Ella Descending

He looked at me for some time, trying to work out whether I was flirting with him or just trying to ease his mind. He made the right decision. We sat on a rock sipping coffee and looking up at the water thundering over the falls and into the ravine below. I shuddered. "What's the matter?"

"I was just looking at that and remembering the thoughts that I had of jumping. There wouldn't have been much to find, would there?"

"No. The girl that jumped before, it was days before we found what was left of her. Every bone in her body was broken."

"How horrid. When I think about it now I'm glad that I didn't decide to end it. It must be terrible for people like you having to pick up the pieces of someone's selfishness."

"Selfishness, why would you look at it that way?"

"I have thought this over a thousand times, and that decision to end my misery was all about myself, I was giving no thought to those friends and relatives that I would have left behind, the hurt I would cause them, or for the people like you that have to pick up the pieces. Somewhere there is someone who loves me and who may not understand what could have led to that decision, and maybe even blame themselves for not helping." I stopped and looked at him, his thoughtful face, and snapped out of it. "Okay that's enough of this morbid conversation, you are supposed to be brightening up my day."

Brighten it he did, we walked for another hour before turning back, all the time he regaled me with stories of the things he got up to when he was young and foolish, not that he was that old now. He must have been a handful.

Back at the cabin I invited him to stay for dinner. He slipped next door and told his Grandmother that we would take a rain-check. Silver service it wasn't but it was plentiful and wholesome. We were both famished from the exercise and the brisk air and ate without talking until it was all gone and we sat on the sofa, coffee in hand. "Wow, what a day!"

"Yeah it had its moments." He was looking at me and I got the impression that he was building up the courage to kiss me. So I kissed him.

"Thank you for everything, especially the gentle way that you questioned me."

"You noticed that did you?"

"Yes, and I probably told you more about me and what happened than I revealed over all of those days at the DA's office. I suppose that you're going to pass all of that on to them?"

"Yes, when the guy comes up tomorrow we'll have lots to tell him." He stood up and walked to the door. "I'd better be going, I need my beauty sleep, plus I'd better get out of here before temptation gets the better of me." He kissed me quickly and left.

The next day we didn't tell the guy from the DA's office anything, because the guy was a girl, and an attractive one in a smart business-like way by the name of Nicolle Wheeler. She took us through what I had told Troy and the story of the man in the cells who would be going back with her as soon as she arranged secure transport. "Is it all right if Ella stays here until we need her for the trial, I think that she'll be safer here?"

"I guess I can look after her for a while longer." I kicked him on the ankle, an action that didn't go un-noticed. Nicolle smiled as she dialled a number on her cell to arrange for transport.

We had a week together, no nothing like that happened, we walked in the forest, we had dinner with friends and relatives and we spent a lot of time just sitting and talking, and I suppose we began to feel really comfortable together, before we were summoned to give evidence. We were put up in adjoining rooms at a hotel and escorted by Sheriff's officers to the courthouse. I was not looking forward to this.

I sat in the courtroom next to Nicolle. "Judge Pederson is highly regarded as been one of the fairest, he doesn't like any bullshit or grand-standing. Now you will be subjected to some of both under cross, if you feel that it is getting too much for you look at me and I'll jump in at the next appropriate place and bale you out. You may have to wait a few minutes but I ask you to trust me on this, we have to choose the right moment."

"I'll trust you."

The judge came in and we rose while the clerk read out the charges for the judge. The gavel was banged and we were in business. Nicolle stood up and began her opening address. "Your honour, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the State will prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the defendant, Peter Thornton did, in a fit of rage, brutally attack his wife Elizabeth Thornton in the bedroom of the family home and, as a result of the horrendous injuries she sustained, she was pronounced dead at the scene by Paramedics. We will also prove that he did, four nights before this attack sexually molest his daughter on a number of occasions and the following night, in the company of his brother, Brian Thornton, subject her to a further series of humiliating sexual attacks." She stopped to allow this to sink in. "The evidence that we will present to you will stretch the bounds of your credibility, may even shock you and for this I apologise in advance. The defence will attempt to discredit the prosecution's chief witness, his daughter Ella Thornton and cast doubts on her evidence. She is a young girl and has been through a great deal but that will not deter the defence from attacking her at every opportunity and that, unfortunately, is the nature of things in our legal system. We ask that you pay particular attention to the physical evidence, we do not ask you to sympathise with her, because that may sway your judgement. This is a court of law and decisions made in this place are made on the evidence provided, not the emotional issues."

