Brother McHearn grumbled to himself as he made his way the well not far from Farland Abbey which was located on the outskirts of the town of Odeon. It was dusk and the nocturnal dwellers of the forest were beginning to stir. The air was cooling but it was still not what Brother McHearn thought of as a comfortable temperature. He carried a pole across his shoulders that supported four deep buckets he was to fill as his chore for the abbey's evening meal.
As he tripped and nearly fell on a hidden tree root he wondered yet again why the well had not been placed closer to the abbey. Surely the water was just as accessible digging next to the abbey rather than half a mile away. The path was clear and traders often stopped at the well on their way out of town when they were re-supplying for another trip to trap in the wilderness though at this hour he was unlikely to run into anyone heading out into the dark of night.
Finally reaching the well he unloaded his burden on the ground and dropped the retrieving bucket over the side of the well before beginning to turn the crank to lower it down. As he turned the crank he thought he heard something nearby in the bushes. He quickly stopped turning the crank and listened for a moment but was only answered by the sound of insects and a loan hoot from an owl. Muttering to himself about hearing things he began to turn the crank again and soon after the rope slackened upon reaching the water. He waited a moment allowing the bucket to submerge before reversing his previous direction on the crank pulling the bucket back up.
Just as the bucket reached the top he heard a soft cry from somewhere in the forest. He stopped and waited again and this time realized he really was hearing something and turn his head towards the direction of the sound to get a better bearing on it. As he moved his head he distinctly heard the soft cry of 'help' and began to move in the direction he thought it originated from.
There was some brush obstructed his movement but he pressed on as he heard the cry again and after a few moments he came to a small clearing and in the fading light saw a woman in a torn white dress laying stomach down with her head turned to the side on the ground. He hurriedly moved to her side," Lady are you well?" he asked only to think to himself if she was she would not have called for help.
She let a soft whimper as he looked her over assessing what he could of her condition. Her dress was torn from the bottom up the side revealing one of her legs up to mid thigh. Her dark hair covered part of her face but Brother McHearn did see a soft bruise above her eye. His cursory look was not definitive but in all likelihood she was the victim of one of the unsavory types of men who often stopped in Odeon. One of the drawbacks of being a trader town out in the wilderness was that it was a great place for men wanted by the law to hide.
"Can you sit up?" he asked lowering his face closer to hers. Getting closer to her he took notice of her obvious beauty which made her presence even rarer than just that of being a woman this far from civilization.
Her arm slid up and she began to make an effort to push herself up. Brother McHearn quickly reacted to assist her. He held her by the shoulders and helped her turn enough to a sitting position. As he took his hands from her shoulders the top of her dress fell down revealing on pale, bare breast. His eyes lingered longer than they should have before he reminded himself of his oath and turned.
"Madam excuse me, but your bodice," he left the statement hanging until she slowly moved her hand up to pull up her dress. Brother McHearn looked away only to find himself looking at her leg which was almost fully revealed by the tear in her dress. His thoughts seemed to be getting more impure by the moment and he silently recited a quiet prayer to ask for forgiveness.
He felt a hand come to rest on his arm," thank you kind sir," a soft feminine voice said," I do not know how long I have been here."
"Please madam what happened," Brother McHearn asked.
"It...it...was terrible...I was only out looking for herbs in the forest and he...he...attacked out of nowhere," her voice was shaking which only made the brother grow angry when he thought of someone forcing himself upon this woman. She continued her tale," I tried to fight him off," she cried," but his hands were so strong." Her grip on his arm tightened as she continued her tale," forcing himself between my legs he took me over and over," Brother McHearn suddenly saw the image of a man in his mind having his way with this woman, this beautiful woman. His long neglected member began to harden beneath his robe. "It was so awful," tears began streaming down her face and she pulled herself closer to him. Not knowing what else to do he wrapped her in a hug and tried to comfort her," there, there. You are safe now, you are safe," he said in his most soothing tone.
Her closeness and the feel of her delicate, feminine frame did not help cool his arousal. He was now rock hard and doing his best to keep his condition from being noticed. In an awkward movement to move his waist away from her the woman only fell into him more. Her hip came to rest directly between his legs pushing into his erection. Her head lay against his shoulder and he could have sworn her lips were softly kissing against his neck.
He needed to focus on getting this woman back to the abbey to get her injuries seen to but he seemed to want to hold and comfort her just a bit longer. "All will be well madam and we shall find the man who did this to you."
"Thank you brave sir," she breathed in his ear.
