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Untitled (July NaNo)
By: Kiera Pearson Date: July 3, 2014, 3:49 am
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"Miss Laura!" Laura looked up from lacing her boots. Elise was
calling her from the door. "Miss Laura, your father is asking
for you in his study. He seems tense so I would just tuck them
laces in, miss." Laura frowned and quickly tucked the laces
inside her boots.
"Thank you, Elise." Laura hurried to her father's study. turning
the corner just before his door, she caught the hem of her dress
underneath her boot. The trapped material pulled her down and in
an ungraceful heap at her fathers door. She picked herself up
and knocked on his door before she dusted herself down. Her
father opened the door quicker than expected from the know.
Laura cringed inside as she realised that was probably due to
the tremendous noise she created while falling to the floor.
"Hello father you wanted to see me?" Laura asked. He rather
stepped aside and allowed her to walk into his study.
"Actually, Mr Ellis here would like to speak to you. I will be
in the parlour downstairs." Her father dismissed himself leaving
her alone in his study with Mr Ellis. Laura tried to convince
herself everything was normal yet she knew she shouldn't be left
alone with Mr Ellis until after their marriage in two days time.
The look on his face was grave (or passive- she could never
really tell).
"I need to leave London. Something has come up and I must flee."
Her told her with an air of calm yet of great solemnity. The
words struck Laura like a bullet yet one of water seeping
through her skin and insides, twisting and poisoning them. After
finally finding a suitor not terrified of her dragging down
their social status, he has to flee London. Aged 16 and never
wed, she knew this was the signing of her death as a spinster.
Her mother had always told her that a lady only has emotions of
calm, peace and placid happiness. Yet sorrow spiked through her
heart, loneliness filled her eyes and anger set her lip tight.
"Thank you for informing me, Mr Ellis. I understand there will
always be factors out of one's control. Good day to you." The
domino words forced the next word out as Laura tried to hide her
hurt and rage. She stood and inclined her head.
"I was planning on taking my future wife with me." Laura's face
snapped into an expression of confusion. "There are people after
me, my life. I informed Elise of my plans and she is preparing
for your departure if you wish to come. I shall leave once you
have made your decision but I ask you make it by 10 o'clock. It
is only a matter of time that they discover me missing and come
here. I know I am asking much of you either way you choose.
Either way, you shall fall from grace- I can merely offer
whether you fall from grace and watch or you come with me and
start a new life. I shall only tell you details if you come with
me, for my own safety. They will come after you. Honestly, it
will look either as if we have run away together and eloped for
no real reason or that I have taken you away. But I must press
you for a decision. I shall leave you here to decide your path.
If you make any decisions before 10, I shall be in the kitchen,
gathering what food I can from your cook." He nodded but with a
flickering gaze, as if he wished to say more. He left and Laura
sat alone.
Laura inhaled through her nose, filling it with the smell of
leather, parchment, and ink. Her father's study was lined with
books along the wall opposite the door, creating a dull rainbow.
Spines inscribed with gold and black showing her father's
wealth. Leaving would mean saying goodbye to her father's
instruction on the change in the world's technology, his
business, his books. She was forbidden by her mother from
reading the books in father's library- a proper lady should not
question a man's knowledge and if Laura knew more, the more she
would question. She was prepared to leave this all behind before
but that was in exchange for a married home. She knew she would
not handle the disgrace of Mr Ellis leaving her just two days
before her wedding but Laura knew she didn't know what living
outside of society was like and could just as easily crumble.
She glanced at her father's clock, ticking in the corner. 5
minutes. She didn't have a choice. Laura had to go with him.
Before she left her father's study for the last time, she
scanned the shelves for anything that would help. She pulled out
one cartography. scanning through, she saw that the book held no
maps. As she slid it back into place a roll of parchment stopped
it. She glanced again at the clock before sliding it out. It
held a map of the south of England, cutting off before Cornwall.
There were certain marks on some towns- Bournemouth,
Southampton, Yeovil and others. The map was old and the dust was
in place around the books, suggesting it had not been used in a
long time. Laura stuffed the rolled parchment under her skirts
and walked to her room.
