From: Lola <lolabeegood@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 3 Jun 2012 22:45:38 -0400
Subject: Amish Country by Lolabeegood
Source: direct
Title: Amish Country
Author: Lolabeegood
E-mail: lolabeegood@gmail.com
Distribution: Anywhere as long as my name stays
attached and the work remains unchanged.
Rating: R
Category: S, UST, MSR, maybe AU (although it does
fit with the timeline)
Keywords: Mulder/Scully, undercover work, Amish
Spoilers: Set during late season 6 between Field
Trip and Biogenesis
Summary: A serial rapist on the loose in Amish
Country causes Mulder and Scully to go undercover
and test the limits of their relationship.
Author's Notes: This idea came to me while on
vacation. I was in Scotland when I met a woman who
was fascinated with the Amish and Mennonites of
North America and she asked me tons of questions
about them once I mentioned I had encountered them
a few times in my life. I also realized in talking with
her, how little I knew about them as a group. I did
some research and a story was born. This is my first
attempt at a semi case file so have patience
with me.
I don't own the characters or make any money from this.
****************************************
Dana Scully adjusted her bonnet as the wagon bumped down
the dirt road. It was a hot day and she realized that
she might just miss air conditioning the most. The wagon
bounced as it ran over a large rut in the road and her
butt jumped up off the wooden bench she sat on. She
reached to grab her sore posterior and updated her list
of things she would miss to include a smooth and
comfortable car ride.
"You okay?" Mulder asked as he leaned into her space.
"Fine," she said as she pulled her hand away from her butt.
"I'm missing all those crappy rentals too," he smiled at
her. "But this slower pace does allow you to look at the
scenery a bit more."
She looked over at his profile as he sat closely next to
her and thought that in all her life, she would never
expect to see Mulder dressed like that. He had on a straw
hat, vest, and suspenders over his blue shirt and black
pants. His bronze skin seemed to suit his new garb and his
beard had grown in quickly.
She then looked down at her current clothing and realized
he must have thought the same thing about her. A white
bonnet sat on her head, a soft lavender dress with a white
apron covered her body, and flat black plain shoes were on
her feet. She tucked a strand of brown hair in her cap and
pulled it around her ears.
"Stop fiddling with it," Mulder said as he leaned into her
space again.
She raised an eyebrow and swallowed hard. He was right,
she would give away their cover with her uncomfortableness.
They were Samuel and Miriam Troyer, a late-marrying newly-
wed couple, uncommon in Amish country but their cover-story
seemed plausible. They had moved back the hands of time
five years with Mulder being 32 and she 29, still late to
marry by Amish standards.
Their excuse for marrying so old was that Mulder had been
very sick for a number of years and that she had waited for
him instead of marrying another eligible young man. When his
health had returned and he was able to provide for his family,
they had married in November of last year. His sick uncle
had asked for their help with the harvest and so the couple
had left their community to assist.
The man who was posing as Mulder's uncle was currently driving
the buggy they were in. Abram Fisher had done something that
Amish did not do. He had contacted the FBI about a series of
sexual assaults in his community, asking for their help. It
was almost unheard of for the Amish to initiate this type of
contact so the Bureau had acted quickly and sent in an undercover
team. Abram and his wife Ruth had agreed to the ruse in the
interest of their greater community, knowing that outsiders
would get no answers. Abram's interest in the case was
personal; his grand daughter was the latest victim.
Since being given the case a week ago, Mulder had developed a
profile on the rapist and she had studied as much as she could
about the Amish community of Ohio and brushed up on her German.
They were given the case because Mulder was one of the best
profilers in the Bureau, and she had a minor in German. They
were also currently not assigned to any case in particular, which
was how they found themselves on this one, pretending to be
Amish, and looking for a serial rapist in Charm, Ohio.
"That is our farm," Abram said gesturing to the right. "Ruth
is nervous about your arrival, so please forgive her of she
seems...strange."
"She's alright with us being there, though?" Mulder asked.
They needed to integrate themselves seamlessly with the
community to gain their trust and get information to find
this offender as quickly as possible.
"She left it to me to decide what was best," Abram said. "She
will be your aunt until you find who is doing this in our
community."
"Mr. Fisher, I'll need her help with knowing how to act in
certain situations," Scully said as she leaned forward.
"I've studied as much as I could, but some things..."
"She will show you how to be an Amish woman," Abram said
softly.
"Thank you," Scully said back.
The buggy made its way down the narrow driveway and rocked
back and forth as it hit a large pot hole. Scully lurched
to the side and Mulder grabbed onto her leg to steady her.
His hand on her thigh caught Abram's attention.
"And I will show you how to be an Amish man," Abram said as
he cleared his throat.
Mulder removed his hand from Scully's thigh and dropped it onto
his leg, looking over at Abram and knowing the reason for the
comment.
The group remained quiet as they bumped down the road. They
pulled up in front of large white house with a wrap-around
porch and the buggy came to an abrupt stop. An older woman
dressed similarly to Scully walked out of the front door, and
sombrely stood on the porch. Abram got out of the buggy,
followed by Mulder, who walked around to Scully's side and
helped her get down.
"Ruth, these are the police officers," Abram said as he
gestured toward them. "They are Samuel and Miriam Troyer."
She quietly nodded her head as Scully started to mount the
steps to shake her hand.
"Nice to meet you, Ruth," Scully extended her hand and Ruth
took it. "Your home is lovely."
"Nice to meet you Miriam," Ruth returned. "Samuel."
Mulder nodded towards her and helped Abram with their bags.
The two men carried the belongings inside and set them by
the door.
Neither agent was sure why Abram chose to use their alias
instead of their real names with his wife, but in the
end, it was inconsequential.
"I have some questions," Ruth said as they took a seat
in the plain living room.
"We will answer whatever we can," Mulder said as he
sat next to Scully.
"Did you bring guns into my house?" Ruth asked as
Abram lit his pipe.
"No, we did not." Mulder answered her plainly.
"We want to be respectful of your beliefs." Scully
added.
"Are you married?" Ruth asked.
"No, we are FBI partners," Scully answered.
"Are you married to other people?" Ruth asked.
"No, we are both single," Mulder answered.
"It will have to look like you share a room when
people come over, but I cannot have you sharing a
bed in our home if you are not married," she said
as she looked at her lap.
"We understand," Mulder said as he looked at the
uncomfortable woman in front of him. "I can sleep
on the couch or..."
"We have another room you can use, but you must
leave it as if it's untouched so people don't know."
"I can do that," Mulder said as he nodded his head.
"How will you catch this person?" Ruth asked.
"We think that being part of the community will
allow us to observe people unguarded and notice
things that, as investigators, will give the man
away," Mulder said.
"But you will find him?" She asked as she met
Scully's eyes.
"We will," Scully said with conviction.
"Well, I'm sure you must want to get settled and
cleaned up before supper," Ruth said rising and looking
at Scully. "You should help me with it tonight so you
are used to the tools I use in the kitchen and the way
we do things."
"I can help now," Scully said rising.
"Come down in an hour and then you can help," Ruth said
smiling at her.
Scully and Mulder mounted the stairs bringing their
bags with them. Abram walked behind them and gestured
to a room near the front of the house. They carried their
things inside and put their bags on the bed. The room was
a soft yellow colour, had one dresser in the corner, a
wooden chair and a double bed with a hand-sewn quilt on it.
All the furniture looked hand made and quite old.
"You should keep all your clothes and personal items in
this room, so as not to raise suspicion," Abram said.
"Will people be coming in here?" Scully asked, unsettled
by the prospect.
"Not really, but doors are kept open during the day.
If our daughter, or someone else came upstairs for
something, she would notice if a married couple was
staying in two different rooms."
"Gotcha," Mulder said as he looked across the hall at
another room. "Is that the other room?"
"Yes, it was our son's," Abram said as a look of sadness
passed over his face. "He died of pneumonia when he was
twenty."
"Abram, I'm so sorry," Scully said softly.
"He is with god," Abram said matter-of-factly.
Abram left the room and they heard the stairs creek as he
descended them.
"Which drawers do you want?" Scully asked as she opened
her bag.
"I think I'll keep the blue shirts here," Mulder said
gesturing toward the one drawer. "And the black pants
there...unpacking all done."
"It does make wardrobe choices more...simple," Scully
said as she hung a dress up.
"You probably should be grateful they want us in
separate beds," Mulder said as he threw his underwear
in a drawer. "Without deodorant things could get ripe."
"I'm sure you wouldn't appreciate my hairy legs
either," Scully smiled.
"I don't know, that might be a turn on," Mulder
joked.
Scully shot him a look.
"No makeup, sunscreen, or hair products..." she mumbled
as she hung another dress. "I'm going to get burnt."
"But your freckles will come out," Mulder joked.
"Hardy har," Scully said as she put her primitive
underwear in a drawer. "The undergarments will take
some getting used to."
"Yeah, mine are like a longer and more restrictive
boxer short," Mulder said as he indicted how long they
were on his leg to Scully.
"Mine are pretty much the same," Scully said as she
ducked her head.
"I read Amish women don't wear bras," Mulder said as
he put a now-empty bag under the bed.
"It's not what you think," she said as she put a
brush on the bureau.
"How do you know what I think?" He asked with a smirk.
"I know you Mulder, and you are picturing a bare chest.
Although Amish women don't wear bras, they do wear an
undershirt of sorts," Scully said as her face turned a
little pink.
"Way to kill a dream, Scully." Mulder joked.
"You're going to need to stop that talk, they will know
we don't belong in thirty seconds."
"I know," he said as he put their other bag under the
bed. "But it's just us now and I figure with acting
like Samuel all day, it'll be nice to just be Mulder for
a bit with you."
She smiled at him; her understanding was real.
"I know," she said as she took a seat on the bed. "Are
you going to start working with Abram tomorrow?"
"If I want to learn how to use the equipment without
looking like an 'English', I better be a quick study in
farming," he smiled as he sat next to her. "That, and
the fact that I'm supposed to be here to help him because
of his health, so I should look capable."
"I think you might have it harder than me," she said as she
folded her hands on her lap.
"I've tried your cooking Scully," he smirked. "I'd say we
both have to be quick studies."
She elbowed him in the ribs and he let out a yelp.
"I want to find the man doing this before another girl gets
assaulted," Scully said. "Abram and Ruth are taking a big
risk doing this and I don't want to let them down."
"We'll get him," Mulder reassured her. "He thinks he's found
a community that won't defend itself or involve the
authorities. He's confident and that's going to give him away.
But, he didn't count on the love of two grandparents that
were willing to break the rules."
"No, he didn't," Scully smiled at him.
***************************************
to be continued...
Title: Amish Country--Chapter 2
Author: Lolabeegood
E-mail: lolabeegood@gmail.com
Distribution: Anywhere as long as my name stays attached
and the work remains
unchanged.
Rating: R
Category: S, UST, MSR, maybe AU (Although it does fit
with the timeline)
Keywords: Mulder/Scully, undercover work, Amish
Spoilers: Set during late season 6 between Field Trip
and Biogenesis
Summary: A serial rapist on the loose in Amish Country
causes Mulder and Scully to go undercover and test the
limits of their relationship.
Author's Notes: This idea came to me while on vacation.
I was in Scotland when I met a woman who was fascinated
with the Amish and Mennonites of North America and she
asked me tons of questions about them once I mentioned
I had encountered them a few times in my life. I did
some research and a story was born. I'm writing this
as a WIP, but those of you who know me know I NEVER
leave a WIP unfinished (and I'm usually good about
frequent posting). This is my first attempt at a semi
case file so have patience with me.
I don't own the characters or make any money from this.
****************************************
Dana Scully proudly placed the potatoes on the table.
Ruth had managed to cook the rest of the meal without
her help, but she had shown Scully how to make potatoes.
It was labour intensive, but from the look of them,
seemed worth it. They were peeled, boiled, mixed with
fried onions and cucumber, and herbs here added.
Scully's mom usually only made mashed potatoes so
these seemed quite elaborate. It was Sunday so no work
was done on the farm and generally the household was in
a state of relaxation. It was the perfect day for them
to arrive and get acquainted with Abram and Ruth before
others started to show up for work on the farm.
"It smells amazing," Mulder said as he caught her eye.
Scully returned his smile and took her seat.
Abram and Ruth bowed their heads; Scully and Mulder
followed suit.
After a short blessing Abram and Ruth raised their heads
and the food started to get passed around. Very little
was said at first, as everyone loaded their plates.
"So, do you normally pretend to be people you aren't?"
Abram asked as he scooped some gravy.
"No," Mulder laughed. "We've had a couple of undercover
cases over the years but they don't happen a lot."
"So, you've known each other for years?" Ruth asked.
"Six," Scully said as she took a drink of water.
"That is quite a long time to work together," Abram
noted.
"Don't you want children, Miriam?" Ruth asked as she
cut her meat.
"I...uh..." Scully stammered as thoughts of Emily and
her infertility circled her head.
"This is a great roast," Mulder interrupted. "Do you
butcher your own meat?"
"No, we get our meat from the Lapps," Abram said as
he ate. "We exchange dairy and vegetables for meat."
"So, it's a barter system?" Mulder asked.
"It's just how we do things," Abram said.
The table fell silent as Abram ate oblivious, Ruth eyed
Scully, and Scully intently moved food around her plate.
The old house seemed almost too big for the four of them
sitting around the table, it seemed to have been designed
to fit a large family but Scully and Mulder both knew
Ruth and Abram only had two children.
"We start early Samuel," Abram said breaking the silence.
"Then I can show you how the dairy equipment works
before people arrive."
"Who will I be working with?"
"Our daughter Hannah and her husband John will be over
in the morning," Abram said. "They are just coming for
the day to help with the pies and to meet you. She hasn't
ever seen a picture of you so she won't question that you
are Samuel and Miriam Troyer, from my mother's side. Just
say very little and they will know you are one of us."
"Okay," Scully said as she took another drink of water.
"You will follow my lead in the kitchen," Ruth said quietly.
"Amish women are plain and quiet. When in doubt, say
nothing."
Scully nodded her head in agreement.
Supper was eaten in silence and when Abram rose from the
table, Ruth immediately started to clear the plates.
Mulder and Scully each started to help when Ruth took the
plate from Mulder's hand.
"That is not a man's job," she said softly. "Go sit,
Samuel."
Mulder shrugged his shoulders and smiled weakly at Scully
who walked past him with a pile of plates into the kitchen.
"So the men take care of the farm and the women take care
of the house?" Scully asked as she scraped a plate.
"At harvest time, everyone works the fields but the women
are also expected to keep the house." Ruth said as she
packed away leftovers. "We prepare the food, draw their
baths, help with the harvest, and keep the house in order."
"It hardly seems fair," Scully muttered as she handed Ruth
a plate.
"When you see how tired he is at the end of a day, you
will not wonder what is fair," Ruth said matter-of-factly.
Scully rinsed the plates and thought of what Mulder's
workday would be like. Ruth knew this life much better
than she did, if she said he would be tired, Scully
didn't doubt that for a minute.
"The ground cherries are in," Ruth said as she cleaned
the kitchen. "We will make pies tomorrow."
Scully nodded and quietly finished cleaning the kitchen
with Ruth. Quiet seemed to be a welcome guest in this
house.
After the kitchen was clean, she and Ruth joined Mulder
and Abram in the parlour for a little while before Abram
stood, stretched and wished them a good night. Ruth
followed him up the stairs and when Mulder and Scully
heard their door shut she seemed to let out the breath
they were both holding.
"Hopefully we'll get to meet some workers tomorrow and
get a feel for the community a bit more," Scully said
as she relaxed on the sofa.
"You mean, I'll get to meet some workers," Mulder
corrected her. "You'll be in the kitchen with Ruth, not
associating with men."
"True," Scully said as she removed her cap. "It's sort of
hard to investigate if I can't interact with people much."
"I'm sure you'll find out more from women in the kitchen
then I'll get out of men in the fields," he said as he
patted her knee. "Just work your charm."
She smiled at him and they sat quietly, each deep in
their own thoughts. The clock on the wall ticked away
the seconds as they sat.
"Those were good potatoes," Mulder said as he noted the
clock that read 9 pm.
"Tomorrow its pies," Scully said as she rose from her
seat. "And from the sounds of it, you're going to have
a full day, so you better get to sleep."
"I guess," he said as he rose from his seat and put
down the newspaper that was in his hand. He grabbed
the lantern that was sitting on his side table and
walked toward her.
They mounted the steps and every creak was noticeable
in the house. "It's really quiet," Mulder whispered.
"Very," Scully whispered back.
Mulder took his pyjamas from the dresser and turned to
leave the room. "Goodnight, Scully," he said as he
took a step. "Keep your ears peeled tomorrow."
"How early do you think they rise?" Scully asked.
"I'm sure they'll let us know," Mulder said with a
tight-lipped smile.
"Yeah," Scully said softly. "Goodnight, Mulder."
***************************************
to be continued...
Title: Amish Country--Chapter 3
Author: Lolabeegood
E-mail: lolabeegood@gmail.com
Distribution: Anywhere as long as my name stays attached
and the work remains unchanged.
Rating: R
Category: S, UST, MSR, maybe AU (Although it does fit
with the timeline)
Keywords: Mulder/Scully, undercover work, Amish
Spoilers: Set during late season 6 between Field Trip
and Biogenesis
Summary: A serial rapist on the loose in Amish Country
causes Mulder and Scully to go undercover and test the
limits of their relationship.
Author's Notes: This idea came to me while on vacation.
I was in Scotland when I met a woman who was fascinated
with the Amish and Mennonites of North America and she
asked me tons of questions about them once I mentioned
I had encountered them a few times in my life. I did
some research and a story was born. I'm writing this
as a WIP, but those of you who know me know I NEVER
leave a WIP unfinished (and I'm usually good about
frequent posting). This is my first attempt at a semi
case file so have patience with me.
I don't own the characters or make any money from this.
****************************************
Mulder's muscles ached and it was just past 7 am. He had
been up since 4 am when Abram came to wake him in his room
with a shake of his shoulder. He had looked longingly
across the hall at Scully's closed door, thinking of how
she was able to sleep longer than him.
He had been surprised to find very modern dairy equipment
running off a generator in the barn. He expected that he
would have to learn how to milk a cow but when he saw the
hundred cows before him, he was happy the Amish had given
in to some modern allowances. He thought his reaction to
the dairy equipment was probably the same as Scully's when
she discovered the farm ran off a septic system and had a
proper washroom.
The equipment was complicated but Mulder's great memory
allowed him to remember the operation of the mechanism quite
easily. Abram was very happy he had caught on so easily.
Mulder had been piling hay in a stall when Abram, in his
own quiet way, had tapped him on the shoulder and said it
was time to eat. Mulder was grateful there would be more
food then the piece of bread and cheese Abram had quickly
handed him in the morning as they made their way outside.
After washing up Mulder made his way into the kitchen and
noted the flurry of activity. Scully was frying sausages
as Ruth was gathering bowls and bringing them out onto the
back porch. On the table was a spread of breads, boiled
eggs, potatoes, cereal and fruit. Mulder had not seen this
big a breakfast since he hit a buffet in Memphis.
"Good morning, ladies," Mulder said as he stood awkwardly
in the corner waiting for some direction.
"Morning," Scully said as she took the sausages from the
pan and placed them on a plate and then placed the plate
on the table with the rest of the food.
"Good morning," Abram said as he appeared in the room in
a fresh shirt.
Mulder looked down at his shirt and cringed. It was dirty
and smelled of manure. He excused himself and went upstairs
to change. When he returned everyone was sitting at the
table, waiting for him.
He sat and a blessing was shared before Abram reached for
the eggs and everyone started to put food on their plates.
"When did you get up?" Mulder asked Scully across the table.
"We were up at 5am," Scully said as she filled their juice
glasses.
"Everything is wonderful, Ruth," Abram said as he put some
sausage in his mouth.
"Miriam made most of it," Ruth acknowledged. "I was too
busy getting things together so when Hannah gets here we
can start right away."
"You made this?" Mulder asked as he smiled at Scully.
She nodded her head and didn't make eye contact with him.
He wasn't sure if she was trying to get into character or
if she was really that humble about her cooking.
"How many pies will you get?" Abram asked as he ate.
"I'm hoping for thirty but we'll see how the ground
cherries go," Ruth said as she continued to eat.
"What will you do with all those pies?" Mulder asked.
"Hannah will take some, we'll keep some, and the rest
we'll deliver to our neighbours to share."
"What are ground cherries?" Scully asked, not wanting to
look ridiculous in front of Ruth's daughter when she
arrived.
Ruth got up from the table and walked wordlessly to the
back porch and came back with her apron full of papery
casements. She dropped them on the table and then handed
on to Scully. Scully played with the papery texture and
wasn't sure how this item could be used for a pie, until
she saw Ruth pull back the papery casement and reveal a
tiny golden fruit in the centre.
"Try it," Ruth said as she popped one in her mouth.
Scully peeled back her casement and saw what looked like
a golden cherry tomato inside. She put it in her mouth
and was surprised by the taste.
"That's delicious," she said smiling.
She then peeled one for Mulder and passed it to him to
try. He liked it as well.
"You will be peeling the casings while Hannah and I make
the dough...I wasn't sure if you knew how, and I don't
have time to show you this morning."
"I actually don't know how," Scully said as she gathered
the casings to take to the compost bin. "But I'd like
to learn."
"Good," Ruth smiled warmly at her. "Maybe you can help
with the filling; everyone does it differently so it
wouldn't be unusual for you to ask."
"I'd like that," Scully smiled back at her.
The two women sat back down and everyone finished their
breakfast. Mulder ate a lot, not only because it was
so good, but because he knew there would be more work
ahead and he'd need the calories to continue.
As they started to clear the breakfast dishes Mulder
noticed Abram left to change back into his work shirt.
He was about to do the same when he decided to thank
Scully for breakfast.
"That was great," he said quietly into her ear as
she stood at the sink with her back to him. He put
a hand on her hip.
"Thanks," she said quietly as she turned to look at him
more closely.
Their faces were so close she could feel his breath on
her neck. "How are you doing out there?"
"I'm going to have pipes when all this is done," Mulder
said as he flexed his arm in front of her.
She laughed at his joke and he smiled at her. His hand
still rested on her waist and she sensed he had more to
say so she kept quiet.
"Try and subtly see if Hannah has anything to say about
the assault on her daughter," Mulder said quietly as
Ruth walked in the back door and her eyes widened at
the sight before her.
Mulder pulled back immediately and Scully straightened
in her spot. Their close proximity when talking was
something they had grown used to over time, but she
understood in that one moment, it was not something
Ruth was used to seeing unmarried men and women doing.
"I'll see you at lunch," Mulder said as he walked from
the kitchen.
Ruth walked over to the large sink and started to rinse
the pan that lay in it.
"So, you are like that?" Ruth asked.
Scully knew what she was hinting at, and wanted to
dispel any issues she may have.
"We're friends, Ruth. We work very closely and out
in the world...in our line of work..." Scully struggled
for the words to explain their relationship. "He's my
best friend, and I trust him with my life."
Ruth didn't say anything back.
Scully heard horses in the front yard and looked toward
Ruth. She smiled and Scully knew Hannah had arrived.
The two women walked to the front of the house and saw
a man, two women, and three children getting out of a
black buggy.
"Maem," Hannah said as she embraced her mother. She
was in her early forties, with dark hair and a broad
smile.
"Miriam, this is my daughter Hannah Miller, her
husband John, their eldest daughter Fannie, eldest son
Willis, and the twins Martha and Sadie" Ruth said as
she gestured around the group.
Fannie Miller, the latest rape victim, stood awkwardly
next to her parents and Scully could see that she wanted
to blend into the woodwork if at all possible.
According to Abram she was twenty, but she looked no
more than sixteen to Scully. Without the make-up,
every woman looked younger than Scully expected them
to look.
"Nice to meet you," Scully bowed her head as she heard
a door whack shut behind her. She felt Mulder's hand
come up on her shoulder and the heat of his body behind
her.
"This is my, Manne Samuel," Scully said as she put a hand
over Mulder's.
"Nice to meet you," Mulder stepped out from behind her
and shook John's hand and nodded toward his wife.
"Hannah," Abram called from behind them as he rounded
the corner of the house.
"Hi daat," Hannah smiled at him as he came around and
gave her and all the kids a hug.
"Have you come to help with the pies?" He asked the
twins, who nodded their heads eagerly.
"Did you meet your cousin?" Abram asked gesturing
toward Mulder.
"We did," John smiled at the man. "It was nice of you
to help and come all the way from Norwalk...with my own
farm, and Hannah due any time..."
Scully then noticed Hannah's large belly. She looked
like she was about to have the baby any minute. If
there weren't any more children, it would be her fifth
by Scully's count.
"Not a problem," Mulder said softly. "We haven't got
our own place yet, and were still staying with Miriam's
parents."
"You were married in November?" Hannah asked as she
looked at Scully's slight figure.
"Yes," Scully said, noting that the woman had noticed
she wasn't pregnant.
