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#Post#: 2250--------------------------------------------------
A Proper Lady (The Complete Opposite Of)
By: Kiera Pearson Date: July 1, 2013, 12:05 am
---------------------------------------------------------
"Sit straighter!" Came the whispered rebuke from Felicia
Littlefield and Laura had no option but to oblige. Shifting
slightly to make the change in her posture a subtle as possible,
Laura thanked her mother for arranging the seating plan for her
first meeting with her betrothed. She knew she should be
excited- she was 16, well above the traditional age of
betrothal- but something in her heart was saddened a little by
the fact that she was to be married off to a man she scarcely
knew to be his wife and to bare his children.
Lost in her thoughts, Laura failed to notice that her perfect
grip on her teacup was failing, and the small porcelain cup was
shaking violently to the point where it was spilling over the
sides and spilling on to her dress and table. The withering look
from her mother finally made her notice. Laura looked down in
shame- her mother's withering look was enough to make a grown
man shrink away with his tail between his legs, so to speak, but
Laura had so often received this look from her mother that she
could barely remember another.
"Excuse me, father, mother, Mr Ellis, I do seem to have spilt my
tea." Her father obliged, Mr Eliis (the man she was due to marry
is three weeks time) smiled kindly and nodded, her mother sent
her a look that said "better, but not good enough." Thanking the
occupants of the table, Laura left, thanking The Lord for the
invention of carpet as she pushed her chair back, not making a
sound on the soft surface. It would have been a sunny day if the
industrial revolution wasn't at its peak. Smog clouded the
airship filled skies, tainting all the air on the ground. Yet
the windows of the grand tea shop were open and the gauzy
curtains blew about in the spring breeze. Making her way to the
powder room, Laura focused her mind on not tripping up, falling
over, walking in to another table, walking in to a waiter or
causing a scene that would make a reporter a little bit richer.
In her focused state, she forgot where the powder room was, or
rather, she knew exactly where it was, just not in relation to
her current location. 'Blast it' she thought, not daring to
speak aloud in case her mother was in close proximity and Laura
just couldn't see her. Her current predicament perplexed Laura-
she knew exactly where was ordinarily. 'Don't lie to yourself,
you're hardly ever on this planet to know where your feet are
going!' Came the harsh voice of her conscience, sounding oddly
like her mother; hurtful but right.
Laura took in her surroundings- she was at the back of tearoom,
guessing by the lack of people and worn patches of carpet. This
meant that to get to the powered room, she needn't go far. She
found narrower section of the tearoom which widened at one end.
Going through it she realised that instead of going through to
powder room door, she'd in fact just missed it in her deep
thinking. Slipping through the door, she found a cushioned seat
and plonked her self down. Today, Laura decided, was going to be
a rather long day.
Returning, Laura made her way back to the table with a slight
semblance of grace, if it weren't for the people around her
dodging her and her blinkered vision. Sitting down she
apologised for taking so long, her mother went to make a pointed
remark, as did her father but words that received Laura back to
the table were from Mr Ellis: "It is forgotten, Miss
Littlefield, do have another slice." His smile was wide but with
no teeth peaking out, as he slid a piece of the cake that Laura
had been longing for another taste of for so long, but couldn't
as not to look greedy before her husband to be.
"Thank you Mr Ellis, you are too kind." She politely started to
eat the slice of sponge without devouring it in three bites as
she wanted to. Silently she thought that her parents could have
done so much worse when finding a man to burden him with her- he
was polite, he was charming, he was only 7 years older than
herself (considering that she overheard her parents discussing
marrying her off to 40 year old business man when she was 15)
(She wasn't eves dropping though- that'd be wrong) (honestly)
(most defiantly not) (ok, she was- just drop it!)
Time and conversation began its usual river flow straight over
Laura's head as she finished her cake. Thankfully, the others
who were seated were not staring at her in wait of and answer,
but were in fact only just starting to address her.
“Mr, Mrs and Miss Littlefield, I bid you all good day. This
afternoon tea has been most delightful and I hope to repeat this
at the some point in the near future.”
“Thank you Mr Ellis, you are too kind,” came the deep voice of
her father. The man she was supposed to marry walked away from
the table, leaving the Littlefield family members to themselves.
Once home, the elder Littlefield’s rounded on Laura “Why were
you so long going to the powder room” “How did you manage to
spill so much tea on yourself in the first place” “Did you like
him” “Why were you slouching- Proper ladies never slouch!” “I
saw the way that server looked at you, and you looked back- you
know that isn't in anyway going to help us seal this arrangement
with Mr Ellis.” “You did well not to fall over on the way up the
steps into tea room- that would have been a total
embarrassment.” Laura stepped back a blinked several times.
“Excuse me; I didn't hear any of those questions as full
sentences. Would you be so kind as to repeat them slowly in a
fashion that I have a higher chance of understanding, please.”
Her parents looked at each other and exchanged a look that Laura
knew all to well- it was the ‘She’s never going to survive’
look. The one they shared during her first dance lesson, and her
second, and third and still share if the can bring themselves to
watch any more, and when she started speaking, and when she
started wanting to go outside and play in the mud. Laura was
used to it- she was a disappointment. She had successfully
managed to get every possible suitor to all but run away,
screaming in terror. All but Mr Ellis that is; he was nice, kind
charming and everything Laura wasn't. He was tall against her 5’
6’’ frame. He had straight hair of a fair blonde colour, while
Laura had a mass of curly black hair tumbling down her back. He
was cool and collected; Laura was skittish and clumsy. He made
up for all the parts she lacked, but she made up for the fact he
had no personality. He was all ‘please and thank you’s but no
motivation, no drive no soul. He did what he was told perfectly,
which what was made Laura anxious about her up and coming
wedding; he had no visible faults, she was a mess of society
outcast.
Laura lay awake that night, disgruntled. She had to marry Mr
Ellis, there was no question, but her parent’s choosing had
always been too stuffy and uptight for her. His name was
Benjamin, of all the things to be called, he had to have the
same name as the cat she secretly adopted as a girl. Her
parents’ had truly scalded her for indulging in such frivolities
at the time, but in her heart, she still held a place for the
scraggy alley cat. But L that wasn't the most of Laura’s
worries- she was to be wed in three week- three weeks. She was
seventeen in three months and she was to be wed in three weeks.
The number three swirled around Laura’s thoughts as she tried in
vain to drift off into sleep. Another thought that entered her
sleep-dazed consciousness was that she was expected to become a
parent. Her, Laura Littlefield, as a parent, raising children
while her husband did who knows what, earning money to feed the
family- the thought scared Laura no end.
It was early morning before sleep overtook her, a darkness
darker than the night ebbed at her vision before Laura was
finally asleep. Not five minutes after the temporary darkness
claimed her, did a more permanent one come upon Mr Benjamin
Ellis.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yay waking up at 4AM for no apparent reason!
I won't get much more than this done to day as I actually have
stuff todo (I do nothing for a month then BAM! Everything in a
week! Oh well, Enjoy :)
Comments go here
HTML http://thechroniclesofbournemout.createaforum.com/nanowrimo-discussions/a-proper-lady-disscusion-thread/msg2251/?topicseen#new<br
/>please :)
#Post#: 2414--------------------------------------------------
Re: A Proper Lady (The Complete Opposite Of)
By: Kiera Pearson Date: July 3, 2013, 6:09 am
---------------------------------------------------------
“Wake up miss!” came the gentle voice of Emily, the fourteen
year old daughter of the cook, rousing Laura from her slumber.
