Catholic Guilt and the Joy of Hating Men Read Online Free

other door opened and another woman stepped in, maybe around twenty or so. She was dressed in breeches and boots.
    “What are you doing in here, missus?” she asked, looking at me. “You shouldn’t be in here alone. And why are you dressed like a rugger?”
    “I’m sorry?”
    “Hold on a tick... who are you?”
    I didn’t know what to say. About who I was, or why she was speaking like she was British with a New England accent.
    “Uh... who do you think I am?” I asked.
    “You’re not a boarder. Why the devil are you here?”
    “I was just leaving.”
    She started walking toward me. I wondered if I was going to have another mouth to punch.
    “Don’t be daft,” she said with a smile. “I’ve gotten all to cock in here sometimes. I’ll help you find your way back.”
    “Uh... thanks.”
    We walked together down the aisle, the men still paying no attention to me. They didn’t seem to notice her, either.
    “These blokes are on work release,” she said. “Minimum security and all that, but it’s still not a terribly smart idea to be in here by yourself.”
    “You were about to come in here by yourself.”
    “Oh, I can handle these lags. I know the tricks.”
    “Where are you from, anyway?”
    She smiled. “From right here. I’m trying to sound posh... you know?”
    “I guess.”
    She glared at me. “Well I didn’t ask for your opinion, did I?”
    “Sorry.”
    She opened the sliding door and led me into another well-lit hallway, but one without any horse stalls. The one wall was lined with a row of metal doors like self-storage units.
    We turned right and kept walking.
    “Are you a friend of Cadance’s?” the girl asked. She seemed friendly again.
    “Acquaintances,” I said.
    “I could see that.”
    We came to a final metal door that looked just like the others, except that it seemed like a push instead of a pull. The girl took out a key card out of her pocket and held it up to a small reader box. The door beeped and she pushed it open, and then we stepped out to a well-kept yardsite. There was a large two-story house that looked just like what you’d expect to see in the Vermont countryside, painted shutters on the windows and a perfectly arranged ring of red and blue flowers in painted white beds.
    “Is your car over there?” the girl asked.
    “Maybe...”
    “You’re good to go?”
    “I think so. Thanks a lot. I really appreciate it.”
    “No worries. I know what it’s like to be new around here.”
    I nodded as I kept moving toward the gravel parking lot.
    The girl smiled and turned back toward the stables.
    “What are you doing, Tiara?” a voice called out. The man with the duffel bag.
    “What’s wrong?” the girl said.
    “That girl there... she’s one of the new hires.”
    “New hires?” She looked back over to me. “Blimey. So that’s why she was in the back.”
    “My god you’re an idiot.”
    “Bugger off,” she said. And then she started running after me.
    I started to run, too; I was relieved to see that I was able to move quite a bit faster. I was out of the lot and up the road before she’d even cleared the parked cars.
    “You’ve got the controller, Gary,” she yelled. “Close the bloody gate!”
    I saw the gate as I rounded a bend in the road. And true to my luck, it was closing.
    I didn’t bother trying to speed up. It was closed long before I could have reached it, and the fence it sealed off was almost as high as the one in the back paddocks.
    I sat down on the grass and waited.
    Tiara and the man with the duffel bag arrived soon enough.
    “This is one of the new hires?” she asked.
    “Obviously.”
    “We’re using girls now? And why the hell isn’t she drugged?”
    “I already told Cadance. She’s immune.”
    “Bullocks."
    “Please stop saying that.”
    She jabbed a finger into his shoulder. “Don’t push me, Gary. I’m pretty sure you work for me.”
    “I work for your father, who works for Ms. Shannard.”
    “And she isn’t