Page 56 of Axton

She tilted her head and seemed very confused. “Excuse me? Did you just say you’ve had pelvic exams since you were a child?”

“Is that not normal?” All girls had to have it done until their wedding day.

“Absolutely not, only if the child is experiencing symptoms of disease. Most insurance companies won’t even pay for one until the woman is twenty two. What kind of doctor did you see?”

I shrugged. “It was a midwife, and I thought it was normal. A girls first menstruation was a sign from God that it was time to marry. She would be married within a year, so I guess I was the only one to have so many, but the girls had babies within a year of marriage.”

She crossed her arms in front of her. “What exactly were these midwives looking for in these exams?”

I shrugged. “Purity, I guess. I was never married and was saved for marriage to someone my father believed was meant to be my husband, but he hadn’t come to us yet.”

She blinked at me a few times. “Okay, umm…well…I don’t check for that, it’s not an exact science because the hymen changes with growth. I just want to know about your overall health. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

She asked some very personal questions, then did the exam. I wasn’t fond of the blood draw, then she addressed my wounds. She said I would have to return in about a week for some radiology to look at the bruise in my head.

Axton

“What?” There were six pairs of eyes blinking at me, but nobody was speaking.

“She was scared, that’s it.” I looked at Creed. “Thanks to your wife who puts Clark Griswold to shame, the apartment was too bright for her to sleep.”

Six sets of eyes continued to blink at me while we were supposed to be in our daily Originals meeting.

“Is she the first female to sleep in that house?” Drakos asked.

I turned to him. “Shut the fuck up.”

Creed was tapping his fingers on the table as he stared me down.

“Boys, layoff.” Bolton spoke up. “I was with them for the trip and Belle did find comfort in Axton. Honestly, I’m impressed, and I think if he keeps it up, we’ll have to take that framed photo down soon. He might lose his title of biggest asshole. He did greatwith her and I’m very proud of him, but let’s get into what we’ve found in the Ashford case before Koty arrives.”

“But he doesn’t like the nice girls.” Drakos said.

I turned to him again. “Shut the fuck up, little dick. Maybe we should have a little talk about calling any of us to remove dildos stuck up your ass and to untie you. Also, what the fuck were you thinking? Children touch that Santa suit. Fucking weirdo.”

Sasquatch rolled his eyes. “Creed made me buy a new suit and I don’t have a little dick. The Santa hat just made it appear that way.”

“Don’t even talk about it. Some things should be forgotten and never spoken of again.” Magnus gagged then shuttered.

I nodded. “I think I just figured out who really is the best friend at this table.” I knew they made Magnus take care of it. I looked at Irons. “You just lost your title as the nicest guy on Creed’s Lake.”

Irons smiled from ear to ear. “Totally worth it. I ignored the distress call, I knew better than to leave my nice warm bed for a call to the Drakos household.”

It was because his girlfriend stayed overnight. Wrenly was hot, so I couldn’t really blame him.

“So, what have we found?” Bolton again changed the subject.

Irons sat forward. “Henry Ashford has passed away, the clerk’s office had the filing of the will as soon as the death certificate was filed. You wouldn’t believe what his will said. The man was loaded, and when I say loaded, I mean extremely loaded. We were right about the land and the minerals, but they refused to allow any drilling. It seems the old man came from very old English money, I mean like related to some royals or some shit. The founder of the cult left London in 1870 and settled out west.Take a wild guess what I found in some old documents at the courthouse.” He waited for us to answer but nobody had a clue. “He doesn’t just own land here in the US. He owns ten acres of prime real estate in Monaco. That in itself is valued at a half a billion dollars.”

“No way.” I challenged him. “All that for just ten acres?”

“Yes, way. Monaco is only around five hundred acres in total and the land is limited. It’s on the French Riviera and highly sought after.”

“Damn, Creed’s Lake is bigger than an entire country?” Creed asked.

“Yes, its smaller than Creed’s Lake. You could fit Monaco in our lake alone. I had our resident genealogist do some research on the Ashford family. Patrick didn’t have DNA for any tests yet since the lab still have the siblings DNA, but he knew how to follow a family tree. The original Ashford was an only child and inherited quite a bit of money when his father died. There is a book written about lost heirs of Europe, and Ashford was mentioned. He was a recluse, then disappeared one day. He was known as a crazy man with strange ideas. He came to America with a fortune, and that’s how he attracted the first of his followers. He gave his most faithful followers young wives and money if they dedicated their lives to him. As time went on he reinforced his grip on these people by making up an entire religion. It made them fear sin, and never ask where money came from or where theirs went. His insane ideas and behavior made him an outcast in high society, so he created his own society. It evolved into the very large cult you see today.”

“This just keeps getting weirder and weirder.” Creed said. “First it was child wives and now we learn it was just one man with insane ideas that thought up an entire new religion?”

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