently held the glowing dagger an inch or so below the girl’s quivering flesh. All the new burns had been inflicted on her tortured body without the dagger ever coming in contact with her skin. Three times Sutty had pointed the evil dagger at the girl’s left breast and indicated that it should be his next target, and each time Jeffers had shaken his head, but he knew he couldn’t keep his best torturer at bay much longer.
‘Shall I use t’nippers now, Captain?’ asked Sutty as he placed the slightly cooling dagger back in the fire again.
‘One more go, Sutty, then you can use the nippers,’ replied Jeffers.
The door to the cellar opened and a man walked slowly down the steps towards them.
‘Doc, what news of the Duke?’ Jeffers asked the approaching figure.
‘Cor, this place stinks!’ he replied, wrinkling his nose. ‘I’m not sure all this burning flesh, shit, piss and vomit is good for the wine, Jeffers.’
‘The Duke, Doc?’
‘Not good. He has a fever the like of which I’ve rarely seen before. Nothing I have will bring it down. The Archbishop has been sent for.’
‘Has the whore given him the pox?’
‘If she has, you’ve all got it,’ replied the physician nodding at Ellie’s bloody sex. The guards murmured anxiously.
‘No. It’s not the pox. I think he’s been poisoned. Have you got the girl’s daggers?’
Jeffers passed the physician Ellie’s dagger from the bench. ‘The other one’s in the fire.’
‘I see you’ve put it to a lot of use,’ said the physician ruefully. ‘This one will do as long as it’s not been in the fire.’
‘No, it’s been cold all the time.’
The physician took an eyeglass from his pocket and moved close to one of the torches. He studied the edge of the blade of Ellie’s dagger very closely.
‘Has the girl told you anything of use yet, Captain?’ he asked.
‘She’s not told us anything yet, not even her name,’ he replied.
‘What?’ exclaimed Martin. ‘You’ve done all that to her and she won’t even tell you her name!’
‘Not a word.’
‘Maybe you should have let the city goaler deal with her. Someone with the right skills. Someone who’s not led by his cock.’
Martin continued to study the dagger. ‘This blade may look smooth, but there are very tiny serrations at the edge. They can be used to trap poisons in the blade so if a wound is not immediately fatal the poison can still kill. There’s still minute traces of a substance on the edge of this blade,’ he stated. ‘Do you know anything of this girl’s background, her heritage?’
‘We believe her daggers are of Irish origin, Doc,’ replied Jeffers. ‘And she’s got bright green eyes.’
‘Green eyes? I guess she must be Irish then,’ remarked Martin scornfully. ‘Maybe hemlock then. Or more likely a cocktail including it,’ mused the physician.
‘No antidote then?’ asked Jeffers.
‘Well, if you want the Duke to have any chance of survival you’ll have to get the girl to tell you exactly what poison she used, and what she would do if she accidentally poisoned herself.’
‘What ‘appens if t’Duke dies?’ asked one of the guards.
‘Well,’ replied Martin, ‘it’s an important royal appointment so the King will likely fill it quite quickly. I think he’ll give it to the Duke’s younger brother, the current Earl of Wessex.’
‘What’s ‘e like?’ asked the guard anxiously.
‘Very different from the current Duke. He’s a family man, with a loyal wife, committed to her and his two children. They are known for their compassion and philanthropic activities.’
‘What’s that mean?’
‘I think they will seek to improve the lot of the poorer people, maybe the peasants working the fields around the nearby towns and villages, the homeless, the destitute. They’ve all been neglected for too long.’
‘What about us?’
‘I don’t think you can claim to have been neglected.’
‘No. What will ‘appen to us?’
‘He will still need some guards, but probably not as many as the ten thousand men the current Duke seems to want. I doubt he’ll tolerate the whoring and drinking that the current Duke encourages. They are more likely to set up an orphanage and provide teaching in cooking, sewing and childcare for young girls in the city, rather than allow them to be sold to brothel keepers.’
Jeffers and the guards looked very uneasy.
‘We need to find out what poison the filthy whore used,’ growled Jeffers. Sutty retrieved Ellie’s second dagger from the fire.
‘Where’s the best place to use this then, Doc?’ he snarled.
‘What have you been sticking up there?’ the physician asked, gesturing at Ellie’s bleeding sex.
‘Nuffin’ except our ‘ard cocks,’ replied Sutty.
‘Then why is she bleeding so much?’ Martin went to look more closely. ‘Look at all that blood on the floor. If that’s what’s come out, I dread to think how much is sloshing around inside her. If you want her to last long enough to answer your questions, you’d better stick some rags up her quick. Push them right in as far as you can.’
Jeffers nodded at two of the guards and they gathered some dirty rags and pushed them into her sex as far as they could. Ellie groaned at the renewed pain inside her.
‘Well, where should I put this?’ asked Sutty again impatiently.
‘Back in the fire, lad,’ retorted the physician gruffly.
‘So what do we do then?’
‘Well, you can’t do anything more to her sex, so I would suggest the breasts, and especially the nipples. I see you haven’t used the hot dagger on her there yet.’