She sat down and in not much more than a whisper she said, "Let's see them answer that."

William 'Big Bill' Sutton rose to his feet. This took some doing because he stood six feet four in his stockinged feet and tipped the scales at well over two hundred pounds. He paused and turned to Nicolle before turning back to face the jury. "Ladies and gentlemen, you have just heard something that we in the legal profession have come to expect, an eloquent speech by the Assistant District Attorney, Ms Wheeler. She is very good at glossing over the fact that the little evidence that she will present in this case is a mixture of circumstantial, and the deranged distortions of an emotional young girl." He walked to the jury box and punctuated the next seven words by banging the flat of his hand on the railing. "There is not one shred of evidence that implicates the defendant, Peter Thornton, a respected member of this community, a regular church goer, with these heinous allegations made against him. You have only one option in this case and that is to find the defendant not guilty of these false allegations and allow him to leave this court a free man. All that I can say to Ms Wheeler is 'do your best'." He sat down and leant back in his chair with a look of smug self-confidence on his face.

"Ms Wheeler, are you ready to proceed?"

"Yes your Honour. For my first witness I call Detective Roberts." Roberts was a solidly built man who gave off a no-nonsense attitude. He was led through his evidence which he gave in a straightforward manner, answering only the questions asked and forming no opinions. This process took the best part of an hour, the only variation from standard practise was a short break to allow the jury to recover from viewing the crime scene photographs of the body.

"I can't look at it." I told Nicolle. "I feel sick." I was taken to a side room and allowed to rest until Roberts had completed his evidence.

"For my next witness I call Ella Thornton." I stood and walked to the stand. I tried to keep any expression from my face as I walked but I was scared. I took the oath and sat down. "You are Ella Thornton?"

"Yes."

"You will have to speak a little louder. And you live on Montague Drive Greenwith?"

"I used to live there but at present I have no place of residence."

"Ella, we are going to have to revisit the events of Monday the 23rd, can you tell the court what happened?"

I had been instructed to keep it simple and straight forward. "I was home from college on vacation and Mother had left that morning to attend a church women's conference interstate. She would be away for four days and left prepared food in the freezer for us, that's Father and me, all I had to do was to thaw it and reheat it. I had the meal prepared when Father arrived home from work and we ate in the dining room. After dinner we watched TV together until I went to bed at 10.00pm. Half an hour after I went to bed I heard Father come up and have a shower. After he had showered he came into my room and sat on my bed. We talked for a while and he told me that he and Mother had been having difficulties with their marriage. While we were talking he leaned across me and his hand deliberately brushed my breast."

"Objection!" Big Bill was on his feet. "That is pure conjecture, you have no way of knowing that the touch was deliberate."

"Sustained. The witness will confine her evidence to the facts and not her opinion."

"Then what happened?"

"He told me that he and Mother hadn't had sex for some time and then he bust into tears and told me that he was afraid of losing her and ending up a lonely old man unloved by anyone. He cried at that point. He got into bed with me and hugged me to him, then he kissed me on the neck and I could feel his erect penis pressing against me. I said to him, 'what are you doing?' and he told me that he loved me. I told him that this was all wrong because he was my father and he said that as he wasn't my biological father the incest laws didn't apply and that if he knew that this wasn't right he wouldn't be doing it. I said that I was still a virgin and saving myself for my future husband, and he asked 'what if I were to be your future husband, look at Woody Allen, he married his adoptive daughter?' I told him that this would hurt mother and he told me that he didn't care if it did. I questioned his marriage vows and he told me that things change and that their whole marriage was now a farce."

"While you were talking, what was he doing?"