Elise was throwing simple dresses into a bag, all folded neatly.
She reached next for another pair of study boots. A pair of
riding trousers was flung at her.
"You'll need them rather than the ton of petticoats you've got
on, Miss. Me mam's packing some food for you. I've packed
jumpers rather than jackets as they were lighter and easier to
pack. I mean, this could all look extremely conspicuous where
you're going but I don't know so I just packed what seemed
practical." Elise prattled on and Laura kicked off her boots and
yanked her riding trousers under her skirts.
"thank you Elise! I will miss you." Laura spared a quick hug,
grabbed her bag and turned out of the door with her lip set. She
was leaving. She floated down the stairs as her eyes wandered to
the walls of her home. Her parents house. She reached the
kitchen but paused before opening to door. She took a deep
breath through her nose, steadying herself. She pushed the door
open at the same time someone on the other side pulled casing
her stumble forward. Laura righted herself quickly and stepped
aside to let them past.
“Have you made a decision, Miss Littlefield?” Benjamin asked.
Laura looked up to see upon him she nearly fell. (Stupid yoda
speech).
“Yes,” she replied. His face remained impassive. “I will come.
Sorry, I didn’t realise I didn’t elabor-“
“Thank you, come on.” He cut her short and grabbed her hand,
pulling her out of the hallway and out the back of the kitchen.
He pulled her to the stables where a horse had been saddled for
her. She attempted to haul herself up to no avail. Without
looking in her direction, Benjamin stooped and pushed her leg on
top the horse with a grace beyond that of a gentleman. Laura
landed atop the horse with a look of surprise on her face. she
decided against mentioning it. Instead she asked where they were
heading.
"Well, I'm planning to make it look as if I am just going on a
nice jaunt through the fields and forestry places with my
betrothed but when we hit the forests, I know of an old game
trail which we can follow. I have some friends of mine waiting
on the other side. I say waiting- they don't know I know where
they are and that we're heading towards them." He answered.
Laura frowned. This whole plan seemed both meticulously planned
yet strangely spontaneous.
"Surely we aren't going by our given names? I mean, every knows
the name Littlefield, thanks to my father and I'm sure there are
many people who know of your business."
Benjamin regarded Laura for a moment. Despite having very little
ability to function in high society, she seemed to possess a
spark that may pass as under developed genius.
"Yes, it would be folly to go by our given names. We shall think
of them later. Now we must ride.
They urged their steeds onwards and towards the fields near The
Littlefield's town estate. They said nothing as Laura followed
Benjamin towards leafy cover. They rode until gone 2 o'clock
before they stopped for lunch. Laura nibbled on her ration of
bread, given that they may need to preserve their supplies until
they reach Benjamin's 'friends'.
"Who are your friends? I mean, you do not have any contact with
them, they do not expect your arrival and you have not mentioned
any one by name. It just seems a little" she paused to search
for the right word, "suspect." Benjamin swallowed the bread he
was chewing
"I know a few people who may be seen as having ill repute. They
travel around a bit. Merchants. of a sort. I heard that a small
off shoot had stopped near London yesterday. This led to me
finding a member and questioning him. He said they would be
there until today as they had been in the area for a week
already and they had not thought to tell me I was quite miffed
at that but oh well.” He rambled. Looking at the sun, he mounted
his horse yet again. He looked down at Laura, still trying to
shove the rest of her bread in her mouth. He slid off of his
horse and helped her to her feet.
"Can you mount your horse by yourself this time or do you wish
for assistance?" He asked her. Looking at him, Laura sensed he
almost regretted getting off his horse.
"Yes please, if you do not mind, sir." she replied, puzzled by
Mr Ellis. She had to deal with many strange people before but he
was unravelling to be quite the enigma. She placed her foot in
the stirrup and he pushed her foot up and over the horse. He
stepped bac, twirled and produced the map Laura had stolen from
her father's library. He bowed and handed it to her with an air
of flamboyance. Laura reached out to take it back when he jerked
it back and stood upright.
