The Constabulary
Author's Note: I wrote this in middle school, and I only wrote this one chapter. It's not edited, but I wanted to share my little Constable Crabtree x OC. It is a very niche story, but very sweet.
“Inspector Brackenreid! May I speak to you for a moment?”
Elizabeth Eppley had just hastily bustled around the Toronto Constabulary in an attempt to meet with the head inspector. Despite her frivolous dress, and her obvious disturbance to the natural order of the constabulary, she managed to make it past many constables, and office workers alike. And now, there she was, behind the glass door, looking in at the very man she wished to speak to.
Brackenreid was seated at his desk finishing his daily paperwork. Hearing Elizabeth’s request, or more accurately her plea, he looked up from his case studies, only to see her insistent self looking in on him. Almost immediately, he was filled with the anger he had learned to associate with Elizabeth’s presence. He stood up from his desk, and came to the door where Elizabeth stood. Elizabeth went to grab for the doorknob, but Brackenreid had already beaten her to it. As the door swung open, Elizabeth offered Brackenreid one of her refreshing smiles to oppose his beet red face, displaying his anger. Brackenreid’s frustration certainly contrasted with her ever endearing charm.
“How many times have I told you, Miss Eppley? There are currently no female positions open within the constabulary! I thought at first the letter would explain that, but no! Then I sent the telegraph, and again, it apparently wasn’t made clear. And then finally, I thought that my personal visit to your residence would have drilled the blasted information into your skull, but again, to no avail! Now, I hate to be rude to you, Ms. Eppley, but if you don’t leave the constabulary like a respectable young woman, I’ll be sure to have one of my constables throw you out!”
“Oh, please, Inspector Brackenreid! I know that the ad in the paper only specified men, but I do not see why you think someone like myself is incapable of working in these offices. I feel that you are very backwards, perhaps hypocritical, in that you’ll have a female physician, yet no female secretarial positions to do paperwork, or filing. After all, stenography and secretarial work in itself is soon to become, and in fact becoming a primarily female position.”
“I’ll hear no more of it, Ms. Eppley.” Brackenreid proceeded to push past her into the adjoining hallway. He had more important things to do this afternoon, and frankly, he was hungry, and now, looking down at his pocket watch, he realized it was about lunchtime. However, Ms. Eppley was more hungry for opportunity.
Lifting up her skirts and attempting to keep up pace she said, “Inspector Brackenreid, I am a highly qualified individual. I am well educated, and very capable of meeting all your expectations. Haven’t you read any of the resumes I’ve sent?”
Inspector Brackenreid stopped in his path, shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath. He turned around to look at her. “I have, and I was very impressed, but I just can’t have you working at the Toronto Constabulary. I’m not putting into question your intelligence or your capability, Miss Eppley, it is just that I have been asked by my superiors to keep the office staff strictly male. The complaint is that a woman in an office regularly populated with men may distract them from their duties. As silly as it may sound, I must follow the rules and regulations set forth by my superiors. If you really want this job, you must take up your business with them.”
“But—”
“No, buts, and I’ll hear no more of this, Ms. Eppley. If you’re really set on finding employment, perhaps start somewhere simple, and more welcoming towards your sex.” Elizabeth’s jaw dropped, and seeing another backlash coming his way, Brackenreid turned away from Elizabeth, and called to the room across the hall.
“Crabtree!”
Immediately, a constable emerged from the room, approaching both Brackenreid and Elizabeth.
“Anything I can help you with, sir?”
Brackenreid nodded.
“Yes, Crabtree, please escort Miss Eppley out of the constabulary. See that she gets back home safely.”
“Yes, sir.”
Brackenreid began to make his way back to his office, but before he closed his door, he left Crabtree with some advice.
“Be careful, Crabtree. She’s a feisty one.”
Elizabeth then proceeded to furrow her brow, and in return, Brackenreid smiled and closed the door to his office leaving Elizabeth and Constable Crabtree in the hallway.
“Well, Miss Eppley! It seems that I am to escort you home.”
Elizabeth huffed. “I can escort myself, thank you very much.”
Picking up her skirts again she began to walk away from Constable Crabtree to the front entrance of the constabulary. Seeing her bustle her way towards the entrance, Constable Crabtree began to follow her.
“Now, Miss. I’ve been ordered to take you home. As much as I see that you are very capable of finding your own way around, I insist that you allow me to be your escort.”
Still pushing her way through the offices Elizabeth ignored him. She had gotten herself this far, and she could very well get herself home. However, as determined as she was, her skirt found itself victim to a typist’s desk. In an instant, the fabric snagged the desk’s legs, and dragged her down making her tumble face-first onto the wood flooring. All the men in the room, who earlier were too engrossed in their work to notice her, sprung to life and rushed to her assistance. However, Crabtree came to her aid first.
