Simon nodded, for her to continue. She told him how her mother had been diagnosed with leukemia when Mattie had been about eleven years old and had ...nded up in the hospice in question for the final few months of her life. Simon began to feel like a shit for asking. She went on, telling him how she’d had to look after her little brother when her father was at work, he worked in the shipbuilding industry on the Clyde, although he was retired now. It seemed that Mattie was also a shrewd. .. and more toxic than a room full of black cats, broken mirrors and ladders should you cross her path.Everyone had heard rumors of her; some said that Carole was the ‘conscience of Christmas’ but other folks were equally certain that she was really the implacable Italian patent leather steel-toed pointed boot of holiday karma that you didn’t want within twelve postal codes of your ass.This situation just oozed Kringle clan politics from within Christmas Castle, undoubtedly something far too. I’m sure you are wondering what that work is. Have you had sex?” Valqua looked towards the floor as she nodded, not yet daring to speak. Ilya asked, “Tell me about it. Do not be ashamed. I probably had similar experiences.”Valqua spoke shyly about being raped and exchanging the opening of her legs for food and shelter. Ilya nodded as she listened.“As I said, that happened to me as well. We were fortunate that our poor nutrition helped keep us from getting with child. Now that you are eating. If you want to terrorize someone do it in the middle of the night. Everything seems more dangerous in the middle of the night. But I only had the old man's word that this Peace was leaning on the women of the mission for some reason. I needed to satisfy myself that it was true, then do something to solve the problem, without bringing too much shit down on the mission. They did good work, even if it was making the Preacher rich in the process. It was more cop work than ops work, which the farm.