`` a little mud-hen with an overgrown chick . '' my mother decided to come along and we packed a picnic lunch . sometimes we share in the hunt . she smiled and said , i am handy with a sword . `` he would n't be the first man to beat a girl as a child , then turn to sexual abuse as she grew older , '' biggs said . he hesitated before answering ; she could almost see the wheels turning . things were alive in that cell . 