"He was moving his hand toward my breast but I grabbed it and stopped him moving it further. He told me that I felt good and then he pushed his hand under my top to my breast and began to fondle it. I didn't know what to do. I told him to stop and got out of bed and locked myself in the bathroom. He began to plead with me. I told him to leave me alone but he kept on. He told me that he hadn't slept with Mother for some time and that he had been sleeping in my bed, lying in my bed thinking of how it would be kissing me and making passionate love to me. He told me that he was getting an erection just thinking about it. I guess I felt sorry for him so I opened the door. His erection was standing out of his pyjamas and he put my hand on it. He led me to the bed and we had sex, several times."

"Was this sex consensual?"

"No. I didn't consent to it at all, I submitted to him. It revolted me but what could I do?"

"What happened next?"

"In the morning he told me not to tell Mother about it."

"The next night, what happened?"

"When he got home he made a phone call to Uncle Brian and he told me that Uncle Brian was coming over. When Uncle Brian arrived he gave Father a DVD and when it began to play I could see that it was a porn film. They sat either side of me and I noticed that they were both stroking their penises. Father told me to stroke his and Uncle Brian tried to put his hand on my breast. I told them that I didn't want to do this but they continued, Father put his hand between my legs and Uncle Brian had lifted up my top and bra and was stroking my nipple."

"What did you do then?"

"I realised that I would be unable to fight them off and that they fully intended to do to me what the men in the DVD were doing to the girl so I gave up fighting them and allowed them to do what they wanted to me."

"After the DVD finished what happened?"

"Father went out of the room and returned with another DVD."

"Is this the one?" Nicolle walked to the stand and held up the DVD case.

"It's the same title but I don't know if it's the exact one."

"The action on this video, what were they doing?"

"Again it was two men and a girl but this time, while she was on top of one the other put his penis up the girl's anus."

"And they did this to you?"

Yes. While father had his penis in my vagina Uncle Brian put his in my anus."

"When all of this was over what happened?"

"As Uncle Brian was leaving Father told him that he would call a couple of guys and they would come over the next night for a 'gang bang'. That was when I decided to leave, but before I did I wrote a letter to Mother telling her exactly what had happened. I also took the sheet that was on the bed the first night and the DVD that I had found and the mat from in front of the living room couch and put them in her wardrobe."

"But you didn't leave the letter for your mother did you?"

"No, I posted it from college when I got back. I didn't want it to reach home until after she got back from her conference."

"Your witness." She turned me over to Big Bill and he was just like a hound that had picked up the scent of the prey.

"That's a very fine story you've just told us young lady, but can we believe a word of what you have told us, for instance you say that you were a virgin up until that night. Come now, you don't really expect us to believe that load of sentimental claptrap do you?"

"It's true, every word is true." It was hard to keep my voice down, I wanted to scream the answer at him.

"Really? Tell me, do you know a boy by the name of James Simmons?"

"He's in one of my classes."

"Are you two friends?"

"We talk when we see each other, that's all."

"I put it to you that you are more than just friends with young Mister Simmons and on more than one occasion you have had sex with him." He was standing right in front of me and leaning over me.

"That is not true."

"Can you prove that?" I looked at him, what could I say? If I protested my innocence it would be seen as an admission of guilt, you know, 'where there's smoke there's fire' without hard evidence it would probably not be believed. "Do you also know Brendan Foley?"

"Yes, he is in the youth group at church."

"He's in the youth group." He emphasised that, telling the jury that this was a trustworthy witness. "He claims to have had sex with you several times after evening services at the church."

"That is not true." I looked at Nicolle, she nodded but did nothing for the moment.

"So you say. And Justin MacLean, I suppose that you're going to tell me that you haven't had sex with him either?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm going to tell you." I was beginning to lose it. "I haven't had sex with him or anyone else other than Father and Uncle Brian."

Nicolle stood up. "Your honour I object to this whole line of questioning, counsel is clouding the issue by making unsubstantiated allegations against this witness purely in an attempt to discredit her evidence. He does not have the evidence to support his allegations, all that he has done is to get a list of names of all the boys that the witness had contact with and allege that she had been having sex with them. If he has proof then he should present it and I don't see the name of any of these young men on his witness list."

