The Rise of Rachel Stark (3 page)

A large whitetail buck deer suddenly darted
onto the road and into the path of the Galaxie. Sheldon hit the
brakes just as the 3,400-pound car slammed into the deer, which
weighed 250 pounds at most.

For a moment, the four did not know what had
happened. The loud crunch of metal colliding with living flesh
surprised them, but they did not know where the sound came from or
what it was.

Then time slowed down.

They watched as the deer rolled up and over
the hood. They shielded their faces as the animal slid up, but did
not break, the windshield. They heard the buck skid across the top
of the car before it fell spinning to the road. They hung on as the
car slid sideways and smacked into deep snow in the opposite side
ditch and wound up facing downhill. Then the motor stopped
running.

For a few moments, silence.

"Is everybody OK?" Sheldon asked. "Tabby, are
you OK?"

"Yes, I think so," she said. "Yes."

"We're OK back here," Bull said. "Right,
Jimmy?"

"Yeah, OK."

Sheldon took a deep breath and exhaled
loudly.

"Oh, god," he said. "That was close." He and
Tabby hugged.

"Let's get out and see what's what," Bull
said.

The snow on the passenger side of the car came
up to the bottom of the window, so Tabby and Jimmy had to crawl
over to the driver's side to get out. Even then, the snow was
nearly knee high.

Bull and Jimmy dragged the dead deer off to
the side of the road, leaving a trail of blood.

Sheldon looked at the back of the car, buried
in snow.

"That's why the engine stopped," he said. "The
exhaust pipe is plugged up." It was too dark to tell the extent of
damage to the front of the car, but Sheldon felt the broken glass
of the passenger side headlight.

"Where are we, exactly?" Bull
asked.

"My guess is about a mile, maybe less, from
the cemetery," Sheldon said. "That means we're about two miles from
the Stark place."

"Well, we're never going to get this car out
of the ditch. Not tonight anyway," Bull said.

"And we're wasting time talking about it,"
Jimmy said.

"What are you suggesting?" Sheldon
asked.

"C'mon, two miles," Jimmy said. "We can walk
this, run this. But we have to hurry. Let's go!"

"Tabby? Bull?" Sheldon said.

"Sure, why not?" Tabby said.

"Let's do it!" Bull said.

Sheldon looked at his Christmas present,
trapped and sitting cockeyed in deep snow in a ditch, brand new
only a few minutes ago, but as useless to the four of them now as
an old, dead clunker. He threw up his hands.

"What's Dad going to say?" he said to no
one.

Tabby gave him another hug.

"I'm sorry, Sheldon," she said.

The four were dressed for the winter, but as
they started walking up the road they knew they had two, maybe
three things, working against them: The uphill climb; the headwinds
that blew snow into their faces; and the odds.

Chapter Four

Celeste

A dark blue 1960 Chevrolet Bel Air crept down
the unplowed driveway leading to the single-wide trailer where
Benjamin and Holly Stark and their five children lived. The driver,
a 46-year-old woman, was having trouble following the tire tracks
that were rapidly being obscured by a heavy snowfall. She cursed in
the darkness, but finally arrived at the trailer.

She got out of the car, a medium-sized black
leather case in hand, and walked toward the trailer door, which was
illuminated by a bare light bulb protected from the elements by an
overhead tin cover Benjamin had fashioned.

Before she could knock, the door opened, and
Benjamin said, "Celeste?"

"Benjamin?" she said.

"Yes, come in," Benjamin said.

He held the door open for her as she entered.
They did not shake hands.

●●●

Did headlights from a car coming
down their driveway suddenly flash across the bedroom ceiling?
Rachel caught her breath.

Did she hear a car door
slam?

Did she hear Dad talking to
someone at the other end of the trailer?

She wasn't in East Tennessee
anymore. She was back in the real world, where her hands trembled,
and her body shook.

●●●

"Here, follow me," Benjamin said. He walked
through the kitchen and into the living room. He pointed to the
closed bedroom door.

"She's in there," he said.

"I'll talk to her later," Celeste said.
"Where's your wife?"

"In the bedroom with her," Benjamin
said.

"Call her out here," Celeste said. "We need to
talk."

Benjamin walked over to the bedroom door,
opened it and mumbled something. Holly came out.

"This is Celeste," Benjamin said. "This is my
wife, Holly."

Holly, thin, pale and red-eyed, as if she had
not slept for days, nodded.

"You said you had other kids. Where are they?"
Celeste asked.

"In the other bedroom, far end of the
trailer," Benjamin said, pointing.

"Are they locked in?" Celeste
asked.

"Can't lock that door," Benjamin said.
"They're with my son, Rodney. He's 16, and he has orders to keep
the kids in the room. You can trust him. He's a good
kid."

"Let's hope," Celeste said. Benjamin and Holly
sat down on the couch, Celeste on a wooden chair facing
them.

●●●

Rachel could hear the sounds of
conversation in the living room, just on the other side of the
bedroom door. She had an insane notion to step out into the room
and tell them to stop talking like that.

But she lay quietly in the bed
that she was conceived in all those years ago in that wonderful,
happy place called East Tennessee.

But now she was frozen with
something that went far beyond fear.

She could scarcely breathe. How
strange it is, she said to herself, to think that I am alive, that
I am here, by mere chance. That I might die in the exact spot that
my life began.

