Stockholm Syndrome

by Brooks, JB

  He grimaced. Dinner would be a quick affair. He didn’t think he could bear her close proximity for too long.

  The Fates thwarted him. They found Owen ensconced at the massive wooden kitchen table, a half-empty wineglass and a pile of documents in front of him. There was also a plump, gray-haired woman bustling around the kitchen, piling the table with dishes of food.

  “Edna! I thought you’d gone home for the evening!” Mason sounded delighted.

  “Yeah, I had gone home. Then I started thinking your guest might be hungry and youse’ll be tired, so I came back. I’m making a curry, look.”

  Mason peered into the pot. “Edna, you’re a saint—a very inquisitive saint, but a saint nevertheless. Come and meet Evelyn then.”

  He took Evelyn’s hand and pulled her closer.

  “Evelyn, this is Edna, my housekeeper. She makes the best lamb curry in the world.”

  Edna laughed. “Oh, shush now! Ya boys are just easy to cook for—always so hungry. How’s it going, Evelyn? Pleasure to meet ya!” They shook hands. “The food’s almost done but it’ll be ’bout another ten minutes.”

  Mason winked at Owen. Edna loved to mother them—always had and always would. But he was concerned. He had hoped to speak privately with Edna and George before they met Evelyn. She would try to solicit their help the moment she was able to speak to one of them alone. The elderly couple would do anything for him, but he needed to explain what was going on. Oh well, she wouldn’t get the chance to cause mischief tonight. He’d keep a close eye on her. Although she’d kept silent so far, he could sense her simmering emotions.

  He settled her at the table and poured her some wine.

  “How’s the signing going, Owen?” he asked, indicating the documents scattered around his brother’s place.

  “It’s getting there.” He turned to Evelyn. “Mace had this fucking huge pile of stuff for me to sign for the family trust, and since I’m going back to Brisbane tomorrow morning, he wanted me to do it tonight.”

  “You’re leaving tomorrow?” Evelyn sounded quite dismayed.

  “Yeah, I’ve got commitments. This was an unplanned trip for me, remember.”

  “Yeah, for me too,” she muttered under her breath. He thought he glimpsed the sheen of moisture in her eyes before she turned her face away.

  Mason felt another stab of guilt in his gut. How would he ever make things right with her? Frustration surged in him like prickling heat rash. He couldn’t talk to Evelyn with Owen there and Edna bustling around, setting the table, fussing over them and chatting inanely about the trees in the orchard, which she hoped would bear lots of fruit so she could make jam and chutney. Before they knew it, she was heaping their plates with curry, rice, and salad.

  “Now youse all enjoy your meal. I’ll be back later to clean up.” She disappeared out the kitchen door.

  “Where’s she going?” asked Evelyn anxiously, then her expression changed to surprise. “Wow, this curry is really good!”

  “Yeah, she’s a great cook.” Mason mixed his curry and rice with a huge dollop of chutney. “They have a cottage about half a kilometer on down the road. They walk up and down from the big house at all hours of the day and night. George even put up some of those solar lamps along the way so now they don’t have to worry about torches.”

  “Oh. And does anyone else live out there?” Her voice sounded casual, but Mason knew she was fishing for information that might help her escape.

  “Not a soul. George and Edna’s is the last house. The road goes on a little farther to the stables, and that’s where it ends.”

  “What, no neighbors?”

  “Not for miles. It would be a long walk back to the main road, Evelyn, and another long wait for a car to come by, if you were foolish enough to consider hitchhiking. It’s not busy out this way.”

  She flushed and dropped her eyes. They ate in silence.

  “I’m going to bed,” said Owen abruptly, standing up and taking his empty dishes to the sink. “I want to leave early tomorrow. Mace, all the paperwork is done. I’ll put it on your desk on my way. Good night, Evelyn. I probably won’t see you in the morning. I hope… Well, I’m very sorry. About everything. Good night.” He turned and fled.

  “Can I get you anything else?” Mason asked after Owen left. Evelyn looked pale and upset.

  “Let me go back to Brisbane with him? Please?” A low, desperate plea.