"Miriam's father got sick this spring and I needed to
run his farm, I had no time for starting my own."
"He's better now?" Hannah asked, honestly concerned.
"Yes," Scully said softly.
"We'll stay with her parents through the winter and raise
a barn in the spring," Mulder said as he grazed Scully's
elbow with his hand.
She smiled slightly and noticed that Fannie's eyes were
closely following she and Mulder.
"John and Samuel, I'll need your help in the barn moving
some equipment," Abram said as he started to walk away.
"See you at lunch," Mulder whispered to Scully as he
turned to leave.
Scully noticed that yet again, Fannie was looking at
them closely. She hoped she would have some time to
speak with the young lady.
*****************************
to be continued...
Title: Amish Country--Chapter 4
Author: Lolabeegood
E-mail: lolabeegood@gmail.com
Distribution: Anywhere as long as my name stays attached
and the work remains unchanged.
Rating: R
Category: S, UST, MSR, maybe AU (although it does fit
with the timeline)
Keywords: Mulder/Scully, undercover work, Amish
Spoilers: Set during late season 6 between Field Trip and
Biogenesis
Summary: A serial rapist on the loose in Amish Country
causes Mulder and Scully to go undercover and test the
limits of their relationship.
Author's Notes: This idea came to me while on vacation.
I was in Scotland when I met a woman who was fascinated
with the Amish and Mennonites of North America and she
asked me tons of questions about them once I mentioned I
had encountered them a few times in my life. I did some
research and a story was born. I'm writing this as a WIP,
but those of you who know me know I NEVER leave a WIP
unfinished (and I'm usually good about frequent posting).
This is my first attempt at a semi case file so have
patience with me.
I don't own the characters or make any money from this.
****************************************
Scully sat on a wooden rocking chair next to Fannie as they
both peeled ground cherries from their casements. Ruth and
Hannah worked in the kitchen chatting as they made the dough
for the pies. The sun was still low in the sky but it was
already getting warm. Summer had come to Amish country and
Scully pulled her chair closer to the house in an attempt to
sit in the shade.
She had made a few attempts at small talk with Fannie but found
the girl to be not much of a conversationalist. So far Fannie
had told Scully how old she was, that she was baptized and that
she had no suitors at the moment. All facts Scully already knew.
Scully got off her chair and crouched down to pick up the large
bowl of husks they had laying at their feet.
"I'll take it to compost," she said as she made her way down
the back steps.
Fannie didn't respond, and merely continued to husk her ground
cherries. Scully had no doubt that she was probably in desperate
need of counselling and possibly medical treatment but, she had
no way of suggesting that without blowing her cover.
When she returned to the porch, Fannie made her first attempt at
conversation all morning.
"They are out in the field now," she said nodding to the large
expanse behind the Fisher's house. Scully shielded her eyes
and looked toward the herd of cows that had just been let loose
on the field. She spotted Mulder immediately. He, John, Abram
and a few farm hands were taking the cows out to pasture. Mulder
looked, surprisingly, comfortable as he herded the cows with a
large stick. Scully couldn't help but smile at the sight of him
as a farmer.
"You are very happy," Fannie noted as she looked at her expression.
"I am," Scully said as she sat back down next to the girl. "My
husband is a good man."
"That's nice," Fannie said as she picked up some more ground
cherries and placed them in her apron. "But you have not been
blessed with children."
"Not yet," Scully sighed as she focused on the husks of the fruit.
"God will know when your time has come," Fannie said softly.
"I hope so," Scully continued their conversation. "Samuel would
like a big family and I am starting late..."
"God will give you what you need," Fannie said softly. "He works
in mysterious ways."
The two women fell into companionable silence for a few minutes
before Scully initiated conversation once again.
"Why don't you have any suitors?" Scully asked, trying to be
nonchalant.
"I am not so special," Fannie said as she continued to husk.
"You are a beautiful girl," Scully noted as she saw Fannie blush.
"You must have a suitor or six."
"I won't be married," Fannie said softly. "I...I will help take
care of my parents and my family."
"Fannie, have you decided this or...?" Scully asked.
"It is done," Fannie said quietly as she got up from her seat
and walked toward the screen
door.
Scully tried to think of something to say to continue their
conversation but came up short.
"Maem, we have enough to start the pies," Fannie called inside
the house.
"Miriam, can you start lunch with Fannie while we get these
pies going?" Ruth asked from inside.
"Yah," Scully said as she dumped the remaining un-husked fruit
from her apron into the bowl. She was grateful for her German
classes in university.
She and Fannie made chicken sandwiches, salad, potato salad,
and put out pickled vegetables for all the men on a large
table outside in the shade. Pitchers of lemonade were made
and cloth napkins were placed around the table. Scully
assumed the women would eat later and separately from the
men as the setting was just enough for the men to all sit.
Fannie went and banged a pan quite exuberantly, calling the
men in from the field to eat. Quickly straw hats started to
appear on the other side of the sloped field and Scully saw
the men making their way toward the house. She spotted Mulder
wiping sweat from his brow and waving to her as he got closer.
She didn't wave back, because she wasn't sure if it would be
seen as improper.
Soon Hannah and Ruth joined them outside and started to heap
food onto plates for the men as they went to wash up. The men
all came to the table in clean shirts, where they had them all
stored Scully wasn't sure, and sat down to have the blessing.
Scully noticed that the other women stood, almost at attention
behind the men seated, and she went to stand with the others.
As soon as a glass was empty it was filled, as soon as a man's
salad was almost gone more was offered, as soon as a chicken
sandwich was eaten, another was placed on his plate. The men
carried on a conversation at the table as if the women didn't
exist as they buzzed around them fulfilling their every need.
Scully was so busy taking care of all the men that she didn't
have time to process how unfair the whole situation was. She
did feel one thing though; invisible. It was not a feeling
she was very accustomed to.
When lunch was ended all the men thanked the women for the
wonderful lunch and rose from the table to get back to work.
Scully caught Mulder's eye as he walked away and there was
something there that she couldn't quite understand; shame.
The afternoon was spent trying to talk to Fannie some more
and being very unsuccessful in that task. Scully resolved
that she would have to give Fannie some time to warm up to
her before she could get any real information from her.
The pies were made and Hannah proved herself to be quite
the talker throughout the afternoon. She was debating
names for the baby and admonishing another women in their
community who, went against Amish tradition, and named her
daughter Samuelle.
"Honestly, can you imagine if she names a man named Samuel?
They will be Samuel and his wife Samuelle. They will sound
like those English that choose to lay with their own kind."
The other women nodded their heads in agreement. Scully
wasn't sure if they were in agreement that the name was
a mistake, or being gay was.
"The bishop should have made her change it," Ruth said.
"Miriam, what do you like?" Hannah asked, turning her
attention to Scully.
"I have always liked Mark and Katie," Scully said as she
wiped the table off.
"Those would be nice names with Troyler," Hannah said.
"Yes, they would," Scully said quietly.
"God will bless you and Samuel," Hannah said as she
grabbed Scully's hand. "You will one day have a family
as large as mine."
"I hope so," Scully said softly. "But we are starting
late."
"I had Fannie at twenty-two, but Willis was five years
after that, and the twins seven years after him. We
lost some along the way but...we are blessed and they
are with god."
"I am so sorry Hannah for your loss," Scully said
honestly.
"It was god's will," she answered with conviction.
"He knows what is best for us."
Scully found the statement problematic. Here was a
woman whose twenty year old daughter had been sexually
assaulted and she could say that god knew what was best
for her. How could being raped be best for her? The
conviction with which this woman spoke astounded Scully.
"Yes, he does," Scully answered with a tight-lipped
smile and she caught Fannie leave the room with tears
in her eyes.
****************************************
Mulder was not having any more luck in the fields with
John, Abram and the farm hands. The work that these
men did without complaint astounded Mulder. He knew
FBI agents that bitched if their parking spot was too
far away and they had to walk an extra five minutes to
get to their cushy chair at their desk.
The labour that these men did was back-breaking. The
equipment Abram wanted moved was heavy and awkward and
Mulder was grateful when it they were done rolling it
to the other barn. Sweat dripped from his forehead and
his uncomfortable Amish underwear bothered his legs as
they stuck to them and rode up in the back.
He was actually tugging at his underwear when Abram
came up behind him.
"We don't wear them in the field, generally," Abram said
as his eyes fell to Mulder's mid-section.
"You don't?" Mulder asked, both relieved and shocked at
the same time.
"Around the house, when visiting, when at church..."
Abram said as he looked around to make sure no one was
near them. "But in the field they bother most men."
"Thanks for the tip," Mulder smiled at him.
"You are a good worker," Abram said as he placed a hand
on Mulder's shoulder. "I didn't expect that."
"Thank you, Abram," Mulder smiled at him.
"Come on and help us decide which trees need pruning
today," Abram said as he turned to go.
"But Abram, I don't know anything about..." Mulder
started.
"Just say the peach trees are due for pruning," Abram
smiled at him.
"Thanks," Mulder smiled back as he started to follow
him.
The rest of the workers had gathered under a shaded tree
and were waiting quietly for the two men to join them.
John seemed to be walking amongst the trees and looking
at the leaves closely.
"Abram, which ones do you want us to look after first?"
young Isaac Lapp asked.
"Which do you think Samuel?" Abram asked Mulder.
"The peach trees," Mulder said confidently.
"I agree," John piped up from behind one. "Abram, you
have let these go too long, your peaches might not be
very sweet."
"I should have asked for help sooner, I know, but I
thought I was just feeling under the weather," Abram
said softly.
"It's okay daat," John said as he patted him on the
shoulder. "We'll save your peaches."
Mulder smiled at John. He honestly loved his family,
and, although his views were ultra conservative, he
practiced what he preached and worked hard for what he
had. Mulder also saw in him a secret desire to head
the household once Abram was no longer able to.
"Hannah will be having the baby soon?" Mulder asked as
he and John walked toward the farthest patch of trees.
"In the next week," John smiled at Mulder. "Hopefully
another boy, to help with the farm."
Mulder nodded in agreement.
"And your Miriam?" John asked shyly.
"We lost one in the spring, a girl" Mulder said softly
as he looked out over the fields. "I'm praying for
another soon, I think it would make her happy."
"They take it hard when they lose them," John said,
understanding what the couple had gone through. "Give
her some time and I'm sure God will bless you."
"I would just like her to be happy again," Mulder said
honestly.
"She will be," John said as he nudged Mulder with his
shoulder. "Children make women happy and every time
you have one, you want more, trust me."
"Fannie is quite a bit older than this baby," Mulder
said, trying to broach the subject of his older
daughter. "She must be getting married soon?"
"No," John said looking away. "She has chosen to not
marry."
"What?" Mulder asked, shocked.
"Fannie is...she's a different sort of girl. She's not
going to make a good wife for anyone, but for Hannah
she will be a big help."
"But surely she must want children of her own...a family
is what all women want," Mulder continued.
"Fannie won't be having none of that," John said with
finality as they reached the orchard. "Which row do
you want?"
With that question, Mulder knew that all conversation
about Fannie was done.
"I'll take the left," Mulder said as he walked toward
his row of peach trees.
****************************************
By supper time all the field hands had left. Dinner
was lively with the children at the table and Mulder
seemed to be in better spirits from the afternoon.
The had no time to talk just the two of them, so Scully
relished the time when the guests would leave and she
could be alone with Mulder.
By six o'clock the Miller's were on their way with
twelve pies. Scully learned that Willis would be
coming by to pick them up tomorrow to deliver pies
to a few neighbours and visit with them. Scully
looked forward to the change in schedule and the
opportunity to meet some other community members
and get a feel for them. Abram and Ruth walked
over to an elderly neighbour's house to visit with
her for a bit, and Scully and Mulder had the house
to themselves.
"I'm exhausted," Mulder said as he fell into a kitchen
chair as Scully finished up the last of the dishes.
"You've had a long day," Scully said without turning
to look at him. "How was John?"
"I sense that if he could be Old-Order Amish he would
be, he's far more devout than Abram."
"Really?" Scully turned to look at him.
"Yeah," Mulder smiled at her as he rubbed his burnt
neck. "He doesn't agree with the milking machines
Abram has. He milks all his cows by hand."
"All of them?"
"They have farm hands who do a lot of the work, but
yeah, Abram is too modern for his tastes."
"Huh," Scully sighed as she turned to rinse a pot.
"What?" Mulder asked.
"Hannah came across the same way. She kept on
talking about how 'god knows best and it's his will'
in the same room as her daughter who was raped just
two months ago. I found it a hard pill to swallow."
"Well, in their minds Fannie needed to forgive her
attacker and forget about the assault, as if it
didn't happen."
"She said she won't marry, that she's not special."
Scully said as she picked up a towel and dried the
pot.
"In this community...men won't generally marry a
woman whose not a virgin, whether it was against her
will or not. She's right to say she won't get
married...it's probably true."
"Mulder how can you just accept that?" She turned on
him exasperated. "Here we have a victim who obviously
needs counselling and trauma therapy but nothing is
being done for her. She..."
"Scully, I figured your role at lunch today explained
everything already."
"My what?'
"Serving the men, tending to our every need as we ate,
and you stood behind us. I found that also hard to
stomach, but it's their way."
She let out a big breath and slammed the pot on the
counter. "When we find the rapist I'm going to insist
she get counselling."
"And it's her prerogative to take you up on that, or
not," Mulder said as he stood and held her by the
shoulders. "You are not here to change their ways,
you are here to stop a rapist."
Her head dropped to his chest and he put his arms
around her body pulling her close to him. They swayed
gently back and forth for a couple of minutes until she
pulled away and stepped back from his embrace.
"Are you okay?" Mulder asked as he held her chin with
his hand.
"I thought it would be the amenities I would miss,"she
sighed. "I didn't expect to miss myself so much."
**********************************************
to be continued...
Title: Amish Country--Chapter 5
Author: Lolabeegood
E-mail: lolabeegood@gmail.com
Distribution: Anywhere as long as my name stays attached
and the work remains unchanged.
Rating: R
Category: S, UST, MSR, maybe AU (although it does fit
with the timeline)
Keywords: Mulder/Scully, undercover work, Amish
Spoilers: Set during late season 6 between Field Trip
and Biogenesis
Summary: A serial rapist on the loose in Amish Country
causes Mulder and Scully to go undercover and test the
limits of their relationship.
Author's Notes: This idea came to me while on vacation.
I was in Scotland when I met a woman who was fascinated
with the Amish and Mennonites of North America and she
asked me tons of questions about them once I mentioned I
had encountered them a few times in my life. I did some
research and a story was born. I'm writing this as a WIP,
but those of you who know me know I NEVER leave a WIP
unfinished (and I'm usually good about frequent posting).
This is my first attempt at a semi case file so have
patience with me.
I don't own the characters or make any money from this.
****************************************
Mulder rose at 4 am as usual and donned his clothes in
the dark. He walked quietly down the stairs and greeted
Abram in the kitchen. The two men silently drank a cup
of coffee. When Abram went to open the back door, to
his surprise, it was locked.
"Why is this locked?" He asked Mulder.
"Oh, force of habit," Mulder smirked. "I must have done
that before Miriam and I went up to bed."
"You English and your locks," Abram smirked as he unlatched
the door and opened it. In the dark, a figure was present
on the back porch.
Abram went to the figure without hesitation and Mulder
followed. The girl was huddled up against a porch post
in the dark, shivering.
"Fannie?" Abram asked as he lifted her chin. "Oh my Gott!"
Mulder leaned over the young woman and swiftly lifted her
from the floor or the porch and carried her shivering body
inside. As much as the days were hot, the nights in Amish
country were very cold. Being exposed to that cold night
air had sent a chill right through the young girl's body
that had frozen her to the core.
The girl's teeth chattered and her whole body shook as
Mulder carried her into the parlour and laid her on the
sofa. He pulled a blanket off the back of the chair and
covered her with it.
"I'm so sorry, forgive me, forgive me," Fannie chanted as
Abram leaned over and held her tightly.
Mulder ran up the stairs and into Scully's room, opening
the door without hesitation, he shook her shoulder.
"Scully, something's wrong with Fannie, she's been outside
all night," he said breathless.
Scully bolted from her bed and ran past him towards the
stairs, her white cotton nightdress billowing around her.
Mulder then went to the door of Ruth's room and knocked
loudly on it.
"Ruth, there's a problem with Fannie, she's downstairs."
Ruth swiftly opened the door as she tried to tie a robe
around herself. Mulder watched as her bare feet pounded
down the stairs and her long grey braid swayed behind her.
When he got back to the living room it appeared as though
nothing had changed. Scully was attempting to listen to
her heart rate and feel her for a fever while Fannie
clutched to her grandfather muttering mostly to herself.
"Fannie, what is it?" Ruth demanded as she ran to her
grand daughter. "Why were you outside?"
"The door was locked," Abram explained. "She couldn't
get in."
"Why are you here? Why are you not at home?"
"They want to send me away, I...I can't go," Fannie said
through chattering teeth.
"Who wants to send you away?" Ruth asked confused. "Why
would you go away?"
Fannie turned from her grandfather's gaze and looked
straight at Scully when she spoke. "I am with child.
I told them tonight." She said embarrassed.
"What?" Ruth asked exasperated.
Abram shook his head and walked circles around the edge
of the room.
"You're pregnant," Scully clarified. "Your parents want
you to go away because of that?"
"I...I don't know why god did this to me as well, I don't
understand..." Fannie cried as Ruth pulled her into her
arms.
"Are you sure? Do you know what pregnant is?" Ruth asked,
hoping the girl was wrong.
"I went into town with daat a few days ago and when I was
on my own I went to a pharmacy and bought a test. It
says I am, and I knew I was before the test. I remember
from all the times maem was..." she said quietly.
"Out of the room!" Ruth called out loudly. "No men."
Mulder and Abram were startled into submission as they
cleared the room and shut the door to the kitchen behind
them.
"Is this from...when you were caught in the barn?" Ruth
asked as her face reddened.
"There's been no other, I would not..." Fannie cried.
"I know my girl, I know," Ruth cried with the child.
"You did this test correctly?" Scully asked, trying to
not betray her cover.
"I read the instructions and followed them...it was a
smiling face," Fannie said as a new batch of sobs raked
over her body.
"Okay, okay," Ruth said more to herself than anyone
else. "We must get another in town today, to know for
sure. We cannot wait to know this...we cannot."
"Let me get you a hot water bottle," Scully said rising
from her spot next to the couch.
She went into the kitchen and warmed some water in
silence while the two men in the room stood quietly and
watched her. When she re-entered the living room Ruth
and Fannie were gone. She mounted the stairs and found
Fannie nestled into Mulder's bed, the covers pulled up
to her chin as Ruth sang softly to her and stroked her
hair.
Scully placed the water bottle under the covers and softly
shut the door behind her. She went downstairs and told
Mulder and Abram that Fannie was resting. The two men
stood awkwardly looking at her, not sure what to do.
"We need to go into town when the stores open to get a
test to know for sure," Scully said as she paced the
kitchen.
"Samuel will drive you out after morning chores," Abram
said sadly. "I hope she is wrong."
Mulder smiled softly at Scully, "I'll come and get you
as soon as I can."
She returned his smile and set about making breakfast
for everyone, partly because she knew it needed to be
done and Ruth was busy, and partly because she didn't
know what else to do.
Mulder and Abram returned a couple of hours later to
eat and she watched as Abram quietly slipped upstairs
to check on his grand daughter.
"Where would they send her?" Mulder asked as he walked
up to Scully.
"I don't know," Scully answered honestly. "But it's not
her fault if she is pregnant."
"You know that, and I know that," Mulder reminded her.
Scully nodded her head as Mulder grabbed her hand in his.
"I should be done by eight, I'll grab a quick bath and
change and then we can be off."
"I'll have your bath ready," Scully said quietly, her
thoughts elsewhere.
"Scully..." Mulder said squeezing her hand.
"Don't let it get to your head," she smirked at him.
Abram re-appeared in the kitchen and walked past them
without noticing. Mulder dropped her hand and followed
him outside.
Mulder arrived back at the house a quarter to eight
just as Scully was starting to run his bath. He walked
into the washroom behind her and took a moment to admire
the soft fall of her hips as she leaned over the tub to
test the water.
"I know you're there," Scully said, scaring him a little.
"That's freaky, Scully," Mulder said as he walked closer
to her and shut the door over to trap in the heat.
"I saw you in the taps," she turned to smile at him.
"Always doing surveillance," Mulder smirked at her. He
pulled his sweaty shirt from his body to reveal an even
sweatier chest underneath. "And unless you want the full
show..."
Scully opened the door and walked out without a word
from the washroom. Mulder stripped down and slipped
into the bath. Relishing in the feel of the water on
his sore bones but knowing the bath was merely
utilitarian because there was a possibly pregnant
rape victim in the other room that needed some
information.
He scrubbed himself off and quickly washed his hair with
the harsh soap the Fisher's used. Rising, wet from the
tub, he towelled himself off and pulled on the clean
clothes Scully had left for him on the chair in the room.
Mulder thought that it would be easy to get used to being
taken care like this.
When he arrived downstairs Scully was waiting on the
front porch wearing the same dress she wore the first
day they arrived to the Fisher farm. She looked anxious
to leave and Mulder quickly walked past her to hitch the
horse to the buggy. Abram had shown him how to do this
yesterday and despite an unresponsive horse, he managed
to get it hitched quickly.
They rode in relative silence all the way into town as
cars raced past them on country roads. Mulder saw one
couple stop their car far ahead of them and wait for the
buggy to catch up so they could take a picture of the
Amish couple in the horse and buggy. Scully laughed loudly
after they passed the couple and Mulder joined in on the
moment of light heartedness. The couple in the car had
waited to take a picture of two FBI agents posing as Amish.
At the store Mulder insisted on joining Scully as she
purchased the test and received looks of interest from
the pharmacist and his assistant behind the counter.
Not many Amish, he assumed, bought home pregnancy tests.
On the street people took pictures of them and gawked at
them as they loaded themselves back into the buggy.
"It's like a circus," Scully muttered under her breath
as Mulder hopped up next to her.
"You can see why they don't think much of us English,"
Mulder said as he started the buggy and they escaped
back to the Fisher farm.
*****************************************
to be continued...
Title: Amish Country--Chapter 6
Author: Lolabeegood
E-mail: lolabeegood@gmail.com
Distribution: Anywhere as long as my name stays attached
and the work remains
unchanged.
Rating: R
Category: S, UST, MSR, maybe AU (Although it does fit
with the timeline)
Keywords: Mulder/Scully, undercover work
Spoilers: Set during late season 6 between Field Trip
and Biogenesis
Summary: A serial rapist on the loose in Amish Country
causes Mulder and Scully to go undercover and test the
limits of their relationship.
Author's Notes: This idea came to me while on vacation.
I was in Scotland when I met a woman who was fascinated
with the Amish and Mennonites of North America and she
asked me tons of questions about them once I mentioned I
had encountered them a few times in my life. I did some
research and a story was born. I'm writing this as a WIP,
but those of you who know me know I NEVER leave a WIP
unfinished (and I'm usually good about frequent posting).
This is my first attempt at a case file so have patience
with me.
I don't own the characters or make any money from this.
****************************************
Mulder sat on the sofa in the parlour with Abram waiting
for the news. Scully's sullen face when she entered the
room told them both all they needed to know. Fannie was
pregnant as a result of her sexual assault almost ten
weeks ago. She was now an unmarried Amish woman who was
over two months pregnant and she had run away from
home. The sound of a buggy pulling into their driveway
caused all three people to look toward the front window.
John and Hannah Miller had stopped in front of the house.
Abram rose to greet them at the front door.
"She's here," Abram said to the couple as they got out of
the buggy.
"Thank Gott," Hannah said as she walked up the stairs.
"She's upstairs with Ruth," Abram said as he placed a hand
on her shoulder.
John walked into the parlour and seemed surprised to find
Miriam sitting on the sofa. He immediately looked
uncomfortable and started to shift his feet.
"Miriam, can you get us some coffee?" Mulder asked her as
he placed a hand on her arm.
She nodded towards him and exited the room, knowing John
wanted privacy.
"She says she's with child," John said as he wiped his
forehead and paced the room. "With child and unmarried."
"John, you know she wouldn't do that of her own free will,"
Abram said as he gestured toward the chair. "It was when
she was forced in the barn."
"She must have...she must have been willing if she's now
pregnant, women can't...if they are forced." John stammered.
"I don't think her will had much to do with it," Mulder
interrupted. "Women either get pregnant or they don't.
It...it has nothing to do with whether she agreed."
"How would you know?" John snapped.
"John, now is not the time..." Abram cautioned him.
"You know she wouldn't run around so the only way...was
in the barn."
"She won't say who it was...there's no one to take
responsibility," John muttered.
"She can't marry the man," Abram said, stunned.
"Sometimes a boy gets carried away," John explained.
"It doesn't mean he wouldn't be a good husband to
her."
"You want her to marry the man who did this to her?"
Mulder asked, dumbfounded.
"He has responsibilities," John said matter-of-factly.
