The Highway Men of Bumbletoad Way

"Lead the way, but do not attempt to escape. I would never shoot a woman, but though I would feel great displeasure at ending the life of such a fine animal, I would not hesitate to shoot your horse."

As they rode at a walk, neither said so much as a word to the other for a while, each being absorbed in their own thoughts.

Harrison was watching the woman carefully, for he did not trust her not to attempt an escape. She was also an intriguing riddle, this girl. She would be a beautiful woman if dressed in the garb of London society. Even in anger, the soft features of her face, the arched brows, the small nose, and the sensuous lips fairly beamed her beauty. Most men would have turned their head at the sight and she would have no difficulty in finding a fine husband, yet she was still unmarried.

He wondered how such a woman, even though a common milkmaid, had turned to robbing travelers. Surely she did not need money, for servants were paid a small amount in addition to being furnished with a small apartment in either the house or in another building. Servants ate of the same pantry, albeit with less variety, as the Lord and his family. Being a commoner, any money in excess of the wages of a milkmaid would raise suspicion so even were she to have more than most, she would not be able to spend the excess.

He smiled at the courage she had shown when he held her to the earth. Most women would have either swooned or succumbed to a fit of tears. This woman had fought him with all the strength she had. Though he had told her the blows were merely an irritation, Harrison had felt the pain caused by her small fists and knew he would continue to feel those blows for another day or so.

Elizabeth was thinking of the route they traveled and trying to remember if there were any obstacles that might slow the man long enough for her to dash away. She was confident that Alcazar's swift hooves and her knowledge of the area would allow her to escape. The problem was those first few moments before she disappeared into the trees. If the man was able to draw his pistol, he would surely fire it at Alcazar. If she lost Alcazar, it would be as if she had taken the ball in her own heart.

She sighed when she realized she had specifically chosen a path free of anything that might impede her progress through the forest. She would have to wait until she could enter the stone entrance to her hiding place, retrieve her saber and hold the man with the point at his breast while she retrieved her pistols.

In spite of thoughts of murder and telling the man she would kill him, Elizabeth knew she could not carry out that threat. It was one thing to wring a chicken's neck or to slit the throat of a bullock. It was quite another to take the life of a person, and from her birth she had been taught that doing so was the most unforgivable sin one could commit. She would only hold him at bay with her saber and when she once again had her pistols and dagger, she would order him to ride away.

Were Elizabeth to continue in her efforts to relieve travelers of their coin, she would have to find another area in which to lie in wait for carriages, but though Bumbletoad Way was long and the bends in the road were many, she did not fancy this approach. Doing so would mean once again leaving that with which she had a bed and a meal every day and entering upon another journey of sleeping in the forest and eating what she might find along the way.

She would be forced to again be just a milkmaid. There were worse occupations, but she did not wish to do this until she grew too old and feeble to do so. Elizabeth knew not what she would do once this man had taken what little wealth she had. Her thoughts upon this matter were interrupted by the man riding behind her.

"Girl who dresses as a highwayman, I am Harrison Dunwoody if it pleases you.

What is your name?"

Elizabeth looked at his smiling face and forced herself not to smile as well.

"Elizabeth".

Harrison chuckled.

"Is that all, just Elizabeth? You have no surname?"

"I have a surname, but I see not how that is important to you."

"I am merely curious. It is unusual to find a woman relieving travelers of their wealth. I though perhaps you to be the daughter of another highwayman and to have taken up his occupation."

Elizabeth shook her head.

"I have no such relations, not father, brother or any other relative who is so employed. Is such the case with you? Was your father a highwayman? Your dress would seem to indicate you are the same."

Harrison smiled. Many women he knew would have launched into a sobbing defense of their actions. This Elizabeth was not so easily led, and had instead turned the question back to him.

"No, my family has always been very obedient to the laws of society. It was only my misfortune to be born second to another brother that brought me to this state. He now has title to the family estate and I have only what he deigns to give me. As such, I am caught between two situations. I would rather leave the manor and strike out on my own, but it requires coin to do so, more coin than my meager stipend."