  “Oh, Evelyn, I’m so sorry, but I can’t do that. You know you’d go straight to the police. We have to sort this out, you and me.”

  “It would help if you’d tell me exactly what would convince you that I wouldn’t. My word obviously isn’t enough.”

  “You’ve asked me that already. I don’t know yet. Your word might be enough if I have reason to trust you, but right now, I just can’t.”

  She made a small noise of frustration. “Well, could you at least finish explaining how you made a mistake and caught me? You were telling me about The Chase at lunch, and we were sidetracked. You never mentioned why you thought I was one of the players. That’s what happened, right?”

  “Yeah. There’s not much more to tell. You were wearing exactly the same clothes as the female players—jeans, trainers, and a white shirt. There shouldn’t have been anybody else there on campus at that hour of the night, so it never occurred to me that you weren’t one of us.”

  “But I didn’t have a veil.”

  “Most girls take them off once the game starts.”

  “I ran away.” Her voice was soft.

  “They all do. That’s why it’s called The Chase. And they fight and scream and resist, and some even cry.”

  He leaned across the table and picked up her clenched hands, holding tight when she tried to pull away.

  “Look at me, Evelyn.”

  Her eyes met his, fathomless blue lakes of tears.

  “I swear I didn’t know. I’d never, never have done it if I’d guessed. I didn’t want to hurt you. I wanted to pleasure you.” I still do, he thought desperately. I’d like to give you so much pleasure that it burns the memory of last night right out of your mind, and you never think of it again.

  His mobile rang. The moment was shattered.

  “Shit! I have to take this call. It’s one of my business partners from South Africa. We’ve been missing each other for the last few days and it’s important.” He spoke into the phone. “Hello, Bryce. Good to hear you, mate. Just give me a moment, I’m going to my study.”

  ***

  Evelyn was left alone at the kitchen table. For a crazy moment she considered running out the door, but it was dark, and she was barefoot. The cars were out there, but even if they weren’t locked, she didn’t know how to start them without the keys. There was nowhere to go. Panicking would do no good. She had to think.

  She dropped her head into her hands, massaging her temples. Owen was leaving in the morning. That meant she’d be all alone with Mason, and that was very…unsettling.

  She got up and started scraping off the dirty dishes and packing them in the sink to distract herself. A moment later the kitchen door opened and Edna waddled in.

  “Oh no, sweetie, have they left ya all alone? And leave that now, you’re a guest. I’ll take over!”

  Evelyn’s heart began to thump. She grabbed Edna’s hands.

  “Edna! Edna, listen to me! You have to help me. I’m not a guest. Mason’s kidnapped me. He’s brought me here against my will. You have to help me get away!” Tears welled up in her eyes and she let them run down her cheeks unchecked. She had to win the woman over.

  “What? What’re ya saying?” Edna’s simple face was a blank mask of surprise. She pulled her hands out of Evelyn’s grip.

  “I’m saying he kidnapped me, Edna. No, listen to me! He brought me here tied up in the back of Owen’s van. He’s broken my mobile. I’m supposed to be in Africa.” The words tripped off her tongue. “There isn’t time for this! He could come back any second. I need a phone, Edna, quickly!”


  “Africa? But it makes no sense. Ya don’t look kidnapped, and youse all seemed so friendly at dinner. Why would Mason kidnap ya?”

  “I… He… It’s complicated.” She wanted to grab Edna and shake her. “Look, will you just give me a phone, please?”

  “Who’d ya want to call?”

  “The police. Triple zero.”

  “Oh now, hang on.” Edna backed up a couple of paces. “We don’t want trouble here.”

  “No, we don’t want trouble,” declared an icy voice behind her.

  She spun ’round. Mason stood in the doorway, expressionless, arms folded across his chest.

  “Edna,” he said, “fetch George, and go to my office. I’ll be there shortly.”

  “No, wait, Edna!” But it was too late. The woman slipped hurriedly out the back door.

  “Come, Evelyn.”

