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 Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 5:51 pm
The dark young girl had had all she could take. It had been another long day of running to the market for odds and ends, wash, laundry, dishes, cleaning and whatever else crossed the twisted mind of the woman who she was forced to call mistress.
Just like the day, week, month and as far back as she could remember. And the next day promised to be the same. And every day after that, until the day she died (and if she was continuously treated this way, it would prove to not take very long).
Well, no more. She stood in Mistresses room, searching through some of her old, cast off clothes. The servent girl found a white frilly shirt, black pants and thigh high boots along with a midnight blue vest as she dug through the clothes. Why did the woman even HAVE these?? She didn't care, as she cast off her working dress and apron and pulled the clothes on. They were a bit snug, but the boots fit like a glove and she stood up.
Mistress didn't trust her, but since Betsy was so lazy, Betsy had always made her handle the petty money as well as her other chores and she pulled the stash out of it's hiding spot, tucking it in her shirt. She'd need some money to get onto the boat.
She gathered up her old clothes and cast around the room, feeling less nervous and more vindictive. Finally finding what she was looking for, she snatched a hidious hat out of it's box. This hat had caused her more then her fair share of grief in the household. She planned to start a bonfire with it and her old clothes.
Mistress wasn't home, and the only other servent she kept was Betsy, who she hated equally. She didn't care what happened to her. She went down tot he kitchen and held the hat in the fire until it caught and walked to the sitting room, tossing it on the floor and arranging her work clothes and scraps of paper around it.
Betsy would escape, but the house would burn to the ground, before anyone would have the wits to do something. The mistress later said that she should have known the girl was bad news when she bought her after the girl had tried to kill the first family that owned her (although, they -were- the ones that had taken her from France)
As Cassidy walked away, no emotion on her dark face, the fire in the sitting room casting convoluted shadows on her body, making her more and more erie.
She hoped that Jonathan was in front of the town's local tavern. She wouldn't have much time to wait for him.
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Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 6:15 pm
Jonathan's escape was more discreet, it had to be.
He knew that arranged marriages were bad luck. And in the end, it was his fiancee who had revealed it: the fact that his father was a traitor to the crown. It was after his father had taken her to his bed (although it wasn't the first time).
Shocked, Jonathan slammed the door open to his father's room, and saw her on top of him...
...Plunging a carving knife into his chest.
Jonathan knew that he was next, so he quietly left soon after, and used what meager money he had to buy his way onto a ship. That was how he met Cassidy during one of her many errands. She was a charming lady, a refreshing sight after his devilish fiancee. He had told her to meet him in front of the tavern, and he prayed that she would come soon... before the guards did.
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Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 6:31 pm
Cassidy brushed ash off the shirt's sleeve as she came into the light cast by the candle hanging from the tavern and noticed that she hadn't taken her worn, fingerless black work gloves. The girl shrugged, leaving them. She had kind of liked them anyway.
If Jonathan knew what was best for him, he wouldn't ask how she aquired the rapier she was now strapping to her waist.
"Hello, 'Dear' " she said, cringing a little. It pained her, but she knew no ship would take her aboard unless she was with a man. No one would believe the two were brother and sister, so this was her only alternative. "Are you ready? Because it would be most prudent if we departed quickly and quietly." She whipped black soot off her face and grinned wickedly.
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Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 6:40 pm
Jonathan raised an eyebrow at the young woman before nodding.
"I don't want to know what you did for your going-away party. Let's just go and hope that no one asks questions. Remember, your last name is Hawkenson," he said as he walked on ahead.
After a few minutes of brisk walking, the smell of the sea entered Jonathan's nostrils.
"We're almost there, forgive me," he quickly took Cassidy's arm in his crooked elbow to make them look more natural.
"Remember, m'lady," he said as he walked out towards the harbor, "Hawkenson."
The ship was rather dingy, and looked far worse than Jonathan had hoped. But pay wasn't inexpensive, and he wanted to live.
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Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 6:50 pm
"Let's just say every one had a...hot time," she answered, smirking, then wrinkled her nose. "I know, I know. Hawkenson. I got it."
To say Cassidy was cold hearted would be an understatement. Even the most heartless of women would have blushed at the delicate and careful way that Jonathan took her arm, but Cassidy didn't even blink as he did so. "Don't get to cozy there, Mr. Hawkenson," she hissed as he repeated the name again.
As she climbed onto the boat, not even noticing how beat up it appeared, the young girl glanced back and smiled with pride and joy.
Off in the distance black smoke swirled up, reaching for the sky, before disolving into the night. She looked out to the sea, knowing what awaited her.
Freedom.
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Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 6:55 pm
"I assure you, m'lady, the bedchambers are the last thing on my mind right now," Jonathan's memory was still dotted with blood. It had been a disgusting scene filled with lust and wrath... and so much blood.
After he paid the captain for passage, Jonathan turned around and looked back at the city.
"My god..." he whispered, barely audible.
As the anchor lifted up and the ship cast off, Jonathan decided that touching her would -not- be a good idea.
