A Woman of the Road by Amy Wolf

Author:Amy Wolf [Wolf, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lone Wolf Press, Ltd.
Published: 2018-11-26T16:00:00+00:00

A Good Catholic

Unlike 1663, I wished the next two years had never passed.

They started off ordinary enough. We did what we did best: robbing coaches and travelers on all the main roads to London. Due to our many hideouts, I saw a great deal of England from behind my black mask. Even better, I had saved quite a sum, sequestered with a London banker courtesy of Moll. In fact, we saw her often when we took shelter in her home while Jeffries did so in her arms.

“These are nice,” I told her one evening, as she returned from the dressmakers with an armful of new frocks. She dropped them wearily on the divan which doubled as my bed.

“Do ya think so, Megs?” she asked, giving me a rueful glance. “You are the first of the captain’s men to care.”

“Well, yes,” I replied, my mind searching for a lie. “I had several sisters and was raised in a feminine home.”

“It has done you good,” she smiled, giving my arm a pat. “You are not so loud or vulgar as the other high tobys here.”

“You cannot mean Aventis,” I said, perhaps too sharply.

“Oh no, he is just like a priest! But that Carnatus . . .” She shook her head. “One of him is worse than ten.”

I laughed as she went upstairs to join Jeffries. Carnatus and Aventis were out—gone to an alehouse so the former could sample its brews.

As for myself, I looked down at Moll’s purchases, trying to resist, but that was not my strong point. Fingering the Indian cotton, I set on a dangerous course, stripping myself of Megs and clothing myself as Margaret. Staring into a small glass, I smiled at what I saw: despite my fears, I had not become a man trapped in heavy muscle. What I saw was a young woman with long dark hair, a pretty face, and a low-necked bodice which revealed a woman’s figure. If I stared long enough, I could almost pretend that Megs had never been and this creature had lived in her place.

“Heigh ho!” yelled Carnatus, as he banged into Moll’s house. He was permeated by liquid: from the rain without and ale within. “What’s this? A pretty wench? Aventis, stand back!”

The latter, when he saw me, went as white in the face as Carnatus’s was red.

“Halt!” Aventis commanded. “This is but a thief come to steal our hostess’s plate.”

“Raise the hue and cry!” yelled Carnatus.

“Are you mad?” Aventis asked. “Think of what we share with her!”

Carnatus halted his advance.

“This time we do not call the watch,” said Aventis, taking me roughly by the arm. “Consider yourself lucky. I shall see you into the street.”

He opened the door with his boot and dragged me into a London storm.

“What do you think you are doing?” he hissed. “Do you wish to be caught?”

“No,” I said softly, my tears unseen in the rain. “I . . . I just . . .” I thought. What was it I’d hoped to accomplish? “You cannot know how it is,” I said, “to be someone else every day.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.