  She stood mulishly, refusing to look at him, disappointment bitter in her throat. He approached her slowly, allowing her plenty of time to move, and when she didn’t, he picked her up. She kept her face turned away as he carried her to her bedroom, placed her on her feet just inside, and left, locking the door behind him.

  ***

  Evelyn lay in bed, exhausted but unable to sleep. She was so confused. Why, oh why hadn’t she told Edna that Mason had raped her? She sensed that if she’d told her, it would have tipped the elderly woman’s sentiments in her favor, but instead she’d hesitated at the critical moment, and now the opportunity was lost. By this time, Mason would have told them his side of the story, whatever that was, and they wouldn’t listen to her.

  Was she ashamed? She worked at a family counseling center. She’d encountered domestic violence and she knew the heartbreaking myriad ways victims battled with shame and guilt, how they blamed themselves for things even when their innocence and helplessness were obvious. But she’d never thought it could happen to her.

  And what had happened, anyway? She’d said yes to Mason. At the last minute, she’d wanted the orgasm of her twisted fantasies, and she’d said yes. And what about him? Would he have stopped if she’d shaken her head, said no? If she’d cried loudly and fought harder? Had he really not realized that she wasn’t part of their game? Was it his fault, or was it hers?

  She eventually slipped into a tangle of nightmares mixed with vivid erotic dreams that had her moaning and shouting in her sleep.

  ***

  The next morning, Evelyn woke to the sound of a key unlocking her bedroom door. She scooted up in bed, looking at her watch. Half past nine! It was so late and she was still in bed. No doubt she looked dreadful. Her eyes were scratchy and her mouth was parched dry. She hadn’t cleaned her face, or brushed her teeth or hair, and she didn’t like the idea of Mason seeing her like that. But she needn’t have worried. It wasn’t Mason who came into her room, but Edna, carrying a tray piled high with breakfast goodies. George waited just inside, holding the key.

  “How’re ya going, sweetie?” greeted Edna, a bit too brightly. “I brought ya a bite of breakfast!” She put the tray down on the bed.

  Evelyn returned the greeting, eyeing the food. “Is Mason coming to have breakfast with me?” There was enough on the tray for at least two people.

  “Oh no! That’s just for ya. Ya won’t be seeing much of Mason today.”

  “Why is that?”

  “He’s gone into town, Rockhampton, y’know. He had some business there, but he’s also gonna to get provisions. He hasn’t been home for a couple of weeks, and we’re short on lots of things.”

  “He does the shopping?” That was a surprise.

  “Not usually, no, but today he offered. He said he needs special things he wants to buy himself.”

  “How long will he be away?”

  “I’m not expecting him back ’til midafternoon.”

  “And what am I supposed to do until he gets back?”

  Edna looked down, clearly feeling uncomfortable. “He wants ya to stay in your room. I’m supposed to keep ya locked in.”

  “Seriously, Edna? So now you’re my jailer? You must see how wrong this is?”

  “Yeah, I don’t like it much.” The older woman looked miserable.

  “Then won’t you help me?”

  Edna shook her head. “Me an’ George spoke to Mason last night, and he told us everything that happened. It’s a real shocker, and I’m not saying he’s innocent, but obviously it’s not a simple situation. We’re real sorry for both’a youse, but we’re gonna let Mason sort out this mess his way.” Behind her, George nodded his agreement.

  “You’re committing a crime, Edna. Do you realize that? You could go to prison for this.” Evelyn blinked back tears of despair.

  Edna hung her head. “I love that boy like a son,” she whispered. “I owe him everything.” She looked up, and Evelyn saw she was crying too, but she kept speaking, her voice growing stronger with conviction. “Mason is the best man I know. He has a fine character. This’ll be eating him alive. He’ll find a way to put it right no matter what it costs him.”

  “It’s not something that money can fix.”

  “I wasn’t talking ’bout money, sweetie, though he’s got enough of that to fix a lot of hurt. He’ll find a way. There’s never been a problem he can’t solve. Just give him time to figure it out.”

  Evelyn sighed. This was hopeless. She’d do better to make friends with the woman. At least she might learn more about Mason. “Then you’d better sit down and eat some of this food with me, Edna. And while we’re eating, you can explain to me why you think the sun shines out of Mason’s ass.”