“Merr?” Came the intelligent and coherent reply from teenage
Littlefield.
“Miss, you’re requested in the parlour at once!”
“At once? Emily, I'm in bed!”
“I may be poor miss, but that doesn't make me unobservant.
Shall I request you time to get dressed?” Now sat up, Laura
nodded.
“Thanks Emily, I am very much indebted to you.”
“You bet, Miss Laura.”
“Go and do my requesting before my parents get anxious.” Emily
hurried out the room, a faint smile on her face. Laura fell out
of bed in a hurry; in case her parents decided she was not to
have time to make herself semi-presentable. She grabbed the
nearest front lacing corset and threw it over her nightdress,
not planning to have enough time to remove it. She fumbled with
the laces before grabbing a petticoat and shoving it on over her
nightdress. Laura scanned her wardrobe, looking for the most
plain, simple and relatively easy dress to put on, but had a
high enough neck to cover her unconventional undergarments. A
red one (oh, how that colour stalked her) seemed to be the best
choice. Unbuttoning the front, Laura hastily shoved on the
garment as she heard footstep coming- the light tread of Emily!
Thrusting her arms through the sleeves, Laura’s mass of curls
popped through the neck as Emily walked in.
“Wow, Laura, I've never seen you get dressed so fast with
falling over!” The younger girl laughed.
“What’s the verdict?” Laura asked, slightly breathless as she
did the buttons as fast as she could.
“I have enough time to flick your hair up- just.” Emily made
her way across the room towards Laura, turned the girl, still
fiddling with the small buttons of the dress, so she could
attack the mass of hair. Grabbing a ribbon from her own dirty
blonde hair, Emily placed the unruly curls in a ponytail, before
taking a large clip and pinning up Laura’s hair in an elegant,
yet simple fashion.
“How do I look?” Laura faced the only girl she could really
call a friend.
“Like Laura Littlefield, only daughter of John Littlefield and
his wife, a true lady of the higher middle class, lower upper
class border.” Laura raised an eyebrow at the long-winded
description but shook her head and smiled anyway.
“Thanks, Em.”
“Hurry up, miss, they’re expecting you!” It wasn't until Laura
was running down the stairs that she wondered why her parents
wanted to see her, and in the parlour of all places. Reaching
the door, Laura stopped, took a deep breath then knocked
politely.
“Enter.” Came the stern voice of her father. Upon opening the
door, Laura saw immediately that something was wrong- her Mother
and father were sat next to each other on the day bed, both with
backs that were ram-rod straight. On the other seat was a man
Laura recognised as the chief constable of Scotland Yard.
“Father, mother, constable, to what do I own the pleasure?”
“Laura, sit down.” Her father’s tone was terse- something that
rarely tainted his usually jovial voice. As Laura took her place
next to her mother, The Constable stood up.
“Last night, 4 hours after midnight, we were alerted that there
had been a murder. None other than Mr Benjamin Ellis was the
victim,” Laura’s eyes widened- Mr Ellis was dead- the thought
couldn't process before he moved on, “witnesses state that
around 2 hours earlier, a woman was seen, hiding a variety of
weapons in her skirts before disappearing. Others say they saw
her jumping out of a window of the Ellis household around half
an hour later. Ordinarily, we would dismiss such ludicrous
sightings; however, they all say the woman had curly hair.
Though the colour was unknown, we are led to believe that the
sighted woman was you, Miss Littlefield,” turning to face her,
his eyes ablaze with the accusation. “You are not unknown for
not following convention, Miss Littlefield, and at first I was
sceptical, being a friend of your father’s. However, answering
your call down to the parlour late, and with clear signs that
last night you did not do much sleeping, I'm afraid I have no
choice but to put you at the top of our suspect list, seeing as
we have no other leads. I will give you two days to gather
evidence, but that’s as long as I can give you, I'm afraid. Good
luck, Miss Littlefield, I believe you will be needing it.”
[hr]
Ok, so for this post I got rid of all the strikeout words that
aren't relevant to the story but are counting for my words
count, before you freak out about my word count. I've also
written the ending, which is another reason for my strangely
hight word count.
You know the drill- comments go here
HTML http://thechroniclesofbournemout.createaforum.com/nanowrimo-discussions/a-proper-lady-disscusion-thread/msg2251/?topicseen#new<br
/>:)
#Post#: 2451--------------------------------------------------
Re: A Proper Lady (The Complete Opposite Of)
By: Kiera Pearson Date: July 4, 2013, 4:19 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[center]Chapter 3- Something Completely Ridiculous[/center]
Half an hour later, Laura was still in shock. “He’s dead? Mr
Ellis is… dead?”
“Darling, we know this is a shock but we need to be focusing
our efforts into proving your innocence.” For the first time
that Laura could remember, her mother was showing compassion. He
father stood by the mantle piece, the picture of a worried man-
brow creased, lips pursed, finger tapping thoughtfully on his
cigar, left foot tapping impatiently on the floor.
“I don’t see how that was possible, unless we find witnesses
that say that it defiantly was not Laura who jumped out the
building at that hour. All the evidence is shaky, but there is
not much else to go on.”
“Not much else? There is nothing, Father! There’s no way I can
escape the noose with so little time and so little evidence. I
might as hand myself in now seeing as we don’t have the time or
resources to prove I didn’t do it.”
“Quiet, both of you! It’ll do you no good to talk in such a
negative manner! We all know that Laura did not commit the
crime, but we do not know who did. Our best guess is to talk to
the witnesses and find any holes we can exploit or any evidence
that it wasn’t Laura, such as dress style or the build of the
woman.”
“I’ll find them and arrange some meetings for tomorrow. In the
meantime, Laura, darling, please don’t do anything completely
ridiculous such as run off, as that would only make matters
worse.” And that’s when inspiration struck.
“You cannot tell anyone, Emily, not ever,” the younger girl did
not protest as she helped Laura pack a small bag, “I would love
to take you with me, but if they found me, they’d take you too
and I can’t let that happen.”
“I understand that Miss, but why are you running? Didn’t your
papa tell you precisely not to do that?”
“Emily, please, call me Laura- I need a friend, not a servant
and how do you know about that?”
“The rest of the servants love gossip and I’m the only small
enough to fit in the dumb waiter shaft and the only one who can
understand what’s happening on the other side out of the one who
can fit.”
“Can you do me a favour? Write down everything interesting that
happens and when our paths cross again, because I will do
everything I can so that they do, we can swap adventures.”
“My writing’s a bit limited, I don’t think I’ll be able to
write everything.”
“Birdie Tetterby would love to teach you and learn all the
gossip at the same time. Best thing is, she doesn’t pass on any
gossip that anyone will believe.”
“Ok, I’ll do that, mis- I mean Laura.” Laura smiled at Emily.
There was no doubt that she would miss the chipper girl that
woke her up every morning. Suddenly realising what she was about
to do, Laura pulled Emily into hug.
“I’ll miss you, you know that?”
“If the amount of air you are current depriving me is any
indicator, you’ll miss quite a bit.” Came the slightly pained
reply, and realising that she was suffocating the poor girl,
Laura let go. “Come on, you need to leave before anyone finds
out what you’re planning.”
The night was dark and cold. The night was overcast but no rain
drops fell. A cab waited outside the servant’s entrance of the
Littlefield’s town house. Emily went to lift up Laura’s bag, but
the older girl took it herself. Dressed in a simple dress with
none of the fussy detail that Laura found so hard to do herself,
she climbed aboard. The two girls looked at each other and
exchanged a brief and curt nod, before the cab man urged the
horses onward. Only then did it start to drizzle and only then
did Laura start to cry.
