by Natasja Rose
A dramatic pause practically begged for a question to be asked, and Marissa leaned forward, entranced. "But how did the King's Men know where to find the Highwayman? If he and the Landlord's daughter met in secret…"
The current Landlord smiled mysteriously. "Ah, now there's where the accounts start to change. Some say it was the landlord's lass who betrayed her lover, others claim it was the stable boy, acting from jealousy. Still more insist that it were neither, only chance that caused a redcoat to overhear a few rumours."
The old man leaned closer to his enraptured audience, lowering his voice. "And there's some as claim that on a winter night, you can see them waiting, hoping for a meeting that will never come."
Between the unrequited love story of Marissa and Sean that had everyone looking amused when the redhead mock-swooned against him, and a sudden influx of customers, no-one noticed Lizzy and James instinctively reaching for each other, squeezing hands in an attempt to convey comfort, until James's grandparents called him away.
The problem with being a war recruit was that when the war was over, most of the remaining soldiers were discharged, and left to find something else to do with their lives.
For the younger sons of the gentry, who had bought themselves the rank of an officer, this was no great hardship, as they kept their commissions, but for those not blessed with family money or high connections, it was a different story.
Many were orphans, who had risked joining the army as boys, rather than the Poorhouse or life on the streets. It was debatable which fate held more peril. Others, like John, were in the army because they were dirty secrets to some family or other, who hoped that being out of sight would keep them out of mind. Yet more had joined to seek their fortune, having had few other prospects.
Some of those soldiers, distinguished through fine service or toadying up to their high superiors, stayed on. Others, having picked up the beginnings of smith-skills, or leather-working, or some other trade during their service, went looking for tradesmen who might be looking for assistants.
Yet others, without connections or skills to trade, had no-one to accept them as a pupil. Still more, haunted in both dreams and waking hours by the horrors they had seen, and in some cases, committed, were unable to adjust to life outside a warzone. They, along with many orphaned fortune-seekers or inconvenient bastards, felt that they had no recourse but to turn to banditry.
John did not wish to take such a road, but he had only returned to the village of his birth a month before the reality sunk in.
In his absence, Innkeeper Dawson had hired another man-of-all-work, and kindness or not, he could not afford to hire more staff than he needed. Bess and another maid cooked and kept house and served customers, while the Innkeeper worked the bar and handled the affairs of guests. Tim the 'ostler and the boy who had been hired in John's place took care of everything else, so there was no need for him.
As before, none of the other merchents or tradesmen wanted to take on the Blacksmith's bastard, and no matter how much the Innkeeper liked him, there would be no question of his courting or marrying Bess without some way to support her.
But that didn't mean that John couldn't chose what kind of Highwayman he would be. One of the friends that John had made in the army had been the son of a well-known Historian, who could quote most of his father's lectures by heart. His friend's father had specialized in the English Civil War, and one of his lectures had to do with a man by the name of James Hind.
James Hind had been a Royalist, and stole from the Roundheads, only to give his spoils to Royalists who had been left in dire circumstances.
After losing a war that culminated in a large drop in revenue from the Colonies and an already unstable King losing what little wits he had, England was not in the best state, and there was a marked difference between classes, with those who could most afford charity being those who were the least inclined to give it, which meant that desperate men were sometimes driven to even more desperate measures.
His time in the army had built up a tolerance for spoiled second sons who placed more importance on breeding than on ability, and, more importantly, how to tell the sensible ones apart from the idiots likely to get their men killed through sheer incompetence. One idiotic 'Rupert', or Commissioned Officer who hadn't worked his way up through the ranks, had made sure that everyone under his command could recognize the crests of the more important houses, 'in order to show the proper respect'.
Many soldiers who had to deal with him had muttered darkly about respect on the wrong end of a pistol, and if his predictions about the abruptly discharged soldiers were correct, John wondered how many of those important houses would eventually end up staying at home quite a lot, rather than travelling by marked carriages.
Second sons, knowing that they were unlikely to inherit, tended to be more down-to-earth than their brothers, so when you came across Ruperts like that, you could only shudder to imagine what the rest of the family was like. John knew for a fact that the Rupert had a 'wrong side of the sheets' half-brother in the rank-and-file, though the half-brother was actually a decent fellow, so he was hardly one to talk about moral high-grounds.
Families with second sons who spoke scornfully of the 'common masses' and 'right of birth' could probably use a sharp dose of reality, and in the interest of helping those suddenly fallen upon hard times, John might well be the one to deliver that dose.
James was seriously considering asking his grandmother if she had switched recipies at some point in the near past, because three strange dreams in as many nights was pushing the bounds of chance or co-incidence.
He would ask delicately, of course, because she was his grandmother and wouldn't hesitate to give him a quick swat with a dishcloth if he was rude or insulting, but something was going on, and James wanted to find out what.
In the meantime, he would go downstairs for an hour or two before he had to be up anyway. Lizzy, one of the tourists, appeared to also have trouble sleeping, and would probably be down there with a book, curled up under a throw.
