Dangerous Women Part 58

Well, I'm not the only one uncomfortable on all the levels possible.

Juniper tapped her fingers on the table and took up the gavel that Sam had crafted her yesterday evening as they hashed out procedure. She banged it once on the block of wood and spoke formally: "We are gathered here to make a decision with regards to the matter of the s.e.xual a.s.sault visited upon Debbie Meijer yesterday by William Robert Peers, know to us as Billy Peers Mackenzie, who denies that he has accepted the name or Clan of Mackenzie."

She frowned and moved her hand to stop another blow to the struggling Billy. "You will be given your time to talk at its proper place."

He shook his head, his eyes angry and desperate, and she pursed her lips and shook her head in her turn, pointing to the poised hand. He subsided, but his black scowl remained.

"First I am going to address the greater issue. What right have we to judge and sentence and carry out these sentences upon the members of our community and those who dwell upon our land? For more than a year, we have been hurrying from incident to incident, making it up as we go along ..."

A crack of laughter interrupted her. That was a charge often leveled at pre-Change wiccans: They just make up the ritual as they go along.

"But all just law is based on need and precedents and the will of the people. Not much of it is from the legal system that covered the needs of a highly urban, complex society that numbered hundreds of millions and was rich enough to spare the time for slow careful perusals of accusations and defenses.

"We no longer live in the old world of cities and bureaucracies. We live in small, closed villages where the question of guilt is frequently easily established and we have no real need of the elaborate forensic apparatus used previously to establish the beyond doubt criteria used before."

She met Billy's angry eyes: "This is how we have been operating and how we will continue to operate in future, until we see a need for something different. Our methods and their success or failure were discussed and reviewed by myself and my advisors. We have reviewed the past seventeen months of work and dispute in the duns and codified the results."

She gestured to the book beneath Eilir's hand: "Clan Mackenzie is a conglomeration of independent settlements that have asked for and received membership in the Clan, that we may support each other and defend each other in a world where n.o.body can survive alone and no single family can survive alone. These are the means we have found to live together, and live decently. And it has worked. We are alive, where millions ... hundreds of millions ... almost certainly billions ... have died."

A low murmur went through the group as she looked around, meeting their eyes. That was why so many had joined the group she'd started with a few friends and coven-members meeting at her country retreat, and taken up all its ways. It was what she'd meant that first day, when she'd told them ...

"It's a Clan we will have to be, as it was in the old days, if we're to live at all."

A low approving rumble at that; the words were already folklore. Perhaps the trappings that had come along with that thought weren't necessary, were just the by-product of that group's obsessions and pastimes from before the Change ... but the whole thing worked, and n.o.body was going to argue with that. Herself least of all.

Then she went on: "Salus populi suprema lex: The good of the people is the highest law. If a person lives in a Dun of the Clan, they are a member of that Dun and subject to the rules, benefits, and obligations of the group. No one compels them to remain, but if they do, it is on the group's chosen terms. This includes the reality of work, of mutual defense, and the obligation to respect others. The Ollam and oenach of a Dun have every right to judge wrongdoing in their territories and by their people or towards their people.

"Who chooses the Ollam? The people of the Dun. Dun Carson was led by John and Sharon Carson Mackenzie until his death fighting the Protector's men when they tried to take Sutterdown last year. Dun Carson is led by an Ollam of five at this time. They have collectively requested that the Chief Ollam of the Clan deliver the doom in this matter, and that it be witnessed by as many sober and credible members of the other Duns as is possible. We are here today for this purpose."

Two more people were taking down her words in shorthand. Juniper paced her speech to make it easier on her own scribe-daughter to read her lips.

"I will hear first from Debbie Meijer, who also resides in Dun Carson, but has not accepted the name of Mackenzie."

She watched as the injured woman's eyes focused on her, as if she'd been jarred out of some inward prison that was protection as well. Everyone looked lean and fit these days, as well as weathered, but there was gentleness to her face, as well as pain; she had blue-green eyes, and brown hair caught beneath a kerchief. She shrank back for a minute and then rose at Judy's quiet urging and walked forward. Juniper watched her swallow and clench her teeth. She made a slight gesture and Debbie's face contracted. She shook for an instant and then faced the Dun's members.

"I am Debbie Meijer. I've lived with you at Dun Carson since ... since the Protector's men stole us from Lebanon, and I, uh, escaped. I've not taken the Clan or the name; I've been waiting for my husband, Mark, to come back. Those of you here all know that the 'tinerants have been seeking news of the people stolen from Lebanon, but not much has been heard.

"I ... I've done my best to fit in and be useful. It's been hard. I've learned and learned and learned for more than a year. I went from an independent, competent citizen to a dependent, stupid member of a farming community."