[hr]
Ok, so again, more strikeout words that have been edited out of
this version to make reading easier and I have chapters- I've
edited the other posts so that they are chapters- I know they're
really short Rita, just get over yourself for once
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find ways to cover this
humongous bruise
You know the drill- comments go here
HTML http://thechroniclesofbournemout.createaforum.com/nanowrimo-discussions/a-proper-lady-disscusion-thread/msg2251/?topicseen#new<br
/>:P
#Post#: 2544--------------------------------------------------
Re: A Proper Lady (The Complete Opposite Of)
By: Kiera Pearson Date: July 6, 2013, 4:56 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[center]Chapter 4- Plans and Lack thereof[/center]
Though the cab jostled and rocked, Laura fell soundly asleep
until a rough stop that threw her from her seat. The horses
bristled as they were forced to stop. Laura picked herself up
off the floor and brushed any dust or dirt that attached itself
to her dress during her brief time on the floor. While she was
doing this, the cab door was opened. The cabbie was a slender
man with a mess of curly, red hair. “Here’s ya stop, Missy!” he
seemed overly bright for being called out at such a time in the
morning. He helped Laura down the steps when Laura looked about.
“Excuse me but where are we?” As far as Lara could see, she was
in a field just before a large forest; the field was littered
with cabs, slightly larger than the one she had just travelled
in. A wisp of smoke rose above them all.
“Ah, I see Emsy didn’t tell ya where you’re going, no? Well,
you are now the newest recruit of a ragtag band of gypsy
travellers who are looking for a circus for no obvious reason!”
Laura blinked.
“I beg your pardon, bit you just told me I’ve just joined a
group of gypsies who are looking for a circus for no reason.”
“No obvious reason, keep up!” The red head had a Gaelic lilt to
his voice that Laura could not quite place having not been
around anyone from further afield. Laura took a few seconds to
process what he had just said, but it that time he had already
bounded off, to the front of the cab and was driving it towards
the fire.
“Excuse me?! You drop me off here and then drive off, when
clearly, I am meant to be over there, not here! I’d ask if you
were raised in a barn, but I don’t think that they fit on the
back of a wagon.” The ginger locks popped out the side of the
cab as the cabbie peered at her.
“I beg your pardon, but you’ve seemed to have already had the
gist of the gypsy way of speaking.” Laura raised an eyebrow in
question, “insulting and condescending. Well that’s how they
speak to me at any rate! Hop on, you’ve earned ya way in!”
“That was obligatory test?”
“Nah, just made it up!”
“You are a nightmare to have a normal and decent conversation
with.”
“I’m nightmare when it comes to anything normal, love, Jack’s
the name, but most call me Jackie.” He thrust out his hand,
which Laura took to shake, but instead he yanked her arm and
pulled her up next to him. Laura screamed a small squeak.
“Careful, Ruby, these travelling folk ain’t as nice as me this
time in the morning!” He smiled an enormous grin, and that’s
when Laura deemed Jack semi-tolerable.
They were silent on their way over the circled caravans. On
arrival, Jack jumped down swiftly leaving Laura to find her own
way down. This consisted of what was originally sliding which
turned slipping then falling on the earthy ground in an ungainly
heap of human and dress. Jack spared a glance in her direction
as he unbridled the horses and led them to others.
“And they thought you managed a jump down out a window on the
second floor of a town ‘ouse? London’s getting stupider every
day. I reckon it’s that smog they keep breathing in, messin’
with their ‘eads.” He offered his had again, and Laura (with the
memory of last time fresh in her mind) gingerly took it. He
pulled her up, but not without Laura fearing that he would pull
her arm out her shoulder socket. The first light of dawn was
peeking over the trees, Laura calculated that, due to the
season, it was now about half four in the morning. Jack led her
to a caravan that looked, in silhouette, the same as all the
others, but as the dawn’s rays hit the side, it illuminated an
intricate design, flowering from the wheels of the caravan. Jack
went to know on the painted door when it burst open and a
striking blonde woman strode out, ringing a bell as loud as she
could.
“WAKE UP YOU LAZY LOT! THE SUN IS UP AND SO SHOULD YOU! COME
ON, UP, UP, UP!” Jack nursed his sore nose as the blonde woman
continued around the camp.
“What was that?”
“mmat mas mmr esmeemed meamer Mesmer.”
“I beg your pardon, Mr Jack, but the blood coming from your
nose is stopping anything coherent coming from your mouth. Could
you please tell me once you’ve recovered?”
“mmmumm.” Jack nodded the affirmative. Laura subconsciously
noted that the ringing had stopped and the at the blonde woman
was making her way back to the painted caravan.
“Jack, who is the stray you’ve brought back this time? I’m
guessing she’s not a conquest seeing as you’re outside my
caravan, unless she’s pregnant- Jack you did NOT get a girl
pregnant!”
“mmeally?”
“Speak properly, freak.”
“Umm, excuse me, miss, but I’m not with child and he hasn’t,”
Laura coughed awkwardly, “you know…” Laura trailed off, treading
into dangerous territory.
“You had to bring home an awkward one, didn’t you?” Jack was
now recovering from the flow of blood, though his nose now
looked misshapen.
“I owed Emily a favour and this is me paying her back.” The
woman (who Laura still didn’t know the name of) gave Jack a
stern glare while Laura was shocked,
“You know Emily?” His casual mention of ger earlier came back
to her.
“Yes, I do know Emily, I owed her for a favour she did me last
year. Boy, she knows her way round high society for someone who
ain’t part of it. She also is one heck of a seamstress when she
wants to be.” Laura was even more confused- her servant girl
turned best friend was helping a gypsy man.
“Let me get this straight, you have brought home this girl,”
she pointed at Laura, “as pay back for a favour for another girl
who this girl knows?”
“Pretty much.”
“And what can Ruby here do to help us?”
“My name isn’t Ruby, it’s-“
“I don’t really care what your name is, sweetheart, I wanna
know what you can do.”
“Urrr…”
“Sword fight?”
“No.”
“Fistfight?”
“No.”
“Shoot?”
“No.” Laura felt more and more helpless as the list went on.
“Why is she here?” She turned to Jack.
“She’s here, Ester, because if she stays in London, she’s gonna
have a noose round her neck for no reason other than the feller
she was gonna marry got his throat slit and they’re blamin’ her
for it when she can barely tell which end of the knife to use
and contrary to popular belief, I do in fact have some heart!”
Ester (Laura hoped this was her name, but Jack called her it, so
she wasn’t entirely sure) looked at Jack then to Laura then back
again, her face unreadable. She finally settled on the ground
near Laura’s feet.
“Did you love him?” Laura was again, shocked. This woman had
gone from full out assault on her to asking her if she loved Mr
Ellis. The question itself stumped Laura- she was to marry
Benjamin, yes but did she love him?
“I… I had to marry him; it was my duty as a good daughter.
Whether I loved him or not was of no consequence. He was the
only suitor that had asked my parents if he could marry me, not
the other way round. It was more shock than heartbreak when he
died,” the epiphany dawned on Laura- he probably loved her, but
she didn’t love him, “no, I didn’t love Mr Ellis. I loved my
parents and from that I respected their decision.”
“What can you do?” Ester’s voice seem to be lacking the fire it
did before- like all the life had been snatched out of her and
extinguished.
“I can play the flute and I can read.” Ester perked up.