  Edna looked taken aback for a moment then burst into shaky laughter. She exchanged a glance with George, who retreated into the hall, closing the door and locking them in together. She sat on the side of the bed and helped herself to a bran muffin, which she slathered with jam and grated cheese.

  “It’s quite a tale, actually,” she said, “and neither George nor me’s ever told anybody before. But we know all about youse now, so I guess I don’t mind.”

  Evelyn started on her eggs and bacon, waiting for the other woman to continue.

  “Mason bought this place ’bout ten years ago. ’Round that time, my George had just been let go from his job. He was a shift supervisor on the mines, and earned a pretty good wage, but they had redundancies, and his whole team was ’mongst those they let go. He was a bit old to go starting over at a new mine and we had some savings, so we bought the property next door here. We thought we’d have a go at a bit of farming.”

  She finished her muffin and reached absently for a bowl of yogurt, which she held but didn’t eat. Evelyn could see that she was lost deep in her memories.

  “It was a lot harder than we thought. In the first year, so many things went wrong we used up all our money. We worked damn hard but we didn’t know what we were doing. Looked like we were gonna lose the farm, and we didn’t have anywhere else to go. It was ’round ’bout that time when George started hitting me.”

  Evelyn gasped. “He hit you? Oh no, Edna, I’m so sorry! You can stop if you don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Well, I’ve started now, so ya may’s well hear it. One night he laid into me pretty badly, and Mason heard us. He’d been out with a sick horse in one of the paddocks near our side, and I guess he heard me screaming. So the next thing we knew, he burst in our front door and he knocked George clean out. Broke his nose. Then the next night he came back again, but I was ready for him. I had a wooden fence post, and I told him I’d kill him if he laid another finger on George.”

  By this time Evelyn had also stopped eating. Although horrified by Edna’s story, the thought of her threatening Mason with a fence post was absurd.

  “What did he do?” she whispered.

  “He laughed at me. Then he said he’d come back to find out if I still wanted to be with George, and I told him of course I did!”

  “You wanted to stay with him even though he beat you?”

  “Don’t ya judge me, missy! Ya wa
it ’til you’re my age and you’ve learned a thing or two ’bout life. I love George and he loves me. He’d never raised a hand to me in all the years I knew him before. He was just breaking his heart over the farm and the money, and he didn’t know what to do. That’s what I told Mason that night too.”

  “But, Edna, you’re a victim. There’s no excuse for what he did. You don’t have to stay with him. I know you’ve never told anybody about this, but I know what to do. My job is helping people like you. There are places you can go—”

  Edna cut her off with a snort. “There ya go judging again. I’m no victim. That was a decade ago, and he’s never laid a finger on me since. That man spends every wakin’ minute trying to make it up to me for what he done, even though I forgave him years ago.”

  “But—”

  “There’s no buts. He’s not gonna do it again.” She leaned forward and fixed Evelyn with a glare. “I know what people say, but sometimes a man makes a mistake. A terrible mistake, maybe, but still a mistake. An’ if he’s a good man, when he realizes what he’s done, he’s sorry right through his guts, and he’ll never, ever do it again. Then ya gotta decide. Do ya throw it all away, his life and yours, or do you give him another chance? Sure, I could’a left George. Would’a enjoyed it, paying him back for the hurt he caused. But where would I be now? In some old-age home somewhere? Or living in the back room in my daughter’s house, being a burden on her family? Instead I’m living in paradise here, in a big house with air conditioning, and I got somebody to sit with me when I’m lonely and hold my hand when I’m scared.”

  She put the untouched yogurt back on the tray, and with a small smile said, “So ya wanna know what Mason did then? He offered George a job, and the cottage to stay in, and we’ve been here ever since. He bought our farm after that. Said he wanted more space to ride his horses ’bout. Paid fair market price for it, so we could settle all our debts. Pretty soon he hired me too, to keep house for him. George and me wouldn’t leave him for anything. He’s family to us now.”