"No, you can't touch this. Not until you explain what it is and
why it was in your skirt of all places." He explained. Laura,
shocked that her had managed to whip it out of her skirts (and
the implications of him looking up there to find it) hurried to
answer.
"A map. i found it in my father's study behind the books. It has
most of the south of England that I know of. It seems to be
accurate. It s signed by my father and was behind a tome on
cartography. If you must know." She rambled. He mounted his
horse without so much of a laboured breath. He unrolled the map.
He gaze flickered from town to town, mark to mark. His face
contorted into a frown.
"Do you know what these markers are, Laura?"
"No sir."
"Benjamin, please. for now before we invent ourselves a new.
These symbols are familiar yet all the same distant. They bare
the crown of the queen yet others parts of heraldry that I
cannot place at this moment." He looked up and refurled the map,
"onwards, shall we, Laura?"
"Of course, Benjamin." They set off. "That sounds slightly
weird. You look like a Christopher, anyway. "
"Christopher? That is rich coming from one who should have
clearly been named Claudette." Laura looked at Benjamin with
unadulterated distain.
"Claudette? Because that can easily pass off as the name of a
merchant, Christopher." She spat at him. He smirked back at her.
"Ok, Elizabeth, after the queen of long ago." He replied.
"Better."
***
"Ok. So what do we do now?" The head of the table asked.
"Well, we can send some one to follow him, but we do not have
any information on where he is going." someone suggested.
"We could search his house for clues."
"We could ask our contacts on the streets. They can easily find
anyone for a bit of money. And if they learn of our cause, then
they will jump aboard to help further a new Britain." The man
next to the head of the table suggested. The head of the table
grabbed the man's chin.
"No one is to know. He is loose and knows and that's our
problem. We need someone we trust and he trusts, preferably.
That would leave Mr Littlefield. What does he know about Mr
Ellis' plight?"
"I know that he opposes the plans and has run off with my
daughter. He came to my house earlier. He didn't tell me where
he was running to or that he was taking Laura. I suggest that we
vilify him in the press. I'm charging him with kidnap. If we
discredit him and leave him labelled as a felon, he must keep
moving from town to town, never settling, which doesn't help in
the case of finding him but does discredit any information he
leaks about out plans. Sorry to intrude. I came to tell you of
the news and the doorman said you were mentioning something I
had titbits about. Where's Watson?"
"Checking a press. I'll have Johansson send a wire. We'll have
him hanged by the end of the month. What about your daughter,
Littlefield?"
"She is the victim here. I want to see no harm befalls her until
I find out more about the circumstances surrounding her
kidnapping. He said he was going for a stroll to say goodbye to
her. Back stabbing bas-"
"Calm, Mr Littlefield. We'll ensure your daughters safety. Go
over to Watson's. He'll want tall the information you have."
***
Laura and Benjamin rode until 6 hours past noon. At this point
they had reached the camp of merchants that Benjamin called
friends. He dismounted as did Laura and walked through the small
camp to an ornately painted caravan. He wrapped thrice.
The door swung open by the hand of a woman with blonde hair to
her waist.
"Ben?" she asked.
"Well for all intents and purposes, I'm going by Christopher at
the moment and this is Elizabeth." Laura gave a little wave in
ways f introduction. It was not much but still a step for her.
The woman slightly scared Laura.
"Ok, I'm not going to ask. Where do you expect to stay?"
"Well, we were planning on sleeping outside anyway if we missed
you, so really anything is fine." The woman eyed to two of them.
"She can stay with me while you're with us. You can stay in
Jack's caravan. Unless you want to be in the same caravan? Are
you his mistress or something?" She asked. Laura flinched from
both the suggestion and a question being directed at her. Merely
shook her head.
"Ok, whatever. I'm Ester, if he hasn't told you. I'm head of
this caravan. We're moving over to Southampton next, so be
prepared to move out early tomorrow. But food first." Ester
stepped down from her podium of the doorway and took Laura's bag
off of her and dumped it in the door way before taking off in a
direction unknown to Laura and Benjamin. As they followed her at
a march, Laura whispered to Benjamin.