"And if she won't say who it is...she can't stay here
and have that...that bastard child."
"That poor child has been hurt, taken advantage of..."
Abram muttered with teary eyes as he pointed upstairs
to Fannie's room. "You can't possibly blame her
for...for this!"
"It was her body," John said, determined. "She should
have fought harder, she should have prayed more, maybe
god thought she needed to be punished for...for
something."
"You need to leave, John," Abram said as he walked to
the door and opened it.
Mulder wanted to grab him by the collar and throw him
out himself but decided to let Abram deal with his own
family. Fighting was a very un-Amish way to behave.
"Abram, she will do as I expect," John said as he
reached the door. "I am her father."
"And you can walk away from that right now," Abram
said softly. "I will take responsibility for her
and the child."
"It doesn't work that way and you know it," John said,
shocked.
"Then, it needs to," Abram said as he turned his back
and walked away from the door.
"Talk some sense into him," John implored Mulder.
"You know how this works."
"Hannah!" John called loudly from the door. "Time
to go!"
With that, he walked out the door and to their buggy.
Hannah scurried downstairs moments later and shut the
door behind her. Mulder stood in the living room
aghast at what had just happened before his eyes.
When Scully entered from the kitchen, all she saw
was his upset expression.
**************************************
to be continued...
Title: Amish Country--Chapter 7
Author: Lolabeegood
E-mail: lolabeegood@gmail.com
Distribution: Anywhere as long as my name stays attached
and the work remains
unchanged.
Rating: R
Category: S, UST, MSR, maybe AU (Although it does fit
with the timeline)
Keywords: Mulder/Scully, undercover work, Amish
Spoilers: Set during late season 6 between Field Trip
and Biogenesis
Summary: A serial rapist on the loose in Amish Country
causes Mulder and Scully to go undercover and test the
limits of their relationship.
Author's Notes: This idea came to me while on vacation.
I was in Scotland when I met a woman who was fascinated
with the Amish and Mennonites of North America and she
asked me tons of questions about them once I mentioned I
had encountered them a few times in my life. I did some
research and a story was born. I'm writing this as a WIP,
but those of you who know me know I NEVER leave a WIP
unfinished (and I'm usually good about frequent posting).
This is my first attempt at a semi case file so have
patience with me.
Feel free to write to me as the series progresses, I love
to hear what people like and don't like as I'm writing.
I don't own the characters or make any money from this.
****************************************
Mulder walked toward the house after another long day at
work in the fields with Abram and the workers. He could
tell the older man was quite distracted throughout the
day because he kept forgetting to do simple things.
Abram forgot to call the men in for lunch for almost an
hour after the usual time and everyone was starving by
the time they reached Scully's table. In the afternoon,
he forgot to send a man to get more gas for the
generator and they were out of juice by suppertime,
when another farm hand needed to make an emergency trip.
As he walked toward the house he could think of nothing
more than his soft bed. Then, it occurred to him that
his soft bed was now occupied by a young woman who
desperately needed her grandparents. To keep up the
ruse, he should sleep with Scully, but Ruth and Abram
wouldn't like that at all. Mulder would have to talk
with Abram when he got the chance.
Scully greeted him at the back door and he followed her
eyes as they rested on Fannie sitting at the kitchen
table cutting tomatoes for a salad.
"Hi Fannie," Mulder said as he took off his straw hat.
"Hi Mr. Toyler," Fannie said without raising her eyes
to him.
"Just call me Samuel," Mulder said as he put his hat on
the rack. "If you are going to be staying here, Samuel
is much easier."
"Fine, Samuel," Fannie said as she continued to chop.
"Are you hungry?" Scully asked him as she placed a hand
on his chest.
"Starving," he smiled down at her. "Is supper almost
ready?"
"There's a bath waiting for you upstairs," she said as
she patted his chest. "Get cleaned up quick and come
down to eat."
"Thanks," Mulder sighed as he walked past her. She
watched as his walk seemed to drag; he wasn't as sprightly
as he used to be. Hard farm labour was taking its toll
on him and it was starting to show. She noticed the
patch of red on the back of his neck that seemed to
get brighter with each day. She would have to help him
with that.
"You are very lucky," Fannie said from her spot at the
table. "He looks at you with such love."
Scully cleared her throat and didn't respond.
"I'm sorry," Fannie apologized. "I had no right to..."
"No, it's fine," Scully said looking at the young girl.
"I'm just not used to someone being so frank."
"Oh," Fannie muttered.
"But I like it with you Fannie. I feel like I can be
myself with you." Scully smiled at her.
"Who else would you be?" Fannie asked.
"No one," Scully answered as she stirred the soup on
the stove.
Within a half an hour Ruth, Abram, and Mulder had joined
them in the kitchen for supper. There was a weariness
about everyone that could not be masked. That, coupled
with the worry over Fannie's child, made for a quiet and
introspective supper. After dinner Ruth helped Scully
with the dishes and shooed Fannie out of the kitchen
saying she needed her rest.
"Fannie seems happy here," Scully noted as Ruth handed
her a glass.
"If John has his way, she'll go to school with the
English and give her baby up for adoption," Ruth said
as she grabbed another glass.
"What does Fannie want?" Scully asked.
"I don't think she wants anything but to not be in the
barn that night," Ruth said as she shook her head.
"Did she say anything about her attacker?" Scully
asked.
"No," Ruth said absently as she starred off into space.
"We'll have to deliver the pies tomorrow."
"Uh, sure," Scully said as she noticed the woman's
attention wane.
They continued to do dishes in silence.
After the dishes were done Scully and Ruth made their
way into the living room and sat with Mulder and Abram.
"Do you know how to sew?" Ruth asked Scully as she
took up a basket.
"No," Scully replied.
"Knit?" Ruth asked.
"No," Scully said softly. "I wasn't ever taught."
"Would you like to learn?" Ruth asked.
"I would," Scully said softly.
"Good, because if you are here for a couple more weeks
he'll need some repairs to his clothes," Ruth said
nodding toward Mulder who was reading in the corner.
"I will show you when Fannie isn't around."
"Hopefully we can meet more people in the community and
find who is assaulting these women before it comes to
that." Scully smiled at her.
"I wanted to talk with you two about Fannie staying with
us," Abram said as he lowered the paper.
Mulder sat up a little straighter and felt as if he was
about to be scolded.
"With Fannie in the other bedroom, you two are going to
have to share if you want her to believe you are
married," Abram began.
"Abram, they can't," Ruth whispered. "They're not
married."
Everyone looked toward the staircase and noted that the
bath was running and Fannie wouldn't be able to hear
their conversation. "I realize that Ruth, but
circumstances being what they are...we have no other
choice."
"He could sleep on the sofa and get up before everyone
else," Ruth offered.
"Abram, Ruth...Miriam and I are just..." Mulder started.
"It's settled," Abram said in a strong voice. He then
picked up his newspaper and started to read it again.
Ruth sat for a moment starring at his paper; she was
clearly upset with his decision.
Scully and Mulder both sat and waited to see if she
would say or do anything more to voice her opinion.
She put down her basket and started to walk from the
room.
"Good night," she said, and then she climbed the stairs
to her bedroom.
"She'll be fine," Abram said from behind his newspaper.
"You English do things differently than us, I'm sure
you'll manage."
"We will, thank you," Scully said back to him.
An hour later Abram was mounting the stairs to his room
and wishing them a pleasant sleep.
"Maybe Ruth would feel better if I slept on the floor,"
Mulder said as he turned off a light.
"After all the work you do?" Scully said as she picked
up her shawl. "You need a good night's sleep and, no
matter what ideas Ruth may have about us...we are just
going to sleep."
"Party pooper," Mulder said as he followed her up the
stairs.
He and Scully got changed under cover of darkness and
climbed into bed next to each other. Mulder shifted
and the springs creaked underneath them. He shifted
again and more springs creaked. The noise wasn't loud
but it seemed that way in the quiet house.
"Stop moving around," Scully hissed. "Or Ruth will
not be able to sleep thinking you're stealing my
virginity."
"It's still available?" Mulder asked with a leer.
"Good night, Mulder," she said with a groan.
"It's a legitimate question after you brought it up
and all," he said shifting onto his side to face
her. The bed creaked again beneath him.
"Good night John boy," she said as she starred at
the ceiling.
Mulder bounced his hip up and down on the bed making
the springs squeak in a rhythmic pattern.
"Mulder, stop!" Scully snapped at him in a whisper.
"Are you going to answer the question?" He asked
ready to start the bouncing again if she gave the
wrong answer.
"Of course it's not up for grabs you fool," she
whispered as she swatted at him.
"There, was that so hard?" He said as she rolled onto
his back again.
"If you are going to be like this, you may just end
up on the floor," she said as she giggled.
"Come on, you love it," he said with a chuckle.
"Goodnight, Mulder," she said with a yawn.
The two agents fell asleep rather quickly and when
four am came and Abram knocked on their door, Mulder
found himself cuddled up to Scully who was drooling
on his arm. He carefully pulled away from her and
got dressed for the day.
***********************************
to be continued...
Title: Amish Country--Chapter 8
Author: Lolabeegood
E-mail: lolabeegood@gmail.com
Distribution: Anywhere as long as my name stays
attached and the work remains
unchanged.
Rating: R
Category: S, UST, MSR, maybe AU (although it does
fit with the timeline)
Keywords: Mulder/Scully, undercover work, Amish
Spoilers: Set during late season 6 between Field
Trip and Biogenesis
Summary: A serial rapist on the loose in Amish Country
causes Mulder and Scully to go undercover and test the
limits of their relationship.
Author's Notes: This idea came to me while on vacation.
I was in Scotland when I met a woman who was fascinated
with the Amish and Mennonites of North America and she
asked me tons of questions about them once I mentioned I
had encountered them a few times in my life. I did some
research and a story was born. I'm writing this as a WIP,
but those of you who know me know I NEVER leave a WIP
unfinished (and I'm usually good about frequent posting).
This is my first attempt at a semi case file so have
patience with me.
I don't own the characters or make any money from this.
****************************************
Dana Scully sat on the bench at the back of a wagon bumping
along the various dirt roads in their farming community.
It was a warm day already at 10 am and Scully absently
wondered how Mulder was doing in the fields. At breakfast
she had taken some time while he was eating to pin a
handkerchief to the inside of his straw hat so that it
fell over the back of his neck while he was working; she
wanted to circumvent further sun damage. He seemed touched
by the action and, much to Ruth's chagrin, gave her a hug
before he left to go back to work.
"We don't do that in public," Ruth had said to her as they
cleared the table. "Plain people keep those things in
their bedrooms."
Scully had not responded to her, thinking it was ridiculous
that a husband and wife could not hug in public, but knowing
she was in a very different world right now.
They had visited Mrs. Hilty, an older woman who lived by
herself with a lot of support from her neighbours. She and
her husband had not been 'blessed' with children so the
community took care of her in her old age. Scully was sure
she was not the rapist.
They had also visited the Zook family and, although Scully
had only spent a few minutes in the company of Mr. Zook she
didn't think he fit Mulder's profile, nor did she get any
sort of odd feeling about him.
Ruth thought it was preposterous that anyone from their
community could be doing this; she thought it had to be an
English coming into their community and bringing this
horrible behaviour. But, Mulder's profile was clear; it
was someone from this close-knit community who had assaulted
six women in the last year. Two of the women were married,
three were engaged and one was neither. Fannie had been the
last women who had reported an assault. Mulder also thought
there had been more women, they just hadn't reported the
assault to anyone for fear of how the community would look
at them. He estimated there were at least 3 more women, if
not more, who had kept their assault a secret.
"This is the Lapp farm; the woman's name is Katie" Ruth said
as she turned to look at Scully. "After this we need to go
home and prepare lunch for the men."
Scully nodded her head in acknowledgement and tucked a lose
strand of brown hair behind her ear. She absently wondered
if she should keep her hair brown for a while, change things
up. Mulder hadn't said anything about her colour change
except that she would fit in better that way.
The buggy came to a halt in front of the house and Scully
stretched her back before rising to allow Willis, Fannie's
fifteen year old brother, help her get down. Fannie had
asked to stay home today, citing general unhappiness as
her reason for not coming. Ruth had tried to insist that
it would help her mood to visit others, but Fannie said
she would just upset everyone. Scully weighed her options
and felt Fannie would not divulge much more but visiting
people in the community might turn up some information they
could use in their investigation.
Scully was fixing her skirts when she heard the pleasant
voice of another woman.
"Ruth, I heard you were making your pies," the woman said
cheerily.
"Yes, and I have a couple for you, Katie" Ruth smiled back
as she walked toward the woman and handed her one pie. Scully
reached into the wagon and grabbed a second before she
approached.
"You must be Miriam," Katie smiled at Scully. "I've heard
a lot about your husband from my young Isaac."
Scully just nodded her head and bowed her eyes.
"Come on and get out that sun," she said to Scully with an
outstretched arm. "Your cheeks are already getting pink."
"So Isaac has been talking about Samuel?" Ruth asked as she
stepped inside.
"It's like he's never met anyone new before!" Katie laughed
as she walked them into her plain living room. Katie carried
the pie in her hands to the kitchen and Scully followed
her with the second one. The placed them on the counter and
returned to the living room.
"According to Isaac," Katie continued as Scully followed her
back into the living room, "Samuel is a very good worker and
he told nice Bible stories to Isaac while they were in the
fields. Isaac said, he said them word-for-word like he was
reading them, but in his head. He said working with Samuel
made the day go by so quickly he was surprised when it was
done."
"Samuel knows his Bible very well," Scully said softly as her
mind reeled about how Mulder knew stories from it so well.
"Well, we are all happy he is helping Abram, but Isaac is
also happy to have a new friend," Katie said as she took
a seat.
Scully went and sat next to Ruth on the couch. The room
was plain but had more touches of colour than Ruth's house.
A sunflower pillow here and a pink lamp there made the
room seem brighter somehow. She wondered it the happiness
came from Katie's jovial personality as well. Up until now,
all the Amish women Scully had met had seemed so sombre;
Katie was the first woman who seemed truly happy.
"I hope all this work is not too taxing on Samuel," Katie
said. "I heard he was quite sick for a number of years."
"Yes, he was," Scully said as she prepared for the story
she knew she was expected to give. "But he had an
operation and he's better now."
"An operation?" Katie asked, intrigued.
"He had a tumour in his brain and that made him have 'fits'
for many years. Everyone thought it was just how he was,
and then...then we discovered it was something else,
something that could be fixed."
"So he doesn't have fits anymore?" Katie asked.
"Not for two years," Scully smiled at Katie. "As soon as
he was better from the operation we prepared to marry."
"You waited all those years? How could you be sure he'd
be better?"
"I wasn't," Scully said to her lap more than to anyone
else. "He wouldn't marry as long as he was sick. He
wanted to provide for his family and not be a burden to
them. So, I waited for seven years, and he tried to get
me to marry another."
Katie touched her chest and Scully knew that she was
taken with her story.
"But I only wanted to marry Samuel and if I couldn't..."
Scully paused to seemingly collect her thoughts. "So he
talked with some English doctors and they did some tests
and they found out they could fix it."
"He let the English fix the fits?" Katie asked, intrigued
by the story.
"He said if I was going to insist on marrying him, he was
going to have to do whatever it took to make sure that
happened," Scully smiled to herself.
"Ruth, did you hear that?" Katie swooned.
"I am glad the English made him well," Ruth replied as
she sat uncomfortably next to Scully.
"And you married in November?" Katie asked as her eyes
fell onto Scully's thin body.
"We lost one in the spring," Scully explained with her
eyes downcast and teary as she thought of Emily, who
she lost a year and a half ago, "A girl."
"God will bless you with healthy children," Katie smiled
at Scully.
The room fell into silence for a minute before Katie
rose from her seat. "Let me get everyone some tea."
Ruth rose to help but Scully placed a hand on her arm.
"I'll help," she said softly.
She followed Katie into her kitchen and immediately
started to fill the kettle as Katie got out some tea
cups.
"We need to have you and Samuel over for dinner this
week," Katie said as she turned to face Scully. "Isaac
will be happy with that."
"We don't want to burden..." Scully began.
"Nonsense," Katie said as she put a tea bag in a pot.
"How about Saturday?"
"I will check with Ruth, but..."
"They will come too," Katie said as if it was a given.
"Okay, that sounds wonderful," Scully smiled at her.
The next hour flew past with Katie telling stories of
times in their youth when she and Ruth got into
trouble. Ruth seemed more and more embarrassed with
each story and almost jumped at the chance to leave
when she realized they had to get back to make
lunch.
Once they got home Ruth and Scully set to work, quickly
making lunches for the men, who would be back at the
house expecting to eat in a half hour.
"You have lost a child," Ruth said to Scully as she cut
the bread for the sandwiches.
"My daughter, Emily," Scully said once the initial shock
of Ruth's question wore off. "It will be two years this
Christmas."
"How old was she when she died?" Ruth asked as she
continued to cut.
"Four," Scully said softly, unsure of where this line
of conversation was going.
"My son was twenty," Ruth said. "There were six other
babies, some weren't alive when they were born...others
only lived a short while."
"I'm so sorry, Ruth," Scully said turning to face the
women as she worked.
"That's why we only had the two...we wanted more, but
God must have thought we had enough loss."
Scully didn't know what to say to comfort the woman.
She had lost six babies and her son, now her
relationship with her only daughter could be falling
apart.
"I have the pickled beans," Fannie interrupted her
train of thought as she entered the kitchen.
"Miriam will help you set the table while I finish in
here," Ruth said as she continued to cut the bread that
would go along with the vegetable soup they had made
yesterday.
**************************************
Mulder's ears had been peaked for the last forty minutes
as he waited for the lunch pot to bang calling all the
men in from their work. He was hungry but he also hoped
to get Scully alone for a minute and talk with her about
someone he met that he wanted to make their first suspect.
Isaac Lapp had taken to Mulder from the moment they met.
At first Mulder thought it was the intrigue of being a
stranger in this small community; the twenty year old
probably had little excitement in his life. Then, later
this morning, Mulder had discovered the real reason for
Isaac's friendship; his older brother was an asshole.
Isaac had been working on Abram's farm for five years.
The Lapp family were the butchers of the community and
with no shortage of boys, 6 in all, there was very little
work left when Isaac came of age. So, he got a job with
Abram and seemed to be happy with the arrangement.
Mulder quite liked the young man. He was very innocent
but interested in the world around them. He readily
asked questions Mulder wouldn't expect an Amish boy to
ask and seemed extremely bright for his age. Mulder
thought it was too bad he stopped his education at
fourteen, like most Amish boys, because he was probably
smart enough to go to college.
He had asked Mulder questions incessantly for the first
day. Had he ever ridden in a car? Did he want a large
family one day? How had he proposed to Miriam? Did he
ever want to be anything but a farmer?
Mulder had answered his questions with good Amish
answers. No, he had not ridden in a car but his best
friend had and said it was scary how fast they went.
Yes, he wanted a large family but he also didn't want
Miriam taxed with too many children to handle so he
would let her decide when they stopped. He proposed to
Miriam one evening as the sun was setting and they were
walking by a river near her parent's house. No, he
didn't want to be anything but a farmer and he couldn't
imagine any other life for himself.
After one day of non-stop questions Mulder had decided
it would be easier to tell him some Bible stories he had
memorized then constantly think of good Amish answers
instead of the ones he wanted to say. Yes, he drove a
car all the time and part of him missed it. No, he didn't
want a large family, or maybe any kids at all. He had
proposed to Scully once over the phone as a joke but
thought that if he tried something like that again, he'd
want it to be serious and well-thought out. Yes,
although being a farmer for a while was an interesting
idea, he would be excited to put on a suit and wear a
gun again.
He was in the middle of another Bible story about
stealing when Jacob Lapp seemed to pop up from nowhere.
"So, much talking...are you getting any work done?" He
asked sternly as he rounded the corner of the barn.
"We're working," Isaac bristled. "Samuel, this is my
brother Jacob."
"Nice to meet you," Mulder said as he extended a hand.
Jacob gripped his hand with sheer brute force and shook
it to the point where Mulder winced in pain.
"You don't have enough calluses to be a farmer," Jacob
said as he released his hand.
"There's a farm in Norwalk that says otherwise," Mulder
smiled at the man, immediately disliking him.
"You and your wife staying for long?" Jacob asked.
"As long as Abram needs us," Mulder said as he
straightened to tower over Jacob. "We hope not into
the winter though."
"Once harvest is done Abram will be fine with my soft
brother," Jacob said as he punched Isaac hard in the
shoulder.
"Owww," Isaac said as he rubbed his shoulder.
"Mom needs you to bring home some beans for her salad
tonight, and some more milk," Jacob said looking over
at Isaac who was tinkering with a piece of farming
equipment.Isaac just nodded his head.
"Did you hear me?" Jacob asked as he smacked Isaac
upside the head.
"I did, I did," Isaac said as he held the side of his
head.
"Isaac, if you don't look at me...how do I know you
hear me?" Jacob said with a snap to his words.
"I'll bring the beans and the milk," Isaac said as he
looked straight at his brother.
"Good," Jacob said as he adjusted his suspenders.
"I gotta get back to slaughtering a pig...real man's
work."
Mulder noted the way he directed that at Jacob.
"Good day Samuel," Jacob said as he turned to walk
away. Mulder nodded to his back.
"He always that pleasant?" Mulder asked when Jacob
was far enough away.
"This is a good day," Isaac said shyly as he walked
toward his tool belt.
*****************************************
to be continued...
Title: Amish Country--Chapter 9
Author: Lolabeegood
E-mail: lolabeegood@gmail.com
Distribution: Anywhere as long as my name stays
attached and the work remains unchanged.
Rating: R
Category: S, UST, MSR, maybe AU (although it does
fit with the timeline)
Keywords: Mulder/Scully, undercover work, Amish
Spoilers: Set during late season 6 between Field
Trip and Biogenesis
Summary: A serial rapist on the loose in Amish
Country causes Mulder and Scully to go undercover
and test the limits of their relationship.
Author's Notes: This idea came to me while on
vacation. I was in Scotland when I met a woman who
was fascinated with the Amish and Mennonites of North
America and she asked me tons of questions about them
once I mentioned I had encountered them a few times in
my life. I did some research and a story was born.
I'm writing this as a WIP, but those of you who know me
know I NEVER leave a WIP unfinished (and I'm usually
good about frequent posting). This is my first attempt
at a semi case file so have patience with me.
Feel free to write me as I go along and let me know what
you think.
I don't own the characters or make any money from this.
****************************************
Someone had finally called them in for lunch and Mulder
couldn't reach the house quick enough. His eyes caught
Scully's as soon as he reached the yard, and, as was
the case over their years of being partners, she read
in his eyes exactly what she needed to do. He went into
the barn and grabbed a clean shirt, but instead of
changing there walked with the clean shirt to the side
of the Fisher's main house. Scully tracked him and,
instead of putting out more lemonade, walked around to
the other side of the house to meet up with him.
"We have to check out Jacob Lapp," Mulder said quietly
as he walked up to her on the porch.
"I was just at the Lapp farm today. I met Katie Lapp
and she seemed very nice. Is he her husband or...?"
"A son," Mulder said as he unbuttoned his dirty shirt.
"He's Isaac's older brother and he's a real piece of
work."
"That doesn't make him our suspect," Scully whispered
as she looked around to make sure no one was near.
"He's an alpha male with homophobic language," Mulder
said as he took off his shirt and threw it over the
railing.
"We're invited to the Lapp's for dinner on Saturday,"
Scully said as she watched him reach for his old shirt
and attempt to towel off the sweat on his chest a
little before donning the clean shirt. "It will give
us a chance to get to know them better."
"So there was nothing about..." Mulder stopped mid
sentence when he heard a floorboard creak on the porch.
He heard another, and then another and realized someone
was walking right towards them.
He grabbed Scully by the shoulders and pulled her into
a passionate kiss. His reasoning behind the action was
that, although Amish people don't generally kiss like
that on porches, it would be less suspicious then a
husband and wife meeting in secret to talk. If it was
Ruth or Abram they would explain, if it wasn't, it would
protect their cover.
Scully, although initially shocked by his action,
returned the kiss and placed her hands on his bare chest
which turned him on even more and caused him to pull her
even closer to him.
"Oh, sorry," Fannie said as she rounded the corner and
caught the couple in the act.
"Fannie, oh no," Scully said pulling away from Mulder
and blushing.
"I'll go," Fannie said as her face turned six shades
of red.
"Fannie, we didn't know..." Scully started to explain.
Fannie practically ran down the steps. When she was
out of sight Scully turned to see a grinning Mulder.
"Protecting our cover, were you?" She asked with a
raised eyebrow.
"All in the interest of solving the case," he said as
he reached for his clean shirt and put it on.
"I wish it wasn't Fannie," Scully said as she looked
around the porch corner at the larger group.
"I'm just glad she didn't hear our conversation," Mulder
said as he did up his buttons. "She was walking too
quickly towards us to do anything else."
