"I 'eard some of what 'appened in there, and know just what ye gotta do now..."
Eagerly, Adaira took a step towards this helpful stranger. "And what is that?"
"Why, letting me cheer ye up, of course, lad!" Seductively, the woman sidled closer and struck a pose. "Army didn't want ye? Too young? Don't ye worry, I do. For just a few quid, I'll make ye feel better."
Adaira froze. Then she took a deep breath and sent an icy glare at the woman. One even her brother would be proud of. "You will, will you?"
"Oh, aye! Why don't we find a nice, quiet place so I can make a man out of ye?"
"That might be more difficult than you think."
"Don't ye worry." The woman—Adaira firmly refused to call her "lady"—sidled even closer, batting her eyelashes seductively. "I've done this for lots of people like ye."
"Somehow, I very much doubt that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have matters to attend to. Apparently, I must grow some hair on my chest."
Shouldering past the other woman, Adaira stalked down the street.
"Harrumph! Noodle arms? Stick legs?" She threw a baleful glare back at the recruitment office. "I'll show you stick legs! Preferably by kicking you in the butt with one of them!"
Adaira squared her shoulders, filled with renewed determination. So she had suffered a temporary setback. So what? This wasn't the only recruitment office in Britain. And if need be, she could always get drunk and sing bawdy songs in front of the Palace of Westminster. That was practically a guaranteed way to get into the British Army.
But, for now, she thought as she glanced up at the sun dipping below the rooftops, I'll have to find a place to stay for the night. Luckily, that shouldn't be too difficult, right?
At least that was what she thought till she remembered that her brother was Mr Rikkard Ambrose, billionaire business magnate and owner of more than half the hotels in the United Kingdom. If she wanted to avoid being caught by her brother, waltzing into one of his establishments was definitely not the way to go.
The search lasted for hours. Finally, she found a bed-and-breakfast in the suburbs that offered far too reasonable prices to be owned by her dear brother. The view that met her eyes when she stepped inside was a comfortable common room with dark wood furniture along the walls, lit by a cheerful fire crackling in the brick fireplace. From behind the counter, a motherly woman in a flower-patterned dress gave Adaira a warm smile.
Excellent. This looked like a nice place to rest. All Adaira needed now was a good night's sleep, and tomorrow, she would go find another recruitment office and convince everyone there what a marvellously manly soldier she could be!
"Why, hello there, deary." The portly woman welcomed Adaira with a jovial nod. "What can I do for you today?"
"I would appreciate a room. I'm rather tired, and would like to turn in early."
"Just one room?" The proprietress's eyebrows rose. "What about your parents, lad? Ain't you a bit young to be out and about on your own?"
Adaira took a deep breath. "I am a perfectly mature man, thank you very much!"
"Really?" The look she received was stuffed to the brim with scepticism. "You ain't even got a speck of beard on your chin, lad. And your arms are as thin as noodles. How old are you? Fifteen? Sixteen?"
"Twenty-one!" Adaira declared boldly.
...minus three and a half, but she doesn't need to know that.
"Really?" The older woman cocked her head sceptically.
"Really," Adaira assured her and crossed her fingers behind her back.
One corner of the proprietress's mouth twitched. "And I suppose you're the Duke of Wellington, too."
"No, just a close relative. Now, my room please?"
"Naturally, My Lord. This way, please. And..."
"Yes?"
"Do go back to your parents, dear, please? It might seem fun to go out adventuring on your own, but it's not easy for a boy to make his way out there in the world." She sighed. "Just look at the neighbour's boy. He lost all his money and had to join the army, poor lad."
Adaira suddenly understood why her brother liked silence so much. Having other people shut up was really a nice idea sometimes. "Yes. Poor lad. Now, if you'll excuse me..."
Letting the sentence trail off, she stomped up the stairs, entered her room, barred the door behind her, fell face-first onto the bed and screamed into the pillow.
For a moment, just one moment, her resolve wavered. Was this really worth it? She'd taken all her saved-up pocket money with her when she left. It would probably be enough to hide out in the country for a while, far away from her father and the suitors he had chosen. Maybe even long enough for her to reach her majority. She would be safe then.
But you didn't run away to be safe, did you? whispered a little voice at the back of her mind. You ran away to find your own path in life. You ran away to find him.
Before she could stop herself, her hand had reached into her tailcoat and pulled up a somewhat crinkled, yet very well cared for letter. Unfolding it, Adaira stared down at the familiar words she had read so many times.
Dear Lady Ambrose,
Or dare I call you Adaira? (Pun very much intended.) If you permit it, I will call you by your first name. Whenever I write the name "Ambrose", the first thing that comes to mind is a certain brother of yours, which is not a conducive mental picture for what I wish to express in this letter.