Sutty moved the dagger towards Ellie’s left breast.
‘No!’ shouted the physician. ‘Don’t use that! You’ve not got long to make her talk, but you’ve got to be more subtle than that. Once you’ve burnt her there’s not much else you can do to hurt her.’
‘What do you suggest we use then, Doc?’ asked Jeffers. ‘We need to make her talk quickly if we are to save the Duke.’
‘There’s no guarantee I’ll be able to cure him even if I know what poison she’s used.’
‘Well, we’ve gotta try, for fuck’s sake! This Earl bloke sounds like a fuckin’ nightmare!’ snarled Sutty.
‘I think this girl’s suffered enough,’ stated Martin.
‘But we have orders from the Duke to make her talk. Besides, we need to find out about the poison,’ replied Jeffers.
‘OK,’ said the physician reluctantly. ‘You’ve fucked enough whores, Jeffers, and the rest of you. You know better than me what makes a woman squeal….……… So, bite her nipples! Or cut them, but obviously don’t cut them off completely. Maybe use the hoof nippers. Nipples are the most sensitive part of the breast. Then you can use some of those other tools you’ve got there – the pliers, rasps and pritchel for instance, on her breasts. Torment the nipple and maybe pierce the breast and you’ll give her about as much pain as it’s possible to do.’
‘Right!’ said Jeffers. ‘Let’s get going, Sutty.’
‘I’ll take this dagger to my study and run some tests, but I don’t think there’s enough poison left to identify it, and then I’d have to find an antidote and administer it. I doubt you lot are God-fearing men, but if you want the Duke to live through the day you’d better start praying now. Let me know the minute the girl says anything.’
‘Very well, Doc.’
Sutty shoved the red-hot dagger back in the fire and leaned over to grab the hoof nippers off the bench.
The physician shook his head and climbed the steps to the cellar door. As he opened the door he heard a long, loud very piteous scream. He hesitated for a moment, then walked on without looking back.
Ellie’s head is hanging down, her mouth slightly open. Since Pugh raped her she’s been burnt in more than a dozen places by Sutty wielding her own dagger, re-heated several times in the flames of the fire.
Ellie has screamed herself hoarse, vomited bile countless times, pissed herself dry and plopped runny shit over the cellar floor. She has been digging her fingernails into the palms of her hands so hard that they are bleeding. She is shivering uncontrollably after having many pails of freezing rainwater thrown in her face to revive her. Jeffers has been bending down and screaming questions at her, but she has still not told him her name. She has not told him anything.
The noxious smell of her own burning flesh hangs in the air around her.
Jeffers stood and looked down the bound girl’s heaving body. Broad, bright, weeping, blistered burns scar her shoulders, flanks, stomach, hips, thighs and calves, in addition to the earlier, narrower burns on her arms and feet. One particularly nasty burn, stretching across her pelvis from her left thigh, has singed some of the curly, dark hairs around her bleeding sex. Out of his sight, Jeffers knew the girl’s buttocks and parts of her slim back also bore wide, fresh, agonising scars from where Sutty had patiently held the glowing dagger an inch or so below the girl’s quivering flesh. All the new burns had been inflicted on her tortured body without the dagger ever coming in contact with her skin. Three times Sutty had pointed the evil dagger at the girl’s left breast and indicated that it should be his next target, and each time Jeffers had shaken his head, but he knew he couldn’t keep his best torturer at bay much longer.
‘Shall I use t’nippers now, Captain?’ asked Sutty as he placed the slightly cooling dagger back in the fire again.
‘One more go, Sutty, then you can use the nippers,’ replied Jeffers.
The door to the cellar opened and a man walked slowly down the steps towards them.
‘Doc, what news of the Duke?’ Jeffers asked the approaching figure.
‘Cor, this place stinks!’ he replied, wrinkling his nose. ‘I’m not sure all this burning flesh, shit, piss and vomit is good for the wine, Jeffers.’
‘The Duke, Doc?’
‘Not good. He has a fever the like of which I’ve rarely seen before. Nothing I have will bring it down. The Archbishop has been sent for.’
‘Has the whore given him the pox?’
‘If she has, you’ve all got it,’ replied the physician nodding at Ellie’s bloody sex. The guards murmured anxiously.
‘No. It’s not the pox. I think he’s been poisoned. Have you got the girl’s daggers?’
Jeffers passed the physician Ellie’s dagger from the bench. ‘The other one’s in the fire.’
‘I see you’ve put it to a lot of use,’ said the physician ruefully. ‘This one will do as long as it’s not been in the fire.’
‘No, it’s been cold all the time.’
The physician took an eyeglass from his pocket and moved close to one of the torches. He studied the edge of the blade of Ellie’s dagger very closely.
‘Has the girl told you anything of use yet, Captain?’ he asked.
‘She’s not told us anything yet, not even her name,’ he replied.
‘What?’ exclaimed Martin. ‘You’ve done all that to her and she won’t even tell you her name!’
‘Not a word.’