●●●

"First order of business," Celeste said. "I
need my money up front. One hundred dollars. Cash only, as you
know."

Benjamin cleared his throat. "How do I know
you won't take it and run?" he said.

"You don't," she said. "But the
only way you are going to get this business taken care of is to
give me the money
now
. Your choice."

Benjamin took a deep breath and sniffed. He
reached in his shirt pocket and pulled out a wad of
bills.

"I had to borrow this," he said. Celeste
shrugged. He handed her the money. She counted five $20 bills and
stuck them in her black case.

"OK. Now. This might sound like a strange
question, coming from me," Celeste said, "but why are you doing
this?"

"This?" Benjamin said.

"Why do you want your daughter to have an
abortion?" she said.

Benjamin stared at her for a
moment.

"I think that's for us to know and for you to
wonder about," he said.

"Fair enough," she said. "Now you do know that
abortion is illegal in Nebraska, right? That you're breaking the
law?"

"So are you."

"Touché. How old is your daughter?"

"Eighteen."

"What's her name?"

"Rachel."

"Does Rachel go to school?"

"She's a senior in high school."

"And she's on Christmas vacation right now,
right?"

"Right."

"Do you know who the father is?"

"She won't tell us."

"Was she raped?"

"So she says."

"Who raped her?"

"She won't say."

"Why not?"

"You'll have to ask her that."

"Maybe I will. Yes. How far along is
she?"

Benjamin turned to his wife.

"Six weeks. About six weeks," Holly said. Her
voice, like her body, was thin and pale.

"OK. Now," Celeste said, placing her hands on
her knees. "Do you have any questions for me?"

"Yeah," Benjamin said, "why are you asking us
all these questions?"

Celeste shrugged.

"Some of it I need to know, to do my job. The
rest, well, I'm a student of the human condition," she said. "I'm
always curious to know why people do what they do. It's kind of a
hobby of mine. I find it very interesting."

"What's your last name?" Benjamin
asked.

"You'll never know. You don't even know what
my first name is."

"Your name's not Celeste?"

"Of course not."

"And so you're not going to tell me where you
live, are you?"

"Of course not."

"Have you done this before?" Holly asked, her
voice quavering.

"Oh, yes, dozens of times."

"And have you, I mean, did the women, the
girls … did any … die?"

"Holly, no," Celeste said. "No, I have never
lost a client. It's true. I know what I'm doing. I have studied my
craft. I have been doing this for 14 years now. I am very
experienced and skillful. I am very careful. You don't have
anything to worry about, I assure you."

"What will you do to her?" Holly
asked.

"Well, I'm going to go over the procedure in
great detail with Rachel," Celeste said. "In fact, I'm going to
talk her through it. Let's wait till then so I don't have to go
over it twice."

"I want … I want to know now," Holly
said.

Benjamin put his hand on his wife's
shoulder.

"It's OK, Holly, we can – "

"I want to know now!" Holly screamed. "That's
my daughter in that room!"

"OK, OK." Celeste raised her hands. "Calm
down." She could hear Rachel's younger siblings crying for their
Mom in the other bedroom.

Benjamin got up and went into the
kitchen.

"Rodney, keep the kids quiet," he said through
the closed door. "Kids, it's OK. Mom is OK. You have to be quiet
now." He listened for a second, then went back into the living room
and sat down.

"Sorry," he said.

"Let's start over," Celeste said.
"Holly, I will give you the short version of what the procedure
involves. But first you have to understand this: Screaming does
nothing but get people, especially kids, very upset. And you
probably have gotten Rachel very upset as well. That makes it much
harder, maybe even impossible, for me to do the job you've hired me
to do. This is your first and last warning. If there is another
outburst like the one we just had, I will take the money you have
already given me, and I will leave. And you will get
nothing
for your money.
Understood?"

Holly nodded.

"Good," Celeste said. "Now. This is a very
simple procedure. In a nutshell, I am going to insert a very thin
device into Rachel's vagina, and very gently advance it until it
reaches the uterus. I then will insert the device into the uterus
and, to use a layman's term, break her water. It is possible at
that point that Rachel will abort immediately, and the tissue, that
is, the fetus, will be discharged. Usually, however, it is two or
three days before she loses the fetus. And that's all there is to
it. Very simple."

Silence.

"What is the device?" Holly asked.

Celeste took a deep breath.

"Well, it's not a coat hanger," Celeste said,
"if that's what you're afraid of. That is barbaric, and I have
never used one. I have found through years of practice that the
best and safest thing to use is a common, everyday knitting needle.
And I always sterilize it just before the procedure
begins.

"Now, unless you have any other questions, why
don't you introduce me to Rachel?"

Benjamin nodded. He got up and helped Holly to
her feet. They walked slowly to the bedroom door and opened it.
Benjamin poked his head into the room.

"Honey," he said, "the doctor is
here."

Benjamin turned on the overhead light. Celeste
walked through the door and set her bag on the floor by the side of
the bed.

"Good evening, Rachel," she said. "How are we
doing tonight?"

Rachel couldn't bring herself to say a word.
She was visibly shaking.

Celeste sat down on the edge of the bed. "My
name is Celeste," she said. "I'm going to take a few minutes and
tell you exactly what is going to happen here tonight. OK?" She put
her hand on Rachel's arm.

"You're frightened, aren't you?" Celeste said.
"That's OK. That's perfectly normal. You'll feel a lot better once
you hear what I have to say.