“Can you read maps?”
“Yes, I can, but my parents don’t know that.”
“Welcome aboard, Laura, the new cartographer of our fine group
of travellers!”
[hr]
Nope, I didn't see the cartography thing coming either. Anyway,
I hope to hit 10K by the end of the day and I have no idea how
far I need to go to get there. Comments go here
HTML http://thechroniclesofbournemout.createaforum.com/nanowrimo-discussions/a-proper-lady-disscusion-thread/msg2251/?topicseen#new<br
/>please :)
#Post#: 2740--------------------------------------------------
Re: A Proper Lady (The Complete Opposite Of)
By: Kiera Pearson Date: July 8, 2013, 7:35 am
---------------------------------------------------------
That day was a busy day in the gypsy caravan. Today was the day
they moved from London (well, a field near London) and on to
Southampton. They were to stop in Winchester that night, if
Laura’s calculations and Ester’s information were correct.
They’d spent about 30 minutes trying to figure out the best
route, seeing as they had to leave early, so all their
calculations had been rushed. Not like Ester cared, or the
writer, as she wants to get as many words as possible and get
this thing actually going! Moving on…
Laura had been given a horse to ride on the journeys.
“Her name’s Scarlett, she’s stubborn as anything and hates
people” (wow, this sounds like me)
“Why are you giving me, the clumsiest person to walk the planet
the horse that hates people and is a stubborn as anything.”
“It’s that or walking. Or riding on the back of Jack’s horse,
but he rides like bandit escaping a crime scene.”
“I’ll keep Scarlett.”
They journeyed onwards in a group. around nine o'clock another
horse back rider drew along side Laura.
"Hello, miss, I am Johnny, Johnny Jellyby. Pleasure to make
your acquaintance, Miss Littlefield." Laura looked at this man
as if he'd just spoken a mix of German, Spanish and Italian,
then quickly recovered- Laura had found a gentleman! The thought
surprised her- a gentleman gypsy.
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance also, Mr Jellyby,
how do you do?"
"I am fine, yourself?"
"Quite surprised, actually. You seem to have a completely set
of manners from the other's I've been introduced to." he seemed
to ponder these words before replying.
"I believe that no matter your upbringing or your circumstances,
one should always uphold good manners."
"That's rather noble of you."
"I'm the one who goes to distract the shop keeper while someone
else robs them. I catch the thief, collect a nice reward, go to
hand them in but instead bring it all back here. I like to stay
in character."
"Oh." Not a gentleman, definitely not a gentleman.
They stopped briefly for lunch before reaching Winchester. They
reached their destination about four o clock in the afternoon.
They set up camp and Ester called a gathering.
"Alright you lot, you know the drill- Johnny and I are going to
get food, Doctor, do you need anything?" A middle aged man leant
against a caravan replied,
"I have a list of herbs I need picking and a few more bandages
but that would be all, my esteemed leader."
"Ok, Jack, you're picking flowers with Ella and Gordon and,"
she trailed off as she scanned the gathered crowd, "Laura,
you're coming to buy bandages- go see Dr Nupkins over there and
find out what you need. If you have any questions, I'm ignoring
them. Dismissed." As the crowd went back to what they were
doing, Laura weaved her way through them to the man she saw
earlier replying to Ester's call of Doctor. When she got to the
spot he was in earlier, she couldn't see him. Laura harrumphed.
"SO you're the cartographer?," Laura jumped a mile and her
heart rate sky rocketed [s]for[/s] as she turned around to come
face to face with Dr Nupkins. "You're gonna buy the supplies as
well thought, you've done well so far, Laura."
"Errr..." Laura was lost for words 1) How did EVERYONE know her
name?! 2) This man disappeared then came back as if he slipped
into another world and returned again and 3) she didn't have an
answer for him any way.
"I am the medical official of this caravan, in case you hadn't
figured that out already and those who travel in it are
incredibly accident prone, apparently and they've drained my
medical supplies," his voice was quiet and monotonous in a way
that was calming yet incredibly creepy at the same time, "here
is a list of what I need and here is some money to pay for them.
I may be a gypsy, but I do like to stay within the boundaries of
the law if possible."
"errrm... ok?" The fact that this man tried to stay within the
law did nothing to settle Laura's Jagged nerves around this man
and she silently vowed to avoid him at all costs, even if she
was bleeding to death. Well, maybe not to that extreme, but near
enough.
"I seem to be scaring you," the man thoughtfully inflected, "in
that case, I shall leave you be. Good day, miss Littlefield." He
tipped his hat and stalked away, leaving Laura shaken- this man
was without a doubt a villain, she just couldn't figure out how
yet.
"You coming, Ruby?" Jack's harsh accent broke through her
revere.
"Ruby isn't, Laura is though." Laura smirked, but her face
slowly fell into one of shock did it only take less than a full
24 hours for her to lose the carefully constructed social
restraints and stoop to the level of those she was with?
"Come on then!" He didn't seemed to have noticed the look of
shock on her face, so Laura quickly grabbed her skirts and
jumped upon Scarlett and spurred her. She didn't move."Move it."
After a long day, Laura did not want to be arguing with this
horse, yet the horse, for some reason unknown to Laura would not
yield. (Not the stabbing someone in the face yield, proper
yield.) Jack came up to her upon is horse.
"Having trouble there, Rubes?"
"Is there any possibility that, perhaps, Scarlett here is an
unbroken stallion- 'cause she sure does seem like it."
"Aww, Scarlett's lovely,, even though she's as stubborn as a
b-" Laura shot Jack a glare that rivalled her mother's,
"boulder. Who taught you to glare like that? It's so terrifying
I forgot it was you!"
"My mother, now get this horse moving or I'll glare at you."
"Glare at me? Oooooooo I'm so scared- Ruby's gonna GLARE at
me!"
"Ok I admit it wasn't my bes- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" Jack hit
the horse on it's flank and she rocketed forward. 'If it weren't
for the time issues,' Laura thought as she flew forward on horse
past Johnny and Ester, 'I would be walking.'[font=Verdana]
[/font]
Once in town, the small group dismounted their horses and
hitched them up.
"Laura, do you know what you're doing?"
"Near enough- but what if there's wanted posters? What if
someone sees me? What if some one asks me about why I'm alone
and I'm not normally down here?" Laura started hyperventilating
while Ester just sighed at Laura's ridiculous over thinking.
"If you get spotted, deal with it-"
"HOW?!"
"Easy, scream like a banshee then kick them- go for the shins."
"How do you know-"
"You don't want to ask that question. Anyway, if anyone's
nosey, treat em like their Jack's kind."
"Jack's kind?" "Scum bags and freaks that you have to tolerate.
You're Ruby Baker and you're daddy works on the airships. You
live up there too and you're passing through and need some
medical stuff cause you're mummy's the nurse or something like
that- they'll eat it right up."
"They will?"
"Yeah, they will," Ester seemed to have taken a more serious
tone, or one that was slightly lost in time, as if she was
struggling not to be taken over by memories of the past, "now
scram girly!" And normal Ester the all powerful, fearless leader
was back.
Laura weaved her way through the crowds at the market. While
London was filled will factories and high streets, this small,
virtually unheard of part of Winchester was full of market
stalls. There was a glass tube connecting them all, brass
fittings at all the corners. Small brass tubes attached
themselves to the system at seemingly random points. Laura
didn't know where to look everything was moving so fast. The
noise was deafening as every body tried to get the best deal for
whatever they were trying to buy or sell.
