“He’ll kill you, you know,” Hol said to the side of me, dealing with customers at his stall as well.
“That lard cake will have to catch me first. Selling meat from my own cows isn’t technically illegal and it’s about time some of the people in town get to eat it this month.” I fished out a small parcel from the cart behind me, hesitating before holding it out to him. “Including you, Hol.” Inside was a small joint, just enough to feed his family for the next couple of nights if they portioned it well.
He paused and took the parcel quietly. “Thank you,” he said, and pulled out his coin pouch. My hand lifted immediately and pushed the pouch back down.
“Don’t insult us both,” I smirked. “You’ll embarrass yourself when you can’t afford my prices.”
He scoffed and looked at me through narrowed eyes. “I never know whether your presence is going to make it a good or a bad day for me.”
“What is it today?” I asked.
He smiled.
CHAPTER THREE
WHEN I RETURNED to the farm that evening my cart was empty and my earnings sat securely inside my pack. Usually I’d throw whatever coins I’d gathered from the Post in my saddlebag, but with ten times the regular amount earned, and with money like that jingling in your pockets…
“Roan,” I shouted. “Roan?”
No answer.
I’d love to say his absence was surprising. For the past few weeks he sat atop the taller trees in the evenings, watching the paths as if willing Father to return home. He seemed desperate. I struck a match and lit the scattered candles about the place, washing the room with a gentle, golden glow against the gloom. After one final look outside I shut the door and pulled the pack over my shoulder, emptying the contents on the table. It didn’t take long to count the coins and note the total down in Father’s record book, and by the time I was finished the door behind me opened.
“I didn’t realise you’d gone to the Post by yourself, Ava.” Roan’s heavy footsteps clomped across the stone floor.
“Someone needed to go and I made enough money for us to live on for the rest of the month easily,” I said. The anger etched across his face, and the lecture he was so desperate to give clung to the tip of his tongue. I held a few coins up to him, “We’ve even got some spare if you fancy dinner at the Shack. My treat…?”
If there was one place he couldn’t resist it was the Shack. He rolled his eyes and battled internally for the power to scold, but he cracked and couldn’t stop his smirk. The gold pieces in my hand, and the rumbling of his stomach, had won out.
“Fine,” he said, “but if you’re accompanying me you need to change into something else. I’d like people to think I keep good company, not good drinking partners.”
“You don’t think I could hold my own in a game of tankards?” I danced around the prospect of a challenge.
“On the contrary, you’d drink me under the table in a very, very dejecting fashion so I’d rather people saw Ava for once.” He smiled. “Wetherdon would do well to see her pretty face every so often.”
I sneered and headed to my room, sniffing at my clothes. “Very well, I’ll make myself presentable if you so wish it.” I mocked a curtsy, pinching the sides of my shirt.
“It’ll take a while.” He held back a snicker as I slammed the washroom door behind me.
It took longer than I’d anticipated but I’d almost forgotten the feeling of being truly clean and the freedom a dress could bring. No scratchy fabrics chafed my neck. No need to hide anything remotely feminine about myself. I even went so far as to let my long hair loose. For the first time in a while I looked like a woman. Evidently Roan thought the same thing as he stared on.
“I think I clean up pretty well.” The smugness in my voice crept through as I lifted my skirts to slip on a pair of very dainty shoes.
“You could have fooled me. Pad out that washboard where your breasts should be and you could almost pass as a genuine woman.”
He ducked and cackled as I swiped at him with a closed fist. He was joking, of course. I knew my breasts were fine, better than fine in my opinion, but the way he bent double as he laughed let me see my friend as he used to be, albeit for one fleeting moment. He noticed me staring and straightened up.
“What’s got you in a daze?”
I blinked and fumbled with the lacing on my jacket. “Nothing,” I said before heading out the door. “Just trying to think of what to eat; I’m starved.”
Once you got past the mile of dirt roads and winding paths it didn’t take too long to get into town. It was a straight shot down the hill and across the bridge. Roan blabbered on about what things he could eat and all I could think about was how my poor feet would fare in the shoes I’d chosen to wear. Even if I’d decided to change into my trusty day boots the dressmaker would use my skin as a doormat if he caught me walking past without matching attire. After one final run of the house we said goodbye to the dogs and headed off down the road.
THE SHACK WAS a suitable name. Barely standing in the centre of town, it was a dilapidated, old building made rich by its repeated patronage and drunks who looked for more than just a quick pint. Despite its leaky, broken-thatched roof, groaning beams and dry-rotted walls it was charming in a way. Even the woodlice were a bearable sacrifice when waiting on the keeper’s wife’s cooking. I thanked the room my dress allowed me as I rubbed my full belly and Roan sighed, mopping up the last lick of gravy with a scrap of buttered bread.
“If I could eat like this every day that I’d be a lucky man.” Roan swallowed the final piece and stretched out his arms.
“If you ate like that every day you’d be four times your size.” I chuckled. “Perhaps you could pair up with the keeper’s daughter. I’m sure she’d be thrilled to be Matched to a handsome man such as yourself.” I took the napkin from my lap and folded it carefully next to the empty plate. “Besides, with a husband like you they wouldn’t need to bother keeping pigs to feed the scraps to.”
“Well, well, what bitter words to come from a sweet face,” Roan clutched his chest and put his head in his free hand.
“Please forgive me, dear brother,” I feigned, clapping my hands together. “I didn’t mean to cause such offence. Here.” I slid two silver coins across the table. “will this ease your suffering?”
He dropped his act and pulled the two pieces towards him. “It’s a decent start.”
I laughed at that and slowly my quiet chuckle turned into a bellow as I was swept away by a fit of merriment. Whether the wine had finally made me giddy, I didn’t know, but it felt good to laugh like that. To my surprise Roan joined in.
“I haven’t seen you laugh like that since you were a child, Ava.”
“Excuse me, we’re the same age.” I wiggled my hand. “Give or take a month.”
“Try a couple of years.” Roan helped me into my coat.