"We can't meet like this again," she said as she
continued to watch the men take their seats.
"Oh, I don't know," Mulder said as he walked up closely
behind her and placed his hands on her waist. "This
meeting kind of enhances a somewhat tiresome work
schedule."
"Samuel," she said as she stepped free from him.
"I have to get back to work, and so do you."
Scully walked away from him and when Mulder looked
around the corner he saw Ruth standing on the stairs
waiting for him to emerge. She shook her head and
walked into the house.
Mulder put on his straw hat, grabbed his dirty shirt,
and walked toward the table where everyone was assembled.
Lunch went on as usual with Scully, Ruth and Fannie
tending to the needs of the men. Filling plates, glasses,
cutting more bread, and getting more soup for them as
needed. Mulder did notice that Fannie seemed to steer
clear of him, as did Ruth. It was up to Scully to heap
more food onto his plate and put more lemonade in his glass.
He always felt awkward about this situation but knew that
he couldn't do anything about the roles they needed to play.
After lunch Mulder changed his shirt in the barn with the
other men and went back to work in the fields leaving Scully
behind to deal with both Fannie and Ruth.
************************************************
She was shaking the table cloth out with little luck when
Fannie came up and grabbed the other side. The shook the
table cloth together and then the two women folded it.
"Fannie, about earlier..." Scully started.
Fannie waved a dismissive hand at her. "He is your husband
and you are his wife."
"But I want you to understand that we don't normally act
like that around each other, outside, where others could
walk in on us."
Fannie just nodded her head and said nothing.
"We've only been married nine months and we waited so long
to get married that...sometimes..."
"You are new to each other still," Fannie said matter-of-
factly.
"Yes," Scully sighed, relieved Fannie knew what she was
trying to explain.
"It would be nice to be such a shiny penny for someone that
they couldn't stand being away from you," Fannie said
wistfully.
"Fannie, you will be..."
"No, I won't," Fannie said as she tugged at the edge of the
table cloth she was holding. "Everyone knows I am not so
shiny, and when this baby comes...I will be with the
English."
"You don't have to be, you could..."
"Move to another community? No. My family is here, and
people in a new community will still know, we always do.
Maybe my family will take me back if I repent for..."
"You were forced," Scully said softly as she held Fannie's
shoulders. "It wasn't your fault, you didn't do anything
to deserve..."
"God thought I did," Fannie said as she looked into
Scully's eyes.
"I don't think God had anything to do with this," Scully
said softly. "He would not want you harmed. Fannie, the
man who did this to you is the only one responsible for
what happened and if you say who he..."
"I don't know!" Fannie cried. "I don't know!"
"Okay, okay," Scully said as she looked at the pain in
the girl's eyes. She pulled Fannie toward her and said
soothing words of comfort. "It's going to be alright."
She didn't believe the words as they passed her lips but
she knew she had to say something to her; something that,
even if a lie, could make things better in the moment.
*****************************************************
to be continued...
Title: Amish Country--Chapter 10
Author: Lolabeegood
E-mail: lolabeegood@gmail.com
Distribution: Anywhere as long as my name stays attached
and the work remains unchanged.
Rating: R
Category: S, UST, MSR, maybe AU (although it does fit
with the timeline)
Keywords: Mulder/Scully, undercover work, Amish
Spoilers: Set during late season 6 between Field Trip
and Biogenesis
Summary: A serial rapist on the loose in Amish Country
causes Mulder and Scully to go undercover and test the
limits of their relationship.
Author's Notes: This idea came to me while on vacation.
I was in Scotland when I met a woman who was fascinated
with the Amish and Mennonites of North America and she
asked me tons of questions about them once I mentioned
I had encountered them a few times in my life. I did
some research and a story was born. I'm writing this
as a WIP, but those of you who know me know I NEVER
leave a WIP unfinished (and I'm usually good about
frequent posting). This is my first attempt at a semi
case file so have patience with me.
I don't own the characters or make any money from this.
****************************************
The rest of the week went by without incident. Mulder
worked with the men in the fields hearing more and more
about Jacob Lapp that he didn't like, and Scully worked
in the house with Ruth and Fannie cooking, cleaning,
sewing and washing. Scully had visited several other
farm families to deliver pies and had not come across
anyone else suspicious. Mulder was going to deliver the
milk with Isaac next week and hoped to meet more people
in their community that way. Tomorrow was Sunday and
they would be introduced to the community and have a
chance to socialize. It was a perfect opportunity to
check everyone out.
Each night, after a hard days work, Mulder crawled
wearily into bed next to Scully; they both fell asleep
quickly and each morning he found himself more and more
entangled with her when he woke. It started out with
simple cuddling, then one morning he found her almost
lying completely on top of him, then another morning her
hand was under his shirt and on his bare chest, finally
on Saturday morning he had woke up with a huge erection
and his hand on her breast outside her nightgown. Things
had been changing rapidly between them over the course
of a week and it didn't just involve their sleeping
arrangements.
He found himself, without the distractions of the modern
world, noticing more about her. He had always thought
she was a beautiful woman but since coming to the farm,
he had noticed a kind of natural beauty about her
movements. She was graceful in everything she did, whether
it was rolling out a pie crust, pouring lemonade or
learning to cross stitch. She attacked everything with
intensity but her movements were always slow and graceful.
She looked at him differently as well, and did small things
to make his life easier. Whether it was pinning a
handkerchief to the inside of his hat to protect his neck,
or placing a small helping of green beans on his plate
because she knew he didn't like them; she was always
looking out for him. She made a great wife, by Amish
standards, and he tried to tell her that without seeming
patronizing.
He crept into their bedroom and tried to grab a clean shirt
from the drawer as quietly as possible.
"What are you doing?" She groaned as she rolled over to look
at him.
"Just getting a shirt," he whispered. "Go back to sleep."
"Wait," she said as she sat upright in bed. "What time is
it?"
"It's just after eight but..." he started to tell her.
"I've gotta help Ruth with breakfast," she said in a flurry
as the blankets were thrown off and she jumped from bed.
"Why didn't someone wake me?"
He walked over to her and held her by the shoulders. "Scully,
its Saturday...the cows are milked and there are no other
chores today. Abram and Ruth have left with Fannie to
visit her parents."
"I didn't make breakfast," she said wiping sleep from her eyes
and still not understanding what he was saying.
"Ruth made breakfast for them and I asked that you sleep in.
I said I'd eat with you." Mulder clarified.
"What do you want for breakfast?" She asked as she stifled
a yawn.
"I'll make something for myself later, right now I just
wanted to get some clean clothes and have a bath before I
crawled back in that bed and went back to sleep."
"When are they coming back?" Scully asked as she looked
longingly at the bed.
"Not until the afternoon, I think," Mulder said with a
smirk. "We can get a few hours in if I hurry."
"Mulder, I'll get up and leave you the bed, I'm sure you
want to..."
"Do what you like Scully, but it's big enough for two and I
don't mind sharing," he said as he grabbed an undershirt and
underpants and walked from the room.
She stood for moment thinking about what she should do and
what she'd like to do. She should get cleaned up and surprise
Ruth with homemade cookies but the five am wake up calls were
taking their toll on her...
Scully walked back toward the bed and got in on the left
side. She pulled the quilt over her body and snuggled into
the pillow. She sighed contentedly and fell asleep. When
Mulder walked in twenty minutes later she was fast asleep.
He crawled carefully into his side of the bed and, he too,
fell asleep within seconds.
When Scully woke a few hours later, it was the sound of
horse's hooves in the lane that caused her to stir. She pulled
Mulder's hand away from her waist and got out of bed to
look out the window. A man in his early twenties was pulling
up in front of the Fisher house and unloading some things
wrapped in paper. Scully pulled on her bathrobe and
scurried downstairs.
"I'm Miriam Troyler," she said as she exited the house.
The young man turned and was surprised to see a woman dressed
in her bathrobe at noon hour. Her head did not have a bonnet
on it and her brown hair was stirring in the wind around her.
"I'm Jacob Lapp," he said jumping from the back of the buggy.
"I'm delivering some meat to the Fisher's."
"Oh, Ruth didn't mention you'd be dropping by," Scully said
as her ears perked at the man's name.
"They probably thought you'd bring it home after supper but
I was in the area and...are you sick?"
It was then that Scully noticed she was standing very un-Amish
like in her bathrobe with her hair askew.
"Yes," she smiled at Jacob. "I've been in bed all morning with
an upset stomach."
"I hope you are still going to make supper," Jacob smiled nicely
at her.
"I hope so too," Miriam said as she returned his smile. "Let me
help you with..."
"If you'll just get the door, I can do the rest," Jacob said
confidently.
He hoisted a leg, possibly one belonging to a lamb, over his
shoulder and walked behind Scully up the stairs. She opened the
door and he walked straight back toward the kitchen, obviously
familiar with the Fisher house.
"They left you all alone?" Jacob asked as he put the meat wrapped
in paper down on the counter. There was something about the way
he said it that sent a chill down her spine.
"I, uh..." Scully stammered.
"Hello again, Jacob," Mulder suddenly said behind her. She turned
to see him buttoning up his shirt and pulling up his suspenders.
"I see you're home too," Jacob said to Mulder.
"I was taking the opportunity to have a nap," Mulder said as he put
a hand on Scully's shoulder.
She immediately began to blush and looked at the floor.
"I'll...I'll get out of your way then," Jacob said as he was
confronted with the knowledge that he had interrupted the couple
in bed. "You'll get that into cold storage?"
"We'll take care of it," Mulder said as he turned to face Jacob.
"Thanks for delivering."
"You're welcome," Jacob said as he looked Mulder right in the eye
"I'll see you at supper."
"We'll be there," Mulder said confidently.
Jacob walked briskly from the house and his wagon was off and down
the dirt driveway quickly.
"I don't like him," Scully said as she watched his wagon disappear
from the kitchen window.
"Neither do I, but that doesn't make him our rapist," Mulder said
as he came up behind her to look out the window as well.
She turned to face him, "a little male posturing?"
"Who me?" Mulder smiled down at her.
"Yes, you. I thought you were still asleep."
"I noticed a familiar warmth missing," he said as he looked down
at her.
"Speaking of that familiar warmth, I think maybe we should put some
pillows down the middle of the bed, if Ruth or Abram were to walk
in they would get the wrong idea."
"You mean when you climb on top of me while you sleep?" Mulder
asked with a grin.
"I never!" Scully said shocked.
"You do, and I wake up to find you in some very interesting
positions in the morning," he smiled again at her.
"Now you're just trying to get me riled," she said as she walked
away from him.
"Tomorrow morning I'll wake you up the second my eyes open, I won't
move a thing and you tell me things aren't awfully cosy in that
bed," he said as he grabbed an apple off the table.
"I think you will find Mulder," she said as she took out some eggs,
"that it is you, not me, that is..."
"What's the bet?" Mulder asked.
"What do you mean, what's the bet?" She asked.
"What do I get if I'm right?" He asked.
"What do you want?" She asked as she crossed her hands over her
chest.
"That's a dangerous question to ask, Scully," he leered.
"Mulder..."
"Swimming. You and I go swimming tomorrow at a small lake on the
edge of the Fisher's farm."
"I don't have a suit, Amish women don't swim," she said haughtily.
"Wear your underwear if you like, but I could use a nice cool swim,"
he said as he took another bite.
"My underwear is all white cotton and when it gets wet...I might
as well not wear anything," she said.
"Do whatever you like Scully, wear the underpants or nothing. I
promise not to look." he smiled.
She stopped and considered the bet.
"What do I get?" She asked.
"What do you want?"
"A foot rub every night for a week, no matter how tired you are when
we go to bed," she said with a smile.
"Deal," he said as he stretched out a hand.
"Deal," she said as she took it.
"I better get this big hunk of meat in their cold house before it
rots," he said as he lifted the leg over his shoulder.
"I'll make us some eggs," she said as she got out a frying pan.
Mulder walked to the cold house thinking that either way, he won
the bet.
***************************************
to be continued...
Title: Amish Country--Chapter 11
Author: Lolabeegood
E-mail: lolabeegood@gmail.com
Distribution: Anywhere as long as my name stays attached
and the work remains
unchanged.
Rating: R
Category: S, UST, MSR, maybe AU (although it does fit with
the timeline)
Keywords: Mulder/Scully, undercover work, Amish
Spoilers: Set during late season 6 between Field Trip and
Biogenesis
Summary: A serial rapist on the loose in Amish Country
causes Mulder and Scully to go undercover and test the
limits of their relationship.
Author's Notes: This idea came to me while on vacation.
I was in Scotland when I met a woman who was fascinated
with the Amish and Mennonites of North America and she
asked me tons of questions about them once I mentioned
I had encountered them a few times in my life. I did
some research and a story was born. I'm writing this as
a WIP, but those of you who know me know I NEVER leave a
WIP unfinished (and I'm usually good about frequent
posting). This is my first attempt at a semi case file
so have patience with me.
I don't own the characters or make any money from this.
****************************************
Fannie sat knitting nervously in the living room. The
visit with her parents had, apparently, not gone well.
Scully got only a few details from Ruth but, in essence,
John had expected Fannie would say who her attacker
was so he could approach the young man's family about
marriage. A very un-Amish-like argument had ensued
between Abram and John that caused both Fannie and
Hannah to cry and they had left early. The Fishers had
arrived back at the farm just after Jacob Lapp had made
his exit.
Now Scully and Fannie sat with Ruth in the living room
waiting for Mulder and Abram to return after closing up
the barn for the night. They were going to the Lapps
for supper so the Fishers could visit with their
neighbours and Scully and Mulder could investigate
Jacob Lapp. It was a great opportunity for Mulder to
see if he fit the profile he had developed for the case.
"Let's go," Abram said as he walked through the back door
followed by Mulder.
All of the Fishers seemed to be in a bad mood this evening
and Scully hoped that they would be able to keep Fannie
with them and not return her to her parents. So far,
Fannie had either refused, or been unable, to identify
her attacker. The idea of forcing the young girl to
marry her attacker sickened Scully to the point she could
not think about it without getting angry and upset.
"I won't be coming with you," Fannie said softly as she
continued to knit.
"You are," Ruth said sternly to her. "We can't have
people talking...not with the way things are."
"I won't be good company tonight and I don't feel well,"
Fannie said softly.
"Is it your stomach?" Ruth asked as her concern grew.
"It's everything," Fannie said as a tear streaked down
her cheek.
"With what you've been through," Scully said as she
leaned forward and placed a hand on Fannie's knee.
"It's completely understandable."
Everyone was quiet for a minute, wondering what was
going to happen.
"I don't want you staying by yourself," Abram said
from the doorway.
"I'll stay with her," Ruth said.
"I don't know if you should stay home without a man
in the house," Abram amended.
"We'll be fine," Ruth said facing her husband. "We'll
lock the doors and only open them for you."
"Maybe we should cancel with the Lapps," Scully
offered as she saw Mulder's face fall. As much as he
wouldn't want anyone upset, he also wanted to speak
with Jacob Lapp a little more.
"No," Abram said. "I'll go with you to their house...it
won't be a late night."
"We won't be long," Mulder assured them as he gestured
for Scully to join him.
Abram, Mulder and Scully made their way by buggy to the
Lapp farm down the road. It wasn't far away but
because they were returning after dark, a buggy was
necessary.
"The Lapps have a large family," Abram began as they
bumped down the road. "They have six sons; four of them
are married with their own farms. I don't know if any of
those families will be joining us tonight."
"So, it could be quite the party," Mulder said.
"It could be a lot of people at supper," Abram said to
him in all seriousness.
"Abram, what do you know of the Lapps?" Scully leaned
forward and asked.
"They butcher good meat and their youngest Isaac is a
good worker, I like him a lot."
"What about Jacob?" Mulder asked.
"I don't know him so well...he doesn't seem like a very
happy man and then there have been the cancelled
engagements..."
"Cancelled engagements?" Scully asked.
"He has been engaged twice and both times it was called
off by the bride."
"What happened to the girls?" Scully asked.
"One married his older brother, Luke, instead. The other
girl has not married another since." Abram said.
"Does that happen often in this community?" Mulder
inquired.
"There have been times where the bride and groom have
decided against marriage for various reasons but..."
"What reasons?" Mulder interrupted.
"We don't really talk about such things," Abram said
softly.
"But, there are reasons, yes?" Mulder pushed forward.
"Maybe they don't get along as well as they should, or
maybe there are too many problems between the families,
or maybe they have not been honest and love another,"
Abram offered. "Plain people marry for life...not like
the English."
"You know Abram, not all English divorce," Mulder said
as he sat back.
"Isn't the English average fifty percent?" Abram said
in a self-satisfied way.
"Actually I think it's more than fifty percent now,"
Scully smiled over at him.
"Thank you, Miriam," Abram smiled back at her.
Mulder sat between the two of them, silent.
When they arrived to the Lapp farm there was a buggy
in the driveway.
"One of the other boys must be joining us," Abram
explained as Mulder helped Scully from the buggy.
"Hello and welcome!" A man called from the top of
the staircase.
"Mark Lapp," Abram smiled at the man. "This is my
nephew Samuel Troyler and his wife Miriam."
"We were so glad you could come," he smiled at them.
Scully noticed that he seemed to share his wife's
exuberance for life and she was happy the evening would
not be sombre. She was starting to feel quite
melancholy herself and needed a little more sunshine
around her.
Mulder climbed the stairs and shook Mark's hand,
Scully just nodded at him and let her eyes fall to
the ground.
"Isaac has spoken about you," Mark said as he looked
at Mulder. "He's quite taken with you."
"He's a great young man," Mulder smiled at him.
"Come in Miriam," Mark gestured toward the house.
"Is Ruth not...?"
"She's not well tonight," Abram said succinctly.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear," Mark said as he followed
them inside.
Katie and Isaac greeted them happily and introduced
them to Luke and his wife Martha. Both Mulder and
Scully were disappointed that Jacob didn't seem to
be joining them as he was the primary reason they
had come over.
They sat and talked for a while and Mulder found both
Katie, Mark and Luke to be friendly and open; hiding
nothing as they spoke. He understood where Isaac got
his open and friendly nature. It made it more
difficult to understand how Jacob was such an
asshole though. It didn't fit his profile. Martha
on the other hand, seemed reclusive and quiet, which
was not strange among Amish women so it wasn't
noteworthy.
"Sorry, I'm late," Jacob called from the kitchen.
Mulder and Scully exchanged looks; the night was not
a waste of time after all.
"Now, we can eat," Katie said standing.
Martha immediately followed her into the kitchen as
did Scully. Scully understood that, even as guests,
the women were expected to place all the food on the
table.
Scully spooned the potatoes into a dish while Katie
pulled the meat out from inside the oven. Martha
assembled a salad and Jacob seemed to roam around
them.
"Let us have some room to work," Katie admonished
him as he picked up a green bean and ate it.
Martha seemed to stiffen slightly as he walked
behind her and, Scully noticed, he seemed to linger
there for a little too long.
"Glad you could join us tonight," Jacob said to
Miriam.
Scully just nodded and walked the potatoes to the
table. There was something very creepy about Jacob
and she hoped they would get some more information
about him they could use.
Everyone sat for dinner and, after the blessing,
food started to get passed around.
"So you're raising a barn after the winter?" Mark
asked Mulder.
"Yes, we've waited so long that the spring cannot
come quick enough," Mulder smiled.
"Miriam told me about your medical issues," Katie
smiled at the couple. "It's quite romantic that she
waited for you."
"There was no convincing Miriam otherwise," Mulder
said as he smiled at Scully.
"It must be difficult, starting so late," Mark noted.
"You have a home to make, a barn to raise, a farm to
start and you are years older then most couples in
your shoes."
"We're up for the challenge," Mulder said as he took
Scully's hand.
"And you're feeling better Miriam?" Jacob asked
"Yes," Scully said as she bowed her head.
"You weren't well?" Katie asked.
"I was under the weather this morning," Scully
admitted. "But I am much better now."
"Samuel helped her feel better," Jacob smiled at her
across the table.
Mulder's head snapped up and he glared at Jacob.
Scully's faced turned six shades of red, but no one
else seemed to notice except Martha who met Scully's
eyes and then quickly looked away. Scully realized in
that moment that she needed to talk with Martha
privately.
The rest of the dinner conversation consisted of
farming talk about crops, cattle, dairy, and the
harvest which was soon approaching. Mulder's
knowledge of farming seemed to be quite substantial as
he heartily took part in the conversation and seemed
like a regular farmer. All of the women sat quietly
at the table and the only time they seemed to talk
was to ask for things to be passed between them.
Both Mulder and Scully noticed that Jacob was surly
and that when he did participate in conversation he
seemed to disagree with the other men. No one else
at the table seemed to notice his bad attitude and the
only sign that something was off was when Abram
interrupted a squabble Jacob was having with Mulder
over the weather forecast. Jacob looked toward Abram
with a sneer and Katie got up from the table saying
she had made some pies for dessert.
"I'll help," Scully said, standing.
She joined Katie in the kitchen and started to get
the pies ready when Katie placed a hand atop hers.
"You mustn't mind Jacob," she said softly. "He's
always been an unhappy boy. He...he's just that
way."
Scully just smiled at Katie and handed her a pie.
Katie walked ahead and then turned at the doorway to
the dining room.
"I forgot the plates Miriam, can you get them?"
"Of course," Scully replied as she handed a pie to
Martha and then walked back into the kitchen alone.
She opened one cupboard after another and was having
trouble locating the plates when she felt someone come
up closely behind her.
"Can I help?" Jacob asked as he leaned in closely to
speak into her ear.
"Oh, you...you scared me," Scully jumped away from
him.
"Sorry," Jacob smiled at her as he took a step towards
her. "I just came to help."
"I'm fine," she said holding her ground against the
counter and facing him.
He took another step forward until his body was pressed
up against hers. She refused to move, wondering what he
was up to but she was trapped between him and the counter
behind her.
"It's just the plates," he said as she leaned toward her
face and spoke, "are on a high shelf"
He reached above her and opened a cupboard to grab a
batch of plates. His whole body was pressed against hers
and she tried to control herself from shoving him to
the ground, sticking a knee in his back, and hog-tying
him. He lowered the plates in front of her and she
put out her hands to take them from him.
"Thank you," she said as she lowered her eyes.
"For just the plates?" he asked as his breath washed
across her cheek.
"I'm sorry?" She asked, trying to play innocent.
"No, no you're not," he leered down at her and then took
a step back.
Turning from her he walked from the kitchen and she was
left catching her breath against the counter. He made her
skin crawl and his confidence was exactly what Mulder had
anticipated. Scully had never seen an Amish man behave
this way towards a woman, or a married woman for that
matter.
After supper they sat and talked for a while; mainly
about what kind of farm they were going to have and how
many children Miriam hoped for. Jacob had excused himself
from the after-supper discussion soon after that, and
Scully had been happy to see his exit. Throughout the
evening his gaze had been trained on her and it made
her doubly uncomfortable at the Lapps. She had always
been very aware of the role she was playing but his
constant scrutiny was quite unnerving.
They bid everyone a good night and Scully made sure she
grabbed Martha's shawl instead of her own; the opportunity
to talk with her again was the reasoning. An innocent
mix-up would be why she needed to visit Martha on Monday.
"That went well," Abram said as he guided their buggy
down the dirt road.
"It did," Mulder said as he wrapped an arm around Scully
who seemed to be shivering next to him. "Wouldn't you
say?"
"Uh, yeah...yeah it did," she said softly.
He looked at her strangely and knew there was more to
the story. Instead of pressing her for more details in
front of Abram, he just pulled her a little closer to
him as they bumped down the road.
**************************************
to be continued...
Title: Amish Country--Chapter 12
Author: Lolabeegood
E-mail: lolabeegood@gmail.com
Distribution: Anywhere as long as my name stays attached
and the work remains
unchanged.
Rating: R
Category: S, UST, MSR, maybe AU (although it does fit
with the timeline)
Keywords: Mulder/Scully, undercover work, Amish
Spoilers: Set during late season 6 between Field Trip and
Biogenesis
Summary: A serial rapist on the loose in Amish Country
causes Mulder and Scully to go undercover and test the
limits of their relationship.
Author's Notes: This idea came to me while on vacation. I
was in Scotland when I met a woman who was fascinated with
the Amish and Mennonites of North America and she asked me
tons of questions about them once I mentioned I had
encountered them a few times in my life. I did some
research and a story was born. I'm writing this as a WIP,
but those of you who know me know I NEVER leave a WIP
unfinished (and I'm usually good about frequent posting).
This is my first attempt at a semi case file so have
patience with me.
I love comments so feel free to write and tell me what you
think as I go along.
I don't own the characters or make any money from this.
****************************************
Fannie's presence in the Fisher house not only meant Mulder
and Scully had to sleep together and always pretend to be a
couple, but it also meant they couldn't really talk much in
their room. They could talk quietly for a bit each night
but, if they wanted to have a real conversation and hash out
some ideas and a plan, it would have to be done elsewhere.
When they arrived home from dinner with the Lapps they had
a lot to talk about, and the quiet Fisher house was not the
place.