"How does she know you?"
"Oh, my mother thought it good for my education to see all
aspects of trade. We met on one of her trips to buy jewellery.
She seems a little off balance, however. I would be wary for she
can be a personified storm if enraged. In fact, the whole
caravan seems smaller and glum. Not how I remember in the
slightest." He answered. They reached a caravan with a hatch.
Benches lay in a haphazard circle around a lion of a fire. Once
accepting food from the cook, Laura followed Benjamin to a seat.
They were mere inches from the heat wall. The food was filling
and warm. Laura counted a total of 15 adults in the caravan and
3 children. Two looked to be siblings while the third had a
striking dissemblance from the two.
"So who are you, Miss?" A new voice came from next to her. A man
had sat next to her with curly hair tied behind his ears yet
barely constrained. The light orange tone contrasted with her
own black hair, yet they shared the immense curls.
"I'm L- Elizabeth. Yourself?"
"Jack." he had a accent with a mix of Gaelic tones and cockney.
Laura assumed he had travelled with the group for so long his
accent had merged with others. "What brings you travelling with
Benny boy?"
"It's best he told you- he knows more than me. I actually know
very little. We are fleeing from a threat in London and he's
currently going by Christopher." Jack screwed his lips together
in thought.
"I always had him pegged as a Christopher. Funny that?" he
cocked his head to the side and smiled the smile of a successful
thief. Laura simply nodded in return. She returned to her meal.
"Do you play any instruments, Miss Elizabeth?" Jack asked, "I
see you have a pianist's fingers." Laura swollowed and turned to
address his question.
"Actually, I play the flute." she replied, tucking a stray curl
behind her ear and around another to keep in back
"A flutist, really. Well that may come handy later but never
mind. Well, are you ready to set off tomorrow?2 he asked again.
Laura was surprised at the amount of questions he had. It was a
never ending stream.
"Umm I guess- I mean I just got here and all my stuff is in a
bag so I guess so. Yourself?" she asked for she was at a
complete loss as how to communicate with one so forthright.
"yes, Always ready. I never have th stuff to carry around. I'm
not a regular. I just sort have drifted in and out. I'm coming
with them this time." he leant in closer, a whisper in his
breath, "To be honesty, Liz, I want to find out what happen.
There were loads of them. Ester wasn't in charge and they were
happy. I do not understand what has happen to make it so."
Laura frowned. This was puzzling and troubling. Benjamin had
alluded to the same thing. She thought she could ask Ester about
this but no. It was her first night. It would be rude (and
insensitive) to ask. Maybe later. When she was settled.
"Why are we going to Southampton?"
"Next port. We need to pick up some supplies and workhands. You
are not the only people who run away from your life with us.
Besides- we seem to be following a standard town to town route,
yet always the people are cleaning up after a circus. Ester
curses and we move on in a week or less. Well, that was what I
was told by Johnny, the cook. He is a nice chap. You would get
along with him nicely. You seem to be of the same calibre of
people."
Laura again puzzled at this strange dumping of information upon
her. Jack seemed pent up and like he needed someone to confide
in. He also seemed strange. His face was smeared with dirt yet
every glimpse she had of his hands showed immaculate
fingernails. It seemed suspicious that a man who seemed to care
so little about the state of his face yet be almost obsessive
about his hands. perhaps, Laura thought, he has something he
wishes to hide. another voice snidely reminded her that he may
just have needed clean hands to work on something delicate. The
voice sounded like her mother, asking her to sit straighter, be
more polite, not jump to dark conclusions about complete and
utter strangers. Laura felt an arrow shoot through her heart.
Her mother. She had left without a thought of her. The pain
seeped through her heart, spread to her chest and caused her to
convulse in the emotional pain. The guilt. The longing.
***
awkward cut off I know but I really need to make it is backed up
here after I nearly lost a load of it... trying to back it up. I
was so happy when I found it I actually stared speaking Italian
(ok, I said bellissimo) (which should have been bellissima due
to gender terms and traditions of art being female) (there's
patriarchy there)
Yeah...
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