James didn't know what it was, but he liked her, and there was a part of him that felt as though he had known her for centuries.
Chapter Five
The doeskin breeches were more comfortable and durable than the plain cloth that the army had issued, and John valued them as much as the fine lace and claret silk cord bunched at his neck.
Somehow, Bess had never managed to make her cloth lie flat or fold as it was supposed to, whether she was creating linen or lace.
The rapier had been a gift from his father, the blacksmith, an awkward gesture of affection and goodwill to his bastard son when he signed up as a soldier. It would not breech the barrier that had been there since John's very birth, but it was nice to know that his father didn't want him to die, no matter how convenient it would have been for the Blacksmith's home life.
The pistols were a gift from one of his second-son friends, Stephan, who had received a better pair from his family upon his promotion to Captain, but didn't want to simply throw the old pair away just to prove a point. John was practical enough not to take offense when Stephan explained the reasoning.
The moonlight, half hidden by clouds, turned the moor purple and highlighted the road that twisted like a carelessly discarded ribbon over the untamed hills.
In the distance, John could make out houses and the occasion light shining through a window.
But it was one window he searched for, one person awake and waiting for his arrival. The tap of his whip against the shutters yielded no answer, telling him that most of the inhabitants were asleep, and he whistled a short tune as he approached a window.
His ears, now attuned to the slightest of noises, heard the click of a latch being unfastened, and he looked up, his lips curling into a smile as he saw…
James wondered if his subconscious was trying to tell him something.
If it was, then he had to wonder what underlying trauma, guilt or condition would have him dreami
ng about holding up coaches with (presumably) the crests of the gentry, or secret meetings with a girl who looked almost identical to Lizzy, the interesting girl in the latest Tour Group.
Maybe his older sister, married and gone as fast as she could six years ago, hadn't been lying about a few of the village boys attempting to use him as a football when he was an infant. Her reasoning had been that no child could be dropped on their head as many times as he must have been, with it still being an accident.
And why did he wake up hearing hoof-beats, when the only horses around were the cart-horses currently staying at a farm three miles away, on loan for the planting season?
It had been years since James had last been scared by dreams, but these ones were really starting to freak him out.
Tina was surprised when Ben and Will approached her with an unusual level of discretion, shortly after breakfast. "Um, so, there isn't really any good way to ask this, but, er..."
Will elbowed the other youth out of the way. "Does your friend usually fall in love so fast?"
Tina frowned; she hadn't noticed anyone paying Melissa any particular attention this stop, much to the Uni girl's dismay, but then, she had been distracted by the peace of not being disturbed by ghosts every few minutes. "You mean Melissa, the redhead? Sadly, yes, but she'll move on - "
Ben shook his head. "No, we mean your friend, Lizzy. Jamesnever acts like this, even with that bird at university who looked like a younger Sandra Bullock. But now he's acting so lovey-dovey that it sounds like something out of a cheap romance novel. OrTwilight."
Will gave Ben a strange look, leaning away slightly. "I'm not even going to ask how you know that. The point is, our best friend is acting really out of character, and we wondered if your best friend is doing the same."
Tina tried not to take automatic offence on her friend's behalf. Lizzyhad been acting a bit strangely, and it wasn't usual for her to be so invested in a boy so quickly, but that didn't mean there was something nefarious going on! She tried to think rationally. "Well, Lizzy makes friends easily enough, but the few times I've seen her feeling romantic, it's never been serious this fast, and she's never even made her attention known if one of them wasn't going to stay."
Ben nodded. "James is the same. If someone is only staying for a limited time, he either won't start anything, or makes it clear that it's a temporary thing."
Tina frowned. "So this is unusual for both of them? I'll talk to Lizzy about it, see if I can figure out what's going on, if you handle James. It might still be nothing."
It was strange to see Lizzy acting like this.
All right, attention from a good-looking boy who might be interested in more than 'just friends' wasn't so common that Lizzy could be blamed for letting it go to her head a little. Fine, so in Tina's opinion James had plenty of valid reasons to be attracted to Lizzy, not the least being reciprocated interest from a girl he hadn't known his entire life. Yes, it was possible to fall in love in a short time – Tina's grandparents had known each other for exactly two weeks before they married, during the War, and lived together happily for almost sixty years.
But really!
Tina freely admitted to never having been in love before, so maybe that was the reason behind the personality changes in the two, but Tina had experienced extreme like, and she still thought that Lizzy and James might be moving a bit fast.
They had only known each other for all of two days, after all, and Lizzy had never been one for making hasty decisions. Neither had James, according to Ben and Will, who had been concerned enough at their friend's behaviour that they took Tina to the side to ask if she thought her friend was acting a bit strangely.
People thinking that Lizzy or Tina were a bit odd was not unusual, not the least because of Lizzy's obsession with history and legends, and the side-effects of Tina's psychic sense. Even so, Tina had to say that her normally-steadfast friend's uncharacteristic behaviour took the cake.