"Excuse, sir?" Laura asked a nearby stall holder who had no one
in front of his store- chm to his chagrin.
"What d'ya want, lassie? Can;t you see I'm, tryin' to sell
stuff here? If you ain't gonna give me money for me wares, ged
outta here!"
"I'll pay for anything on this list," Laura lent over and
handed him the parchment. His eyes quickly scanned the scrawl
before returning to her.
"Sorry lass, you wanna try down under if you want any of this
stuff, but be careful who you show it to- the cops don't want
anyone to have anything the need for their new airship army, but
you didn't 'ear that 'ere, did ya love?"
"Down under? I ain't going to Australia just for some errand!"
"You ain't from round 'ere, are ya love? I pity, ya, I really
do but when we say down under, we mean the market underneath the
ground in an ol' wear'ouse. Dead nifty, ya see as no one knows
we're down there unless they wanna keep it secret. Even the
coppers go down there every now and then for some stuff that the
should be bannin'. That in mind, not all of 'em do and some go
down there to look for crooks who frequent that place. Keep ya'
wits about ya. I'll send this down to ol' Frankie an' let 'im
know ya comin." the stall keeper turned and before Laura could
argue, had shoved her list down a tube left on the side. He
grabbed another leaf of paper and scratched another note and
stuffed it with the list. Whirling again, he promptly shoved it
up in to the tube structure. He flipped shut a small lid a
whoomph! It was shooting up the cylinders on it's way to some
unknown destination. Laura was staring, mouth wide open until
the old man broke through her amazement- "Hurry off, Lass, you
wanna follow that if you wanna find the down under!" Laura
barely had time to thank the man before her legs had taken over
and started to race through the crowd. Her eyes were placed
firmly on the message, her mind so sorely focused that she
didn't notice the shouts and glares she was getting from the
people she was pushing out the way to follow her note. Finally,
it went in to a building that look half sunk. Snapping out of
her gaze, Laura looked for a door before she ran blindly into a
wall. Finding one quickly, she entered to find a desk littered
with the small tubes. She spotted her one with the old stall
keeper's scrawl "Old Frankie" on the side. A boy working a the
desk picked it up.
"EXCUSE ME!"Laura shouted over the noise of all the other
workers, "Oi you there! You with the note for Frankie!" he
turned.
"Yes ma'am?" He couldn't have been older than Emily- a pang of
home sickness rang through Laura.
"How do I get to Old Frankie's?"
"Oh, simple, just through that door."
"Thanks." Laura nodded and didn't hesitate to run through it.
Through the door, it was like the market all over again, but
with less light and more people. Laura's eyes had a hard time
adjusting to the light, but once they did, her note was half way
across the building. Weaving through more people and receiving
more stares, glares and abuse, the note dropped straight down.
Laura made her way to that point to find a small medical
facility, or a cheap imitation of one. A man lay on the table,
seemingly dead as he didn't react to the saw protruding from his
leg. A man was off to the side, reading her note.
[hr]
Yeah not finished but this is all I've got in Chronological
order
#Post#: 2772--------------------------------------------------
Re: A Proper Lady (The Complete Opposite Of)
By: Kiera Pearson Date: July 8, 2013, 11:26 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Just as Laura went to speak to him, he turned away from her. He
rummaged around, collecting the things she had on the list and
put them all together in a basket, all topped off with a blanket
and a lid that made the basket look rather like a picnic basket.
"umm, excuse me sir? I'm here to collect some items that were on
a list. The list was sent to you vis the tube post system."
"Let me see," The man gave her a once over before looking back
at the paper he had taken from the tube, "yep, mess of hair and
dress sense in bright red. Here's ya stuff, missy. The list said
you have the money."
"What?"
"look 'ere," he showed her the list, "right at the bottom, it
says 'the girl has the right money Frank, so don't hassle the
girl- Nupkins.' Ya see?" the note surprised the doctor had known
she would just give the list over?
"Yes, I see. Here's the money here." Se reached into the fold
of her skirt that hid a loop for money, thanking Emily for being
street smart, and handed it over. She thanked the man and walked
off. She started to walk quicker, the dim lights of the black
market giving an uneasy feeling. Her pace quickened to a full
out run when she heard a shout from the stall she left. Finding
the exit was easier than finding the entrance as she now knew
where it was. She pumped her arms faster as her legs were just
starting to realise that they've been on a horse all day and the
muscles started to complain. She made her way back to the stall
holder that passed on her message.
"Hey, can I hide here for a bit?"
"Why d'ya need to hide?"
"Because I think the guy who asked me to buy those things
didn't give me the correct money to pay for it and I think Old
Frankie figured it out."
"Ah, I get ya, I get ya, come on round," he opened a hatch door
and let her through, "now sit down over there and keep it quiet,
alright? If 'he comes and asks, I ain't seen ya since you turned
up with the note."
"Thanks," Laura smiled at the man. Under the desk, she could
see a range of odds and ends, including a sign saying "Paul
Goodman- repairs all things!" 'that's quite a claim' Laura
thought to herself as she sat down beneath the wooden top
silently. An hour passed of her waiting before the stall keeper,
who she assumed was Paul, popped his head down and told her it
was safe to go, probably.
"Thanks again, sir, I don't know what I would have done without
your help."
"Oh no, thank you and tell that Doctor Nupkins that I consider
my debt paid."
"Wait, you know-"
"It's too long of a story- you need to get back to camp lass."
"Oh, of course, thanks again!" and with that Laura made her way
back to camp.
Ester and Johnny had already made their way back to the camp by
the time Laura arrived.
"What took you so long?"
"I was hiding under stall because I apparently didn't pay. Well
I'm not sure but I think the guy I got the supplies off tried to
chase me."
"Old Frankie?"
"STOP doing that! You gave me a heart attack the first time!"
"I would explain to you how I did not," came the lulling voice
of the doctor, "but I need to organise these."
"Ok, and I man I believe is called Paul Goodman told me to tell
you that he considers his debt paid."
"And why would he think that?"
"I hid under his table for an hour." The doctor shrugged,
"Understandable. Good day, Miss Littlefield." after he had
left, Laura turned to Ester
"Does he give any body else an extreme case of the creeps?"
"Everybody. Don't worry." from else where in the camp a violin
string sounded. Followed by a flute, then a whole cacophony of
sound came from somewhere in the centre of the caravan circle.
"What's that?" Laura asked, both confused and worried.
"A dance party." Ester replied sounding the complete opposite
of thrilled.
"Oh... ok then... What's for supper?"
"You missed it, but you can go scavenge some scraps, cook's
cabin's over there." The woman gestured over to the cabin on the
far left of the circle. Laura made her way over there. Knocking
lightly on the door, Laura peeked her head round the door.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Miss Littlefield, I saved some food for you." Johnny
was stood there, all six foot of him caked in flour.
"Thanks, and you're the cook?"
"Yes, well until we can get a competent one who's willing."
"Oh, ok, thank you."
"It's a pleasure," Johnny offered the plate to Laura- meat of
some kind between two slices of bread and some sort greenery,
"It'll be a while before you can eat meat again unless Jack can
help us."
"How can Jack help?"
"He's good when it comes to bringing meat. We don't ask why it
saves time."
"Oh." Laura ate her sandwich, thinking. It's been one day of
being away from home, believe it or not and she had met a group
of gypsies with a completely different lifestyle to the one she
was used to yet she was fitting in. All the people she had met
seem to fit in here, yet she couldn't imagine them coming
together in any other situation.
"Johnny, how did you come across this, what do you call a group
of gypsies?"