“Are you alright?”
Elizabeth looked up at Constable Crabtree. Initially, she had felt fine, but in the few seconds it took an entire office staff to come to her aid, she began to realize a searing, throbbing pain in her ankle. A tear slid down her face, “My ankle...”, she said.
All the men surrounded Elizabeth and attempted to grab her arms to help her. Crabtree, however, gently pushed them away saying, “Gentleman, while I'm sure she's grateful for all of your assistance, I can help her from here.”
Crabtree lowered to the floor putting his arms under her shoulders to help lift her up. “Put your weight on your other ankle. You don’t want to damage it anymore than it already is.” Helping her, he made a motion to the desk, suggesting Elizabeth to lean on it. While comfortably trying to find her balance, she was able to find a position that allowed her to stand on one foot while holding onto the constable.
Seeing that she had managed to situate herself, and was no longer in such an emotional state, he said calmly, “I’m going to take you Dr. Ogden’s office. She’ll know what to do about that ankle of yours.”
All the men in the office had slowly begun to return to their desks, but continued to stare at Elizabeth, causing her cheeks to turn a rosy red. Constable Crabtree, seeing her embarrassment, began to help her as she hopped along, using his body for support, towards the morgue, and what lay beyond, which of course was Dr. Ogden’s office. All the men’s heads followed her till she was no longer visible from their sights.
After all the confusion, Brackenreid once again emerged from his office, not knowing the incident that had just occurred. However, seeing that his staff was obviously distracted from their work, he belted,“Stop mucking about! Get back to work, lads!.”And surely enough, they returned to their duties, and he to his own.
Down the hallway, Constable Crabtree and Elizabeth had finally made it to Dr. Ogden’s office. Constable Crabtree extended his arms to knock on the office door. However, as he went to do it, Elizabeth had let out a screech. As he had gone to knock, he had apparently disturbed her balance making her step down on her injured ankle.
“Sorry, Miss Eppley. I didn’t mean to—”
However, before he could apologize, the door of Dr. Ogden’s office opened. However, it wasn’t Dr. Ogden, but rather Detective Murdoch. Murdoch’s eyebrows raised, and an overall look of confusion spread across his face as he looked at the disheveled, and seemingly frustrated woman clinging onto Constable Crabtree for dear life.
“Is there an issue, George?” he asked the constable.
“Is Dr. Ogden available?” Constable Crabtree asked hurriedly. Admittedly, Elizabeth was starting to weigh him down.
And as if by luck, from behind Constable Crabtree and Elizabeth, Dr. Ogden replies, “Yes, it would appear I am.”
Dr. Ogden had just returned to the constabulary after taking a light lunch at a local eatery. Upon arrival, she had seen that something had riled up the men in the offices, but she took it as just the excitement of it being the day before the weekend. However, coming upon this scene, she began to realize what might have happened.
When Julia came up behind the group from within the hall, it startled Elizabeth and again she let out a screech. This was partially from surprise, and also the fact that Constable Crabtree was losing his grip on her, and she fell slightly on her ankle yet again.
Dr. Ogden saw, and understood from the noise that the young lady emoted, not to mention George’s grip on the young woman, that she was suffering from some type of injury relating to her legs or her foot.
“George, help the young lady inside. If it’s broken, we need to stop the swelling,” said Dr. Ogden.
Detective Murdoch opened the door letting everyone through. George and the young lady nearly fell in, but Murdoch was careful to help George get them through the door.
“Put her on the examination table, George.”
George began to help her, but she shushed him away repeatedly, trying to make it clear she could do it herself. However, seeing the height of the examination table, and realizing she only had one working foot, she eventually gave in and allowed him to assist her.
As George helped her onto the table, Elizabeth said almost below a whisper,, “Thank you.”
After seeing she was as comfortable as she could be he said, “It’s been a pleasure, Miss Eppley.” Constable Crabtree gave her a smile, then turned his attention to Dr. Ogden. “I assume my help isn’t needed anymore, Dr. Ogden?” he asked.
“No, George, but thank you. Detective Murdoch and I can take it from here.” With that, Crabtree smiled, walked out of the office, and returned to his station with Constable Higgins. Dr. Ogden looked at Elizabeth.
“Now, let’s take a look at that foot of yours.” Coming over to the examination table, Dr.Ogden lifted up Elizabeth’s skirts mid-calf to look at her foot. Detective Murdoch turned away not wanting to embarrass Elizabeth by looking at her exposed legs. Dr. Ogden laughed under her breath at Murdoch’s gentlemanly notion.