But Tina loved Lizzy as a sister, and knew about the deeply-hidden insecurity that came with the knowledge that even if boys did talk to her, it wasn't Lizzy's personality that made them approach in the first place. Lizzy would be hurt if Tina tried to say that she thought the budding relationship was more hormones and novelty than true affection, no matter how much Tina would mean it in a good way, and Lizzy wouldn't appreciate the interference.
Still, that didn't mean that she wouldn't try. Lizzy had taken advantage of the break in the weather to look around the village with a few of the others, since it was market day. Tina just hoped that they wouldn't have to buy an extra suitcase to get everything home and live off two-minute noodles for a week, but at least it gave her time to try to plan an interrogation speech.
Tina managed to corner Lizzy after dinner, and it went about as badly as she had expected.
Lizzy's eyes flashed angrily, and she folded her arms, two major danger signs for anyone who knew her. She listened patiently as Tina blundered her way through the 'don't-you-think-you're-moving-a-bit-fast' speech, then went on the offensive.
There were times that Tina wished that Lizzy hadn't majored in English, and this was one of them. "I'm going to assume that you aren't just jealous that for once someone is paying attention to me without looking at you first. But are you really saying that it’s impossible for someone to like me enough to make a move without waiting weeks?"
Tina winced, that hadn't come out the way she had meant it. "No, just that it's unusual for you to act so quickly! What happened to your insistence on friendship and emotional connection before romance? I don't know anyone that moves this fast without sex being involved, and you said that demi-sexuality was more about emotional than physical bonding! I mean, we're leaving as soon as the roads are passable!"
That was harsh of her, and Tina prepared to backpedal as Lizzy looked ready to cry. "Exactly! We're only able to be together for days at a time, so we have to make the most of them. Let me enjoy love while I can!"
The use of present tense struck a strange chord in Tina's mind, but Lizzy stormed away before she could apologise, running into James, who was stalking away from what was probably an equally unsuccessful conversation with his friends.
Tina, Will and Ben exchanged helpless glances as the couple linked arms and walked away. Sighing, Tina headed up to bed, deciding to let Lizzy cool off before she tried again.
They still had another day or so before they left, and even if she thought herself to be madly in love; Lizzy would never impulsively just uproot her life to stay behind when the tour group left. Even Marissa wouldn't be that daft. Tina still had time to think up another speech that wouldn't completely devastate her oldest friendship.
With that in mind, she drifted off to sleep, ignoring the slight tingle in her subconscious.
Fear.
Not for herself, despite her current predicament, but for her love, riding to his death with no way for her to warn him.
Fear for her father, who lay bleeding on the Common Room floor, injured while trying to stop the soldiers from taking her. Oh, she was glad that her sister was away at a school for young ladies, her father having gone short-staffed as he saved for years to afford it so that his younger child would have prospects!
Fear for the rest of the village, if the redcoats took it into their heads to wonder why none of them had reported the Highwayman who had been so active nearby. Bess would not put it past this captain to have half the town dance the gallows jig, even if their only crime was that of silence!
Her hands were bound, her body tied to the foot of her narrow bedframe, a musket with a hair trigger keeping her at attention and preventing her from struggling, and she had a perfect view of the road where John's blood would soon stain the cobblestones.
Again, she twisted her hands in their tight bonds, trying to gain even a small amount of freedom… and froze when she found it.
There was only the slightest give in her bonds, but it would be enough.
She worked hard, but silently, careful
to keep her body as still as possible. If the redcoats heard anything enough to take their attention from their watch at her window, if they discovered what she was doing, they would only tie her up again, this time without mistakes. As it was, she would only have this one chance.
One arm was pulled as far over as she could manage without breaking it, the crack of bone surely enough to make the redcoats notice. She turned the wrist so that she could stretch her reach even further, and Bess was glad for the gag that stopped her from screaming in pain. The town bell started to chime midnight, and at last, her finger touched…
Lizzy bolted upright, her eyes wide.
She had had reoccurring dreams before, but never progressive ones of someone else's life. Never dreams that felt so real that it was becoming hard to tell the difference between Lizzy herself and Bess, the girl in her dreams.
Trying to rid herself of the faint feeling that she was waiting for someone, Lizzy got out of bed and sat at the window, staring out across the moor, the obscured moonlight making the road appear as a ribbon winding in a breeze.
It was strange, and Lizzy couldn't shake the feeling that, somehow, events had conspired to bring her here, though she knew she was being silly. Legends were fascinating, but it was absurd to think that some supernatural force had gone out of its way to cause a horrible storm, like one out of a Gothic romance, purely so that Lizzy would be trapped in a place that felt so familiar, even though it couldn't be. Break-downs happened all the time, especially in conditions such as the ones that night, for reasons that had nothing to do with some unseen force wanting her to meet the Innkeeper's grandson, to whom she felt an undeniable pull of love, so intense as to almost scare her.