"I refer to it as a caravan, an we were all part of a larger
one once- from different families, but, there was an
incident..." he trailed off, lost in reverie.
"What kind of incident?"
"One involving the circus- we broke off from the main caravan
and went searching for the circus. Along the way, people like
you joined and people like Jack joined- ragtag outcasts looking
for an escape, now if you don't mind, I need to de-flour
myself."
"How did that happen?"
"Jack, the incurable prankster, placed a full, open bag above
the door."
"Ah, that would do it," Laura had finished her sandwich and
started for the door, "Thank you Mr Jellyby!"
"Any time Miss Littlefield."
Laura left the cook's cabin and sat down on a log, the fire
crackling, the tips if the flames licking dusky sky. The music
was loud fast and complicated. The whole scene was quite frankly
disturbing. The men and women danced with reckless abandon and
no restraint. As far as she could see, the whole camp was up as
dancing. A great mass of skirts flopped next to her- it seems
not everyone was dancing.
"What's the matter, Rubes? Don't wanna dance?"
"Jack why are you in a dress?"
"I lost a bet, then found that they're rather comfortable, so I
thought I'd wear one for this shindig. You look down, Ruby, sure
you don't wanna dance?"
"How many times do have to tell you that my name is Laura, not
Ruby, Rubes or any other deviation of such?"
"You've told me enough, it's just the red that sticks out,
that's all Miss Littlefield."
"I give up with you, you know Jackie!"
"You've finally come to your senses! Care for a drink?"
"No and before you ask, you are no getting the body up there
dancing- living dead or otherwise." Jack went to argue but Laura
cut him off before he could get a word out, "comatose or
possessed."
" but what if the entity possessing your body makes you dance?
Them what would you do?"
"Evict it."
"Oh, ok then."
The night went on and the dance showed no signs of stopping.
Jack had gotten up and joined the festivities. Various other
people came and went, some dumping items at her feet such as
shoes and the odd bag, though other items of clothing that Laura
wondered what they were doing without. Everyone was singing
words in a language that Laura could only identify as of Gaelic
origin, but not more precise than that. It was now past midnight
and Laura was still sat watching blinding as the other people
danced when Jack returned.
"You haven't moved yet- have you been petrified by Ester- I
told her to stop doing that- it's terribly rude!"
"I still have full control of my limbs, but I seem to be the
only one."
"Well then, shall I escort you to your sleeping quarters?"
"I don't have any that I know of." Jack looked taken aback, his
green eyes wide with shock. "Where is the hospitality of my
fellows travellers? I must show you to a suite of sleeping
quarters of once!" And before she could raise argument or
protest, Laura was being dragged through the moving people
towards the blonde sat down, near the centre of it all.
"Ester love," Jack shouted above the din, "ESTER!" The striking
blonde turned sharply towards the red-headed lad dressed as a
lass.
"What do you want, Jack?"
"I was wondering if you be so kind as to-"
"Cut the sweet talk- it's too loud for that!"
"Bed! For! Miss! Ruby?" Ester's blue eyes rolled,
"I can't hear anything- that doesn't make me stupid! This way!"
They began weave through dancing people to wards the caravans
that circled the impromptu dance floor. Ester led them to one
that Laura had only seen one person enter and that was
"Ester, lovey, this is my caravan, is it not?"
"Actually, it's the guest one, so either you two share or one
sleeps outside and the other in. Your choice."
"You seem a little snappy today, care to share?"
"It's been four years today." Jack's face fell
"Oh, I'm sorry." For once Jack looked serious, and this worried
Laura. Ester left with a swift turn, producing a bottle from
nowhere as she did so. Jack also was no taking a long draught
from a dark bottle he had also managed to make appear from the
air itself.
"How many of them have you had?"
"This is my fifth." Laura looked at him in shock
"Fifth?! How are you still upright?!" Jack pointed to his flat
chest,
"Irish." Laura rolled her eyes, not thinking how she expected
different.
[hr]
Yeah... Guess which bit I wrote a prom? It's really rough but
that's NaNo for ya
#Post#: 2797--------------------------------------------------
Re: A Proper Lady (The Complete Opposite Of)
By: Kiera Pearson Date: July 9, 2013, 5:38 am
---------------------------------------------------------
They both stood outside Jack's cabin. He went to say something
when Laura cut him off
"I'm sleeping on the floor of Ester's whether she likes it or
not, but before I go, you're gonna tell me what happen four
years ago today and tell me if it's the most likely cause for
Ester's temperamentality."
"Oh, it was the circus incident." Jack's face fell in the
firelight.
"Which was?" Laura was intrigued- it was the second time today
it had mean mentioned, but she was yet to know what it was. Was
it the reason that their caravan was searching for the circus?
"Well, I wasn't there at the time, but there was a circus, and
in the circus, there was a man who fell in love with Ester and
Ester liked him back, but not as much as he loved her. Then came
the day that the circus came to move on and the man wanted to
ask Ester to stay with him, marry him or something like that but
for some unknown reason, he took her sister. And didn't come
back."
"That... seems a little... random."
"That's what I thought, but that's all they told me, but I
don't think that's the whole truth."
"So you're looking for the circus to find Ester's sister?"
"Pretty much- like I said- no obvious reason."
"Huh, well goodnight Jackie." Jack gave an elaborate curtsy
"Goodnight, Lady Littleton, Cartographer of ragtag caravan."
Laura smiled before heading over to Ester's caravan. The door
was open, and the light from the fire leaked through. Laura
knocked on the wood. Ester looked up.
"I don't care if she snores or if she sleep- murder's, you are
not staying in here Jack!"
"I'm Laura, not Jack and I was wondering if I could stay in
here as even though he's wearing a dress,he's still a man and
it's not proper."
"Oh," Ester shuffled in to the light, "come on in." Laura
tentatively stepped into the cabin, careful not to trip over.
Ester pulled herself off the floor and leant against the wall,
head in hands.
"Are you ok?" being so used already to Ester only briefly
taking off the fearsome leader, seeing vulnerable was unnerving.
"I'm guessing you asked Jack about the four years thing, well
you never had a sister, did you, so you won't understand losing
one, would you?"
"No, I won't and even if I were to compare losing my closest
friend to you losing your sister, it wouldn't strike a light to
it because I've been gone from home for a full day but you've
been searching for your sister for four years. I know that Emily
is relatively safe from the authorities and from people on the
street, but you ave no idea what's happening to your sister
right now. You just have hope and a bunch of ragtag out casts to
help find her. I don't think any one can truly understand what
you have been and are currently going through."
Ester looked at Laura through parted fingers.
"You know, if you just added an Irish lilt, you'd sound just
like Jackie." Ester smiled, and that's when the two women formed
a truce deeper than the one they had before.
[center]Chapter 5[/center]
They woke up early the next day, off to go to Southampton.
Packing up the rubbish littered around from the party the
previous night, Laura looked across the fire pit towards Ester.
"So why are we going to Southampton?" The question had been
bugging Laura since she discovered they were going. From what
she had heard from her father, it was full of sailors and
lowlife seafaring folk.
"We made a deal with a friend of a cousin of Johnny's last time
we all had a big meet a couple months ago. We're gonna pick up
another bunch of stragglers and their gonna come with us up to
(Sea port) so they can get on their new boat.
"Why are they travelling with you- wouldn't it be quicker to
travel by themselves?"
"Yes quicker, but they need to lie low- not many people will
take them in as they have the appearance of," Ester stopped,
looking up as if the answer was in the sky, "undesirable and
rowdy seafaring folk."