"Abram, we're going for a walk to talk for a bit," Mulder
said as he helped Scully down from the buggy.
"You might want to get a coat, the wind is picking up,"
Abram said with his head bent toward the dark night sky.
"You help with the horse and I'll get the coats from inside,"
Scully said as she walked toward the house.
"You don't like Jacob," Abram said after he unhitched the
horse and they walked toward the barn.
Mulder opened the large barn door and held it for him to
walk past. "Do you know what my specialty is, Abram?"
"No, I don't," Abram replied as he put the horse in a
stall.
"I went to university for psychology where I studied how
people act and what causes them to behave in certain
ways. Then, I became a profiler for the FBI where I get
inside the heads of our suspects and try and figure
them out so we can catch them."
"And you like to do this?" Abram asked as he met Mulder's
eyes.
"At first I did," Mulder confessed. "But then it became
very hard to deal with on a personal level. Now, I only
do it for special cases."
"And ours is one of them."
"Yes," Mulder agreed. "The man who does this is confident;
he thinks he's doing this in a community of women who won't
speak up. So he feels free to keep doing it. He knows
these women well; he's one of you."
"You are sure?" Abram asked.
"I am not sure it's Jacob," Mulder said matter-of-factly.
"There are some things about him that add up and some
things that just don't...fit. I know we'll find the
person who did this to Fannie and the other women, and
right now we're looking into Jacob...but that's all I
know so far."
"But how will you find out if it's him?" Abram asked,
honestly interested.
"Mulder?" Scully called from the door to the barn.
"We're back here," he called from behind a stall.
"Trust us to do our job," Mulder said to Abram as he
turned to join Scully.
Abram nodded and went to get water for the horse.
Scully stood at the doorway to the barn waiting patiently
for him in the dark.
"You don't realize how really dark it is," Mulder noted
as he walked out of the barn, "until you're really away
from all the lights."
"That's why I brought a lantern," Scully said as she
walked outside and pointed to one sitting on a nearby
rock.
"Good thinking," Mulder smiled at her as he pulled on the
coat she brought him.
"Come on," she called as she picked up the lantern and
started to walk towards a field.
He followed her in relative silence for quite some time
before he ventured to speak.
"So, Jacob has got balls, huh?" He asked.
"That he does," she replied.
"Saying that in front of everyone at the dinner table..."
"Oh, the comment about you making me feel better?" She
asked.
"Yeah," Mulder nodded. "I don't think he read the Amish
handbook. Otherwise, he'd know not to discuss sex in
public."
"Well, he didn't exactly do that." Scully noted.
"Close enough," Mulder scoffed.
"There was more to it...after," she said, not knowing how
to broach what happened in the kitchen without enraging
him.
"What do you mean 'after'?" Mulder inquired as he
unlatched a gate leading to a pasture.
"When I was in the kitchen getting the plates Katie needed
for dessert..."
"You were?" Mulder asked, unaware she'd been missing from
the table and suddenly feeling guilty about his lack of
surveillance.
"Yes, I was," she clarified as she stepped through the
gate he held open. "Jacob came into the kitchen and he
came up behind me...I had no idea he was there."
"Did he touch you?" Mulder asked as he stopped walking
and stood in front of her.
"No, not exactly," Scully continued. "He came up behind
me and, when I found him there, I stepped away. But he
kept coming towards me and eventually, I was pinned
between him and the counter."
"Did he hold you there?" Mulder asked, surprised by what
had happened to her only a few feet away. "What did he
do?"
"He...he reached behind me and grabbed a bunch of plates
from a shelf. He said he came to help me because he
didn't think I'd be able to reach them. He sort of
rubbed up against me as he reached...and he quite
enjoyed it."
"Scully, why didn't you call for me? Or fucking floor
him?" He asked worried.
"Mulder, I'm a big girl. I wasn't in any danger...I
could have had him on the floor if I wanted to blow my
cover, but I didn't. I played intimidated quite well."
He shook his head, obviously upset with what she had
revealed.
"I'm fine," she said as she grabbed his arms. "I'm
fine, Mulder."
He just stood in front of her, miles away in his
thoughts.
"What was interesting," she tried to move forward.
"was what he said afterwards."
"What'd he say?" Mulder asked quietly.
"I thanked him for getting down the plates, and he
asked if that was all I thanked him for."
"That cocky son of a bitch!" Mulder snapped.
"Then," Scully continued. "I said 'I'm sorry' because I
was pretending to not hear him correctly, and he replied
'no you're not'. Then he spent the rest of the night
watching me like a hawk. It was very uncomfortable."
"I saw how intent he was on you the rest of the night
but Scully...I had no idea what precipitated it. If
I..."
"Its better you didn't," she said as they started to
walk again.
"His actions do say that he's quite sure of himself, very
sexual, and willing to break the Amish code." Mulder
started to think.
"I agree," Scully concurred.
"But he doesn't fit my profile in several key areas,"
Mulder admitted. "He seems to have had a relatively good
childhood, he's not in a relationship that I know of, and
he manages to hold down a steady job without issues."
"But he has been in a couple of broken engagements and it's
not like there are tons of job opportunities in Amish
Country so he can't really switch around a lot..."
"True," Mulder said as they walked along. "One of those
broken engagements was with Martha, the woman who was
over with her husband."
"Yes, about her..."
"It'd be good if you could talk with her, find out the
cause of the broken engagement, maybe," Mulder mused.
"If you would have let me finish," Scully continued. "I
wore her shawl home for just that reason."
"I'm sorry?" Mulder asked, unsure of what she meant.
"I'll need to go by her place on Monday to return it,"
Scully smiled up at him. "She'll be alone and hopefully
we can have a visit."
"Good move," Mulder smiled down at her.
"Thank you," she smiled back.
"She seemed very uncomfortable around Jacob and there
was something...something in the way he buzzed around her
in the kitchen...I'm not sure what it was but..."
"Your gut said something was up," Mulder added.
"Something like that," Scully agreed.
"But we'll see them at church tomorrow," Mulder noted.
"I'll tell her I washed it because I got it dirty," Scully
smiled. "Then I can make arrangements with her so I can
come by on Monday."
"I like the way your mind works," he stopped walking and
looked back towards the house.
"We better get back, church is early and from what I've
read, quite long," Scully said following his eyes back
to the house.
"Great," Mulder mumbled.
"I heard from Katie that you were telling Isaac all kinds
of Bible stories while you two were working in the
fields," she said to him.
"One thing about a photographic memory Scully," he said as
he took a step towards the house. "Everything sticks.
Even church sermons and readings from when I was a kid."
"Who says religious education is a waste?" Scully joked as
she took his arm and walked with him.
He laughed at her joke and put his hand over hers.
"Do you think Fannie knows who assaulted her?" Scully asked
honestly.
"I don't know," Mulder said thoughtfully. "If she does,
she's right to not say, or else her dad would marry her
off to her rapist."
"How ludicrous is that, to force her to marry the person
who..."
"Preaching to the choir here, Scully. Preaching to the
choir," Mulder noted.
"I know," she said softly.
They walked the rest of the way back in silence. Both deep
in their own thoughts about the case and the life they were
pretending to lead. When they got to the house everything
was quiet and, as they mounted the stairs to their room,
the only noise was the squeak of the floorboards under their
feet.
They changed in the dark and climbed into bed together; a
routine that had become normal over the last week.
"Goodnight, Scully," he said as they pulled up the covers.
"Goodnight," she yawned.
She felt his warm hand reach over and hold hers under the
covers.
"I'm sorry for what happened with Jacob," he said quietly.
"I'm not," she said honestly. "In that moment, we got
more information from his actions, then we could have got
from a whole night of small talk with his family."
He knew she was right, but that didn't make what happened
to her any easier for him to accept. When they fell
asleep that night, they were still holding hands.
**********************************************
to be continued...
Title: Amish Country--Chapter 13
Author: Lolabeegood
E-mail: lolabeegood@gmail.com
Distribution: Anywhere as long as my name stays attached
and the work remains
unchanged.
Rating: R
Category: S, UST, MSR, maybe AU (although it does fit with
the timeline)
Keywords: Mulder/Scully, undercover work, Amish
Spoilers: Set during late season 6 between Field Trip and
Biogenesis
Summary: A serial rapist on the loose in Amish Country
causes Mulder and Scully to go undercover and test the
limits of their relationship.
Author's Notes: This idea came to me while on vacation. I
was in Scotland when I met a woman who was fascinated with
the Amish and Mennonites of North America and she asked me
tons of questions about them once I mentioned I had
encountered them a few times in my life. I did some research
and a story was born. I'm writing this as a WIP, but those of
you who know me know I NEVER leave a WIP unfinished (and I'm
usually good about frequent posting). This is my first
attempt at a semi case file so have patience with me.
I love comments so feel free to write and tell me what you
think as I go along.
I don't own the characters or make any money from this.
****************************************
Mulder had a rare experience that Sunday morning. The sun
was up before he was awake. Abram had chosen to not wake him
that morning to help with the cows and he'd had three extra
hours of glorious sleep. Apparently, Ruth had not woken
Scully either because she was draped over his chest and
drooling on his night shirt.
He only saw a sea of brown hair when he looked down. She was
lying across his chest with an arm firmly wrapped around him
and a leg draped over him. He smiled down at her because he
had won the bet, and was about to wake her until be noticed
his pulsing, hard, cock. Although he wanted to show her he'd
won, he didn't want her to see what she did to him. He
willed his hard-on down with thoughts of nuclear testing,
atrocities of war and Barney. It started to work after
several minutes but before it was completely gone, she woke
up.
"Mulder?" She asked half-asleep as she turned her head to
face him.
"Good morning," he muttered with a half smile as her eyes
met his.
She then realized her proximity to him and, to his sadness
and relief, disengaged herself from him and shimmied beside
him on the bed.
"I'm sorry," she apologized as she sat up next to him in bed.
Her hair was dishevelled, she wore no make-up, she had crease
marks on her face from his undershirt and he could see right
through her thin white nightgown in the sunlight. She was
breathtakingly beautiful and Mulder found any sort of words
he could have said, caught in his throat.
"Mulder, I don't know what to say, I..." she started in a
whisper.
He just gazed at her in the soft morning light.
"What?" She asked quietly as she tucked some hair behind her
ear. "Mulder..."
"Sorry," he said as he came to his senses and thought of a
lie. "I was...I was just trying to see how you'd get out of
our bet."
"Am I like that every morning when you get up?"
"Sometimes you spoon me, other times you have your hand up
my undershirt..." he admitted to her.
"Have I ever...?" Her eyes fell to his lower half, where she
noticed a slight morning erection.
"No, you stay away from that region with your hands," he said
matter-of-factly as he bent a leg to tent the sheet more and
hide his arousal.
"Good," she sighed. "Maybe we should put some pillows down
the middle."
"I don't need protecting from you Scully," he laughed quietly.
"If I objected to what you were doing while you slept, I would
have said something."
She turned a shade of pink he would like to name flamingo, and
seemed at a loss for words after his admission.
"The truth is," he continued in a whisper, "it's been a long
time since I've had the pleasure of waking up with someone
like this on a regular basis and, I kind of like it."
She smiled a tight-lipped smile at him and nodded her head in
agreement. If he didn't object to her clinginess in bed, then
nothing needed to change.
"You win," she said as she rose from their bed and straightened
her nightgown. "We'll go swimming later this afternoon, or
maybe after supper. I'll figure out something I can use for a
bathing suit."
He clapped his hands together and was delighted she'd given
in so readily. He rose from their bed and helped her make it.
There was something about the domesticity of doing this together
that made him smile.
When he saw her grab a dress from the closet and then look at
him, he knew the predicament they were in. Every other day
they had dressed privately because they rose at different times.
When they undressed at the end of the day it was in the dark
and they couldn't see a thing. Today they were standing in a
sunny room and they were both expected to be dressed before they
left it; the Amish did not walk around in their pyjamas.
"I'll, uh...turn this way," Mulder said as he sat with his back
to her.
"Thanks," she said softly as she opened a drawer and got fresh
underwear out and began to change.
He could hear the swish of material behind him and the sound of
people moving below him. It was really nice that Abram and Ruth
had given them the morning off and he'd make sure to thank them
when they got downstairs. As the week had gone on, he hadn't
got nearly as many guilty looks from Ruth as he had earlier in
the week. Mulder guessed she understood they were professionals
with a job to do and that above all, they were also friends.
"Okay, you can look," she said from behind him.
Mulder turned and looked at her in her grey dress, bonnet, and
apron. "Pretty as a picture."
She returned his smile. "I'll go to the washroom and get
cleaned up, then I'll head downstairs to help. Church is at
nine am."
"I'll be down in a minute," he smiled at her as she headed for
their door.
"Oh," she said turning to look at him. "Can you put all your
dirty laundry on the floor of our closet? I'm doing laundry
tomorrow with Ruth."
"Scully, you don't have to do my laundry. I can..."
"Mulder," she snickered. "You send all of your clothes out to
be either laundered or dry cleaned."
"I can do a load, if necessary," he stammered.
"Well, here you can't, so pile them on the floor and I'll wash
them tomorrow," she said as she opened the door and walked into
the hallway.
Mulder sat and stared after her long after the door was shut.
He wasn't really keen on her taking care of him because she was
expected to. They were equals everywhere else but here. She
was expected to tend to his needs and he was expected to
provide a home for her. In the real world, their world, they
would take care of each other and provide for a home together.
But, Mulder reminded himself, in the real world there wasn't
an 'us'.
Within a few minutes he was dressed and freshly washed as he
walked into the kitchen.
"Thanks for letting us sleep in," Mulder said to Abram.
"Why would we break with tradition?" Abram asked.
Mulder looked at him confused.
"You and Miriam only have a few months of Sundays left, so
enjoy sleeping in until your anniversary." Abram clarified.
"Thanks," Mulder said, acknowledging a tradition he was unfamiliar
with, but as Samuel, should be.
Scully was busy setting a place for the two of them as Ruth and
Fannie cleaned up the dishes from everyone else and Abram walked
out to the back porch to have his cigar.
"Everything is ready," Scully said as she passed him, slightly
harried. "Ruth made enough for us too...I just have to finish
with the table."
Mulder cringed before he said his next words, knowing he wanted
to help but couldn't, "Come get me in the living room when you
are ready with breakfast, Miriam."
He walked past her and sat heavily on a chair in the living room;
there were some things that he, as a modern man, found difficult
about male-female relations in Amish Country.
***********************************
to be continued...
Title: Amish Country--Chapter 14
Author: Lolabeegood
E-mail: lolabeegood@gmail.com
Distribution: Anywhere as long as my name stays attached
and the work remains unchanged.
Rating: R
Category: S, UST, MSR, maybe AU (although it does fit
with the timeline)
Keywords: Mulder/Scully, undercover work, Amish
Spoilers: Set during late season 6 between Field Trip and
Biogenesis
Summary: A serial rapist on the loose in Amish Country causes
Mulder and Scully to go undercover and test the limits of
their relationship.
Author's Notes: This idea came to me while on vacation. I was
in Scotland when I met a woman who was fascinated with the
Amish and Mennonites of North America and she asked me tons
of questions about them once I mentioned I had encountered them
a few times in my life. I did some research and a story was
born. I'm writing this as a WIP, but those of you who know me
know I NEVER leave a WIP unfinished (and I'm usually good about
frequent posting). This is my first attempt at a semi case file
so have patience with me.
I love comments so feel free to write and tell me what you think
as I go along.
I don't own the characters or make any money from this.
****************************************
At nine am they found themselves at the Miller farm handing their
buggy over to a thirteen year old boy who parked it in a field
with the others.
'Amish valet service,' Mulder thought to himself as he and Scully
watched the buggy taken away.
Amish church services only took place every two weeks and always
at a local farm; it was at Hannah and John's this week. And,
unlike church services that Mulder and Scully had been to, it was
going to be about three hours long and consist of a great deal of
singing in German.
The first part of church was the social aspect where they were able
to meet a lot of local people. Abram and Ruth circulated them
around to meet everyone. There wasn't time to talk in-depth with
many people, but they could at least get a 'read' on everyone
present.
It turns out, Mulder discovered, Jacob Lapp wasn't the only angry
and anti-social man in his twenties. Saunder Miller, John's
twenty-six year old nephew, was equally pleasant company as was
Jonah Heise. Both Mulder and Scully made note of the young men
and decided to visit with their families next.
"Miriam," Martha Lapp said softly as she held onto Scully's elbow.
"We have the wrong shawls."
Scully noted the shawl over Martha's arm and smiled. "I realized
this morning when I got up. I'm so sorry, I took yours by
accident."
"It's no problem," Martha smiled back at her and handed Scully
her shawl.
"I'll have to bring yours by tomorrow," Scully said as she accepted
the shawl from Martha. "I noticed some dirt on it, probably from
when it fell off my shoulder one time, so I washed it."
"Oh, you didn't have to do that," Martha smiled at her. "I could
have..."
"It's the least I could do, after taking yours." Scully noted. "Is
there a good time I can come over tomorrow and return it?"
"Come in the afternoon and we'll have a nice cup of tea," Martha
said.
"That sounds great," Scully smiled as she noted the parishioners
starting to move into the house.
"We better get in," Martha said as she looked around at the others
and then moved toward the house.
"I'll see you in a few hours," Mulder said softly as he leaned into
her ear.
Scully just nodded up at him and walked toward Ruth. Mulder went to
join Abram and the other men.
They took seats in the kitchen of Hannah's house with Hannah, Fannie
and some other women from the community. People were spread out all
over the house on chairs and benches in every available space. The
men stayed separate from the women and the younger parishioners sat
together. Scully was fascinated with the way Amish church services
were run, when she read about them, and was excited to actually
participate in one.
Suddenly a woman started to sing and every other woman in the house
joined her. The songs were in German and went on for many more
verses than Scully was used to. She sang a few that she had made
herself familiar with, others she just lip synched. There were
short breaks between songs but one song followed another for over
an hour.
****************************
Mulder had started the church service inside the house, sitting on
a very uncomfortable bench in the dining room. He moved his mouth
to a few songs and was able to sing the chorus of each song as it
appeared time and time again. Then about twenty minutes into
the service, Abram tapped his elbow and Mulder followed him
outside. There, he found a gathering of men, waiting to discuss
the sermon.
"I think temptation," an older man said as Mulder and Abram joined
the group.
Many men nodded their heads in agreement.
"What about dedication?" Another man asked.
Other men nodded in agreement.
"How about dedicating ourselves to Gott and not being tempted by
personal need?" John spoke up.
All of the men heartily agreed and the sermon topic was borne.
Over the next thirty minutes the men decided which of the ministers
would tackle the various parts of the sermon, and practiced some
lines on the others. Mulder was fascinated by this impromptu
process and community-based speech writing. He was also interested
to see that in the interest of church and God, John and Abram had
put their differences about Fannie aside and co-operated without
incident in the service.
He could still hear the women in side singing and he pictured Scully
sitting with a sore throat waiting for the sermon to start. Mulder
appreciated the fact that he was outside talking with others and
enjoying the beautiful day, while Scully was stuck inside the hot
house sitting and singing. It appeared that even Amish church
services played favourites.
Once the basic speeches were ironed out, the men returned to the
house and took their seats again. Mulder noted that the temperature
in the house seemed to have risen by a good five to ten degrees and
that some of the people around him were starting to sweat.
The first sermon began and went on for almost an hour. The man, in
his early fifties, walked from room to room delivering his speech.
Mulder was surprised at the grace with which he spoke and the
language he used because most Amish aren't educated beyond
grade eight. His speech was interesting and full of examples of
avoiding temptation in the name of God.
Then, one after another, other ministers of the church delivered
smaller and more informal sermons about temptation or dedication.
Drawing on examples from the community they re-iterated the need
for the community to place God above all else. By the time the
last minister spoke, the room they were in was stifling, and Mulder
couldn't wait for his speech to end. Luckily he only spoke for ten
minutes. Then the women started to sing a song that took almost
fifteen minutes to finish before the service was finished. Mulder
couldn't get out of the stuffy house quick enough, so, when he saw a
man picking up a long bench to carry it outside, Mulder grabbed the
other end and followed him.
*************************************
As soon as the service was over the women around Scully got to work
in the kitchen. A light meal was served after church service, it
was usually outside, and was more about socializing than eating.
Scully was handed jar after jar of pickled vegetables that she
dutifully took out to the long tables being set up by the men
outside. The benches used for the service were then used for
seating outside at the tables that had been assembled. Other
women were dropping fresh linens over the tables and setting up
plates and glasses. It was a finely-tuned operation and Scully
couldn't believe that fifteen minutes after the service, everyone
was sitting down for the blessing.
Unlike other times they had eaten with large groups, men and women
both sat at the same table to eat together. Married couples and
older adults sat at one end, the unmarried teens and people in their
early twenties at another end and the small children in-between.
When Scully looked at the table she realized the reasoning behind
this arrangement. Married couples talked about farming and
children, the children were close by and easily taken care of by
all members of the community. The older teens and young adults were
placed together as a type of rudimentary match-making, giving them
an opportunity to get to know each other better.
Scully took a seat next to Mulder and waited patiently for the
blessing to begin.
"Gott, thank you for the blessings you have placed upon us at this
time," a minister began. "Thank you for the bountiful lunch before
us and our ability to join as a community once again. For this we
are thankful."
The entire congregation said 'Amen' and then the food started to get
passed around.
Both Mulder and Scully conversed easily with those around them, but
found themselves repeating their cover stories to the others. Some
people were again astonished Scully had waited so long to marry him,
others amazed at the English's ability to cure Mulder's 'fits'.
In the end, all conversations veered onto the topic of children.
Mulder explained about their earlier loss and their desire to have
a large family. Scully squirmed in her seat next to him, thoughts
of Emily and her infertility, making their way to the front of her
mind. At one point Scully felt Mulder's hand rest firmly on her
thigh under the table. She hadn't realized until that moment, that
she was been nervously bouncing her one leg under the table. He
steadied her with his hand and when their eyes met, she knew he
understood her anxiety.
After lunch, they stayed with everyone to clean up, but they had
trouble finding Fannie when it was time to leave. Scully found her
upstairs in her old room holding a rag doll in her hands.
"Fannie, we've been looking for you," Scully said as she walked into
the stuffy room.
"I've been here the whole time," Fannie said absently.
"Did you not eat?" Scully asked as she approached her.
"I wasn't hungry," Fannie said as she set down the doll on the bed.
"Have you spoken with your parents?" Scully asked.
"No, daat won't speak of such matters on the lord's day," Fannie
said as she flattened out her skirt.
"Maybe I could come by here with you sometime..." Scully started to
offer.
"No, I think they are embarrassed enough by my behaviour," Fannie
shook her head. "They don't need others around to remind them that
everyone will know my shame soon."
"Fannie," Scully said reaching out to hold her hand. "You have
nothing to be ashamed of. I think maybe you should talk with
someone...maybe an English about what happened to you."
"No," Fannie looked at her wide-eyed. "This is not an English
matter."
"I'm not saying that," Scully softened. "Just maybe...they have
these things happen to them more, and they might...they might be
able to help you understand your feelings and..."
"I don't need the help of the English," Fannie said softly. "I
need only God."
Scully gave her a tight-lipped smile and then dropped her hand. The
two women walked downstairs and joined the others in the buggy to
go home.
****************************************
to be continued...
Title: Amish Country--Chapter 15
Author: Lolabeegood
E-mail: lolabeegood@gmail.com
Distribution: Anywhere as long as my name stays attached
and the work remains unchanged.
Rating: R
Category: S, UST, MSR, maybe AU (although it does fit
with the timeline)
Keywords: Mulder/Scully, undercover work, Amish
Spoilers: Set during late season 6 between Field Trip
and Biogenesis
Summary: A serial rapist on the loose in Amish Country
causes Mulder and Scully to go undercover and test the
limits of their relationship.
Author's Notes: This idea came to me while on vacation.
I was in Scotland when I met a woman who was fascinated
with the Amish and Mennonites of North America and she
asked me tons of questions about them once I mentioned
I had encountered them a few times in my life. I did
some research and a story was born. I'm writing this
as a WIP, but those of you who know me know I NEVER leave
a WIP unfinished (and I'm usually good about frequent
posting). This is my first attempt at a semi case file
so have patience with me.
I love comments so feel free to write and tell me what you
think as I go along.
I don't own the characters or make any money from this.
****************************************
"She blames herself," Scully said sadly as they walked along
a narrow path following him.
"That's what she's been taught to do," Mulder sighed. "The
Amish don't talk about these personal matters so there's
probably no one else in the community that would be willing
to share their own experience with her. It's something
that is considered shameful regardless of her consent, or
lack of, to the act."
"I suggested she see someone," Scully said softly.
"You what?!" Mulder stopped and turned suddenly, causing her
to bang into him.
"Not like you're thinking," she said, trying to stave off
an argument. "I said that this happens all the time with
the English and maybe there was an English person she could
speak with...someone that could help her."