A wave of motion shook the Carson and Rebekah stepped forward, holding out a green branch.

"I recognize Rebekah Carson." Juniper smiled at Debbie and raised a hand with a gentle gesture to stay her words for a moment: "Debbie is a good, hard worker who has struggled with the grief she feels for the loss of her husband and her family, who were all on the east coast. We have all liked and supported her."

Juniper hesitated, suppressing a stab of anger; that support had been sadly lacking in some respects. She'd said they were to be as a Clan, and that meant that each protected the other.

No, that needs to be said; but later. Now Debbie needs to finish.

She looked up. Peers was slouched, managing to look as insolent as a man could while gagged and standing under Sam Aylward's hand. He turned his head, caught Debbie's eyes, and moved his hips, slightly but unmistakably.

Juniper's finger pointed. Sam Aylward carefully did not smile.

Crack.

Sam's hand slapped across his face, with a sound like leather hitting a board and a speed that was deceptive because of the brisk unhurried casualness of the motion. The man's head whipped around and he staggered. Blood showed around his lips and nose, and his eyes widened with shock.

"You will be respectful," Juniper said flatly. Then: "Please continue, Debbie. Tell us what happened."

Debbie bit her lip and met Juniper's eyes. Her defensive posture straightened and her voice firmed up.

"Yesterday wasn't where it started. Yesterday was where it ended. I've been here since August, last year. Billy Bob came in March or April ..."

"April!" somebody called from the a.s.sembly.

Debbie nodded. "It started right away. He stood in line next to me at suppertime and rubbed himself on me. Cynthia saw him do it and reamed him out in front of everybody. He said that he was only trying to be friendly, and I was a cold b.i.t.c.h and Cynthia a b.u.t.tinsky kid."

Juniper felt her lips thin out; her eyes went to the Carson girl. Cynthia nodded, but didn't speak.

"After that," continued Debbie, "he was more careful about who'd see him. He followed me when he could, grabbed me, and would touch me every time he could. That hip thing he just did ... he'd do it every time he could when we were all together. Ray caught him at it a couple of times and told him to stop and Brian backed him up ... but it just made him a bit more careful.

"He tried to ... He knocked on my door ... I guess it was late April, late at night. I didn't even think about the danger; I just opened it and he shoved it open and tried to get in. It hit me in the face and breast and hurt and I screamed and everybody poured out. He tried to say that I had invited him in, but n.o.body believed him.

"After that, I had to keep my door locked. In May, he tried to climb in the window and I slammed it on his fingers ... After that I had to keep my window closed and just put up with the heat. Ray and Brian were p.i.s.sed because he said I had slammed his fingers in a door, not the window, and he hadn't done anything. But Tammy saw him fall that day and then they believed me. They kept him away from me by making sure he worked away from the house and I worked close. Sharon and Rebekah told me to be careful to not do anything more to excite him or provoke him. But I wasn't doing anything. It was all him.

"Yesterday, we were harvesting and after dinner I went up to my room to change my shirt. I'm glad for the kilt. Pants would be brutal in this heat and I don't like shorts, but I needed a lighter shirt; I was sweltering.

"He was hiding behind the door of my room and he punched me in the back and I stumbled-turned to scream and he punched me in the stomach, threw me on the floor, ripped off my panties ..."

Juniper caught Judy's eyes and she moved closer to the woman, who'd gone rigid, her voice flat, her face expressionless.

"... raped me ... I couldn't breath from the punch. Then he flipped me over and half on the bed and did it from behind and through the behind. He gagged me with my shirt and bit my b.r.e.a.s.t.s all over and then punched me again and left me there. Cynthia found me later."

"Not much later," said Cynthia. "When she didn't come back down, I went upstairs. At most ten or fifteen minutes."

Juniper nodded and pointed at Brian. "How did he evade your watchfulness?"

The man looked chagrined. "Well, he didn't. He's just such a slacker, I never thought of it. I just thought he'd gone off somewhere to have a nap. Ray wanted to go look for him, but I told him we were too busy. I shouldn't have ignored him."

"Some nap!" exclaimed Debbie, tears suddenly rolling down her flaming cheeks.

Judy led her away, a careful arm around her shoulders.

Juniper nodded, feeling the anger on her face and knowing it scared Brian Carson.

"Judy?" she asked.

Judy Barstow came forward again: everyone knew she'd been a registered nurse and midwife before the Change, and in overall charge of the Clan's health care since. She wasn't as popular as Juniper-her brisk, no-nonsense personality was a little more abrasive-but n.o.body doubted her competence.

