Pish on that rubbish

I had not long been awake when a knock came in the door of my little room in the inn. Though, truth be told, after the ordeal the night before it can hardly be said that I slept well.

“Who is it?” I asked, throwing on a top from the pile of cheap clothes Al had lent me.

“‘Tis I, and Eleanor wiþ me. Myte we enter?” The voice that answered belonged to Alice, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I heard it. Even though I knew the powered yesterday had done it’s job and saved her life, a part of me was still filled with worry and dread.

“Yeah, come on in,” I called back, and a moment later the two came through the door. Alice dawdled slightly, though I suppose that’s to be expected from someone who just woke up from a blood loss coma. “You look like you’re doing better. How’d you feel?”

“Far from perfect, but þankful to be alyve. May I sit?” She asked, gesturing to the end of the bed.

“‘Course, you don’t gots ta ask.” I also took a seat on the bed, and Eleanor sat in the room’s one actual chair about a metre away. Her expression was a tad melancholic, though since she insisted on remaining at Alice’s side alone all night I imagined it was in part exhaustion too. “I’m glad to see you’re okay, Alice, but you can’t pull that shite again, y’hear? ‘F I ‘adn’t ‘appened to be on me way back to the inn, we’d have lost ya’s last night. You can’t just throw yourself into danger without talking to us first, yeah?”

“Aye… I am mytily ashamed of my rash behaviour yester eve. I have sworn already to Eleanor þat I shan’t take such impulsive action agane, and I now extend þe same promise to thee. To þee, Barry Mackay, I owe my very lyfe, and I swear to þhee þat I shan’t so easily þrow it away on a whim.”

“Well I’m glad t’hear that, but pish on that ‘owe you my life’ rubbish. We’s friends, ain’t we? To ‘elp your mates out when they’re in a tiff is just plain ol' common sense, innit?”

Alice and Eleanor looked at one another confusedly for a minute, before turning back to me.

“I… must say I understood but half of þose words, þough I believe I understand þy point. þe bond between þee and I be’þ bilt upon grater foundations þan dett and favour. Very well. I sware to þee, not to repay a dett, but as a service to a friend, þat I will better value myne own lyfe from þis point. Please depend on þat.”

“Thaaaat’s more like it. Now, that outta the way, prolly best we geddown to brass tacks, innit.” I turned my attention from Alice to Eleanor “You fill her on the plan yet?” I asked the tired blacksmith.

“Nay, I þought it best she hear it from you, as ‘tis your idea.”

“Fair enough. So long as she knows.” I then turned my attention to Alice, and explained my proposal from the night before.

“þou… wishest to fake my deaþ?”

“Until we can get the heat off our back and grow our numbers a tad, yeah. A lotta people saw your fight yesterday, including the sorry state you was in at the end. A few whispers in the right ears, and suddenly the ‘ole town ‘ears about the “death” of Alice Edelweiss,” I elaborated.

“After youre brazen declaration of war, youre faþer will most certanely sendeþ someone to take youre head. But, if he believeþ you already dedd, he wouldst haþ little reason to pursue þe issue furþer. ‘Twould buy us much breaþing room, someþing for which we are in desperate need at þis moment,” added Eleanor. She had seemed apprehensive of the idea when I floated it yesterday night, but came around quickly when I pointed out just how much danger Alice’s life was in.

Alice ruminated the idea for a little while, her expression complicated. It was obvious she understood the gravity of the situation, but I wasn’t exactly surprised that she had her hang ups.

“þough I understand þe merits of such an idea, ‘twould be a raþer difficult façade to manetane, would it not? My hair colour alone giveþ me away if seen, and þere are some in þis town who knoweþ my face.” She ran her hand through her beautiful white hair which, truthfully, would be rather difficult to hide 24/7. “þis faleing to mention þat, shouldst we proceed wiþ our cause to set free þose indentured, ‘twould almost certanely cause þe lie to crumble. My faþer ys not an unintelligent man, if slaves began being freed all of a sudden, he wouldeþ recognyse myne involvement immediately.”

“Does the slave trade not see any other opposition?” I asked.

“None so brazen. þere be’þ detractors of course, þose who advocate for a peaceful abolition, but such people are not so adamant on þeir ydeals as to fyte þe establishment so openly.”

I put my hand to my chin. Admittedly that did prove a problem. Our ruse would only last until we began to take action, and then it would swiftly fall apart. We could try and free as many as possible at once so we’re harder to stop once our actions are known? No, in this world without the same fast transportation as Earth the scope of what we can achieve in a short time is severely hampered.

Was there anything we could do to keep the lie going a little longer? It’d still be worth doing just to buy us a little time and breathing room, but it’d be temporary to say the least.

“…þough abolitionists be not known to conduct rades, banditry ys not uncommon in þese lands. Were we to hyde our efforts among regular acts of mere petty þeft, þere wouldst be no reeson to suspect an alter motive, no?” Eleanor suggested.

“My family's travelling merchants be’þ not so easy to rade. Unlyke slave transports, þey travel wiþ gards, usually þree or four. ‘Twould be a deaþ sentence to rade þem wiþ such a small party.” Alice shook her head, and Eleanor looked down disappointed.

There was an obvious flaw to our operation that we just didn’t know how to overcome: our complete lack of manpower. Our actions were severely limited by how few of us there were, and it was a problem we couldn’t easily remedy. Of course, a numerically inferior force could beat a larger one, but that required either advanced tactics or… superior… firepower…?

“Hey… does this world 'appen to 'ave gunpowder?”