Mulder relaxed slightly. "She didn't think it was an odd
suggestion?"
"I worded it in a very Amish way," Scully smiled up at him.
"Because Scully," he said as he rubbed his forehead in
frustration, "if we break our cover we may never have
another chance to find the man that raped her or all
the other women."
"Speaking of which," Scully interrupted. "I only located
three of them at the service, besides Fannie."
"Which ones?" Mulder asked as he turned to keep walking
down the path.
"Sarah Schwartz was there with her husband, Rebecca Hillar
and Bertha Kitzen were also there, as was Fannie. But
the other two..."
"We'll find out from Abram," Mulder said as they hit a
clearing. "I'm sure he'll know what happened to them."
"How are we going to interview them?" Scully asked as she
watched the pond start to appear before them.
"Is there some sort of women's organization they might
belong to?" Mulder asked as he picked up the pace, the
sight of water propelling him forward.
"A quilting bee...but I can't quilt and everyone would
figure that out pretty quickly," Scully said, resigned.
"What if there was a problem with your hand?" Mulder asked
as he walked toward a hollow log resting near the water.
"I'm not sure what you are getting at?"
"Could we not bandage up you hand, saying you burned it
or hurt it and therefore couldn't quilt?"
"It might work," she conceded as she took a seat on the
log.
He sat next to her and started to remove his socks and
shoes. He was excited about this swim after a long week
of labour-intensive work. If he hadn't won the bet, he
still would have come for a swim on his own, but it
would be more fun with her.
"Mulder, has this water been tested for e coli?" Scully
asked as she looked out at the small pond.
"It's artesian," Mulder clarified. "A well feeds the pond,
so the water is very safe."
She stood and looked around. There wasn't a person in
sight except the two of them. Scully pulled a blue shirt
out of a sack she'd been carrying and shook it out.
"Isn't that one of my shi...?"
"You told me to figure out a bathing suit," Scully smiled
at him as turned her back and unbuttoned her own shirt.
Mulder watched the shirt fall to the ground and his replace
it overtop of her undershirt. She turned back to face him
when it was buttoned and then started to remove her skirt.
His shirt was large enough that it covered her torso and
fell to just above her knees, at a very respectable length.
"Are you just going to watch me swim?" Scully asked him as
she stood with her hands on her hips wearing his huge blue
shirt.
Mulder took his cue and started to undress, obviously having
put less thought into what he would swim in. He stood before
her in his Amish underwear and realized that Scully was right,
the white underwear wouldn't conceal anything once it was wet.
He shrugged his shoulders; there was nothing he could do about
it now. And, she already knew what he looked like naked, so
there was no mystery there.
They both walked toward the water and were happy to find it
cool but comfortable for a hot summer's day. Mulder jumped
forward and did a quick lap across the pond while Scully
slowly waded into the unknown waters. When he got back to her,
she was floating on her back her face turned toward the sun.
"Wasn't I right?" Mulder asked as he came up next to her.
He noticed the freckles that marked her cheeks after only a
week in the sun and the slight red colour to her nose.
"That I'm a bed hog?" she asked as she kept her eyes closed
and basked in the sun.
"No," he laughed. "I was right about the swim."
"It is nice," she said wistfully.
The two were quiet for some time, Mulder treading water next
to her, and Scully floating on her back. Mulder soon realized
that his position at her side afforded him a great view of her
breasts as his wet shirt clung to her. He tried to avert his
eyes but found them going back to her nipples over and over
again like his magnetic north. She, either didn't notice, or
didn't care.
They swam around the pond for a while, talking quietly about
the case as they planned their visits to the other men they
suspected and the other women who had been assaulted. Then,
they spent a lot of time just swimming around quietly,
occasionally telling a joke or sharing a story.
Finally, they went back to their original position of Scully
floating on her back and Mulder treading beside her after
almost an hour in the water.
"I know," she said breaking the silence and still floating
with her eyes closed, "from what I've read their life is one of
sacrifice but...but it's not until you live it that you realize
what the sacrifices are."
"Like what?" he asked as he too launched himself onto his back
to float beside her.
"You sacrifice your personal time, you freedom to speak up,
your ability to go and do as you like, your role as an
individual, sometimes."
"True," Mulder mused. "The personal time is much less then we
are both used to, and we're workaholics."
Scully snickered at his comment.
"And you as a woman, in particular, don't have much of a voice
in this community." He added.
"Very true," Scully agreed.
"We both have responsibilities to the farm that keep us from
just doing as we like...going off to investigate at the drop of
a hat is very foreign to this culture."
"It was very foreign to me at first, but I got used to it,"
she smiled.
"And, I'm grateful for that," he said softly as his hand brushed
up her arm under the water.
She let out an involuntary shudder. One she hoped he didn't
notice, but somehow knew he did. Mulder noticed everything.
"And as a woman," she began, trying to keep the conversation
going, "I am only identified by my role as wife until I have
children. Then it's wife and mother."
"Yeah, everyone seems a little obsessed with your waistline."
"I haven't had this much attention on it since I was twelve and
sort of chunky."
Mulder laughed at her joke.
"How are you doing with that?" He asked in all seriousness.
"I'm okay," she answered honestly.
"You tell me if you're not, okay?"
"Part of me," she mused. "Almost wants to say that I am pregnant,
just to get everyone off my back."
"If you want to say..."
"Mulder," she said as she pulled herself down in the water and
started to tread next to him. "I have so much to remember about
who I am here, adding pregnancy to the list would just complicate
things for me."
"Good point," he said as he pulled himself down to tread with her.
"Besides, then I'd just have to talk about all a pregnant mother's
dreams for her child and...and I don't have those anymore." She
said sadly.
"Scully," he said bridging the distance between them and touching
her face.
"It's okay, really, I'm okay, " she faintly smiled at him before
she abruptly left to do a lap of the pool.
He swam closer to the edge of the pond, to a place where his feet
touched the murky bottom and took a moment to gather his thoughts.
He loved her and he hated what infertility had done to her; to her
hopes for a future. He was still deep in thought when she
approached.
"Mulder, this is supposed to be a happy swim," she said as she
looked at his pensive face. She wanted the serious cloud that had
fallen over their afternoon swim to disappear.
He gave her a false, exaggerated smile.
She fiercely whacked her hand against the water and sprayed water
all over his face. She was trying hard to lighten the mood. This
swim was supposed to be a break from their lives, not a reminder of
them.
"Hey!" He called with a laugh in his voice.
"Don't get in the water if you don't plan to get wet!" She said
jokingly as she continued to spray him with water.
He attempted to splash her back but the onslaught of water had
temporarily blinded him. Years of swimming with her brothers had
honed her skills as a water bomber. Having hardly splashed her,
he decided to take away her target. He ducked his head under the
water and swam beside her coming up quickly at her back.
He reached over and grabbed her frame to keep her from splashing
him further as she attempted to turn to face him again. Her wet
legs entangled with his and he felt her breasts pressed up against
his chest and his shirt riding up dangerously close to her waist.
She couldn't touch the bottom of the pond, like he could, and he
felt her holding onto him as she tried to get better leverage to
splash him some more. He had her captured in his arms and he knew
what he wanted to do, the real question was: did she want the same
thing?
All jockeying for position stopped suddenly and both of their
bodies stilled. Her legs were entwined, her hips flush, and her
breasts smashed against his body. She looked at him with anxious
desire as she tried to catch her breath and he licked his lips.
Mulder leaned his face down to kiss her, at first, quite softly, as
he held her in the water. The kiss deepened quickly and before he
knew what was happening he had his hand in her hair and his mouth
was exploring hers. Her fingers pulled at his bare back and an
erection began to form between them. In close quarters, and with
little clothing, it was hard to mask his desire for her.
His wet lips pressed firmly against hers and her soft lips returned
the favor. Both their hearts pounded so hard against the other,
neither was sure which beat was their own. She moaned softly
as he brought one arm firmly around her naked waist pulling her
even closer to him. The shirt and undershirt she was wearing
had twisted, in all the jostling, and was now barely covering
her breasts. The feel of her naked, wet flesh caused his heart
to race faster and his cock to throb.
She didn't seem surprised by his kiss, and he half wondered if she
was kissing him because she thought someone was watching them, as
was the case before. His worry about this point, caused him to
pull away from her and clarify that he was kissing her because he
wanted to, not because he needed to.
She looked up at him, confused by his action and then he knew that
she didn't suspect a case-related motive. Her eyes were filled
with desire and her body had moulded to his. She was trying to
catch her breath as her hands entangled in his hair and tried to
pull his mouth back to hers.
It was perfectly clear to both of them. They were kissing because
they wanted to.
"Scully, I..." he started before both their ears peaked to the
noise of a group of people approaching.
Mulder immediately placed himself in front of Scully to shield
her from the group as it approached. It appeared to be a cluster
of teenagers, all with towels slung over their shoulders.
"Hey, look!" One boy called. "We have ourselves some plain
people who like to break the rules."
"If you'll just give us a minute," Mulder called as he moved
toward the shore. "We'll get out of the pond and leave it to you."
"Hey, whatever works for you, man," one other boy called as they
stood at the edge of the water.
Mulder walked out of the water unabashedly in full view of the
group in his wet white underwear with his full erection. He was
on his way to get a towel for Scully when he heard her get out of
the water as well. He turned to see her standing soaking wet in his
shirt with her legs wet and bare underneath it. His blue shirt
clung to every curve in her body. The erection he was hoping
would subside quickly, showed no signs of leaving.
"You know the Bible says you're not supposed to have sex before
you get married," one smart ass pointed out.
"Really?" Scully asked him surprised, as she walked blushing
toward Mulder.
"Alright!" One boy called. "We got ourselves a live one."
With the recent sexual assaults in the area, the comment caused
Mulder to snap his head toward the group, the look on his face
must have been murderous. They all took a step back and
immediately quieted down as Mulder held out a towel for her and
she walked into it.
"Thanks," she mumbled.
"How do you want to do this?" He asked as he looked at their wet
bodies and he wrapped a towel around himself, happy to finally
hide his bulging cock.
"Why don't we walk over the hill and get dried off and changed
there," she said gesturing with her eyebrows toward the hill.
"Sounds good," he said as he picked up her bag and their various
clothes and followed her up the path and over the hill.
"Hope you had a good one!" One of the teens yelled as the others
laughed.
"Little shits," Mulder muttered under his breath as they got to
the other side of the hill.
The moment was gone. Scully was either going to ignore what just
happened between them, or rationalize it away. Mulder kicked a
clump of dirt with his foot as they walked toward a tree.
Scully dropped her towel when they reached a tree and asked for
the bag from Mulder. She was immediately all business, and Mulder
was saddened by that fact. She rummaged through her things and
pulled out a skirt and a blouse. Mulder held up a towel and kept
watch for the teenagers while she took off her underwear and
pulled up the skirt. Mulder turned his back to her as she undid
his shirt and took it and her undershirt off and then pulled on
her blouse.
"Okay, I'm decent," she said happily. "Well as decent as an Amish
woman can be without a bra or underwear."
"You bad Amish woman," Mulder chided.
He then did something neither of them expected, and leaned in to
give her a soft kiss on the lips. His beard tickled her face
again, causing her to break out into a smile. He wasn't sure why
he did it. Perhaps he wanted to remind her of what just happened,
perhaps he wanted to stay in the moment a little longer.
She made no mention of their earlier make-out session and they
were silent for a moment, both looking at the other and wondering
where to go with all this. Mulder finally broke the silence.
"So, are you ready for the Amish version of a strip tease?" Mulder
leered at her as he started to pull at the towel wrapped around
his waist.
"Oh, I am," Scully said sarcastically as she turned her back to
him.
He quickly changed out of his underwear and into a pair of pants
and a shirt while she watched for the teenagers. When they were
sufficiently dressed they started to head back towards the house.
"Sorry about that," Mulder apologized as they walked back along
the path. "I didn't know other people used it as well...I
haven't seen anyone there before."
"It's okay Mulder," she sighed. "Kids will be kids and...I'm
sure they don't see many Amish couples swimming together like
that."
"Well, we," he said as he slung and arm over her shoulder,
trying to soften the uncertainty that was in the air,"aren't
a regular Amish couple."
"That is true," Scully smiled up at him, happy to not discuss
what happened in the water.
They walked back together towards the house, with his arm
around her.
*********************************
****************************************
Fox Mulder sat next to Isaac Lapp as they made their way
down country roads making deliveries to one farm after
another. He was most interested in information Isaac
could provide him about his brother, and the deliveries
to the Miller farm and the Heise farm where he hoped to
encounter Saunder and Jonah. Jacob Lapp, Saunder Miller
and Jonah Heise were at the top of their suspect list so
far. Although Jacob's behaviour at the dinner party made
Mulder place him as suspect number one, he couldn't
discount the other two brooding members of the community
who may fit the profile.
"Is the Heise farm next?" Mulder asked Isaac.
"Yep," Isaac smiled over at him.
"You know Jonah well?" Mulder asked.
"I used to," Isaac said thoughtfully. "Then he lived
with an English girl for a while and..."
"He left the community?" Mulder asked, surprised.
"Yep, for a couple of years when he turned twenty."
"Why'd he come back?"
"His dad died and there was no one to take care of
his mother and the farm. All of his brothers and
sisters are a lot younger and..."
"So that's why he seems so unhappy," Mulder noted
absently.
"Yeah, he...he still visits the girl sometimes, I
hear," Isaac said in almost a whisper. "But it's
been almost 3 years since he came back and his
mom's putting pressure on him to marry a plain
girl."
"But, his English girl, she didn't want this life?"
Mulder asked.
"I guess not," Isaac said as they turned down a
laneway. "I can't imagine any English leaving all
their fancy cars and houses to live how we do."
"So do you think he'll go back to her?" Mulder
asked.
"If she waits for him, maybe," Isaac noted. "He has
two brothers coming close to twenty...maybe they'll
take over and he'll go back to his English girl."
"It's quite a leap of faith to wait for him, don't
you think?" Mulder asked.
"I guess it is," Isaac said non-committally as they
drove along. "But your Miriam waited for you."
"Yeah, but that wasn't a leap of faith," Mulder
noted. "I was hers from the start."
Mulder's thoughts drifted toward Scully as they made
their way down the bumpy road. His thoughts always
went back to the kiss. She seemed quite engaged in
it while in the water, and smiled when he kissed her
afterwards. But she hadn't said a thing to him
otherwise. Last night they had gone to bed, as
usual, and this morning he woke to find her arm
draped across his chest and her head wedged under
his armpit.
He knew her well and was sure she was running
through the reasons for what happened, the
ramifications of it, and the future possibilities
if they were to continue or ignore their feelings.
She needed time to figure everything out. That was
the way Scully operated.
He just needed her. As he had said to Isaac, he was
hers from the start; he just wasn't sure she was that
interested, until recently. That alone, had caused
him to lie awake for most of the night next to her,
re-living various moments from recent months in his
head as he tried to discern exactly when she became
attracted to him. Because she didn't kiss him
obligingly, she kissed him with repressed passion.
In Arcadia, she had been everything but warm toward
him. He had tried to be playful and she had not
gone along. He was having a lot of fun playing a
married couple, and she obviously, was not. Part of
him was worried this investigation in Charm would be
the same, but now she was completely different
towards him; something had changed.
During the Padgett case, she pushed away from him for
most of it until the end. After the 'incident' as
she liked to call it, she had slept in her bed,
waking throughout the night with nightmares, and
always found him sitting next to her with his back
against her headboard ready to chase the demons away.
He must have drifted off at some point, because in
the morning he woke with a sore back and a stiff neck
to freshly brewed coffee and English muffins. She
hadn't talked about Padgett, or the night of nightmares
spent by his side, since.
Then, there was the Berquiest case, where Scully
intimated that Karen was interested in him as more
than an investigator. He eventually saw the rouse
later on, but not after it was too late. Had Scully's
interest in Karen been the fist sign that she was
thinking differently about him?
He had told her months ago that he loved her, he had
told her she was his one in five billion; maybe Scully
had taken all this time to decide how she felt? She
seemed to enjoy batting practice with him, and
afterwards they had gone for a beer and nachos and
laughed at old cases and stupid childhood memories
until the bar closed. There was a moment, outside the
bar when he felt she might be open to him kissing her.
He had, at the time, chalked it up to the two beers
he'd had and nothing more. Now, he wasn't so sure.
"We're here," Isaac said to him, pulling him from his
thoughts. "You drifted off for a while there."
"I was just thinking about Miriam," Mulder answered
honestly.
"You two are such newlyweds," Isaac smiled at him and
shook his head.
"We're something, alright," Mulder smiled over at Isaac
as their buggy came to a halt in front of a house.
Mrs. Heise was at the farm to receive their delivery,
and she seemed as surly as her son. Mulder moved
Jonah to the bottom of his list based on the information
Isaac had supplied about his experience with the
English. He was an unhappy young man because he was
away from the women he loved and forced, by family
obligation, to take care of his family and his farm.
Mulder would still want to have a conversation with
him to get a better read but, for now, he seemed like
a man in a bad circumstance.
Three deliveries later, they were finally at the Miller
farm, not John Miller's, but Adam Miller's farm. Mulder
thought it was unlikely that his son Saunder raped his
own cousin in such a close knit community, but something
about the young man felt off. While they were at the
church lunch Saunder seemed to be quite interested in
Rebecca Hillar, one of the rape victims, who was
engaged to be married this fall. He made a point to
sit near her and always seemed to be close at hand
whenever Mulder saw her. He really seemed to lurk
around her.
"So the boys on this farm are Saunder, Mark, and...?"
Mulder asked.
"Melvin," Isaac finished for him. "He's the
youngest."
"And Saunder is the oldest?" Mulder clarified.
"Yeah, he's twenty-six," Isaac said.
"And not married?" Mulder inquired.
"No...he's asked a couple of girls but had no
luck," Isaac reported.
"They weren't interested?" Mulder asked.
"It seemed for a while that Rebecca Hillar was,
then...then she up and accepted a proposal from
Benjamin Schwartz about three months ago."
"And everyone was surprised by this?"
"Yeah, no one knew they were seeing each other
that way," Isaac said.
Mulder thought about the connections carefully.
Saunder Miller was hoping to be engaged to Rebecca
Hillar and was turned down. Rebecca Hillar was
raped soon after her engagement to Benjamin
Schwartz. Prior to that, possibly while Rebecca
was getting involved with Benjamin, his sister-
in law Sarah Schwartz was also raped. There
couldn't be that many coincidences.
"Why didn't Rebecca wish to marry him?" Mulder
asked after a few moments.
"Who knows?" Isaac replied. "He's a nice enough
guy but..."
"But?"
"But so serious all the time. He can't just talk
to you, there always has to be something more going
on. He always did really well in school I hear, but
plain people don't do much schooling after grade
eight."
"Maybe he wanted more," Mulder offered. "Some plain
people do go to college, nowadays."
"Yes, they do, but Saunder didn't. His father is the
bishop and..."
"I didn't know that," Mulder said, interested even more
in his background.
"I think he expects Saunder to be a minister, at least,"
Isaac added.
Things were looking promising for Saunder as a suspect.
He was smart, young, confined by his community's
expectations, and with a strong head of household that
was entrenched in the over-bearing religion. Mulder
was excited about spending some time with him until they
reached the farm and were greeted by his younger sister,
Sarah, who seemed to be quite interested in Isaac.
Mulder was the third wheel through a half hour of small
talk between the two who were obviously quite interested
in each other. When they finally left the Miller farm,
Mulder had not even seen Saunder, and Isaac was grinning
from ear to ear.
Dana Scully was happy to be on her own and away from the
farm for the first time in over a week. For a woman who was
used to so much independence, the Amish lifestyle was a
little trying. But, here she was, in the buggy on her own,
enjoying the afternoon on her way to Martha Lapp's house
under the guise of returning a shawl. She had done laundry
with Ruth in the morning and was now free for an afternoon
visit with Martha.
She had a sleepless night and the fatigue was starting to
catch up to her. Her worry over two things; how to engage
Martha in conversation about Jacob that would tell her more
than Martha would want to, and her make-out session with
Mulder at the pond yesterday, had kept her lying still and
starring at the open window for most of the night.
She had decided that the best way to get Martha to talk was
to place herself in a situation with Jacob. And Martha,
hopefully, would feel a need to warn her about him. That was
the hope at least. The Amish didn't readily talk about their
lives with others, and this was her first time really meeting
with Martha, so Scully was hoping for the best. As much as
she wanted to develop a rapport with this woman, she also
needed to investigate this case, so she needed to push forward
regardless of Amish sensibilities.
Mulder was also at the forefront of her thoughts throughout
the night. Surprisingly, it wasn't the passionate kiss in the
pond, although that was amazing, that kept her mind reeling,
but the little kiss after she was changed that most intrigued
her. Scully could chalk their heated kiss in the pond to close
living quarters, over-active libidos denied any sort of space
for self-pleasuring, their roles as husband and wife, and the
attraction that always existed between them. But the second
kiss that afternoon, was a mystery to her.
He had just kissed her, softly, and with no sexual drive
attached to it. He had kissed her because he wanted to, needed
to, and liked to. The kiss was outside her realm of
understanding, and she wondered if Mulder was trying to tell
her something with it. He made no apologies for either kiss
and seemed both happy and confident with the outcome
of the afternoon.
That night, nothing was unusual about his behaviour and they
ate, talked on the porch and went to bed as they were accustomed.
He made no attempt to start anything in bed, and Scully was left
wanting to talk with him about what had happened, but equally
wanting to bury the experience and never dig it up again. It
was sort of perfect as it was, and part of her didn't want to
destroy it with whatever explanation he may have for their
behaviour.
She pulled up to the Lapp farm and noted that it was like
almost every other Amish farm in the area. The siding was
white and the shutters were green. It had a large wrap-around
porch and a barn behind it with various types of farming
equipment dotting the back property.
As she stepped from the buggy, Martha Lapp appeared on the
front porch.
"Hello, Miriam," she greeted Scully warmly.
"Martha, it's such a beautiful day, I almost wanted to take
the long way to get here, just to enjoy it a little more," Scully
smiled up at her.
"Yes, but then I wouldn't have as long a rest with you this
afternoon," Martha laughed as she ushered Scully to a set of
wicker chairs on the porch. "I'll just be a second."
Scully watched as Martha went inside and noted how different
the woman's personality was when she was not around the other
Lapps. At dinner she seemed quiet and brooding, but at church
and here, when it was just the two of them, she seemed warm and
welcoming. Scully draped the shawl that she had stolen from
Martha over one of the chairs and took a seat on the soft
cushion of the chair. She looked out onto the front yard
and thought about how serene this lifestyle was. No cars were
whizzing past, no radios played, no telephones rang, and no
TVs broke the silence. There was something infinitely calming
about this life.
"I have lemonade," Martha said as she joined Scully on the porch
with a tray in her hands.
"Oh, Martha, you didn't have to go to such trouble," Scully
said as she moved some things aside on the table between
them.
"Just some lemon poppy seed cake and lemonade, nothing fancy,"
Martha smiled as she put the tray down.
The two women poured drinks and placed cake slices on plates
before they settled back into their seats.
"This is very nice, thank you," Scully said with a smile as
she sat back into her comfortable seat.
"It's nice to have visitors," Martha smiled into her lap.
"Two of my closest friends just had babies and they are busy
at their own home with their family right now."
"I have friends like that at home," Scully mused. "They
seem to disappear for months until they get a handle on
the baby."
Martha laughed and agreed with Scully's choice of words.
"It just gets lonely," Martha said softly. "I go to help
sometimes, especially with my friend who has twins, but
they have mothers and sisters who are also there and I
feel..."
"I know," Scully said as she looked over at Martha.
"It's just different when you don't have any of your own,"
Martha muttered.
"God will bless you and Luke," Scully said as she took a
sip of lemonade.
Martha just looked at her lap and said nothing.
"Martha?" Scully asked, suddenly aware that something she
had heard said to her a million times this past week was
not sitting well with Martha.
"Yes, god will bless us," Martha said as she raised her
teary eyes to meet Scully's.
"Martha, I hope I haven't said..."
"No, no, it's fine." Martha started. "It's just I haven't
ever been with child after all this time, and I don't know
if something is wrong with me."
"Have you seen a doctor?" Scully asked.
"The midwife gave me teas and told me to pray. And I have,
but still nothing."
Scully wanted to say more, but resisted the urge. After
they were off the case, she justified, she would forward
Martha the names of some doctor's that could test her for
infertility.
"God will know when it's you time," Scully said as she
placed a hand on Martha's knee and swallowed the lump that
was forming in her throat. "How long have you and Luke
been married?"
"It'll be two years this fall," Martha said, happy to
change the subject. "And you and Samuel will be one
year, yes?"
"Yes," Scully smiled.
"It must be hard, not having your own house," Martha said.
"My parents needed us, and then Abram and Ruth needed
us...it's good to be needed. But, I do look forward to
next spring so I can have my own house with Samuel."
"Are you going to stay in Charm?"