"I conducted the examination yesterday evening. Debbie has been hit. There is a bruise on her back, between the shoulder blades. There is a wound, made by a ring from the placement. She was, indeed, struck in her solar plexus. Soft belly tissue doesn't show bruises as easily, but there are two marks similar to the ring mark on her back. By tomorrow, I believe she'll have serious bruising on her front. I also believe there is internal damage, probably to her spleen. I hope it will heal, but for now, she's on light duty, mostly off her feet.

"She was clearly raped, v.a.g.i.n.ally and a.n.a.lly. There is considerable trauma and damage to the surrounding structures as well as rips and tears from fingernails. Sperm was present in both places."

Juniper nodded, her stomach roiling. I wish Eilir didn't need to hear this! Or any of the Clan's children. Unfortunately they all need to hear it, loud and clear.

"One last item, then, before I speak as Ollam and Brithem. Brian compiled a set of weregeld statements for Billy Bob and Debbie."

She looked down and made a moue at them.

"Billy Bob's will not surprise many people. He arrived empty-handed except for a belt knife and an ax, but not hungry, on a bicycle in late April of this year, claiming to have come from Hood River where the Portland Protective a.s.sociation, in the person of one Conrad Renfew ... now calling himself Count Conrad Renfew ... took over. He was accepted into Dun Carson. His record since then has been that of a slacker and troublemaker. Brian considers that he hasn't actually done enough work day to day to cover his room and board. He also shorted, cheated, or went absent on sentry go twice before being removed from the sentry rolls altogether.

"I am going to send out an advisory to all the Duns. We now have intelligence about Hood River. Though the Portland Protective a.s.sociation took it over, for once the people of Hood River are actually grateful to them for this."

That brought another murmur, this time of surprise. The PPA's Lord Protector was, at the very least, a psychopath, though a very able and surprisingly farsighted one; his followers ranged from extremely hard men to outright thugs. But there were times when people would accept the hardest hand if it meant life and peace enough to sow and reap, and the a.s.sociation was trying very hard indeed to get agriculture going again in its territories. Nor did they tolerate outlaw raiders ...

If only because it's compet.i.tion, she thought mordantly, and went on: "They had a homegrown bandit problem, a very bad one. Any Dun that took in Hood River people over the period from March through late April will need to look carefully at them. They may be the bandits themselves, the ones Renfrew didn't hang or behead. I suspect that is the case here.

"To continue. Debbie's weregeld sheet states that she arrived with the t.i.tles to seventy acres outside of Lebanon and another hundred acres up by Silverton. This she handed over to the Clan in November when the Kyklos asked for free t.i.tle to the lands they took possession of in September. We received a large consignment of goods in return for that and several other property t.i.tles. Debbie is credited with a proportional value of that shipment. Debbie is a hard worker, very community minded, and easy to get along with. She has been learning a number of skills for our Changed world, caring for dairy cattle, b.u.t.ter-making and cheese-making, and sewing and preserving food as well as the standard tasks."

Juniper folded her hands over the papers and looked into the insolent hazel eyes of the gagged man before her.

"Before I say anything about this particular case, I have something to say that will be sent to all the Clan territories. Dun Carson failed to protect Debbie Meijer."

She paused, to allow Eilir to catch up and to control herself. She caught Brian and then Rebekah's eyes. They dropped theirs and flushed with shame.

"Hara.s.sment, bullying, tormenting, destructive teasing ... none of these are acceptable behaviors in a world where everybody depends on everybody else and n.o.body can move away. Children are taught by admonishment and example because they know no better. But adults are expected to listen and understand and conform. Chronic problems must not be allowed to fester. We of the Clan must be able to trust each other; our lives depend upon it."

Juniper drummed her fingers on the table and scowled into the sneering face of the gagged man. "Billy Bob brought up the legality of our actions. I will address this point first."

She felt an angry satisfaction to see how he hated that she spoke of him by the nicknames he'd used back when he'd arrived in Clan Mackenzie territory.

"Clan Mackenzie is a sovereign state. We are neither bound by nor follow the legal system of the old United States of America, which is utterly unsuited to this world we find ourselves in. Therefore, Mr. Peers, you are not in Kansas anymore, and we will not allow you to try legal quibbles or time-wasting efforts to negotiate yourself out of your just deserts, no, that we will not!

"Now is the time when you will speak. When I tell you to not speak anymore, you will close your mouth and not speak anymore. When I ask you a question, you will answer it directly. You will not speak other than to answer the questions I put to you until I give you leave to speak freely.

"Do you understand?"

She saw the sly look in his eyes as he nodded and nodded herself in turn.

"Do you agree to only answer the questions put to you and to be silent when ordered?"

The way his teeth showed rea.s.sured her that she was reading the situation well. He nodded, slowly, as if he were forcing his head to move against rigid sinews.