Elizabeth smiled.

"So, you steal from the wealthy that you may in turn become also wealthy?"

Harrison shook his head.

"I seek no great wealth. Wealth is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing in that it enables one to do as one wishes, but also a curse, as wealth demands a certain conduct of one's affairs. I seek a simpler, but more enjoyable life."

"And what would that conduct be? Do you not enjoy dancing with the women at your grand parties and hunting grouse and hares?"

Harrison found he'd inadvertently returned her smile and quickly corrected that.

"I do enjoy hunting, fishing as well, but the grand parties are a bore. I might dance with many women, but those same women have their fate selected by their fathers. It is a useless exercise to attempt to impress one for I have not the status her father requires, and she is quite likely already betrothed by handshake and only awaits attaining a certain age before marrying the husband of her father's choice."

"I know of such goings-on", said Elizabeth. "It would seem to me that some fathers treat their daughters as no more than an item to be sold to the highest bidder. It is as if those fathers look upon their daughters with the same eye as they do a prize carriage horse."

There it is again, thought Harrison, a logical statement made with the confidence of certain knowledge, and yet it comes from the mouth of a woman.

"You appear to have knowledge of this matter. Pray tell me, how would a milkmaid learn about the marriage practices of her employer?"

Elizabeth shrugged.

"Perhaps I was not always a lowly milkmaid, but of course that thought would never enter the thick head of a man born into wealth."

Harrison smiled at the insult.

"I was born into wealth as you say, but that wealth is not mine, so I do indeed think of things other than counting my coin and enumerating the herds of cattle and sheep. If you have not always been a milkmaid, what were you? I doubt you are a wealthy man's daughter, for a wealthy man's daughter of your age would be married and suckling a child by now."

Elizabeth wondered if this man might understand her situation. His own was not at all like hers, but the result of his situation had driven him to the same occupation as had hers. She had nothing to lose by telling him of that situation. He would take her coin and jewelry whether she told him or not. If she could win even a little sympathy, he might leave her with at least at little.

"Yes, such was the situation deemed to be my fate, in exchange for an hundred sheep and a dozen milk cattle. That was my dowry, an hundred and twelve animals. I had rather though I was worth at least a small amount of gold, but apparently not.

"My husband was to be Lord Coventry of Suffolk. I did not wish to be his wife. The man was thirty-four years senior to my eighteen, and I feared he would not be able to sire the children I wished to bear. It was with great distress I --"

Harrison interrupted her.

"Lord Coventry?...and your name is Elizabeth?...you claim to be Elizabeth Wynn, of the Wynn family of London?"

"Yes."

Harrison shook his head.

"I know this to be a lie. Elizabeth Wynn is dead. My brother Winston was in attendance at her funeral and saw her casket lowered into the grave."

Elizabeth chuckled then, the first time Harrison had heard her do so.

"Such is the tale Lord Coventry told everyone, but did your brother see Elizabeth's dead body?"

"No. Eight days were required to inform and assemble the funeral guests, and her body had begun...as you may understand, it was not possible to open the coffin to view the body."

Elizabeth chuckled again.

"I would suppose there was an odor as well."

"Winston said as much, though it was somewhat lessened by the burning of heather and sage at the grave site."

Elizabeth chuckled again.

"If you were to dig into my supposed grave all you would find is a wood coffin containing half a side of a bullock and that well rotted. I heard of Lord Coventry's ruse from a friend of a friend of his carriage driver. Lord Coventry created this illusion as he could not endure the embarrassment of admitting I had run away. Had he done so, he would have had to explain the reason was because of his perverted ways and he would have suffered being shunned by London society."

Harrison frowned.

"You claim to be Elizabeth Wynn, but you have no proof. Words are like shuttlecocks, without much weight, and it is a simple matter to bat them about. Facts are otherwise."

Elizabeth smiled.

"You also have a claim, a claim to be Harrison Dunwoody. If this is so, you would know your father's name was Isaac, your mother's, Lydia. Your brother is Winston and he is two years your senior. Your mother lives in London still, though your father died three years past from being kicked by a plow horse. I gather his chest was fairly stove in and he lived only a few hours after that. He is buried on the family estate near here under a large yew.