"No, our people are from Norwalk and we will go back
to them," Scully said assuredly.
"I understand," Martha smiled.
"But it must be nice to visit and stay someplace
different," Martha said cheerily.
"Yes, different is nice," Scully agreed. "Although I
haven't seen much of the community this last week."
"If you are staying through the harvest, you'll have
lots of time." Martha smiled.
"Actually, your brother-in-law Jacob has offered to take
me around the area and show me the sights," Scully said,
watching Martha's reaction carefully.
"Jacob?" Martha said as she swallowed hard.
"Yes, he's been awfully kind to offer, and I think we'll
go later this week in his buggy."
"You and Samuel?" Martha asked quietly.
"No, Samuel is too busy with the farm and Abram needs
him too badly, so I'll go on my own with Jacob,"
Scully explained.
"What about Ruth? I'm sure she'll go with you, or
I could show you..."
"Jacob seems very nice to take time out of his day to
do this," Scully persevered. "I don't want to
inconvenience anyone else."
"Excuse me," Martha said as she stood from her seat.
"I just have to..."
Scully barely had time to catch her as she fainted in
front of her. She laid Martha down on the wood porch
and placed a cushion under her head. Within moments,
Martha roused.
"Martha, Martha? Are you okay? You just dropped to
the ground," Scully said worried.
"I'm fine, just a little light headed," Martha said,
slightly confused.
"Just lay here a minute and I'll get a cold cloth for
your forehead," Scully offered as she went to leave
Martha's side.
"No, I'm fine, really," Martha called for her to stop
as she started to sit up.
"Should I go and get someone?" Scully asked concerned as
she helped Martha back into her chair.
"No, I just...it's just..." Martha looked at Scully and
seemed to be looking for words to express herself.
"What?" Scully asked softly.
"Don't go with Jacob," Martha said as she closed her
eyes and sat back in the chair.
"What?" Scully pretended to act confused.
"Promise me you won't go with him alone in his
buggy...you must promise me Miriam," Martha said with
tears in her eyes.
"Okay, okay, I promise," Scully said softly. "But why?"
"I...I can't say," Martha said softly. "Just know that
it's for your own good, okay?"
"Okay," Scully agreed.
"I will borrow the buggy from Luke one day and take you
around, I promise you," Martha said with some conviction.
"Okay, but I still don't..."
"Jacob is not trustworthy," Martha said elaborating.
"Don't go with him on your own anywhere."
"Martha, does he...has he..." Scully began.
"Just know that he cannot be trusted," Martha said as she
sat more upright in her seat. Scully sensed the
conversation was over.
"Maybe Luke will let me have the buggy Friday," Martha said
as she took a sip of her lemonade.
Scully noted that, although her voice had returned to its
jovial nature, Martha's hand was shaking as she held her
glass.
Dana Scully stood in the yard carefully taking down the
laundry she had hung to dry earlier in the day.
Everything was dry, crisp and smelled of fresh summer air.
It was moments like this that made Scully wish she lived in
a house instead of an apartment. Air-dried laundry was a
staple of her childhood and absent from her adulthood.
There was beauty and simplicity about it that she had to
admire.
"Can I help?" Mulder asked as he walked under the line
between a couple of his shirts.
"Aren't you supposed to be delivering milk?" Scully asked
with a smile when she spotted him.
"That was done hours ago. I've been cleaning up the barn
since," he smiled at her as he took down a shirt.
"So that's the smell," she sneered at him and folded a
pair of pants.
"Ouch!" He laughed as he placed a folded shirt in her
basket.
In the afternoon light, his beard looked almost red in
colour and Scully noted how handsome Mulder was with and
without facial hair. Then, she was suddenly struck with
a memory or his tongue sliding along the inside of her
mouth as this facial hair tickled her nose. She remembered
his warm hand along the bare skin of her back, made slick
with the water they were in. She could almost feel his
heart pounding into her chest as he pressed himself
against her.
He looked at her strangely, and she found herself blushing
and willing her thoughts clean.
She smiled at him and continued to silently take down
laundry. He pulled at a pair of pants and a pair of
her underwear fell to the ground.
"Scully, how did these...?" He started.
"The Amish hang their unmentionables," she said as she
took them from his hand, "behind other clothes so they
are not seen."
"Got it," he said nodding as he peered in another pair
of pants. "Any pretty unmentionables I should look for
like Easter eggs?"
"Not here," she smiled at him and turned a little pinker.
"But somewhere?" He leered at her.
"Mulder you don't ever..." she started and then stopped
suddenly. "Fannie's coming."
She continued to take down their laundry and he stood and
watched her. Men did not do laundry.
"Supper's almost ready," Fannie said as she joined them.
"Are you almost done?"
"Only a few more things," Scully said as she caught
Mulder's eye.
"I better go grab a bath," Mulder said as he ducked under
the clothesline and walked toward the house.
"I'm sorry I interrupted," Fannie apologized to Scully.
"You didn't," Scully acknowledged. "Samuel was just
telling me about his day."
Fannie helped Scully take down some clothes.
"How are you feeling today?" Scully asked.
"I'm okay," Fannie said softly. "A little tired."
"You should take it easy," Scully said. "I remember my
first few weeks were hard."
"How far along were you when..."
"Just over three months," Scully said softly.
"I'm so sorry," Fannie said softly. "You wanted one
and lost it. I want nothing to do with this child, and
I'm sure I'll have a healthy baby to care for the rest
of my life."
"You won't give it up?" Scully asked.
"Some days I think it's the answer, that Gott thinks I
should give a good baby to a good family. Other days,
I think...I think I need to take care of my own."
"Do you think you can love this child?" Scully asked.
Fannie took a deep breath and expelled it before speaking.
"I want to love this child. It is innocent and one of
Gott's creatures. I try everyday to love this child
and...and I hope that I won't have to try anymore by the
time it's born."
Scully nodded in acknowledgement. They took down the
rest of the laundry in silence, each woman deep in her
own thoughts.
"Come on," Fannie said as she nodded toward the house.
"You manne should be clean by now."
"You didn't smell him," Scully laughed. "I think he
needs to sit in that bath for a long time."
Fannie laughed as Scully hauled the basket up onto her
hip. The two women walked companionably back to the
house.
****************************************
Fox Mulder walked out onto the back porch and heard the
screen door smack shut behind him. The sun was starting
to fall in the sky and the purple colour making its way
across the wide open space was a beautiful sight.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Scully asked as she walked out
behind him, wrapping a shawl around her shoulders.
"That it is," Mulder muttered as he turned to look at
her.
She was beautiful with wisps of brown hair skirting
around her jaw, her small shoulders pulled in tight
to shut out the cool night air, and her pale skin
was iridescent in the evening light. She was as
beautiful as the sky before them.
"We better get walking if we want to be back before
dark," Scully said as she walked past him, unaware
of the affect she had on him in that moment.
He followed her out into the yard and through to the
field behind the house.
"So?" He asked. "How was your day with Martha?"
"Very telling," Scully said mysteriously. "But first,
tell me how we are getting away Wednesday."
"Well, the story is, we're visiting your elderly aunt
Clara in Zoar, when in reality you and I are checking
into the Courtyard Marriott in Canton...which also
happens to be close to the Pro Football Hall of Fame."
"Mulder..." She cautioned him.
"I'm just saying," he smiled at her and put an arm
around her shoulder. "If there's time, we have
options."
"And we're there for...?"
"One night, while we check in with the Bureau, do some
Internet searches, and some record checks."
"And watch mindless TV?" She asked wistfully.
"Any Golden Girls episode your heart desires," he said,
still not removing his arm from around her shoulder.
She laughed at his joke and walked in-step with him
through the field.
"I found out more about Saunder Miller and Jonah Heise,"
Mulder said.
"And?" She asked interested.
"Jonah Heise is the rebel of Charm, having lived with
an English women for a couple of years outside of the
community."
"Really?!" Scully asked, shocked.
"He came back to take care of his family when his
father died...apparently he still sees the girl and will
return to her when his brothers can take over the farm."
"That's family dedication," Scully said as she tried to
wrap her head around it.
"Yeah," Mulder agreed. "He's surly because he's unhappy
and trapped, not because he's a rapist."
"And Saunder?"
"Now, he's a little more interesting." Mulder said as he
walked with her. "He's smart and he was dating Rebecca
Hillar before..."
"One of the victims," Scully interrupted.
"Before she was engaged to another man," Mulder continued.
"Then she was raped soon after she accepted the
engagement."
"Who did she become engaged to?"
"Benjamin Schwartz," Mulder answered.
"Is he related to...?"
"Sara Schwartz is his sister-in-law," Mulder answered
before she was finished.
"Lots of links there," Scully noted.
"And he fits some key areas of my profile. He's above
average intelligence, he's the right age, he's unattached,
and has been turned down by a series of women."
They both walked and thought about their two suspects as
the sun started to dip down in the horizon.
"We better head back," Scully noted as she saw the sun
fall.
"Scully, I..." Mulder started as she turned within his
arms.
"Yes?" She asked, as she swallowed hard and looked up at
him in the dying light.
"I want you to know that I...that I'm not going to do
anything or...or try anything with you while we're in
bed and..."
"Mulder, I..." she interrupted.
"No, let me finish," he said as he held her shoulders.
"I don't know if you wanted what happened at the pond to
even happen but...but I know I did."
Her eyes grew wide at his admission.
"And," he continued before he lost his courage. "And I
think you may want the same thing but...but I'm not sure
if you're ready now. And, I want you to know...I'll be
here when you are."
She was silent for a long time after he finished talking.
He wasn't sure if she was trying to let him down lightly,
or was thinking of an excuse for why this wouldn't work.
What she did next shocked him.
Scully raised herself up on her toes and gently kissed him
on the lips. It was a soft kiss, a kiss full of promise.
When she pulled back he found his lips following her and
had to stop himself from falling forward.
"We better get back," she said as she took a step away
from him.
"Wait a minute," he said as he gently grabbed her arm.
"What was that?"
She stopped and looked at him. "It was what it was, Mulder.
I wanted to kiss you and I did. You've done just the same
with me."
"But..."
"I think we should explore this, that's all." Scully said
softly, ducking her head to avoid his eyes.
He sensed this was a big step for her, and he didn't want
to push. He also knew she didn't really want to delve into
the topic of emotions at this time; he could see it in
her posture.
"Okay," he said softly as he let go of her arm. "We'll
explore."
She smiled up at him in response, he was not forcing the
issue and that made her happy.
They started to walk back towards the house as the world
around them darkened quickly. He put his arm around her
shoulder and they walked in-step with each other.
"Martha didn't want me to be alone with Jacob Lapp," Scully
said, breaking the silence. "She vehemently argued that I
should not be alone with him...that he can't be trusted."
"She what?" Mulder asked interested.
"I told you how I sensed something between her and Jacob,"
Scully started. "Mulder, she fainted when she thought I
was going to be alone in a buggy with him touring the
county."
"She fainted?" He asked, surprised.
"Yeah, there's more to it," Scully sighed. "I think she's
another victim."
"Did she say...?"
"No," Scully confirmed. "When I pressed, she pulled away
and closed down. But, but I think if Jacob is our rapist,
Martha is another victim."
"And do you think she'll talk with you about...?"
"Mulder, she barely knows me," Scully said sadly. "She's
opened up this much to me and maybe...maybe if she takes
me around she may say some more. But, I don't think
she'll say what happened with Jacob, if indeed anything
did happen."
"Scully, you know as a profiler, we were always taught to
trust our gut first."
She looked up at him as they walked into the yard and
toward the porch. "Well, my gut says she's a victim."
"Then explore it," Mulder said as he helped her up the
porch steps by taking her hand.
She smiled up at him when they reached the top step.
"What are you up to tomorrow?"
"I'm helping the Miller's re-build a fence in their
north field," Mulder smiled at her. "Saunder's sister
mentioned a bunch of men were going to help with it
tomorrow and I volunteered."
"How sweet of you," Scully smiled deviously at him,
knowing the real reason he had volunteered. "It'll be a
great chance to get to know the young Miller men."
"Yes, it will," Mulder smiled at her as he opened the
back screen door to allow them entrance.
****************************************
Mulder woke to find Scully lying snuggled up next to his
left side. Her brown hair was splayed over his chest
and her two hands were tucked between their two frames.
He wasn't sure if he ever wanted to get used to waking
up alone again. He carefully pulled his arm out from
underneath her and the bed squeaked at he shifted to
the side.
"You going to the Miller's?" Scully asked groggily next
to him.
He looked down to see her blue eyes starring, sleepily,
back at him.
"After I help milk the cows," Mulder said as he looked
down at her.
"How are you doing with that?" She asked as she covered
her mouth in a yawn.
"The milking part isn't hard because it's mechanized."
He said as he brushed a wayward strand of her hair to
the side. "It's the strong smell of manure and cow
flatulence first thing in the morning that hits you
the hardest."
"Cow flatulence?" She smirked up at him.
"Yeah," he said rising to lean on an elbow above her
form. "It's contributing to the warming of our planet.
I read a study where..."
"Trust you, Mulder, to woo a girl with stories of cow
flatulence," she snickered to herself.
"I didn't know we was courtin'," Mulder said in his
best country accent.
"Well, you've already slept with me, so I don't know
if it's courtin' anymore," Scully said matter-of-factly.
They both fell silent for a few moments. Him starring
down at her, admiring how beautiful she was. And she,
looking up at him, feeling uncomfortable under his
scrutiny.
"What are we doing, Scully?" he asked thoughtfully as
he ran the pad of his index finger over her brow. He
had allowed the subject to drop last night, but found
curiosity outweighed patience.
She swallowed hard and starred at him for a few beats
before answering.
"I don't know, Mulder. I don't know," she said in a
whisper.
"And that scares you," he said.
"It does," she admitted with a slight smile. "But I'm
willing to be scared for a while."
He grinned down at her, happy with what she had said.
She admitted that she was scared, which he already knew,
and also, said she would embrace the fear instead of
run from it. This was a turning point, as far as he
was concerned.
He leaned down and softly kissed her on the lips. She,
however, responded differently than he expected, and
pushed the kiss further. What was meant to be a chaste
parting-of-ways kiss, quickly turned into a passionate
embrace that caused his whole body to react to her
ministrations.
Both their tongues played between their mouths and he
found his hands running up and down the sides of her
flimsy cotton nightgown. He could feel the curve of
her hip, the tightness of her thigh, the underside of
her ass, and the suppleness of the side of her breast.
Between that, and the wonderful things she was doing
to his mouth, Mulder felt quite overwhelmed by all
that was Scully.
Two short raps on their bedroom door caused the partners
to pull apart from each other and snap their heads towards
the noise.
"We have to get going Samuel, if you want to help the
Miller's with their fence," Abram said from the other
side of the door.
"Sorry, Abram," Mulder called as he got up from their bed
looking dishevelled and guilty. "I'll be down in one
minute."
"Okay," Abram called from the other side of the door.
They heard footsteps retreating down the stairs.
"Oh, my god," Scully said softly as she straightened her
nightgown and patted down her hair. "I'm so sorry,
I..."
"I'm not," Mulder said with a smirk as he shucked on his
pants and pulled a shirt from the closet.
"Mulder, we shouldn't...we're on a case and..." she
started to whisper as she stood beside him.
"Scully, we are working as best we can under the
circumstances, but we can't run ideas off each other
twenty-four hours a day, we'll burn out and get nowhere."
He said softly to her as he pulled on his suspenders.
"There was nothing wrong with what happened."
"Then how come I feel so guilty?" She asked, honestly.
"It's the Amish rubbing off on you," Mulder said as he
grasped her shoulder. "Are we okay?"
She looked at her feet and nodded her head.
"Good," he said as he kissed the top of her head and
started to leave the room.
"Make sure you ask Abram about the women missing from
church on Sunday," Scully reminded him.
"See?" Mulder said smiling at her. "We're always
working."
He opened the door and walked out into the hall, shutting
it behind him. Scully put one knee on the bed to get
back under the covers when she heard a familiar squeak
of their mattress. She moved slightly to one side and
heard it squeak again.
"Oh, god," she muttered to herself.
When they were embracing and kissing in bed, they were
both anything but still. Abram would have heard all the
squeaking going on from the other side of their door before
he knocked. Scully's head fell into her hands and she
threw herself onto the bed with a large thump, and a very
loud squeak.
****************************************
Mulder had been working for a couple of hours driving
stakes into the ground at the edge of the Miller's property.
Twelve other men were working around him and the job would
probably be wrapped up by lunch time. His arms were aching
and his back was starting to get sore. He hoped they would
be called for lunch soon so he could sit and relax for a
bit. That, and he was starving after only eating a piece
of bread this morning as he rushed out to the barn to help
Abram. But, he wouldn't trade his time with Scully this
morning for any big breakfast.
So far, he'd had little opportunity to talk with Saunder
Miller beside Saunder passing him items he needed and
guiding the group through the process of building the fence.
He seemed like an intense young man, easily frustrated, and
very observant.
A bell rang in the distance and Mulder's head snapped up. It
was time for lunch and they were almost done the fence.
"Saunder, why don't we finish the last two sections before
we..." one man started to offer.
"No, no...it's fine," Saunder said shaking his head. "I'll
finish it myself later. Thanks everyone for all your help."
All the men waved at him and neatly piled up their various
tools then made their way toward the house where lunch
would be served.
Mulder waited around until almost all the others had left
so he could walk back with Saunder.
"It should hold up, pretty well," Mulder started the
conversation.
"As long as the cows behave themselves," Saunder said as he
turned to look at the fence.
"Are you going to take over the farm?" Mulder asked.
They walked a good twenty yards in silence before Saunder
chose to answer the question. It was an act of control over
the conversation they were having. A deliberate way
domineering him, of showing Mulder who was in charge.
"It looks that way," Saunder said finally.
"No farm of your own?" Mulder asked.
"Not all of us get wives as pretty as yours," Saunder said
as he glanced at Mulder.
Mulder looked at him suspiciously. There was something
about the comment that didn't sit well with him. Saunder
was being very forward for an Amish man.
"I'm lucky to have Miriam," Mulder nodded, not quite sure
where the conversation was going.
"Yes, you are," Saunder grinned. "But you don't have your
farm yet, now do you?"
The question was meant to throw Mulder off, question his
ability as a husband and as a man in this community, to
provide for his family.
"No, but in the spring we should. It's been a long wait."
Mulder assured Saunder as they continued to walk.
"I also heard Miriam had a long wait for you too. You
suffered from 'fits'? Do they ever come back?"
"No," Mulder said confidently. "Gott has cured me."
"It would be a shame if she waited all that time to have
you relapse. Imagine having to spend the rest of your
life taking care of a cripple? Feeding him, changing
his diapers..."
"I'm cured," Mulder said as he tried to control his anger.
"Miriam will have no such future."
"Well that's good to hear," Saunder said as he starred
off at a pasture. "But now she has to wait for her
home...she's a very patient woman, your Miriam" Saunder
said, almost with a sneer.
Mulder would never have expected an Amish man to speak
to him this way. Saunder Miller was an overly-confident
man, by Amish standards. He was an alpha male and he
didn't even attempt to hide it. It unnerved him more
than he'd like to admit.
"I guess I'm worth the wait," Mulder said not as
jokingly as he'd like.
"Or maybe Norwalk doesn't have many men," Saunder joked,
but Mulder could tell he was serious.
"That's funny," Mulder laughed in an exaggerated way.
Saunder grinned at him, obviously thinking he had the
upper hand, and had proven Mulder a fool. He was
obviously quite smart, and probably used to other Amish
men backing down at this point.
"I heard you were involved with Rebecca Hillar at one
time, what happened there? Isn't she marrying someone
else?" Mulder asked cattily.
He didn't like Saunder's attitude, and instead of playing
nice, liked he'd planned; he decided to not pull any
punches. It wasn't his best investigative method, but
at the moment it was the only one that felt natural.
"So you've heard about my luck with women?" Saunder noted
as they continued to walk.
"It's a small community and people talk," Mulder said,
trying to project Amish humility. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't
have..."
"No, the rumours have been going around about Rebecca and
me since the spring..." Saunder said thoughtfully.
"You didn't marry," Mulder added.
"No, she wasn't right for me," Saunder said confidently, as
if it was his choice. "And now...now she's damaged goods
and her fiance is stuck with her."
"Damaged goods?" Mulder asked, trying to seem innocent of
the assaults.
"You haven't heard?" Saunder asked as he looked at Mulder.
"I guess you haven't been here long enough..."
"Long enough for what?"
"You know about what happened to Fannie?" Saunder asked.
"How she's no longer...innocent?"
Mulder nodded his head and looked toward the ground, like
he knew a good Amish man would.
"She's not the only one...there have been others," Saunder
said as they approached a clearing. "Someone has been
teaching the women in this community a lesson."
"What kind of lesson?" Mulder asked as they approached
the others, sad this conversation was ending so quickly.
He wanted more information from Saunder than time would
allow.
"To know their place," Saunder said with authority as he
surveyed the group before them. "Keep an eye on that
pretty wife of yours Samuel; make sure she knows her
place."
Mulder stopped dead in his tracks and watched as Saunder
walked over to the long table and took a seat in the
middle surrounded by other men. Saunder Miller was not
what he expected and he was quite bothered by what he
had discovered.
Saunder was a misogynist who thought the women in the
community were being 'taught a lesson' by being raped.
He saw a woman he once wanted to marry as 'damaged goods'
that was now someone else's problem. He also challenged
Mulder's manhood and questioned his relationship with his
wife all in the same conversation. Saunder Miller was
definitely a piece of work, and someone that they
definitely needed to investigate further.
"Samuel are you having something to eat?" Abram asked as
he walked to his side. "I know you didn't get breakf..."
"I'm not hungry, anymore," Mulder said with a groan.
"I'll wait for you in the wagon."
Abram watched as Mulder walked to the wagon, eager to
get as far away from Saunder Miller as he could. Mulder
felt dirty just having participated in the conversation
with him.
****************************************
Dana Scully rolled out cookie dough on the kitchen table as
Fannie stirred another batch next to her. They had been
working companionably for much of the day making cookies
for a church picnic that was happening Saturday. Ruth was
busy outside working in her garden, weeding.
The back door opened and Mulder walked inside. He looked
slightly flushed.
"Hey," Scully called to him. "You're back early."
"We need to talk," Mulder said as he walked up beside her
and grabbed her by the elbow.
She looked up at him and saw the distress in his eyes. He
was upset about something, and she wasn't sure what.
"Okay, let me just..." Scully began.
"Now, Miriam," Mulder said low and with intent.
Fannie's eyes flashed on Scully and Scully returned the
puzzled look. Mulder was acting strangely and neither of
them was sure why. He was still standing closely next to her,
not taking 'no' for an answer. Then, she felt his breath on
her neck close to her ear.
"Please," he said softly. He then stepped away from her and
walked out the kitchen door.
Scully wiped her flour-covered hands on her apron and silently
followed him out of the kitchen and onto the back steps.
Fannie dropped her head, suddenly quite interested in what
she was mixing.
"You mind telling me what's the matter?" She asked as soon as
they were off the porch.
"Not here," Mulder said gesturing with his head to Ruth weeding
nearby.
They walked away from the yard and into a nearby field. He,
walking closely next to her, protectively. She was getting more
and more anxious with each passing minute. Something was wrong,
and he felt she was in danger.
"I think we need to go see Aunt Clara a night early," Mulder
finally broke the silence.
"What? Why?" Scully asked confused.
"Saunder Miller has proven himself to be a worthy suspect."
"And how does that warrant leaving early?" She asked as she
crossed her arms over her chest and stopped walking.
"We're going to have to pull everything available on him and
Jacob Lapp," Mulder said as he kept walking. "It's going to
take some time."
"But we won't get into Canton until dark, it's really not a
lot of extra time to speak with Skinner and..." she started
as she began to follow him again.
"Scully," Mulder said as he stopped to face her. "This
Saunder guy really creeped me out."
Scully looked at his face and saw something she hadn't seen
in a while when investigating, Mulder was not feeling very
sure of himself.
"What's wrong?" She asked as she took his hand.
"I only had one chance to speak with him today," Mulder said
as he dropped her hand and ran it through his hair. "He says
he broke it off with Rebecca Hillar and that it's a good
thing, because now she's 'damaged goods' and her fiance's
problem."
"He said that to you?" Scully asked, shocked.
"Scully, there were no Amish sensibilities in him when we
spoke." Mulder said as he met her eyes. "He tried to be
dominant the entire time we talked, he even walked for a long
time not answering my questions so he could show me who's
boss."
"Alpha male," Scully muttered.
"I pretended I only knew about Fannie's assault, and he,
unabashedly, told me about the others and how they were being
taught a lesson, to know their place."
Scully stood open-mouthed before him. She had been quite
confident Jacob was their primary suspect, now things were
starting to change.
"He...he questioned my ability as a man to provide for my
family, and he questioned our marriage."
"He what?!" She asked, wondering if their cover had been
blown.
"Not that way," Mulder said shaking his head and walking in
a tight circle before her. "He said it would be a shame if
my 'fits' came back and you had to feed me and change
my diapers for the rest of your life."