"The gag will be used, if necessary. Be warned that attempts to blame your victim will be met with gagging. Rape is an offense against the G.o.ddess Herself and an insult to the Horned Lord, Her consort and lover. It is a vile mockery of the Great Rite by which They made and maintain the world and to let it go unpunished would be to risk Their anger.

"We have religious freedom here; you are being punished for your crime against Debbie Meijer, not against the Powers who make and shape the world, whatever else we mean by it. However, insulting our morals is blasphemy and will be met with severe penalties. And you ... well, you are a rapist."

She nodded to Alex, who unstrapped the gag device. Billy Bob spit out the tongue depressor and drew in a breath ... and froze as his eyes met hers. She held them until he let go of the breath and slumped slightly.

"Better," she approved. "Did you rape Debbie Meijer?"

Once again he drew in a breath and met her eyes ... and hesitated.

"You can't prove it!" he challenged.

"Why not? Are you sure n.o.body saw you?"

"Of course ... n.o.body saw me. I wasn't there!" Juniper grimaced wryly.

Good recovery, she thought. Not going to get him on a Perry Mason.

Juniper nodded. "We do not depend on people seeing you. Proof, as you call it, is a matter of belief. Everybody in the Dun's oenach believes you did what you are accused of, based on observations and tracking of movements and knowledge of who and what you are. Your guilt has been established to the satisfaction of the Dun, and I have accepted it.

"Debbie's unsupported word and the state of her body are enough to prove to us she has been raped. Her struggle with your continual hara.s.sment is enough to condemn you in the eyes of the community. The mark of your ring on her body in three places is also very telling. Keep in mind that I was not asked to come and decide if you were guilty. That was established yesterday afternoon when you were locked up and Judy Barstow Mackenzie made her examination of Debbie. You are the man who raped her. My task is to determine what to do with you.

"In Clan Mackenzie our guiding principle is the weregeld princ.i.p.al, of compensation. For injury to property or failure to do your share you may be fined labor or goods for the waste you caused. For repeated offenses, expulsion by the vote of the community.

"For injury-which can cover malicious gossip, physical a.s.sault, and damage to a persons' property or animals-the only question is how dangerous the perpetrator is. We have a responsibility. We cannot turn a dangerous person out to the world if we reasonably believe that he or she will injure another person.

"For murder. The circ.u.mstances of the cause of death must be reviewed by a coroner appointed by the Dun's Ollam and the decision will rest upon those findings and the conclusion with the Ollam and the oenach."

She could see that Billy Bob was relaxing. He shrugged. After a few seconds' thought, she nodded at him. "I have reached my decision. Do you have any final words to say?"

"Sure!" he said, sitting up again. "Gimme my bike, load the saddlebags with enough food, and I'll be gone north before the door hits the back wheel!"

The members of Dun Carson stirred, anger on many faces; a few shouted wordlessly in rage or denial. Juniper let them settle down; Billy Bob started to twist, but Sam was still holding his shoulder and he could no more break that hold than he could the steel grip of a vise.

"As far as the Dun is concerned, you have not managed to work enough to justify your keep in the four months you have been here. You came with nothing but an old bike, which has been, since, broken up for repair parts."

"f.u.c.k!" yelled Billy Bob. "That was my bike and you owe me!"

"No," said Juniper. "You owe the Clan four months' room and board. Room is a.s.sessed at a pint of wheat a day and board at three pints of wheat a day. For one hundred and twenty-six days, total. This is a little more than five bushels of wheat."

"You're crazy!" he said, staring at her. "Where'm I going to get wheat?"

"From the sweat of your brow!" said Brian, anger clotting his voice.

Billy Bob swung around but Juniper spoke; her voice diamond edged. "Stop. That is moot; infliction of injury trumps all else."

There was silence before she went on: "Does anybody from the oenach have anything to say about the potential of Billy Bob raping another woman if he is expelled?"

One of the older children-eoghann, she reminded herself-raised a hand. "May I speak?" he asked. Juniper frowned as the boy's mother reached out a hand and then drew it back.

"Yes. You have a voice, but not a vote."

"He ... yesterday-early; and before, he used to work next to me. I tried to get changed around, but Brian said that it would hurt morale and I should be able to ignore him. But he always talked; he'd say really ugly things about Debbie. He was always talking about her. Sometimes he talked about other women, not from here, and not all from Hood River. He'd laugh and chuckle ... like it was as much ... fun ... to talk about it to me, yelling at him to shut up, as it was to do the gross things he told me about."

Juniper didn't put her head down on the table, or scream, or dance with rage. But the impulse was surely there.

"Does anybody else have a similar story?"