On
the Seventh Day of Christmas Anne managed to avoid…Seven potentially disastrous
“out-ings”
Anne gripped the beam for dear
life, hanging over a crowd of Bristol visitors and inhabitants. Thanks to
Captain Drake, who had spotted the hiding place of the Cabin Boy, Anne was now
giving those below her a fine view up her un-tucked shirt. This, however was
not Anne’s most worrisome problem. There was the issue of how she’d actually
get down from the beam.
The first problem was solved by
Stretch the Sailor. Stretch was so tall that he was able to move under Anne
Drew’s feet and shuffled to a supporting beam. Anne climbed down and quickly
tucked her shirt back in, glancing around nervously. Most of the town of
Bristol already knew her secret, but some remained a little ignorant on
accounts of bad eyesight or simply not having met Anne before.
It was Estella’s expression in
particular that Anne was worried about. The Draco was wavering between outrage
and disappointment. Looking to do some damage control, Anne rushed over to the
distraught Estella and whispered a hasty explanation in her ear.
“But you’re a girl!” Estella
shouted above most of the din of the party. Unfortunately, Frobisher was in
earshot and happened to turn his head towards the two young women at that very
moment.
“What’s that?” He strode over in
two steps. “Who’s a girl?”
“But…But…” Estella sputtered. Anne
thought quick and ducked behind Frobisher and hurried to Hawkyns.
“We’ve got a problem.” Anne
informed her father. “Estella knows I’m a girl and she’s about to tell
Frobisher.”
“Captain Frobisher knows you’re a
what Anne-Drew?” Captain Drake interjected. Since Anne had once thought that
Captain Sir Francis Drake might have been her father at one time, she had never
disillusioned him of the notion that she might not be male.
“I’ll explain later Francis.”
Hawkyns ushered Anne away from a very confused Drake. “I’ll do damage control
on Frobisher, keep by the rest of the crew for now.”
Anne found a spot by John T Hawser
the Boatswain, Stretch the Sailmaker, and most of the BBF. There was a rousing
round of a few dice games going on, and plenty of money was changing hands.
“Come to join us, lass?” John
misspoke and Anne turned on her heel, looking for another crowd to seek safe
haven with. There seemed to be quite a heated discussion between Estella and
the other Dracos, with many furtive looks towards Anne. Hawkyns was still
talking animatedly to Frobisher and Drake. Anne wondered if she’d last the
night without another major mishap. The last time she had to out herself was
when Frobisher almost took away her trouser privileges.
Surprisingly, the floozies of
Bristol seemed to be low on business at the moment. Thinking that among the
company of these women would be as safe as anywhere in the Duck, Anne sought a
seat by Ginny Lightskirts, Jezebel Harlot, Roxy Coxbomb, and Chastity Trollop.
“I think Frobisher knows I’m a
girl.” She groaned as she took her seat.
Jezebel looked up in surprise. “You’re
a girl?”
“You didn’t know?” Anne raised her
eyebrows in surprise. “I thought almost everyone but Frobisher knew!”
“Yes, luv.” Chastity agreed. “You’re
a little too pretty to be a boy.”
“I’ve seen pretty boys before.”
Roxy drawled around her pipe. “More than a few of them were girls too.”
“Besides,” Ginny comforted, “Frobisher
never remembers these things for long.”
“True, but what if the Dracos catch
me?”
“What if we catch you at what, Anne Drew?” Came the sneering voice of
Vinz Clortho. Goosebumps erupted on Anne’s arms as the hair on the back of her
neck stood up. Now she was in for it.
Fin
After yesterday's disaster of a failure to post (yes, that is a double negative), I thought something lighthearted that I enjoyed at Bristol would be best to write about. Out-ing Anne was honestly one of my favorite bits and 7 outings in one post was quite the achievement when you're working with a two page limit. Count them, there are 7.