"Pirates?"
"Yes, they look like pirates. They're not- if we were on the
sea, we would seem a lot like them, so on land, they seem a lot
like us. Easy swap, no?" the younger girl paused to consider.
"Yeah, I guess so." They continued to tidy when the sun's rays
started to shine through the forest on the edge of the field.
Laura paused to admire it and to think. It had been a full dawn
to dawn day of her travelling with the gypsies and yet, she
couldn't imagine what life would be like if she went back to
London, or any life where she couldn't see this. Yes, she missed
Emily, but now she had been roped into a quest to retrieve
someone else's sister. She missed her mother's strict glares and
lessons, but Ester had been more than filling in that area, even
being more of a friend at times as well.
A loud, though slightly high pitched shout broke through her
reverie- "What did you DO!" it sounded angry.
"It's a little something I like to call pay back, I would say
you should try it sometime but I'm pretty sure you are incapable
of such actions." A figure of a girl came into view, looking as
if she was talking to a tree.
"Wait, so THIS was you master plan? This was what you had me
worried about for months? I thought you were gonna do something
terrifying like, I don't know speed up global warming by
sabotaging fossil fuel power stations to make them less
efficient." Laura was thoroughly confused- what in the name of
mighty airships were fossil fuel power stations or global
warming?
"No, that's something you would do. I turn people into things
that are brilliantly ironic. Which is why you," she turned and
pointed at the tree, "are a squirrel."
"How is making me a squirrel ironic?!" squeaked the second
voice, which Laura assumed was a squirrel.
"Well, you said once that if you could be any animal, you'd be
a squirrel and you told me that I had to include one in my story
anyway."
"But I said that squirrel had to have laser vision..." The
squirrel trailed off. The whole scene was very confusing to say
the least. Suddenly, a light shot from the tree the girl was
talking to towards her face, how ever she quickly drew out a
mirror and the light flew back and bit the tree, leaving a wisp
of smoke.
"I wasn't a Boy Scout but I learnt their lessons- be prepared."
"How the? What the? Who the? Why the? Thgdgkeodousbwo!??!!?"
the squirrel sounded utterly flabbergasted.
"Yeah, that's right, you quote a show that won't be invented
for a century." The girl sounded vindictive now.
"How is this even possible? I mean, the scientific implications
of trans-species transformation is unbelievable! If you are able
to do this, you could get round the physics of transporting-
heck! You work out the physics of Scotty's mid-warp transporting
thingy!"Laura was convinced she was having a dream, or a weird
hallucination as this before her was not possible!
"You're a Trekkie, don't you have fancier names for it than
that?"
'Trekkie? That's not even a real word!' Laura thought to
herself
"We probably do but you're writing me so I don't at the
moment."
The girl- brown haired and looked as if she was slightly
shorter than Laura- laughed. Her laugh was more like a cackle.
'She's a witch- evil. She's making me see and hear the entire
thing. It's not real!' Laura told her self to no avail.
"You still haven't told me the physics behind this." The
squirrel's voice had a hint of huffiness.
"Pff, that was talent fuelled by revenge! Seriously, Thomas,
keep up!" Another voice drew her away from the ever bizarre
scene,
"Oi, Ruby! You gonna work or are you gonna keep looking into
the forest as if you've seen a talking squirrel from the
future?" Laura looked back into the forest, seeing nothing, she
shouted that she was coming back, shook her self and returned to
work, dismissing the scene as a figment of her over active
imagination.
[hr]
You can stop worrying now- the lesson here is do not anger the
writer or she may put you in to her book.
#Post#: 2798--------------------------------------------------
Re: A Proper Lady (The Complete Opposite Of)
By: Kiera Pearson Date: July 9, 2013, 6:27 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Every one got was mounted up and the whole troop had set off by
the time the sun was half way above the freakish forest. Most of
the caravan was full of groans as many people drank too much the
previous night and the whole group was moving slowly until Ester
stopped the group.
"HALT!" every cab and animal stopped at Ester's voice. A
bubbling murmur filled the travellers. "Where are we going,"
there was a slight pause that no one dared to fill, "do you want
to know where we are going? Right now, we are going NOWHERE!"
Ester roared and the grown men of the camp wanted to curl up in
a ball in a dark cave so no one could see their tears and fear
of this mere wisp of a woman at twenty years old. "Do you know
whose fault it is that you are tired and have a hangover? It's
your's- all yours. We need to in Southampton by tonight or we or
we'll end up breaking a deal with the mother caravan. Who
remembers what happened when we last broke a deal with the
mother caravan?" another silence fell over the stopped
travellers, "it's a genuine question and I expect a show of
hands- who remembers what happened last time we broke a deal
with the mother caravan?" Ester's tone was dangerous, daring
anyone to challenge her. Tentatively, Jack rose his hand in the
air, as did Johnny and the doctor- even the doctor was terrified
of Ester. "Look around at those with their hands up- look at
them. We broke a deal with the mother caravan and lost a member
of our caravan. It was our whole caravan, but we were the ones
who paid the price. You may be here to seek refuge from the
demands of life outside of this group and in the towns, but we
are here to rectify our mistakes. I don't care if you have a
headache that could open up the depths of Earth, I don't care if
you could sleep through that- we are picking up the pace of this
thing and we are going to like it!" Ester was truly terrifying
to behold. She had hold of a branch with a white knuckle hold,
"See this branch? In half and hour, I will set it alight," she
tossed it on the ground, "if I can see it when it does, the next
item will be the slowest person's possessions, continue."
[hr]
Here's some Ester being scary and yay more plot points (guessed
the murderer yet?)
Theories go here
HTML http://thechroniclesofbournemout.createaforum.com/nanowrimo-discussions/a-proper-lady-disscusion-thread/msg2251/?topicseen#new<br
/>:P
#Post#: 2803--------------------------------------------------
Re: A Proper Lady (The Complete Opposite Of)
By: Kiera Pearson Date: July 9, 2013, 9:13 am
---------------------------------------------------------
They did so in silence. They pace did pick up, and with her new
speed, Laura rode up to Jack, in a pair in trousers and shirt
this morning.
"Jack," Laura whispered, "how is Ester planning to set that log
on fire if she's half an hour away?" Jack looked at Laura as if
she'd grown another head or developed another form of
abnormality.
"You really have no idea? I mean, did you not wonder why I ask
if Ester had turned you into stone?" Laura had wondered, but not
much and not for long, "she has freakish voodoo powers," Laura's
eye's widened, "well, not quite. She uses herbs and stuff to
make potions and the like, so I'm assuming that she's made a
fire potion and small container that will set it alight in 30
minutes. She's clever, Ester is, a brilliant leader, too. Just
not a people person." Laura raised an eyebrow- she asked about
how she can set a log on fire, not a full personality profile.
It wasn't unappreciated, but it seemed that Jack was thinking
about more than just witchcraft and the lack of such.
"You were thinking about her, weren't you? Just before I came
up." By now the rest of the noise level in the caravan had risen
so Jack and Laura were talking in normal voices.
"Yeah," jack replied, sounding defeated, "she's lovely but she
reminds me this other girl. Lovely girl but I think that if I
told her that I have other intentions than, you know just
friends, she would freak and run off like a frightened horse. It
doesn't help that I seldom see her." Laura was surprised at
this- Jack seemed like the type to stay single forever and never
marry, continuing on as a roaming traveller until the day he
died.