"Well counsel, do you have evidence to support this line of questioning?"

"No."

"Counsel, both of you, in my chambers now." He got up and left the court with Nicolle and Big Bill trailing on behind. The only one smiling when they came back was Nicolle. "The jury are to ignore the questions put to this witness by the defence counsel. Do you have any further questions of this witness?"

"No."

"We will have no more of your legal shenanigans, do you understand this. If I have to censure you again you will be held in contempt, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes."

The judge looked at me. "You may step down."

As I sat down Nicolle showed me what she had written on her pad; 'round 1 to us, now for round 2'.

"You may call your next witness."

"I call Mister Peter Thornton to the stand." Father got up and entered the witness box. He was sworn in. Nicolle looked at him. Mister Thornton I am not going to take you through what happened on the nights in question or what happened on the day that your wife was killed. I think that we can cut this trial short by taking another line of questioning." Father looked at Big Bill who shrugged his shoulders, he had no idea what was happening. "Mister Thornton, you are a member of your church's men's group are you not?"

"Yes."

"Tell me, what do you know of a group of men who call themselves 'the Brotherhood'?"

"I've never heard of them."

"Well then let me enlighten you. The Brotherhood is a group of prominent men within your Church men's group that meets on a regular basis for, shall we say, recreational activities. These have involved the rental of beach properties where this group of upstanding citizens disport themselves with obliging young ladies." She did not hide her contempt for these men.

"You know more about this than I do."

"So you aren't a member of this group?"

"No."

"Really, I have here a list of members of this group and your name figures prominently, in fact you are the President. Isn't this true?"

"This is a fabrication designed to besmirch my name and reputation."

She ignored his denial and pressed on. "Isn't it also true that many years ago it was your habit to call into a bar called the 'Blue Room' on your way home from these meetings which were nothing more than orgies?"

"No." The look on his face said it all; how did they find out about the Brotherhood?

"Is it not also true that for a time you had an affair with a waitress at this bar by the name of Melissa Green?"

"No."

"And did that affair not result in her falling pregnant to you?"

"No!"

"I object!" Big Bill was on his feet. "Counsel is using the same tactics for which I was censured, I ask that she abide by the same rules that we have been forced to obey."

"Ms Wheeler, is there a purpose to this line of questioning?"

"Yes your honour and we can prove every one of these allegations."

"Then I'll allow it."

"About this time you and your wife had been trying for some time to start a family without success."

"That's common knowledge."

"Did you not, because of this lack of success, make arrangements with your lover to adopt her child?"

"No!"

"You told Ella that her mother was a whore, is that true?

"Yes."

"So, let me get this straight, you were having an affair with a woman you describe as a whore, odd for a church man, who falls pregnant to you, a little irresponsible of you don't you think?"

"The baby may not have been mine."

"You wish. You, in a burst of altruism arrange to adopt the love child of a whore. But this child was the result of your affair? The child that sits now in this very court room," She pointed directly at me, "Ella Thornton is that child!"

Pandemonium. Wow talk about a shock!

Order was eventually restored. "Conference, chambers now!"

Big Bill was angry. "This is outrageous, you are making a mockery of this trial!" Pederson held his hand up to cut short the outburst.

"Ms Wheeler, you have made very serious allegations I hope that you have proof?"

"Yes I have, it is evidence that has just come to hand. You see Mrs Thornton took a leaf out of her daughter's book and parcelled up the items that she had found where Ella had left them and posted them to herself, using a Post Office box rented for the occasion, with instructions to a friend that if something should happen to her she was to give our office the box key. We took the items to our lab for testing and this is what we found." She handed a sheet to Judge Pederson and Big Bill. "You will see that the items consisted of the DVD, a bed sheet and a rug. The stains and their location on the sheet have been identified as blood consistent with the breaking of the hymen and some semen, which is consistent with Ella's story. A DNA analysis came up with surprising results, if they were to be used for a paternity test there is no doubt that the person whose semen was on that sheet was in fact the father of the person whose blood was also on that sheet. Armed with this information we went in search of Ella's biological mother and found her. She filled in the details that we didn't have."