To Live Another Day by Gail Luppos (new ebook reader txt) 📖

A soft drizzle of rain tapped Robin on the back as she steadily walked through the crowded streets. Carriages ran by, their owners yelling out directions. People rushed to get home in time for their dinners. No one paid any attention to the dirty 14 year old looking boy on the side of the road. Robin grinned. Her disguise was working. At first she had worried that someone would look at her and call her out. Yelling " He's a girl!" But she didn't even get a second glance. What had worried her the most was her white feminine skin and her locks of hair. Thankfully Maggie had given her some nut dye and Robin had used it to tan her skin. Sadly, her hair was another issue to be solved. She knew that she couldn't keep her hair underneath her hat the whole time. She would get careless one day and that wouldn't be the best of positions to be in. So she had cut it. She didn't mind it that much. It would grow back anyways.
Her breath came out in white puffs and the night air chilled her to the bone. Her scantily clothed body was wrapped in rags and her undergarments did little to warm her. She needed shelter or else she would freeze and that would end her little life. Not the best way to die. Robin swaggered up to a shaggy inn on the edge of town. It wasn't the best of places to board but it was the only place where she could go without being noticed. Robin kicked the mud off her shoes as she entered the inn. Warmth seeped into her body and her fingers and toes began to tingle. Loud bawdy singing and people yelling out in their drunken stupor blasted her in the ears. The low light form oil lamps cast shadows across the dining hall.Giving the room an eerie glow that hid people in shadows and the gloom. A fat man whom she presumed was the inn keeper walked up to her. He leered, " Wat is a scamp doin' in my Inn! "


Robin deepened her voice as she spoke, " Notin' just lookin' for a temporary stay. Ya know, where a chap can get 'imself some peace an quiet." The Inn keeper gazed at him with a knowing grin. He chuckled slightly, " Aye matey,once your runnin form the law there's no goin back. Bloody scoundrels they are. Always huntin'. Back in my days you were always runnin, formed groups it got so bad. Most of em died. Only me an Bucky over there survived." He pointed to a balding man with all of his teeth gone except his front two. She could see why they called him Bucky. " Anyways, you be needin a room eh? Whatcha willin to pay?" Robin held out a silver coin. His eyes popped out of his head. " You been stealin boy!? " He whispered. Robin glanced around the room, " You wont be tellin no one now would ya." He took a stepped back and shook his head. "Naw, I wouldn't give a care. I'll be showin your room for the night." Robin nodded and followed behind the Inn keeper. He held open a door and told her, " Dinner is round 8 and breakfast is at 6. Don't be late or they'll be no food." Robin nodded and stepped into her room. It had a slightly moldy smell. But most Inn's were like that. London was known for its rain. It was always cold,and wet. Not the best place to live if you were poor. But she would make do with what she had for now. Robin locked her door in case of intruders and plopped down onto her bed. It sunk under her weight and the springs creaked. She quietly hid her money under the mattress. If she knew any better there would be some who would try to steal her money. But they wouldn't find it if she could help it. Robin blew out the lamp by her bed and let the exhaustion of the day carry her off to sleep.


The sound of a click echoed through out the room waking Robin from her light sleep. She instantly sprang to her feet thinking that someone was opening her room door. She crouched patiently waiting for the intruder. Instead she heard a scream muffled next door. Not one to pass up action, Robin leaped to her room door and searched down the hall for any disturbances. Light filtered underneath her neighbor's door. She crept to the door softly cracking it open. A man's back covered her view. "Please move," she silently thought. She watched as the man shifted slightly in a thrusting movement. The sound of skin tearing rang through the room and Robin watched frozen in horror as she saw a person tied to a chair. A sword was rammed through his neck. Blood flowed out of his mouth and his wound gushed a fountain of blood. The dead man looked so familiar, she gasped slightly as she realized that it was the Baron Villante,the richest man in town. "Was the richest" she thought. The murder whipped around at the sound of her gasp in time to see Robin dash out of the room. She ran down the stairs glad that she had thought before hand to tie her money to her breeches. The murder yelled, " Get back here you rat!' You can't hide from me!" The feel of him breathing down her neck urged Robin along. She tore through the Inn doors and out into the street. The moon was not out this night and for once Robin was grateful for for its absence. Her feet pounded on the gravel spraying rocks everywhere. She glanced behind her and let out a shriek of fright as she realized that he was running ten feet from her. She surged through the streets knocking over empty barrels discarded by sailors. She heard rather than saw him fall as she turned around the corner.


