Lies and Misdemeanours

“Do you know where we are now?” Hetty asked. She hoped he knew where they were because she certainly didn’t.

Charlie shook his head. “Not yet, but the further we can get away from here the better. I think we are going in the right direction, I just cannot be sure right now.”

They turned to the left and began to trot through the village. Thankfully, not many people were out and about. The occasional carriage and curricle they did pass showed neither of them any attention whatsoever, in spite of the fact that Hetty was riding astride in a dress that revealed a scandalous display of shapely leg.

Charlie eyed the long limb that protruded from beneath her skirts, and sighed. It had plagued him for most of the morning. He desperately needed her to cover it up, for his sanity if nothing else.

“Do you ride side-saddle?” he asked, although had no idea what he would do if she said yes.

“I was raised at a mill with two brothers,” she held up two fingers to emphasise the fact. “I was driving carts around the fields by the time I was ten. Mine was not a proper upbringing,” she declared in a poor mimicry of an aristocrat. “So no, I have never learned to ride side-saddle.”

Charlie shook his head. He didn’t really care what kind of childhood she had experienced. She was more than enough of a lady for him. He eyed the long length of leg again, and sighed deeply when his body immediately began to respond.

“Why?”

Charlie looked at her absently. “Why, what?”

“Why do you want to know if I can ride side-saddle?”

“I think that we need to get you out of that dress, and into some breeches.”

She burst out laughing. Just the thought of wearing manly breeches was hysterical.

Unfortunately, Charlie didn’t crack smile. She stared at him. Her mirth died in an instant when the realisation that he wasn’t joking sank in.

“What?” She gulped and stared at him with wide, slightly stunned eyes.

“You need to change clothes. We both do.” He glanced down at the clothes he wore, and wondered whether they were Simon’s because they weren’t his. “Just how much money do you have on you?”

“I don’t know,” she replied warily.

Sometimes, she just wished she could get inside his head to see what was going on but, from the rather too thoughtful look on his face, she doubted that she would like what she found there.

“We are not going to steal clothes, and we certainly won’t be able to afford to purchase any.”

“We need to eat first,” Charlie replied with a nod. “Then we will decide what to do about clothing.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t argue with him. Just the thought of food made her stomach rumble loudly. She realised then that she hadn’t eaten at all since yesterday. She was starving, and desperately needed to eat something or she was fairly certain that she was going to start to chew on the saddle.

“Fair enough. Food first, then clothing. But –,” she declared with a sniff, “- I am not wearing breeches. I know that I am not one of those prim and proper ladies you are undoubtedly used to, but I absolutely refuse to dress like a man.”

Charlie eyed the gentle swell of her rather ample bosoms beneath her dress and grinned.

“Don’t worry. I seriously don’t think that we could get away with trying to pass you off as a man. I just think that it would be safer, for the sanity of the men in the villages we pass through, that you cover those delicious legs of yours.”

He clicked his horse into a trot and grinned at her when she gasped and looked down at her offending limbs. Her cheeks suddenly flamed with embarrassment.

He was still teasing her, and trying to talk her into it when they left the village behind several minutes later.

An hour later, they were still arguing.

“I am still not wearing them,” she declared firmly as she finished the last bite of her apple and handed the core to her horse. She couldn’t stand those slightly accusing, soft brown eyes on her a moment l

onger and had felt guilty for each mouthful she had taken of the succulent fruit, but needs must and she was starving.

Charlie grinned at her. It was good to see this rather defiant, impish side to her. He couldn’t resist the way that humour lit her eyes, and teased her some more. After the tension of the last several days, it was nice to be able to lighten the atmosphere, even for a little while.

To her surprise, while she had been fetching the food, he had ‘purloined’ several items of clothing from somewhere. She eyed the garments warily and shook her head in disgust.