The Ruthless Redhead's Revenge (2 page)

“Well you'll have that chance
tomorrow. Hopefully she is interested. The two of you would do well
together and you could both be out of this dreadful old place.
Although be careful of father and our brothers if you do open up a
competing business. Who knows what they might try to do to you.”

“I've thought that through. I'll
be moving as far away as I can on the island and still be in a port
city. It would take them several days to get there on land and you
know how father hates traveling on ships.”

“Still, be careful. I don't trust
them. Madeline and I have been barring the door at night for the past
year and more than once I think someone tested the door trying to get
in.”

“You should have told me sooner!”

“So you could do what? Stay awake
all night guarding us? You've been doing what needs to be done here
on your own already, I didn't want to add to that.”

“Well, back to your original
question. Yes, I'll be happy to take her if she wants a ride with
me.”

“Thank you. Hopefully we will get
a chance to talk more before I leave, but I've no idea how long it
will be until I do.”

“Father didn't tell you? The
escort will have three days here before you will be leaving.”

“No, he didn't tell me. Thank you
again. Good night Geoff.”

Roberta went and told Madeline that she
had a ride to town the next morning with Geoff if she wanted it. She
noticed Madeline flush when she mentioned Geoff's name and thought
that perhaps the two might get together after all.

They're both very good people and
they'd be good for one another,
she thought,
I hope they do
get
together. For now though, I have to worry about myself.

Roberta was up early the next morning
to see Madeline off. As she watched Geoff drive the coach away she
knew the next time she saw him he would have Master Gutren's escort
for her in the coach. That took away the brief pleasure she had felt
seeing Madeline and Geoff together. Their smiles had been sweet and
hopeful and had given her a pleasant feeling to see. That feeling was
gone now though. Anticipation, and fear, of what was happening
replaced the pleasant feeling with an unease that took over the pit
of her stomach.

She returned to the house and wandered
through it. She had never loved the house, not since her mother had
died in it. Now that she knew she would be leaving it, and probably
never returning, she found herself fonder of it than she could recall
being. She was about to be uprooted. All of the familiar people,
places, and things in her life would be gone. She was both eager and
frightened at the concept. She didn't know how well she would adapt
to new people and places since she had never traveled farther away
from the house than the nearest town.

The rest of the morning passed her by
in a dizzying rush of melancholy. When she heard the coach coming
back she fought the urge to run and hide. She needed to meet the
escort and determine what her course of action would be. She was no
coward, to hide from a battle of wills, but if one were necessary she
thought it best to wait until they left the house before it occurred.

When she first saw the escort, she was
unimpressed. The lady appeared to be in her thirties and had the look
of a spinster or perhaps a widow that could not find someone to
remarry. She was small and thin as a bird. Her first impression was
quickly revised though. When she was introduced to Annabelle she
found her to have a quick wit and an acid tongue.

“So this is what all the fuss is
about. Master Gutren could've gotten hundreds like you for the same
amount in any of the larger cities.”

“It's a pleasure to meet you
also, Annabelle. I'm sorry that your manners seem to have deserted
you.”

“Young lady, I do not care what
your opinion is of me. I have one job and that is to ensure that you
arrive at Master Gutren's estate. It is not a pleasant task for me so
I do not intend to make it a pleasant journey for you. I speak my
mind as I will and better women than you have not put a stop to me.”

“I speak my mind as well, I just
don't indulge in idle rudeness for the sake of being rude, unlike
some.”

Geoff stepped between the two.

“Annabelle, allow me to show you
to your room. I shall carry your case there for you.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Annabelle stalked off and Roberta could
tell that the journey would be every bit as hellish as she had
feared.

The next three days passed in a hellish
haze for Roberta. She meekly accepted the conditions that Annabelle
passed on to her. She did get to keep her mother's belongings though
so she didn't care what else she could, or couldn't, bring. On the
morning of the third day, immediately after an early breakfast, Geoff
once again had the coach set for the drive to town. She entered the
passenger area with Annabelle, her luggage already strapped to the
roof by Geoff. Her father and elder brothers hadn't even woken up to
say good-bye, not that she missed them at all. Geoff started the
coach's horses moving and Roberta's journey began.

The journey to the port passed far too quickly for Roberta's
taste. Well before noon they had arrived and Geoff had unloaded her
luggage. He went out to the ship that they would be traveling on and
spoke with the captain. When he returned he told them:

“The two of you will be sharing a small cabin for the
voyage. I'll get your bags into it now and then I'll show you where
it is.”

“I'll help you carry the bags Geoff, there is no need for
you to have to make several trips.” offered Roberta.

“That is not the way a young lady should comport herself.”
snapped Annabelle.

Roberta's only answer was to pick up several of her bags and wait
for Geoff to lead the way. Once they were out of earshot Geoff spoke
to her:

“Do you need to antagonize her so?”

“Have you paid attention the last three days? She was
unfailingly polite to all the men in the house, me she snapped at and
ordered about. I won't tolerate that. I don't want this marriage and
I certainly won't tolerate the person who is escorting me to my new
prison treating me like dirt.”

“I thought you'd feel that way. Evidently she is waiting for
me to come back and escort her so I suggest looking in the bottom of
the dark brown bag once we get them into your cabin. I left a little
gift for you there.”

They found spaces in the cabin for the bags to be out of the way
and as Geoff returned to escort Annabelle aboard, Roberta rummaged
through the bag he had pointed out. At the very bottom of the bag was
a knife, nearly the size of a dagger. It rested in a leather scabbard
with a floral pattern tooled into the leather. A leather belt, of a
type to support the knife, was wrapped around the scabbard.

