Part 43 (1/2)
”Sustained.” The judge glanced at the jury. ”You'll disregard that last statement.”
”You were scared,” Matt prompted.
”Yes ... and all of a sudden he was right there with us, and looking a little wild. So, actually, none of us said anything. We were too terrified.”
”What happened next?”
Gillian seemed to draw into herself, remembering. ”He looked at the fire,” she said, ”and sat down. He asked us if we were roasting marshmallows. I remember thinking that ... well, that it was an ordinary question. I expected someone who was supposed to be such a dangerous man to be ... a little more dangerous.”
”Then what happened?”
”I told him we were just on our way home. He said that was too bad. Then he said good night and headed into the woods.”
”Do you remember which trail?” Matt asked, pointing to a map propped beside her.
Gillian touched a thin line arcing north, one that didn't lead back to the cemetery. ”This one.”
”Then what?”
”Well, as soon as he was gone we were all, like, Can you believe it? Can you believe it was Can you believe it? Can you believe it was him?” She hunched her shoulders. ”Then we left.” him?” She hunched her shoulders. ”Then we left.”
”What path did you take?”
Gillian pointed to a trail that led to the northeast, tracing it to the far edge of the woods. ”I took this one,” she said softly. ”It's a shortcut for me. But the others were going toward the cemetery, because it was the quickest way back to their side of town.”
”Did you feel nervous about walking home alone?”
”No,” Gillian said. ”I mean, this guy who was supposed to be the Devil himself had left. What else was there to be afraid of, once he was gone?”
”What did you do next?”
Tears began to well in Gillian's eyes, and Matt's heart turned over. Christ, he didn't want to make her relive this. ”I hadn't gone more than a few seconds before I realized that I never checked the fire. I mean, we put it out and all, but it was still smoking a little. So I figured I'd go back and make sure it hadn't caught on again.” Her words stretched thin. ”When I got to the clearing, it was empty. I kicked dirt over the fire, and all of a sudden he ... he grabbed me from behind. He must have been hiding ... or ... or following me,” she said.
”What happened next, Gillian?”
She made a low, horrible noise in the back of her throat. ”He pushed me down ... and he put his hand over my mouth. He said if I made any noise, he'd kill me.” Turning her head away, Gillian shut her eyes. ”He pinned my hands up over my head and unb.u.t.toned my jeans. He ... he took a condom out of his pocket and told me I should put it on him.”
”Did he let your hands go?”
”Yes.” Tears ran freely down her face, into the collar of her dress. ”I pretended I was going to rip open the packet, and instead I scratched his cheek. I tried to get away. But he grabbed my wrists and pushed me back down and put the condom on himself.”
”And then?”
”And then ... then ...” She shrank back in the seat, her voice striped with pain. ”And then he raped me.”
Matt let that statement stand for a moment. ”How long did it last?”
”Forever,” Gillian murmured.
”Did he insert his p.e.n.i.s into your v.a.g.i.n.a?”
”Yes.”
”Did he e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.e?”
”I ... I guess,” Gilly said. ”He stopped, anyway.”
”Was he saying anything while this was happening?” Matt asked.
”No.”
”Were you?”
”I was crying. I couldn't look at him.”
”Did you try to move at all?”
Gilly shook her head. ”He was holding me down. Tight. And every time I tried to roll away, he just shoved me harder into the ground.”
The jury was staring intently at Gillian. ”What happened after he was done?”
Her answer came softly, from a place deep inside her. ”He got up and zipped his pants,” Gilly said, wrapping her arms around herself. ”He told me if I talked to anyone, he'd come back for me.”
”What did you do?”
”I watched him go, and then counted to a hundred and started running.”
”Which direction did he leave in?”
”The path that went closest to my house,” Gillian said. ”So I ran in the other direction. Toward the cemetery. Where my friends had gone.”
”How long did it take you to catch up to the others?”
”I don't know. A few minutes, I guess.”
”What happened when you found your friends?” Matt asked.
”I couldn't stop crying. And my legs ... they just collapsed. I felt so dirty, and I just couldn't get out what had happened.”
Matt walked toward the defense table. ”Had you ever seen Jack St. Bride before?”
”Yes.”
”When?”
She let her gaze slide over Jack, then fall to her lap like a stone. ”He worked in this diner in town. Every now and then, my friends and I went there.”
”Had you ever talked to him before?”
”Sometimes he'd come over to our table and start a conversation.”