"Does she have a name?" Laura had honestly never been in this
situation before, so she asked what she thought seemed to be the
most obvious route.
"Emily," Laura quirked her row (an expression that seemed to
frequent her face when she was around Jack) in an unvoiced
question, "yes, your Emily. I know she's too young for me, well,
by your standards-"
"By my standards? My parents wanted to marry me to a man over
40 when I was 15- how old are you?"
"19, twenty in a couple months and Emily's, what, 12 years
old?"
"14." Jack's face lit up at Laura's words.
"Really? Blimey!" His face fell again, "but she wouldn't want
me."
"Want you? Why wouldn't Emily want you?"
"Well I've done some things," he looked down, "some very bad
things, I still do. At first, it was for the money, but now it's
for the thrill of-" he cut himself off, puzzling Laura further-
Jack seemed to have more than just the two faces of the coin.
"If you stopped doing these," Laura paused, overcome by the
sheer complexity of this one man, "things, would she then like
you?" Jack tilted his head to look at Laura,
"I don't know if I can stop, though. I guess if they are the
price of Emily, then maybe, but it would mean not doing
anything. Do you how hard it is to sit still when you could take
the opportunity of a life time and do something unforgettable?
It's too hard."
"I honestly can't comment- I've never had the opportunity of a
lifetime come my way to pass me by."
"You're here, aren't you? If you let this pass you by, you'd
die today- think about that. Now, would you sit there and fight
your case in a court set against you? You wouldn't be doing the
fighting- other people would as you wouldn't be allowed to
speak. Could you let someone else fight your battles for you?
The Laura that Benjamin Ellis loved would have, but you're not
the girl that rich fool loved and he's dead. You don't need to
try to be her- fight your own battles Ruby, or you're gonna end
up like me." Laura wanted to question him but a shout from the
side of the road drew everyone's attention away from their
conversations and towards it. A figure leapt out screaming one
word- "ATTACK!"
[hr]
So there's the end of chapter five or six- I've lost count- full
of emotional speeches and ends with a cliffhanger- woot woot
HTML http://thechroniclesofbournemout.createaforum.com/nanowrimo-discussions/a-proper-lady-disscusion-thread/msg2802/?topicseen#new
everything works with the woots- see!
#Post#: 2818--------------------------------------------------
Re: A Proper Lady (The Complete Opposite Of)
By: Kiera Pearson Date: July 10, 2013, 7:45 am
---------------------------------------------------------
People surged form all sides, emerging from bushes and trees
that were seemingly harmless, Laura laughed to herself- that was
the point, was it not? To lure travellers in to a false sense of
security before striking and stealing.
"Don't defend, you fools- RETALIATE!" came Ester's voice above
the din. Laura didn't know where to look or where to go- Jack
had disappeared into the fray, leaving Laura alone in a crowd.
Looking for something to defend herself with, a wooden sword
landed at her feet. Laura picked up the offending item and
looked to see who threw it. Ester was looking at her, handing
out weapons from a bucket full of weapons that seemed not to be
carried by the caravan, though it seemed as if they should.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" Laura gestured to the
shaped stick- it wasn't sharp but it was sturdy.
"Hit people you don't know!" Ester shouted back
"I barely know four people from the caravan- I don't know
ANYONE!"
"THEN HIT ANYONE!" Ester had moved on before Laura could reason
with her. Laura spun on her heel, looking for a target. She saw
a man duelling with Jack with his back to her. Treading through
smaller scuffles within the larger fight, Laura approached the
man attacking her Irish friend and whacked him round the head
with her sword. He turned to face her, sword ready to plunge
into her when a blade came through his shirt. It withdrew and
the man fell dead.
"Nice one, Ruby, though next time, have a plan for when 'e
turns to kill ya."
"I have a wooden sword; there's not much I can do."
"You could disarm the man." Jack inflected as he turned and
stabbed someone in the stomach.
"Of course, just tell me how to do it and I will."
"You don't 'ow to disarm someone with a sword? Where 'ave ya
been?"
"Learning how to drink tea correctly." Laura answered
truthfully, though not without a hint of sarcasm.
"They really don't teach you posh lot how to fight, do they?"
"If I was male, I could duel but I am not, so I got stuck with
etiquette and posture." A man approached Laura and lunged, but
she ducked and hit his sword hand with her blunt blade. He swore
as he dropped the sword and Jack seized the opportunity and ran
him through. Laura blanched as she realised what she'd just help
happen.
"This goes against everything in me."
"I know 'ow ya feel," Jack paused as he killed a third man, "to
a certain extent." before Laura could reply, they heard Ester
shout from a top her cabin-
"STOP! ALL OF YOU!" all eyes swivelled to look at the woman, at
her feet was a man on his knees, held upright by his hair,
whimpering. "I have your leader those who dare attack my
caravan. Surrender your weapons and leave now or be destroyed."
There was a pause before the clatter of a sword hitting another
resounded through the camp, followed by another, and another
until none remain but the leader. In the flood of people
leaving, Laura crept closer to Ester's caravan to hear what she
was saying to the leader.
"Why did you attack my group?" there was a whimper, then the
sound of flesh being slapped, "ANSWER ME!" came Ester's roar-
the opposite of the low voice she used before.
"Wwwe are ppart of ttthe traddder's rrrepublic- we ththought
you were a a a govvvvernment ennvoy. "
"and at what point did it click that we were not, in fact, a
government envoy?"
"Wwwhen we discovered that yyyour lleader wwaas a fffemale."
Something snapped in Ester.
"What's wrong with being a 'fffemale'?"
"Nothing, miss, I'm sure you're a lovely female-" Laura didn't
think it was possible, but Ester became angrier, "I mean, I'm
sure all females are terrifying if they want to be?"
"Give one good reason not to kill you."
"I think women should have the vote?" Ester gave him look that
spoke more that words, bbut if it did speak words, it would have
gone along the lines of 'oh, so now you change your tune' or
there abouts.
"I would kill you, but you may prove useful one day," Ester
dropped the fistful of hair she had and the man fell. He went to
pick him self "What is your name," Ester brought her face down
to his, "and don't lie to me." her tone was calm, level and
measured, making it all the more threatening.
"Ocsar Webb, leader of the south central Trade Republic's
defence division, ma'am."
"My name is Ester James. You owe a debt to all of these
people," Ester gestured to the crowd slowly gathering around the
cabin, "If any of these people come before you and mention this
day and my name, you must repay them. Whatever they ask, you do
so. Understand?" The man nodded. Laura took note of the blonde
hair, drenched in sweat, the clothes- too high end to be
uncomfortable but not a full out suit shirt and pressed
trousers. "Go and I tell you now, my favour will be your head
mounted on wall." he scurried off like a rat returning to it's
safe hole away from those who threaten to kill it.
"Nupkins! Salvage the living from the not living and do us all
a favour by keeping Jack away from the corpses- you know how he
gets." Laura shot Jack a look to which he shrugged in a way that
could either be 'I have no idea what they're talking about' or
'it's not as if I can help it'. Laura sincerely hoped it was the
first.
It came to the point when everyone needed to move out. Everyone
mounted up and began to move forward. Laura was standing next to
Scarlett (who still didn't really like her) looking at the dead
bodies strewn about the walkway.
"Are we just going to leave them there? Just there in the
middle of the road?" no one paid any heed to Laura's frantic
ramblings on bodies and just continued walking on, "are we? Oh
ok." Laura walked Scarlett towards the main part of the group
before mounting her, silently praying for the families those
slain.
[hr]
There you go - please comment :P
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