I write to you this time from my latest post in Delhi, although, to be honest, I have not the slightest clue why I was sent here. The East India Company is supposed to be in charge of this place, courtesy of the incredibly brilliant genius who thought putting a for-profit company in charge of ruling an entire subcontinent was a good idea. My superiors are being rather reticent about revealing why I was sent here. However, as I write this letter by the riverside, sipping a fruit juice and enjoying the sunny weather, I find I do not particularly care. I have a feeling this is going to be a very relaxed and enjoyable assignment.
In fact, it would be perfect, if not for one thing: you are not here with me.
I miss you. Ever since those days we spent together before Miss Linton's wedding, I have not been able to stop thinking about you. Nor do I wish to. I will not say much more in this letter. What I want to say to you must be said face-to-face, especially considering your brother will most likely wish to punch me in mine. I would not deprive your sibling of his right to such a time-honoured tradition. Though I do plan on dodging. After all, I cannot let my roguishly handsome face be ruined, can I? If it were, how can I still charm you and steal your heart.
I can feel my commanding officer staring at me, so I should probably stop sipping fruit juice and writing about stealing things. I am reliably informed that, unfortunately, these are not a normal part of army life. So, for now,
Hoping to see you soon, I remain faithfully yours
Captain James Carter
Unable to keep a smile off her face, Adaira reached down to touch the letter. An image of his handsome face and roguish smile flashed past her inner eye.
Hoping to see you soon? Well, Captain James Carter, you might get your wish sooner than you think.
With thoughts of a certain army captain rather persistently on her mind, it took a while to drift off into sleep that night. But in the end, she did take a trip to dreamland. And the good night's sleep did wonders for her mood. In the morning sunlight, Adaira felt much more optimistic. Surely, yesterday had just been bad luck, right? Today, she would definitely succeed!
As soon as she had paid for her room and left the building, she found a coach station and boarded a carriage to the nearest harbour town with an army recruitment office. It was probably better not to stay in one place for too long, lest her brother's minions catch up with her.
Soon, she reached a busy harbour farther down the Thames, not far away from London. Looking around, she tried to spot the army branch that the coachman had told her was around here. Instead, she spotted a bobby who was strolling down the street. With three quick strides, she caught up with him, her excitement mounting with every step.
Yesterday was yesterday. Today, I will succeed! Today, I will prove myself!
"Pardon me, Sir." Adaira cleared my throat. "Could I trouble you for a moment? I'm looking for something."
"Why, hello there, lad." Turning to face her, the big man in blue gave me a friendly smile. "How can I help you? Do you need me to help you find your parents?"
Adaira stiffened.
Calm, girl, calm. It might be common practice for the British Army to ship off criminals as fresh recruits, but that doesn't mean you should punch a policeman in the face to achieve your goal.
Although it could definitely work as a backup plan.
"No, Sir, it isn't that." Plastering a smile onto her face, Adaira shook her head. "I'm looking for the local recruitment office."
"Want to cheer on your older brother when he joins up, eh?" A big hand patted her on the shoulder so hard it nearly made her knees buckle. "Atta boy!"
"N-no!" Adaira squeezed out, inconspicuously trying to massage her aching legs. "Of course not! I want to join up!"
"Join up?" The bobby took a step back in surprise and looked her up and down. "Lad, don't joke about things like that!"
"I am not joking! I—"
"Now, boy, listen up." With a serious look, the policeman stepped towards her again. "Joining the army is no joke. Every other day, you're sent to God only knows where to fight to the death... It's a tough life. A life for grown men. As for you, well..."
He tried to hide it, but Adaira caught the way he glanced at her arms.
"I what?"
"Don't take this the wrong way, lad, but...you're a green boy. Literally, because the first time I saw you I swear I thought you were a bean stalk. Just look at you!" Sadly, the man shook his head. "Look at those noodle arms of yours! And your legs and hands and, well, everything! Is there even the slightest hint of muscle? Doesn't look like it to me. Even on your chest...there's supposed to be muscles on a man's chest, lad! And with you? Nothing in sight. It's flat as a board and—"
Slap!
Oops.
That had been an instinctive reaction. Maybe, just maybe, it had been a little bit hasty. Yet, in her defence, his face had just seemed so eminently slappable.
Look at it like this, Adaira. At least now your chances of being forcefully shipped off to the Army have risen exponentially.
Although, as a reddish handprint formed on the bobby's stupefied face and his expression slowly changed from bewilderment to fury, Adaira realised she might not get that chance. She might just spend the next few months in chokey.
"You..." Slowly, the bobby's face started turning red all over. "You...you...!"