Robin ran towards the docks. If she could reach the water then she could hide amongst all the barrels and netting that lay discarded from prior use. She skidded around the corner and there in front if her was a pile of barrels. Tons of them. By the looks of it a cargo ship was being loaded. Without a second thought, robin opened one of the tops and jumped in. " Great", she thought. "Of all the barrels to choose from you had to choose the one that contained flour. Great just great." The pounding of feet drew her attention to her pursuer. Through a small hole Robin peeked at the murderer. The man pulled open a barrel and gazed into it. " I will catch you ", he growled under his breath." If it's the last thing I do". Robin began to quiver in fear. What if he found her! Then he'd kill her without a second thought. Robin's eyes widened in horror as her nose began to itch. No No No No! . The man had reached the barrel next to her and it was then that she let out a muffled sneeze. The man froze in his tracks. He grinned maliciously and leaned near her barrel. " Gotcha now!" he whispered. Robin sat frozen as he reached for the lid of her barrel. Thoughts about how she was going to die, ran through her head at an alarming pace. She couldn't die yet, she was only 16! Her breath came in rapid gasps as the lid squeaked. She flinched and waited for him to lift the lid. Suddenly a gruff voice called out, " Oi! You there! Stay away from em barrels! We don't like thieves an I wouldn't mind killin' one either." The slight glow from the sailor's lantern illuminated the murderers face. Robin nearly screamed. It was him! The same man who had caused her to leave her home. She snarled. He was the reason why she was homeless. The bastard! If she could just get her hands on him she would wring his scrawny little neck. He coughed, " I am sorry for the inconvenience sir, but you see, I lost one of my pets and it has run away." The sailor smirked at him, he lowered his face towards the murderer. " At midnight? Don't ya think that's a bit late for your 'supposed' pet to slip away." The sailor snarled at him. " I 'ate lair's and if you don't leave these barrels 'ere I'll call me mateys and give ya a lashin." He gulped. " Aye, sir, well ill be going now," And with that her betrothed ran away. Robin sighed in relief. Her satisfaction was short lived as the lid of the barrel was ferociously torn off.


Robin gasped loudly and curled up in the tiniest ball possible.' Pleasedontseeme pleasedontseeme'. She thought hopelessly. She felt a hand grasp her arm and forcefully pulled her out of the barrel. She tried to jerk her arm out of the sailors grasp but he held onto her with a vise like grip. " Stop your squirming" he said." I ain't gonna kill ya". She spat at him. " Let me go you! Let me go!" She began to jerked around wildly while he held onto her collar. "Calm down kiddo, I'm not doin' notin' to ya." She calmed her frantic movement and gazed suspiciously at the sailor. " How do I know your not trying to trick me?" He snorted, " Trick ya for what reason? I 'ave no use for a scamp such as youself,' He gazed at the boy he held in his fist. " Ye don't talk like a street rat, more like a gent if you ask me? Robin gulped nervously. What if he found out about her ranking in society! She would be dragged back home and that was the last thing she wanted. She had to distract him. With a sudden jerk Robin kicked him where the sun don't shine and pulled out of his weakened grasp. Th sailor groaned and fell down on his knees. He began to yell as she ran away, " Come back here you ass! You'll pay for that!." He struggled to his feet. " You will regret that later!" His voice slowly faded as Robin ran. The last words she heard from him were his threats of exacting his vengeance on the 'little street rat.' Robin ran into an alley way and watched as the sailor ran by her. After a few minutes Robin rose from her crouched position and checked to reassure herself that he was gone. She peeked around the corner and glanced about the vicinity. She darted out of the alley and ran towards the docks again. She skidded to a stop near the barrels she had hidden her self previously and looked about her. With precise movements Robin climbed into a barrel that luckily was full