"Well then," he cleared his throat, "Off to Tortuga, then?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 7:08 pm
"Tortuga," she whispered, nodding in agreement.
Her eyes suddenly widened. "Shi-" she cried, ducking behind Jonathan and pointing towards the shore. Comming from both sides were two sets of guards, the set comming from her side containing the men she recognized from the market square. They were the watchmen from Mistress's part of town.
The other looked more official, like they came from the King himself, they were well groomed and in polished armor.
All she knew was that both were yelling for the departed boat to turn around. Cassidy glanced at the captain, who didn't seem to have heard them yet. She clutched Jonathan's forearm, fearfully (for although she was blackhearted and emotionless, she was still a girl of a tender age). "What are we going to do?" she asked.
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Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 7:13 pm
Jonathan bit his lip before reassuringly patting Cassidy's hand.
"At least you don't have the Queen to worry about," he calmly explained.
The captain looked up at the guards, then at his two strange passengers.
"All right, lads, get ready to turn the ship around!"
"Wait!" Jonathan whirled around, "Oh... money, money, money... blast..."
Jonathan fingered at an heirloom from his mother's father. It was a golden pocketwatch, beautiful and valuable. He knew, though, that he would rather live than have an heirloom at death. Afterall, he still had to have a son or daughter to give it to someday.
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Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:00 pm
The Queen? Cassidy wondered what her companion was talking about. What could he have possibly done to the Queen?
If a lightbulb had been able to go off over her head, it would have. Of course! She sighed, pulling the pouch of money and jewlery from around her waist.
Cassidy straightened her back and took a breath, pushing out her chest. She had to get rid of the servents demenor, if this was going to work. Failing that, she always had her body to fall back on. She shuddered as she looked at the captain. He wasn't attractive in the least, and was older, older even then Jonathan. So here was hoping she could appeal to a greedy nature.
"You will not turn this ship around!" she comanded, trying to take on the same tone of voice that Mistress always had when she had ordered Cassidy around.
"Oh? And what makes you think that, Miss...?"
She grit her teeth. "MRS. Hawkenson." she shot back. "And I believe that you don't want to, is what makes me think that." She leaned in to him, and she sensed his sharp intake of breath.
"A-and why...is that?" She grinned. Oh, she had him around her little finger. She ran her hand down his arm and took his hand, opening it.
"This is why," the devious girl said, bringing the hand close to her chest, then suddenly deviating and setting the purse of valubles in his hand and closing his hand around it and her hands around his.
The man was pale now, and she imagined quite frustrated. "Oh...I see. I must admit, you have, er...conviced me, Mrs. Hawkenson." Cassidy turned and walked slowly back to Jonathan, knowing that the captain was watching her swaying hips in her deliberated step.
She smirked up at Jonathan, as the elderly man called to her 'husband'.
"You're very...fortunate in your wife," he said, before barking orders at the crew to keep sailing.
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Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 7:01 pm
"Indeed," Hawkenson agreed. When the Captain turned away, he pulled Cassidy aside (gently, of course).
"Thank you, miss," he said, "Thank you so much. You saved the both of us. Now we are really free."
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Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 7:20 pm
Cassidy nodded and held herself from shuddering again. She'd have to remember to lock and bar the door tonight of their cabin, judging by how the old captain was looking at her now.
The man tsked softly. It really was a shame that the gentleman didn't sweep his wife off her feet and drag her down to the bedroom that moment. If she was HIS wife... He coughed suddenly, catching Cassidy's eye and looking away.
Her nose wrinkled again, and she wrapped her arms around Jonathan's waist (as she was significantly shorter then him) and she laid her head against his chest. "Put your arm on my shoulder," she hissed softly. "I don't like the way that creepy old man is looking at me."
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Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 7:26 pm
Blushing, Jonathan wrapped his arm around her shoulder, rubbing it reassuringly. He glanced at the captain and raised an eyebrow.
"The lesser of two evils, huh?" Jonathan mused to Cassidy, "Don't worry, I won't let him hurt you. If it weren't for you, I could be back there with the guards."
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Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 7:40 pm
The young girl breathed in the smell of seawater mixed with Jonathan's shirt and in the safety of her hidden face, she finally allowed a slight blush across her face, but it was quickly gone.
"Jonathan," she started curiously. "What did you do? Why were those guards after you?"
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Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 3:47 pm
"Apparantly my father was a traitor to the English crown," Jonathan stated, "It all started with my fiancee. We were betrothed because she was wealthy and my father wanted money. It turns out, however, that she was really a spy sent by the English crown. She seduced my father behind my back and when she discovered that he indeed was a spy... she killed him."
He paused.
"And I believe that I was next," he looked back to the shore that was growing smaller, "And it looks like I was right."
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Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 4:59 pm
"But if you didn't actually -do- anything, why would they want to kill you too?"
Cassidy shook her head. She didn't understand England, or it's government at all.
The young girl looked out to sea, muttering under her breath. "Must have been a fool of a man to have fallen for that, your father."
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