‘Maybe you should have let the city goaler deal with her. Someone with the right skills. Someone who’s not led by his cock.’
Martin continued to study the dagger. ‘This blade may look smooth, but there are very tiny serrations at the edge. They can be used to trap poisons in the blade so if a wound is not immediately fatal the poison can still kill. There’s still minute traces of a substance on the edge of this blade,’ he stated. ‘Do you know anything of this girl’s background, her heritage?’
‘We believe her daggers are of Irish origin, Doc,’ replied Jeffers. ‘And she’s got bright green eyes.’
‘Green eyes? I guess she must be Irish then,’ remarked Martin scornfully. ‘Maybe hemlock then. Or more likely a cocktail including it,’ mused the physician.
‘No antidote then?’ asked Jeffers.
‘Well, if you want the Duke to have any chance of survival you’ll have to get the girl to tell you exactly what poison she used, and what she would do if she accidentally poisoned herself.’
‘What ‘appens if t’Duke dies?’ asked one of the guards.
‘Well,’ replied Martin, ‘it’s an important royal appointment so the King will likely fill it quite quickly. I think he’ll give it to the Duke’s younger brother, the current Earl of Wessex.’
‘What’s ‘e like?’ asked the guard anxiously.
‘Very different from the current Duke. He’s a family man, with a loyal wife, committed to her and his two children. They are known for their compassion and philanthropic activities.’
‘What’s that mean?’
‘I think they will seek to improve the lot of the poorer people, maybe the peasants working the fields around the nearby towns and villages, the homeless, the destitute. They’ve all been neglected for too long.’
‘What about us?’
‘I don’t think you can claim to have been neglected.’
‘No. What will ‘appen to us?’
‘He will still need some guards, but probably not as many as the ten thousand men the current Duke seems to want. I doubt he’ll tolerate the whoring and drinking that the current Duke encourages. They are more likely to set up an orphanage and provide teaching in cooking, sewing and childcare for young girls in the city, rather than allow them to be sold to brothel keepers.’
Jeffers and the guards looked very uneasy.
‘We need to find out what poison the filthy whore used,’ growled Jeffers. Sutty retrieved Ellie’s second dagger from the fire.
‘Where’s the best place to use this then, Doc?’ he snarled.
‘What have you been sticking up there?’ the physician asked, gesturing at Ellie’s bleeding sex.
‘Nuffin’ except our ‘ard cocks,’ replied Sutty.
‘Then why is she bleeding so much?’ Martin went to look more closely. ‘Look at all that blood on the floor. If that’s what’s come out, I dread to think how much is sloshing around inside her. If you want her to last long enough to answer your questions, you’d better stick some rags up her quick. Push them right in as far as you can.’
Jeffers nodded at two of the guards and they gathered some dirty rags and pushed them into her sex as far as they could. Ellie groaned at the renewed pain inside her.
‘Well, where should I put this?’ asked Sutty again impatiently.
‘Back in the fire, lad,’ retorted the physician gruffly.
‘So what do we do then?’
‘Well, you can’t do anything more to her sex, so I would suggest the breasts, and especially the nipples. I see you haven’t used the hot dagger on her there yet.’
Sutty moved the dagger towards Ellie’s left breast.
‘No!’ shouted the physician. ‘Don’t use that! You’ve not got long to make her talk, but you’ve got to be more subtle than that. Once you’ve burnt her there’s not much else you can do to hurt her.’
‘What do you suggest we use then, Doc?’ asked Jeffers. ‘We need to make her talk quickly if we are to save the Duke.’
‘There’s no guarantee I’ll be able to cure him even if I know what poison she’s used.’
‘Well, we’ve gotta try, for fuck’s sake! This Earl bloke sounds like a fuckin’ nightmare!’ snarled Sutty.
‘I think this girl’s suffered enough,’ stated Martin.
‘But we have orders from the Duke to make her talk. Besides, we need to find out about the poison,’ replied Jeffers.
‘OK,’ said the physician reluctantly. ‘You’ve fucked enough whores, Jeffers, and the rest of you. You know better than me what makes a woman squeal….……… So, bite her nipples! Or cut them, but obviously don’t cut them off completely. Maybe use the hoof nippers. Nipples are the most sensitive part of the breast. Then you can use some of those other tools you’ve got there – the pliers, rasps and pritchel for instance, on her breasts. Torment the nipple and maybe pierce the breast and you’ll give her about as much pain as it’s possible to do.’
‘Right!’ said Jeffers. ‘Let’s get going, Sutty.’
‘I’ll take this dagger to my study and run some tests, but I don’t think there’s enough poison left to identify it, and then I’d have to find an antidote and administer it. I doubt you lot are God-fearing men, but if you want the Duke to live through the day you’d better start praying now. Let me know the minute the girl says anything.’
‘Very well, Doc.’
Sutty shoved the red-hot dagger back in the fire and leaned over to grab the hoof nippers off the bench.
The physician shook his head and climbed the steps to the cellar door. As he opened the door he heard a long, loud very piteous scream. He hesitated for a moment, then walked on without looking back.