"Your mother's maiden name was Wayne, of the Waynes of York. Her father is a financier of ships to the Orient and made his fortune in tea and silks. He arranged the marriage of his daughter to Isaac Dunwoody for the dowry of six hundred pounds and a cask of rum. Lord Wayne has a failing where rum is concerned, hence the inclusion of that item. Are these things of which you are also familiar?"

Harrison shrugged.

"Anyone living in London could learn these facts easily enough."

Elizabeth smirked.

"If they were of social status or could read, possibly so. How many milkmaids have you met who are wealthy or can read? I read quite well, if I do say so, but then, the tutors hired for my education were very competent. Oh...I nearly forgot...when you were three, you fell from a pony and your arm bone was snapped in twain. The surgeon applied a splint and your arm healed, but even today is slightly bent. Would I know this unless I know intimately of your family? You have not once shown me your bare arms."

Harrison was somewhat bewildered. Everything Elizabeth stated was indeed fact, even the accident that had befallen him at the age of three.

"I can not fathom how you would know these things and especially so since we have never met. I assure you I would not forget a girl with red hair and green eyes.

Elizabeth smiled.

"I was sickly as a child and was not allowed to attend any events. I spent my youth under the care of one Molly Anderson, a dear woman who is more mother to me than my own mother. Would that I could tell her I still live, but she passed away of grief at the news of my supposed death.

"We did not meet because I was always confined to the house in London. While I was ill, I had little to do and I was not deaf and blind. It is interesting what my mother and father discussed about the members of their level of society. I listened intently to those conversations as well as to those of our servants and I am very familiar with most families of their social status, even unto their most secret of secrets.

"It was because of Molly's able care I recovered but no sooner was I again healthy and strong, I was betrothed to Lord Coventry. Father knew of my reluctance at marrying the man and would not allow me to associate with others lest I take flight."

She laughed.

"Take flight I did, and thankfully before the clergyman blessed our union. I do believe if I had been forced to marry the man, I should have found a way to end my life, such is Lord Coventry's treatment of women."

Harrison was now confused.

"I shall believe you, for now at least, but what is this treatment of women of which you accuse Lord Coventry? I know the man, not personally, but by his actions in London. He donates a portion of his income toward the care of the poor and he treats his servants well. From what I gather after listening to our own servants, they fairly worship the man."

Elizabeth began to raise her voice.

"They hold him in favor only because he pays them well to present that appearance, though a few are willing participants in his perversion, as I soon learned.

"The first morning, after we broke fast, Lord Coventry asked if I would enjoy a carriage tour of the manor grounds. It would hardly have been polite to refuse. He asked me to meet him at his carriage in front of the manor in an hour.

"It was indeed a carriage and a quite grand, ornate carriage at that. His team was more sickening than grand. Six naked young women I recognized as house servants from the evening before were harnessed to the tongue and traces, each one with a sort of bridle with a bit in her mouth and reins that led back to the driver's perch. In that station sat Lord Coventry with a whip in one hand and the reins in another.

"I did not see the worst until I was seated in the carriage beside him, and I was truly shocked when I did. Each young girl wore a tail made from the tail of a true horse. Lord Coventry was so kind as to explain its operation. At the end of the tail, the part that would sprout from a horse, was a smooth wooden cone with a narrowing and then a widening near to the attachment point of the clump of horse hairs.

"This cone was thrust into the nether opening of each girl. The narrowing prevented the cone from slipping out. The widening of the base prevented the cone from entering further.

"I would suppose I exhibited the shock I felt, for Lord Coventry leered and told me his team enjoyed the both tail and the harness and bit, and that after we were wed, he would instruct me in the wearing of such a harness and tail.

"Propriety would not allow me to say that which I thought so I did not say anything. I sat rigidly in my seat until his tour had ended, then went to my room and placed my valuables in a small sack. I called the servant girl assigned to assist me and told her I wished to have new clothing made for all the women servants, but did not know their various dimensions. I told her if I had a garment from each, I would take them to London to my seamstress and return with three new dresses for each and every one.