"Oh my god," Scully sighed as she ran a hand up and down his
arm. "How did you handle that?"
"I said you wouldn't have that life," Mulder said as he played
with his lip. "I challenged him at some points and backed
away at others. But, I didn't seem to ever throw him off,
which was very unnerving."
"What do you make of him?"
"He's smart and determined to show his prowess in everything
he does. He's also cool, calm, and collected. Very
calculating in what he says and does. He keeps his emotions
in check and doesn't let anything get to him."
"He sounds like a good serial rapist." Scully noted.
Mulder looked up at her blue eyes, which always seemed to turn
a darker shade when she was upset. He wanted to not tell her
the rest, but knew he had to.
"He...he also talked about how pretty you are and how lucky I
am," Mulder started slowly. "It was almost as if he wanted to
use you to make me feel inadequate."
"If he's trying to dominate, it's a good tactic," she noted.
"Make the man feel unworthy of the life he has."
"He also told me to keep an eye on you, and make sure you know
your place." Mulder said as he watched for her reaction. "If
he's our rapist, it's a threat."
Scully swallowed hard and licked her upper lip before meeting
his eyes. "Maybe that works in our favour."
****************************************
Despite Mulder's desire to leave early, Scully convinced
him to stay the night and leave first thing the next
morning. It made much more sense then travelling by horse
and buggy in the evening and not being able to make contact
with the people they needed to at the Bureau.
So that is how, she found herself being shifted off his
warm body at 4 o'clock in the morning.
"Sorry, I have to go," he murmured in her ear as he slid
out from underneath her.
"I'll get up too," she mumbled as she opened her eyes.
"You don't have to. It'll be over two hours before I'm done
the milking with Abram," Mulder said as he smiled down at
her and sat up.
"I know, but I can make you breakfast and I should pack up
some of our stuff..."
"It's all in the trunk of the rental, remember?" Mulder
reminded her.
"I forgot," she yawned as she sat up in bed next to him.
"You tossed and turned a lot in your sleep last night," Mulder
said as he tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear.
"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I guess I was just thinking
about the case."
"Once we pull everything on Jacob and Saunder it'll hopefully
fall into place a little better."
"Hopefully," she sighed as she turned and dropped her feet
onto the cold floor.
"You know," Mulder said as he stood to find some clothes.
"You sometimes talk in your sleep too."
She blushed a deep red colour and turned to look at him.
"I'm sorry, I hadn't realized I was."
"So, you know you do?" Mulder asked, interested.
"I have been told I do. It's usually when I get stressed
that it happens." Scully said as she selected a shirt,
skirt and underwear from a drawer. "Mulder, can you turn
around?"
"Sure," he said turning his back to her. "Do you want to
know what you were saying?"
"No, I don't think I do." She said as she started to take
off her underwear and put on fresh panties.
He paused for a moment, wondering if he should take it
further. Their relationship was so new, he didn't want to
scare her. After a minute of introspection he decided to
push forward.
"So I can't ask where 'there' was that made you so happy?"
Mulder asked.
She froze mid-motion, he skirt gripped in her hands, and
looked at his back, unsure of what to say next. She closed
her eyes and silently chastised herself for being so vocal
while she slept.
"You know, I'm just kidding right?" Mulder laughed as he
turned slightly to the side, still not seeing her, but not
completely turned anymore. "You were actually talking about
different types of cookies."
"I was what?!" She asked relieved as she then continued to
pull up her skirt.
"All that cookie making is haunting you in your sleep, I
think," Mulder laughed.
She caught her breath and thanked God for small miracles.
"God, Mulder, you scared me," she snickered as she changed
her undershirt.
"What scared you? The sex talk, or the fact that I knew
all your secrets?"
She paused again, not sure if she should be honest. But
then, deciding she couldn't be anything but, answered him.
"Maybe a bit of both," she answered as she pulled on a
shirt. "Okay, you can turn around."
He stood up and turned to face her as she was doing up
her buttons. He smiled when he saw she was not upset with
his joke.
"I forgot about the suitcases. It'll be a nice break from
all this," she said gesturing at her long skirt.
"I don't know, I've kind grown to like the look," Mulder
said as he walked over to his dresser.
"You have?" She asked, shocked as she looked down at
herself again.
"It's very soft and feminine," Mulder said quietly as he
selected a blue shirt from those hanging in the closet.
"It's also simple; no makeup or coiffed hair...it's just
you."
Scully didn't know how to respond to him. She wasn't sure
if he was complimenting her or insulting her. If he liked
this 'look' what didn't he like about how she normally
looked?
"You're beautiful either way," Mulder said meeting her
eyes and sensing her worry. "I guess I just haven't seen
you like this much and...and it's nice."
Scully ducked her head and nodded. "I'll get you and Abram
some breakfast."
Scully was never good at taking compliments so instead, she
walked from the room and shut the door quietly behind her.
Mulder continued to get dressed in their room. He had to
milk the cows and then they were off to live as themselves
for two days so they could work on the leads they had
gathered.
****************************************
By 10 am Mulder and Scully found themselves bidding Abram
farewell until the next evening. Their car was parked at
a golf course that was about an hour's horse and buggy
ride outside of Charm. Their thinking was, no Amish would
work or visit the course, so it was a good place to do a
switch. They quickly made their way inside and got changed
in the golf-pro washrooms. The few people they encountered
took no notice of them and just went on with their business.
Once dressed, Dana Scully looked at herself in the mirror
and was a little startled at who looked back. She was
wearing casual pants and a golf shirt, but her skin was
slightly tan, her hair soft and loose, and her posture
relaxed. She usually looked tight, pale and stiff when
investigating; always on edge. This was a picture of
herself as an investigator she hadn't ever seen before
and she wasn't sure what to make of it.
She walked out to their car to find Mulder already sitting
in the driver's seat looking odd in his khaki's and golf
shirt with his Amish beard. She got in the car grinning
from ear to ear at the strangeness of it all.
"I think I might trim it a little at the hotel," Mulder said
as he read her thoughts.
"You shouldn't," she said as she did up her seatbelt. "Unless
it's incredibly unruly Amish men don't trim."
"Does that mean you're not going to shave your legs?" He
asked smiling at her and raising an eyebrow.
"I've actually been thinking about that. No one has really
seen them but you," she noted as he started the car. "So I
probably could, but then I'd have to smuggle a razor into the
house and clean up any evidence of shaving after each bath..."
"So, it's not worth it," Mulder finished her thoughts.
"Not really," she groaned. "And it's gotten beyond the itchy
prickly stage so..."
"You're legs are actually quite soft," Mulder said distractedly
as he manoeuvred through the parking lot.
"Uh, thanks," Scully said as she turned a few shades of red.
"Once the hair grows in long enough it's really not too
noticea...how would you know?"
"When you...when you lay on top of me," Mulder said turning to
look at her turning beet red beside him, "your nightgown
sometimes rides up and when I have to move you off of
me in the morning..."
Scully nodded her head in acknowledgement, hoping he wouldn't
continue further with his explanation. Mulder took the hint
and went silent.
They spent the next few minutes navigating their way from the
golf course and onto the right road to Canton. It was only
about forty minutes away so they could get started on
things by lunch.
"I'm going to give Skinner a quick call..." Scully started
as she pulled out a charged cell phone.
"And then you need to call Alex Cowan, he's the local Agent
who'll be meeting us in Canton. His number should also be
programmed in."
"Should I call him first? Give him a chance to..."
"No, let Skinner know we're fine and see if he has any info
to share first," Mulder said as he drove down the lonely
stretch of road.
Scully dialled a number on the phone. After a few rings,
someone answered.
"Special Agent Alex Cowan," said the husky voice on the
other side of the phone.
"Agent Cowan," Scully said looking straight ahead and not
at Mulder. "This is Agent Dana Scully. I'm with Agent Mulder
on our way to Canton to meet up with you and..."
"What time will you be in?" Agent Cowan interrupted her as
the line cracked.
"We'll be at the hotel in about forty minutes," Scully
answered.
"I'll get you rooms at the front desk for you both and meet
you in your partner's room to go over the case." He said
distractedly on the other side of the line. "Call me when
you get to the hotel, and I'll give you the room number."
"Sounds perfect," Scully nodded.
"Oh, do you want me to get us some lunch or..."
"We'll figure it out when we get in," Scully said. "We
want to get our hands on some information first."
"See you then Agent Scully," he said just before he
disconnected the phone.
Scully clapped the phone shut in her hand and looked over
at her partner. She knew the hamster was on the wheel and
wondered if he was actually going to say anything to her.
"Agent Cowan, huh?" He said breaking the silence.
"Yep," she answered.
They drove on, in silent agreement that outside of Charm,
Mulder wasn't going to order her around.
****************************************
Alex Cowan opened the hotel room door with a flourish and
greeted the agents with a tense smile.
"Glad to meet you, Agents," he said as he shook each of their
hands. He was a large, bulky man with a well-trimmed
moustache and glasses.
"Nice to meet you Agent Cowan," Mulder said as he put their
two bags down in the corner.
"Oh, before I forget," Agent Cowan said as he reached deep
into his pant pocket. "Here is your key Agent Scully."
"Thank you," Scully smiled tightly up at him as she took the
key card from his hand.
"Agent Mulder, yours is on the dresser," Agent Cowan gestured
toward the dresser with the TV on it.
"Uh, thanks," Mulder said as he looked in the direction
indicated. "It'll be weird having all this space to myself."
"Conditions cramped at the farm?" Agent Cowan asked as he
walked over to a file sitting on a table.
"You...you could say that," Mulder smirked across the room
at the Agent's back while Scully shuffled her feet.
"Well, hopefully it won't be for too much longer," Agent
Cowan said absently as he walked back towards them holding
a file.
"I don't mind," Mulder muttered.
"Here's the file on the rape victims," Alex Cowan said to
them both. "I pulled everything on the women to see if
there are any links."
"And?" Scully asked.
"And there are a ton," Alex Cowan said as he shook his
head. "It's a small community and it looks like everyone
is related to each other. They all inter-marry and pretty
much every victim is somehow tied to the others."
"Yeah, they are tight knit," Scully said as she took the
file from him.
"You have any suspects yet?" Alex Cowan asked as he placed
his hands on his hips.
"Yeah, Jacob Lapp and Saunder Miller," Mulder said as he
glanced over Scully's shoulder at the file. "We didn't get
a file this big before we started the case."
"No, we only had the basics," Alex Cowan admitted. "Since
you've been undercover we've managed to get more information
about the women. I thought you'd want to see it."
"Thanks," Scully said absently as she flipped pages.
"I'll get the names into the database and see what comes up,"
Alex Cowan said as he walked toward a laptop on the table.
"Jacob Lapp and Saunder Miller?"
"Uh, huh," Mulder mumbled as he continued to read over
Scully's shoulder.
"Beulah," Scully muttered as she flipped a page.
"Beulah and Amos King sold their farm two months after she was
raped and Abram didn't know where they went to," Mulder said
as he read. "Looks like they moved to New York state."
"And she's listed as receiving rape counselling from the Beacon
Clinic," Scully read aloud. "At least someone is getting
help."
"She's the only one, I think," Mulder muttered as he reached
around her to flip a page. "Anything on Annie Glick?"
"She's listed as staying with her relatives in Brimfield,"
Scully read. "No mention of any type of medical help or
psychological counselling."
"She's technically still engaged to Daniel Beiler," Mulder
said. "But she hasn't been back to Charm in five months."
"With no telephones or internet, are they still engaged?"
Scully asked.
"According to Abram, Daniel is expecting her to come back
for the wedding after the harvest."
"He is?" Scully asked, surprised.
Mulder just shrugged his shoulders at her.
"Why don't you two have a seat?" Alex Cowan looked over at
the Agents. "We're here for a while."
Mulder looked over at the Agent who was busy at the computer
and then down at Scully who was still reading the file before
them. They had hardly uttered two words to Agent Cowan
beyond information about the case.
"Have you heard from our AD?" Mulder asked.
"Yeah, he wants your reports filed before you go to bed
tonight," Alex said as he stood and grabbed his coat.
"Sounds like him," Scully muttered.
"I'm heading out to get us some food," Alex said as he
approached them. "Any requests?"
Mulder looked down at Scully and she nodded her head in
agreement. "Some pizza?"
"Pizza?" Alex asked, unsure.
"Yeah, pepperoni, bacon, green olives, and mushrooms."
Mulder clarified.
"No problem," Alex said as he reached for the doorknob.
"Anything else?"
"Maybe some salad?" Scully asked.
Agent Cowan nodded. "Get yourselves settled. I'll be back
in about an hour."
He left the room without another word.
Mulder and Scully looked at each other and the file before
them.
"Take off your shoes Scully, and hop up on the bed." Mulder
said.
"Excuse me?" She asked, surprised by his request.
"We...we can spread out the files there," Mulder clarified.
"Oh, okay," Scully smiled to herself.
"Get your mind out of the gutter," he leered at her.
"Unless...you know, we have an hour before he gets back..."
She smacked him with the file folder in her hand and walked
toward the bed.
****************************************
Dana Scully lay awake in her large, comfy queen-sized bed,
unable to sleep. It was almost 1 am and she, by all
accounts, should be sleeping well. She'd been up since
4 am, reading files and talking on the phone most of the
day, and had not even made it to this room until midnight.
But here she was, lying in bed after a warm bath,
and...nothing.
The information they had retrieved about the other victims,
as well as their two suspects had shed some light on their
case a little more. Their rape victims: Bertha Kitzen,
Sarah Schwartz, Rebecca Hillar, Annie Glick, Beulah King,
and Fannie Miller had a lot in common. They all ranged in
age from 20-34 years old and attended the same Amish school;
most of them at the same time. Some of them were friends,
all of them had belonged to the local quilting bee, some
were even related through marriage or were cousins. None
of the women had lived away from the community, and by all
accounts, were 'good Amish women'. But, there were
subtleties about each of them that made them interesting.
The first victim, Bertha Kitzen, was notably smart. She
earned straight A's in school and tried to start a community
newsletter when she was in her early twenties. The newsletter
was met with a lot of opposition within the community and,
although she published only 4 in total, it was stopped by
the bishop as being un-Amish. The newsletter was not
controversial in any respect mainly publishing recipes and
announcements, but the fact that it was being operated by a
women seemed to be the problem. She was engaged to Isaiah
Fehr until she was raped one week before her wedding while
walking home from a friend's house. Her fiance broke off
the engagement and she has since carried on in the
community as if nothing had happened. Scully remembered
her stern face from the church service and noted that
Bertha almost looked as if she dared anyone to talk to her.
The second victim, Sarah Schwartz, was the only married
woman who was still living in the community. She was
married to Peter Schwartz and the mother of three children.
Sarah was a woman who had the audacity to want to continue
teaching at the Amish school house after she had her first
child. She petitioned the trustees to keep her job and
was refused. In her file, there was an application for a
teaching position with the local public school, but she
failed to accept any job that was offered to her. Sarah's
attack happened while she was at home baking one afternoon.
Her children played in the snow outside the entire time the
attack took place. Of all the women, Sarah's assault
seemed to be the most brutal in that she suffered a broken
jaw as a result of the rape and had to stay at the local
hospital for several days.
The third victim, Rebecca Hillar, broke off her engagement
to Saunder Miller only to become engaged to Benjamin
Schwartz soon afterwards. Benjamin Schwartz is Sarah
Schwartz's brother-in-law and the husband of the previous
rape victim. Rebecca was raped soon after she became
engaged to Benjamin. By all accounts Rebecca's only
defiant act in her life, was breaking off her engagement
to Saunder Miller. It is unclear in any document why the
engagement was nullified; that was something they would
have to discover for themselves. Rebecca Hillar was
raped in her bedroom at night, while her parents and
siblings slept down the hall.
The fourth victim was Annie Glick who was attacked in a
field near her home. She was outside gathering firewood
from a stockpile when she was grabbed from behind, forced
face down in the snow, and raped. Annie stayed outside
a long time after her rape and her father found her half-
naked and bleeding in the snow more than an hour later,
suffering from exposure. Annie left the community to
live with her Aunt almost immediately, and there is no
record of any contact between she and her family since.
According to Abram, she's still engaged to Daniel Beiler
and neither party has made any move to call off the
wedding. There is no record of any issue with Annie
within the community but her fiance Daniel was shunned
by the community a year ago for dishonourable behaviour.
Mulder would need to find out what the cause was.
Beulah King was the fifth victim of the local rapist.
She and her husband Amos, moved away from Charm quickly
after the rape happened and re-settled in New York State.
According to the records she has been in rape counselling
since the move and has not had contact with the community
in Charm outside of occasional letters to her parents.
Beulah King was raped in the school house where she was
serving as the community's teacher. She had stayed after
school until it was dark one night when someone grabbed
her as she was exiting, forced her inside, and raped her
on the floor of the coat room. She has yet to go back to
teaching since moving away.
The last victim, Fannie Miller, was the youngest and only
un-attached woman of the group. She was raped one night
in her family's barn while she was checking on one of
her hens that seemed ill. She, like the others, was
grabbed from behind, and assaulted. Fannie's only act
of defiance within the community was refusing a proposal
by Heinrich Weibe, a man ten years her senior whose wife
died during childbirth last year. Scully would have to
ask her about Heinrich the next time they spoke.
The similarities between the victims as strong women who,
at one time or another, challenged the authority of the
community were of particular interest to Scully. The only
woman who didn't fit was Annie Glick, who seemed to have
no black marks on her record as a good Amish woman.
Annie was no longer part of the community, so Scully
would be unable to glean any information from her. Agent
Cowan would have to set up an interview with her and see
if there was any more information they could get.
All of the women filed reports, refused any counselling
offered by the officers on the case, and reported that
they didn't know who their attacker was. No one had much
to offer in the way of description, except that it was a
man, he was strong, he overpowered them easily, and that
they were completely caught off guard. All women were
vaginally penetrated while lying face down and all
reported that they couldn't move at all during the attack.
All women had refused rape kits so no DNA was collected
by police. Fannie Miller was the only woman, known at
this time, who was pregnant as a result of her rape.
Dana Scully tossed and turned in her sleep, unable to
get comfortable or take her mind off the case. But,
eventually, sleep captured her.
****************************************
Mulder found himself waking automatically at 4 am. It hadn't
taken him long to fall asleep after Scully left his room
around midnight, but he had not had a restful night. The
sheets were twisted around his body and a pillow was rammed
against his side when he woke up, indicating a night of
tossing and turning.
He didn't want to admit it, but he slept better with her. He
knew waking up alone was his reality, but he enjoyed the
sojourn from it for a little while. She was warm and soft and
pliant next to him each and every night, but he also realized
those nights were numbered and he shouldn't get too used to it.
He was happy with the direction their relationship seemed to be
headed, but didn't kid himself into thinking it would be a path
without bumps along the way. She was willing to explore the
possibilities with him but, once they were back to their old
lives with all the same problems, would she feel the same way?
He rose from his bed and walked toward the bathroom, stripping
off his clothes as he went. The thought of a nice, warm shower,
his first since starting this case, made him smile despite the
early hour. He relieved the pressure on his bladder and turned
on the hot water as steam filled the room.
As he got in and lathered up his tired muscles he thought of
the information they had gathered about the victims and the
suspects. The women were all raped in different locations but
with the same method, a surprise attack. They were all
assaulted from behind to cut down on their ability to identify
their attacker. According to all the women, their attacker said
nothing to them during the assault and left as quickly as he
arrived.
What they found out about Saunder Miller and Jacob Lapp was also
telling.
Saunder Miller at age 21, had been accepted by Ohio State into
their Psychology Programme, despite his lack of a high school
education. According to the entrance exams he took, he scores
were off the charts and the College had accepted him based on
those alone. Saunder had not accepted the offer of admission
and had applied to no other programmes or schools since. Saunder
had a library card and their records indicate that he visited the
stacks once a week, on Wednesdays usually, to take out and return
books. He read books on various psychological topics as well as
biographies about a host of different people including Muammar
Gaddafi, Kim Jong Il, and Michael Collins. Besides his
engagement to Rebecca Hillar, which lasted three months before
being broken off, there was no record of his involvement with
any other women in the community. Saunder's father had been the
Bishop of the community for the last 15 years. His job running
his family's farm allowed him a somewhat flexible schedule where
he could come and go as he pleased and without question. There
are no records that indicate he had left town during the last
year.
Jacob Lapp had been interviewed by cops as a teenager. He was
questioned by police in the mutilation and death of several cats
and dogs in the nearby English community when caught one night in
an alley assaulting a cat. He was released into his parent's
custody and, although cats and dogs still were mutilated several
more times, was never questioned about his involvement again.
The police never made any arrests. As a child, he was sent
home from school for fighting on a regular basis, and eventually
quit school in grade six. Jacob studied butchery under his father
and soon became involved in the family business, first by
delivering the meat, then chopping up cuts of meat to sell and
trade to the local community. Two and a half years ago he became
engaged to Martha, the woman who is now married to his brother
Luke. She broke off the engagement and married his brother two
weeks later; something not usually done in the Amish community.
Then, last year he was engaged to Marike Janz for a month before
she broke off the engagement as well. Mulder noted that Scully
would have to meet this woman and get some details from her.
Jacob's delivery schedule made him a very mobile member of the
Amish community in Charm.
Mulder reached to turn off the water and caught off guard by a
cramp in his shoulder. The muscle tensed and failed to release
when he attempted to stretch it out. He stood for a while letting
the hot water sluice over his shoulder, hoping it would ease the
taunt muscle that was hurting him so much. Finally, he gave up,
resigning himself to a day with a sore shoulder.
He towelled off and walked naked to the small suitcase that was
open on the chair in his room. He pulled a pair of jeans and a
t-shirt out along with some boxers and got dressed. Despite the
fact that it wasn't 5 am yet, there was no way he could fall back
asleep with the case on his mind.
He fell into the nearby chair and reached for the file, his wet
hair dripping on the cover as he leaned over it to look for more
clues.
****************************************
"Was it nice to get a good night's sleep?" Agent Alex Cowan
asked Scully as she walked into Mulder's room the next
morning.
"It was weird not having to get up so early," Scully noted
as she glanced at Mulder engrossed in a file. He hadn't
even acknowledged her presence yet.
"And the air conditioning's got to be a treat," Alex Cowan
smiled down at her, his mood obviously better today.
"It actually felt a little cold," Scully said, still eyeing
Mulder. "But, I survived."
"I was telling Agent Mulder," Alex Cowan said as he walked
into the room a little more. "I got a call from your AD this
morning and he's pleased with your progress on the case."
"I'm surprised he's not pushing for an arrest already,"
Scully smiled at him as she sat on the edge of the bed.
"Apparently, this is the first time any police agency has
been successful in embedding themselves in an Amish
community," Agent Cowan noted. "The Bureau wants you to do
this right, not fast."
"I'd like to make an arrest before another woman is
assaulted," Scully said as she chanced another glance at
Mulder, who had not involved himself in the discussion yet.
"Well, we all hope for that," Agent Cowan agreed. "But we
also hope a successful arrest will lead to further
co-operation between the Amish and the police."
"Did you see this?" Mulder interrupted their conversation
and rose from his seat.
"What?" Scully asked, rising to meet him.
He looked over at her and was surprised to find her in his
room. He, apparently, had been so engrossed in the file
he had not noticed her arrival.
"Hey, Scully," he smiled sloppily at her. "Sleep okay?"
"Fine," she said as she knitted her brows. "What did you
find?"
"Remember when Jacob was picked up by the police for harming
animals?" Mulder asked as he showed Scully and Agent Cowan
the file.
"Yeah, why?" Agent Cowan asked.
"Look at the signature of the officer who released him to
his parents," Mulder pointed to the file.
"Silas Miller was the officer," Mulder said.
"So?" Agent Cowan asked.
"So, look at the Miller family tree," Mulder said turning a
few pages. "Silas is Saunder's uncle and a former member of
the Amish community."
"When did he leave?" Scully asked as she jockeyed to look
closer at the file.
"Fifteen years ago," Mulder looked at her pointedly.
"Around the same time Saunder's father became the bishop."
"Is he still on the local force?" Scully asked.
"Yep," Mulder smiled up at her.
"Does he know about our operation?" Scully asked Agent
Cowan.
"Local PD is not in on the investigation," Agent Cowan
informed them. "But I'll make sure it gets red-flagged
that no information is to be divulged to them."
"Did he investigate any of the rapes?" Scully asked Mulder.
"His name didn't come up as the investigating officer
but..." Mulder started.
"But on such a small force, pretty much everyone is involved
in the investigation," Agent Cowan finished his thought.
Both Mulder and Scully nodded their heads in agreement.
"We need to find out if he's still involved in the
community and his brother's family," Mulder noted as he
closed the file.
"This case just got a whole lot more involved," Agent Cowan
noted as he took out his cell phone to place a call.
Mulder and Scully exchanged looks, knowing they would have
to be much more careful from now on while investigating.
****************************************
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