Looking at Elizabeth’s legs, Dr. Ogden observed that it was the young lady’s right foot. It seemed that her ankle was slightly swollen. It hadn’t swelled up too much, considering that Elizabeth had not removed her shoes. They were exceptionally crucial to lessening the swelling. However, to properly care for the ankle, Dr. Ogden would have to remove the boot.
“Miss Eppley, is it?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “Yes, Elizabeth Eppley.”
“If you haven't figured it out, I'm Dr. Ogden.” Julia Ogden began to squeeze gently up and down Elizabeth’s leg. “May I ask you how you sustained this injury?” Dr. Ogden asked.
“My dress...it caught the leg of a desk and I fell.”
Dr. Ogden smiled. “Oh, these things happen, dear. Admittedly, I’ve had that happen many times while working at the constabulary, Now, I have to ask you? I will have to cut through your boot to properly diagnose your ailment, and possibly make a makeshift cast if there is a breakage. You see, this isn’t really a traditional doctor’s office, so I’m not equipped with everything I entirely need for a situation like this. You wouldn't mind, would you, if I were to cut your boot?”
Elizabeth nodded without hesitation. At that, Dr. Ogden began to walk towards her desk to grab her scissors, but Murdoch had already beat her to it. Opening the top drawer, he pulled the pair for Dr. Ogden.
“Do you think these will cut through the leather?” Murdoch asked Dr. Ogden.
Taking them she said, “I don’t see why not? Thank you, William.”
Walking back over to Elizabeth, she positioned her scissors so that she could cut down the leather, being careful to not cut Ms. Eppley's leg.
“That must have been quite a fall you took there”, Doctor Ogden said as she continued to work on the boots.
“Yes, it was, I suppose. I was in a bit of a rush to leave, after I had again made a fool of myself”. Elizabeth blushed in embarrassment and looked away, only to look suddenly into the face of Detective Murdoch and be embarrassed again.
Detective Murdoch coughed awkwardly. “Would you be more comfortable if I left Miss Eppley?”
“I really don’t mind, Detective. I’m under the impression you had some type of business with Doctor Ogden, and she is bound to have this stitched up, well not stitched up, but in a suitable condition within no time. I’d hate to have you leave, only to return in a moment's notice.”
Dr. Ogden smirked. “Yes, William, do stay awhile. I’ve just finished getting the boot off, I’ll see the problem, and have it solved in no time. Then, we can get to the bottom of why you were sneaking into my office.”
Detective Murdoch became both embarrassed and flustered. “I would like you to know, with all respect, Doctor Ogden, that I was not and had no intention to violate the privacy of your office. I was simply looking for the autopsy report of the Whitefield woman.”
“Yes, yes, I know you are not the deceitful or cunning type”, she said with a joking tone, “Now, back to the task at hand, Ms. Eppley, I am going to apply pressure to certain areas, and I would like to describe your pain level. Can you do that?”
“Yes, I believe I can…”
“Alright, brace yourself.”
Dr. Ogden began pressing Elizatbeth’s calves at first, lowering slowly towards her ankle. When Dr. Ogden began to press on the part of the ankle that meets the foot, Elizabeth began to feel some discomfort.
“It hurts there, I wouldn’t say it’s too terrible, however.”
Dr. Ogden nodded, “Now, can you wiggle your toes, maybe ever rotate your ankle a bit?”
Elizabeth began to wiggle her toes, and was able to rotate her ankle a bit, but it did hurt.
“Oh, well that’s certainly good,” said Dr. Ogden. “It’s just a sprain, I would say. I’ll just wrap it up in some cloth to keep it more stationary. From there, it's just about applying cold compresses, keeping it elevated, and of course, not walking on it. It will heal up in no time Ms. Eppley. Now, I do apologize we had to destroy your lovely boots for something as simple as a sprain.”
Elizabeth felt relieved, and her face lit up with a smile. “Oh, please, that is most certainly the least of my worries. I’m just so pleased to know that it is nothing too serious.”
Murdoch smiled as well. “Well, I can arrange for you to have someone take you home. I’ll leave you two here to finish things up, and I’ll have one of our constables to get a buggy ready to escort you to your residence.”
Elizabeth shook her head, “Oh, you need not bother. I’m sure I can get home myself.”
Dr. Ogden looked at Elizabeth earnestly. “I apologize for being frank, but Ms. Eppley, you really shouldn't be walking on that ankle. You must let it heal with time. Now, you and I, it seems, are very alike. We are both very independent women, or as men like to call it, stubborn,” with that, they shared a little laugh together, and Dr. Ogden continued, “Now, as your Doctor, and today, as your friend, I would ask you to take Detective Murdoch’s advice, and allow him to have someone take you home.”
Understanding Dr. Ogden’s concerns, Elizabeth agreed, and with that Murdoch went in search of a volunteer.