Roberta grinned for a moment. At least one of her family knew her
well enough to gift her in a manner she would appreciate. Her grin
fled when she realized that she might never see Geoff again. When he
returned escorting Annabelle, she waited until he was ready to leave
and clutched him in a hug. She whispered her thanks for the gift in
his ear:

“Thank you Geoff, I love your gift. I'll miss you
desperately. Perhaps one day your new business will take you to my
new home. Otherwise I fear that I may never see you again.”

“You're welcome. Do try not to use my gift on your escort
though, please. I'll miss you as well Roberta, out of our family, it
was only you who I was comfortable with when we were together. I'm
horrible at good byes though, so I'll simply take my leave now.”

Roberta reluctantly released her hold on him. He gave her one last
squeeze, kissed her cheek, then turned and departed. Roberta turned
as well, to look at Annabelle:

“Let's get this over with. I behaved myself at the house,
but I'm not going to tolerate your insolence and scolding during the
voyage.”

“Little girl, you will do as I tell you, when I tell you.”

“If your behavior to me is odious, I shall inform Master
Gutren that you were intolerable and that I wish to never see you
again. I've gathered from your conversation that you do odd jobs for
him. That these jobs are necessary for your financial safety. If you
wish to lose these jobs, then continue to treat me as you have. If
you wish to keep them, all you need to do is treat me as an adult and
an equal.”

“Ahh, so the little sprite has a backbone after all. I had
wondered if that red hair were simply a color. It seems that you have
a redhead's attitude as well and some intelligence to boot. Perhaps
we can get along better now. I was told to find out if you had the
temper to match the hair and now I have.”

“You old crow. You could have just asked my father or
brothers.”

“Would they have told me the truth, though? It seems that
they are more interested in the gold than in you and would not have
done anything to endanger that.”

“Geoff would have either told you the truth or not answered.
The others? You may be right about them.”

“And so I did as I did. Now I know for sure, having heard it
with my own ears.”

“Just so we're clear here, this means you'll curb your
tongue from the way it has been the last few days?”

“Indeed. I'll just try to keep you out of the trouble which,
on a ship full of sailors, surrounds us.”

“Then I will also try to keep a civil tongue in my mouth.”

It was several hours before the ship was to set sail. The two
women could hear the sailors and deckhands loading the ship. There
wasn't much of anything to do except talk with each other and so they
finally, now that they could hold a civil conversation, got to know
each other a little better.

Roberta was still irked at Annabelle over how she had been
treated. She understood why the ploy had been done, but it still
annoyed her. She tried to get over her irritation though, deciding
that perhaps Annabelle was someone she could get along with. She
would never be much of a friend, as Madeline had been, but she was
also not someone Roberta would go out of her way to avoid.

The ship eventually began to move sometime in mid-afternoon. The
conversation faltered as Roberta moved to stare out the single small
porthole in the side of the cabin. This was something new to her and
her fascination overcame her fear for the time being. It grew boring
quickly though. Once the ship was out of sight of land, all she could
see was an endless vista of ocean. The boredom allowed her fears to
surface again.

“So, what can you tell me about Master Gutren?”

“He is a hard man. He has been civil and polite most of the
time that I've seen him. I think that his attitude is what allowed
him to get rich. His first wife died five years ago. He had two
surviving children from that marriage but they've moved out and are
on their own now.

Sometimes he frightens me a touch. There are days when he is all
smiles with his mouth, but his eyes suggest a different mood. Rumor
has it that he wants a young, virgin wife so that he can do all the
things that his first, respectable, wife wouldn't do. I don't know if
that rumor is true or not but I can easily make it fit with what I
know about him.”

“Thank you for your honesty.”

“If I am to be truly honest I must also say that his wife's
death was surrounded by questionable circumstances and that since her
death there have been a stream of young women visiting his estate and
that not all of them leave in the same condition they arrived in.”

“Are you telling me that he is abusive to women?”

“There is no evidence of such that is not merely
circumstantial.”

“So you are warning me without making accusations.”

“I see you understand.”

“I will have to give this some thought. I did not wish to be
married to him in the first place. My desire to do so decreases even
more so with your words.”

“I do not see that there is anything you can do to prevent
it though. My words are merely to prepare you for the possibilities
of what may occur.”

“Thank you for your words then. There is always some other
option though. I could always go up on deck and throw myself into the
ocean. That is one possibility. I have no desire to meet death so
young though, so I shall explore other possibilities first.”

The cabin stayed silent for some time after the last statement.
Eventually the women departed the cabin for a rough dinner of the
same foods the sailors ate. When they returned to the cabin Roberta
immediately prepared for bed. Once she crawled beneath the rough
blanket she inquired:

“How long does the journey take?”

“Two more days after today and we'll arrive, assuming
neutral weather.”

“So I've two days to prepare myself. What shall I do?”
she mused to herself. She fell asleep still pondering the question.

The following day when she awoke, she recalled the dream that had
plagued her sleep. In the dream she had somehow managed to seduce a
man, despite knowing nothing of the arts of seduction, and he had
taken her virginity. Master Gutren had no longer wanted her when she
wasn't a virgin. She was free and no longer living in her father's
house. Daydreaming about the fantasy allowed the morning to pass
quickly but reality set back in after lunch time. Idle chat with
Annabelle revealed that she knew nothing else of import that could
help Roberta in her goal.

The boredom was struck dead in mid-afternoon when an alarmed call
sounded on the deck of the ship.

“Ship ho! She's flying the Jolly Roger!”

“Break out the arms, all men on deck!”

The ship's bell began ringing the alarm, calling all the sailors
to positions on deck to defend the ship.

Annabelle blanched:

“Quickly Roberta, we must hide ourselves.”