The Shepherd of Ashburn Court Pt. 01

Ben staggered up and stomped on the man's hand as he weakly tried to wield the baton from the ground. Bones snapped and the driver screamed, dropping the weapon. Ben grabbed him by the collar and dragged him on his ass back to the car, keeping an eye on the old woman the entire way. He lifted and bounced the man against the side of the car as he opened the driver's door and pushed him back inside. He slammed the door then walked over to stand in front of the old woman. She sputtered a little but jumped when Ben scowled at her. "Leave." was all he said.

She hastily made her way to the back seat of the limo and the car drove away. He stood at the end of the driveway until the car turned the corner and disappeared. It was only then that Ben realized they no longer had their police barricade and the press had moved on to the next sensation.

He started to shiver and Gabriella who had caught up to him handed him the knit sweater he'd dropped. He pulled it on and hissed in pain as he moved his bruised ribs. Gabriella was instantly at his elbow guiding him back towards Catherine's. He stopped and saw that Rochelle was leading Tina after them. The young woman was looking at him like he was some kind of hero. He sighed and closed his eyes as the pain in his ribs began to make itself known.

Megan opened her front door and Gabriella walked through with her arm around the good side of Ben. She heard Cat's friendly voice. "Megan, what took you so long to get that man over here?" Catherine froze when she came around the corner. "What happened?" she yelped.

"Mrs. Lee's mother-in-law decided to do a little snatch and grab of her grandson." Ben muttered.

"She beat you up?" Catherine gasped.

Ben laughed and immediately regretted it as pain stabbed through his side.

Gabriella scowled at Cat. "No, she brought a goon who had some kind of metal club. Ben beat him up but not before taking a few hits to the ribs."

Rochelle flicked her wrist and the baton she'd picked up snapped out to full length. Cat's eyes went wide. "Oh my god! Bring him into the kitchen!" The group followed her.

Catherine pulled out a chair from the table and they sat him down in it and carefully pulled off his sweater with much hissing. Then came the t-shirt. Three large red welts crossed his side and bruising was already spreading over the area.

Rochelle leaned in and grimaced. "No good deed goes unpunished." she whispered.

Tina Lee saw the marks and burst into tears. "I'm so sorry Mr. Shepherd. It is all my fault! I should have let her take Christopher. She was right!"

Ben's head snapped up. "Stop! Stop right there! Don't you EVER say you're not worthy to keep your child! You did NOTHING wrong! Christopher is blessed to have you as his mother!" He looked around at the other women and gave them all a stern look. "None of you did anything to deserve what happened to you. It was just a stupid accident that took them. Why they were there in the first place is on THEM! Damn! I'll never understand why they did it but it was THEIR choice and is NO reflection on your worth! Each of you is a treasure!" His little outburst caused his ribs to throb so he closed his eyes and hissed in pain. He didn't see the looks in their eyes as they gazed at him.

Gabriella spoke softly. "Ben, maybe we should take you to the hospital."

He opened his eyes and looked at his injury. "No, I'm just bruised. I don't feel any grating so the bones aren't likely broken. I'll just soak in the tub before the muscles tighten up. Besides, we don't need any more publicity. The press has finally left us alone. Must be some other tragedy."

"You could use our hot tub." Cat offered. Gabriella shot her a look and got an innocent questioning look back.

"Thanks but I'll just use my own later. I heard something about a haircut and stew?" Ben looked around hopefully.

Megan burst into a smile and rushed out of the room to get her kit.

Everyone settled in around the table but they left Ben further out so Megan had room to give him the haircut. She put the cape over him and the other ladies sighed as they could no longer see his body. This made them giggle self-consciously. Tina looked at the others and smiled. She also thought Mr. Shepherd was a beautiful man but was trying not to be obvious. Rochelle patted her knee. She knew.

While he waited Ben looked at the group. He pondered Tina's situation. If they hadn't passed by when they did, she might had lost her child as well as her husband. He felt ashamed that he hadn't approached her earlier. The Lee's were the latest addition to the community but that didn't absolve his guilt at not paying better attention. Then he thought of the remaining wives who lost their husbands. Maybe they were hurting and could use a sympathetic ear. "Has anyone spoken to the other women affected by this?"

The ladies all looked at each other.

Gabriella pulled out her phone. "Cat, would you mind if I called them over?"

"No! That would be good!" she replied.

She dialed the first number. "Joanne? It's Gabriella. I'm over at Catherine's. We're just having a little informal get together and were wondering if you'd like to join us. Sure. No need to bring anything, just yourself. OK, see you soon." She looked up at Cat. "Joanne White is on her way. I'll call the others."

Gabriella managed to contact Trish Campbell, Hannah Cooper, and Daphne McKellan who all agreed to join them as well but Beth Wilson's son John said she couldn't come to the phone but he'd pass along the message. Sarah Miller didn't answer. Her SUV wasn't in its usual spot in the driveway so they assumed she'd gone to visit her parents with the kids.

Sophie and Rachel helped their mother gather more chairs for the big kitchen.

Joanne arrived and looked at the group of women sitting around the table. She was surprised to see Ben sitting in the room getting a haircut. She took a seat next to Tina and admired the baby in her arms.

Trish, Daphne, and Hanna arrived next. Hannah had a scowl on her tear stained face and looked at the group with suspicion. Trish seemed to be following her lead though Daphne just looked lost. Hannah looked at Gabriella and Catherine and opened up with both barrels when she saw Ben sitting in the kitchen. Her face twisted into a pained grimace.

"It's not bad enough your husbands seduced ours into their sick and depraved parties now you're after us with this eye candy!??!" she cried.

Suddenly there were voices screaming incriminations back and forth across the table. Ben was stunned by how vicious it got. He'd had enough.

"STOP!" he bellowed as he stood and all the women froze and Christopher began to cry. He winced then stared them in the eye. "Let me make one thing perfectly clear. I was invited to few BOY'S Club meetings and NO ONE was there against their will. There was NO coercion, NO seduction, and NONE of you had any involvement or knowledge of what when on there. They made that fact VERY clear to me. It was THEIR club, no wives allowed! Their attitudes towards the women they married, the women who should have been their partners in everything... it sickened me and I couldn't be part of it. I heard and saw it because I WAS THERE. It wasn't my place to interfere with your relationships but I could stay away from those men so I did. I'm sorry if what I've said hurts you but you need to be honest with yourselves if you want to heal from this. You have each other. God! You need to understand you were ALL victims and you need to rely on each other. I've known most of you for years and I know you are good people! Which makes what happened all the more bewildering to me. How they could have treated any of you this way..." Ben staggered and looked down. He tugged the cape off and the women gasped. Some saw his muscular chest and firm abs but others saw the massive bruise spreading on his left side.

Hannah was already dialing 911. As a Hospital Administrator she recognized bad internal bleeding when she saw it. She got the ambulance on its way then looked to Gabriella. "What happened to him?"

"Tina's mother-in-law tried to abduct Christopher and brought a goon along to do it. Ben intervened and took a few hits on his side with a club before he took the man down. He said it wasn't more than bruising." she replied frantically.

Ben slumped back into the chair and struggled to remain conscious. The room spun and he slid off the chair before they could catch him.

"That's internal bleeding. It's filling his chest cavity." Hannah said.

"Ben! Try to stay awake!" Catherine yelled.

For Ben it felt like the room was receding from him. It got quieter... and darker... then nothing.