"I stole from the house once everyone was asleep, dressed in the dress of a chambermaid with a bundle of servant woman's clothing under one arm and an ham from the pantry under the other. By morning I was nearly two miles down the road to London. Once the sun began to rise, I took to the woods for I feared Lord Coventry would attempt to find me and take me back to his manor. I continued through the trees until fatigue forced me to stop for a rest.

"My goal was to return to London and tell my father of my fate. Such was not to be. I had some coin, and upon sighting an inn two afternoons later, I hid my clothes and ham, and stopped there for a proper meal. In the clothing of a servant girl, no one seemed to notice me save one man dressed in the livery of a coachman. It was by speaking with him I learned of my death from consumption and subsequent funeral.

"I thought I should not return to my father's home, for doing so would cause him a great embarrassment, not because I was still alive, but because of the bargain for my virginity he had struck with Lord Coventry. Instead, I turned onto Bumbletoad Way and walked to the south. I arrived at Brumley Manor a week later and inquired as to the need for additional servants.

"Lord Brumley's milkmaid had gotten herself with child, and was becoming nearly as large as the cows she milked. She taught me to milk the cows and explained to me of their daily excursions to the lea to graze. It was not difficult to learn, and as most of my mornings and afternoons were free, I had time to think about my future.

"I did not wish to grow old pulling the teats of cows, but knew not what else I could do. I did not wish to return to a life of lady of the manor even were that a possibility, which it was not. My mother grew old, fat, and bored in doing so. Neither did I wish to be the wife of a farmer or shepherd. I wanted a busy life of excitement.

"One day I heard the coachman speaking to the groom. He related the story of a highwayman who had stopped Lord Brumley's coach and demanded his money. Lord Brumley yielded his purse, the highwayman picked it up, bid them good day, and then rode off through the trees. Knowing what I now know, I would suppose that highwayman to have been you.

"I imagined myself dressed all in black with a mask to hide my face, sitting astride a powerful horse, and demanding the purse and jewelry from the occupants of a coach. Doing such did not appear to be difficult, would certainly quickly increase my fortune, and would be exciting. I determined to at least make an attempt at such, and set about equipping myself as the coachman had described.

I fashioned a shirt and trousers from two of my servants dresses and then dyed them black with walnut hulls collected in the forest. From the scraps, I fashioned a hat that I might hide my hair and a mask to conceal my identity. A final test was required once these items were completed. If my potential victims knew I was but a girl, they would only laugh instead of surrendering their valuables.

"The gardener favored an ale before bed, and often visited the inn near the manor of an evening. One night I dressed in my black togs and went to that same inn. I do not like the taste of ale nor its effect and requested a glass of milk instead. A tall, strapping fellow who was well into his cups stepped beside me and asked my age and to where I traveled. I replied I was but nineteen and was on my way to London at the request of my master.

"He replied that explained my drinking of milk, as a man would never favor milk over ale. I said I was pleased by his understanding and offered to purchase him a draft. That draft became several, and though it nearly exhausted my purse, when I helped the man to his bed in the inn, I also helped myself to the pistols, powder flask, pouch of balls, and dagger on his belt.

"My ruse had proven successful, for the man never suspected I was anything but a young boy. I still lacked a horse, but I had thought of a plan."

"While Lord Brumley kept a stallion to service the mares in his stable, there were other manor lords who did not. Stallions are much like men and can be a dangerous lot when near a mare in her season. As a result, it was often that stud men, those men who travel the countryside leading a stallion, called at the manor to inquire if there were mares who required breeding. As I resided in the stable with the cows and horses and the plowman was more often than not in the fields, it was often to me this question was asked.

"Most of these stallions were heavy horses and only fit to breed to likewise heavy working mares, but one stud-man who traveled up and down Bumbletoad Way had a magnificent beast, all black with but a single white star upon his forehead. The stud man had once explained this stallion had been bred for the track, but had proven not so fleet of foot as others and had been sold for a pittance to the slaughter house in London.