"Excuse me. I've just remembered I have something very important to do in another town. Goodbye!"
"Oy! Where do you think you're going, you little bugger?!"
Away from here. However, Adaira didn't think that informing the nice policeman of that fact would help at this moment.
"Excuse me, excuse me, get out of the way please!" Ducking and weaving through the crowd, Adaira dashed down the street at the fastest possible speed, all the way doing her best to ignore the shrill whistles coming from behind her. Chances were good the sound wasn't coming from an umpire.
Soon, other policemen, attracted by the sound of the whistle, joined the chase. Shouts of "Catch him, catch him!" rose into the air, and Adaira soon discovered an unfortunate fact about policemen: they were bloody fast!
Crap! They're catching up!
This place was getting a bit too dangerous for her taste. It wouldn't be too long before she came to a more crowded street, and if people other than policemen started joining the chase, she would be finished. Immediately, Adaira came to a decision, jumped behind a stall and ducked into a certain alley.
"Get him! Get the little bastard!"
"Dare to attack the police, did he? We must make him pay!"
"Catch him!"
"Where did he go?"
"Over there! He went behind that stall! Into that alley!"
Soon, the angry crowd of people, most of whom were dressed in blue and issuing repeated, sharp whistles, raced into the gloomy alley. Trying their best to get used to the sudden darkness, they glanced around for any sign of their prey. But the only person they saw was a young lady in a slightly ruffled, but quite fashionable dress.
"Your Ladyship!" Bowing hastily, the Bobby in the lead came to halt in front of the young lady. "My apologies, Your Ladyship, but did you see a young man pass anywhere around here? He's wearing a bowler hat and a peacock-patterned vest, and a ridiculous moustache!"
"Ridicu—ehem, well...yes, I did in fact see him," the young lady told them, and pointed to the door of a cheap brothel to the left. "He went in there."
"Thank you, Your Ladyship! And be careful. A lady such as yourself should not go down dark alleys like this, especially without a chaperone."
"Why, thank you for your concern, Sir. I'll go back home straight away."
"You're welcome, Your Ladyship." With a last nod, the bobby gestured to his compatriots. "You heard her, boys! Let's catch the bastard!"
And, with a crash, he kicked open the door to the brothel, and the whole crowd stormed inside. Outside, the young Lady cocked her head and listened. When, a moment later, startled shrieks and curses, followed by the sound of fighting, started to erupt from the dingy house, she nodded to herself in satisfaction and hurriedly made herself scarce.
Once the young lady, also known as Adaira, was sure she had put a safe distance between herself and her pursuers, her shoulders sagged in relief and she leaned against a nearby wall to drag in deep gulps of air.
"Son of a...! To hell with male disguises!" Uttering a curse, Adaira flung away the suitcase that contained her former disguise—then quickly dashed forward to pick it up again, when she remembered that said disguise consisted of some of her sister-in-law's clothes. That didn't change her mind, though. She was through with this! "To hell with male disguises," she repeated. "That was Lilly's way to love and freedom. I'll find my own. And I'll do it as a woman, or not at all!"
***
"Hm?" Mr Ambrose and I were just heading back to our hotel for Berty's daily round of diaper-changing, when I suddenly felt my left ear itch and reached up to scratch it. Suspiciously, I looked around. "My ear is itching. Is someone talking badly about me?"
"That is just a silly superstition, Mrs Ambrose. Now come on!" dismissed my words and strode towards the hotel entrance. "I have compiled a list of various other ways Adaira might have used her male disguise to get to India. Once we've taken care of our son, we must start checking them immediately!"
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My dear Readers,
At long last, the time has come:
"New Storm Rising", volume 7 of the Storm and Silence series, is now finally available for purchase as an ebook and paperback! I've posted the various links to all the different stores on my Wattpad message board and my Twitter / X Profile "TheSirRob".
My sincerest gratitude to any awesome fan who supports me by purchasing a copy, and if you enjoyed it, I would really appreciate it if you left a review! :)
Thanks!
Yours Truly
Sir Rob
P.S.:
What Adaira said about getting drunk and singing bawdy songs in front of the Palace of Westminster in order to get into the British Army is not a joke. Before the First World War, Britain did not have the practice of conscription. Thus, to fill up the rank of its armed forces, people arrested for minor crimes were quite often punished by having to serve in the army. During the American Revolutionary War, three entire regiments were formed from debtors, thieves, and men arrested for being drunk and disorderly. This might go a long way to explaining the result of the war.
And regarding Lilly feeling an itch in her ear - there is a superstition that, if you feel your left ear itch, that means someone is saying bad things about you, and if your right ear itches, somebody is praising you.