Free The Copper Sign by Katia Fox, Lee Chadeayne

gentleman. Ellen’s heart skipped a beat, and she was so anxious she felt rooted to the spot. Sir Miles! But when the man turned to the side and she could see his face straight on, she realized she had been mistaken. With a sigh of relief, she continued on until she heard two women squabbling.
    Curious onlookers had already gathered around them, and Ellen joined them. A burly market woman with dirty brown hair was hawking all kinds of ribbons and braids, simple ones made of cotton, costly ones of smooth silk or brocade, plain ones, and others woven in many colors, some elaborately embroidered, others long, short, thick, or thin.
    An angry customer was shouting so loudly her voice nearly broke: “I paid you for thirteen ribbons, each an ell in length, and now you want more money, you shameless swindler!”
    “You paid me for thirteen plain ribbons, but five of the ribbons you picked out are of silk, and embroidered, and they cost more, and so do the four woven ones you took. So you still owe me half a shilling.”
    “Go and get the market inspector!” suggested the woman at the next booth. “These rich young women are either dumb or trying to cheat honest people. You should not let her get away with that.”
    The customer no doubt suspected she was wrong. When faced with having her complaint referred to the market inspector, she mumbled a few curses, took out the money the merchant had demanded, and paid. Only after she had turned around did Ellen see who the customer was. She hadn’t even recognized Aedith’s voice.
    “Get out of my way!” the woman shouted impatiently to the amused crowd standing around her.
    Ellen knew that Aedith hated nothing more than to be ridiculed. The merchants would be watching out for her in the future.
    With a haughty expression, Aedith elbowed her way past Ellen shouting, “Why are you staring at me like that, you silly brat?” Ellen seethed with rage and without thinking stuck out her foot to trip her sister, just as she used to do. Aedith stumbled, and the people laughed even harder at her. Surprised and angered, she looked around. For a brief moment Ellen looked into her eyes, saw how she was crying, and suddenly felt sympathy for her.
    “Ellenweore?”
    Ellen was startled. Aedith put out her hand, but before she could get hold of her, Ellen had spun around and disappeared in the crowd as if chased by the devil. Her heart was pounding. Breathless, she hid behind a cart and from a safe distance watched Aedith struggling to get through the crowd.
    Defiant as always but with a little less haughty expression, she disappeared in the Cloth Merchants Street.
    Ellen struck her forehead with her fist, furious at herself for what she had done. Can’t I ever control myself? Why did I have to trip her up? Couldn’t I have just let her go by? Now, even if Donovan took her on, she would always run the risk of being discovered and betrayed by Aedith. She felt a wave of despair come over her. Would she always be running away? How far could she go, and where could she go without money? For what seemed like an eternity, Ellen just sat and stared into space. Aedith is my sister—I shouldn’t fear her , she thought, trying to console herself, but she couldn’t really bring herself to believe it.
    After she had commiserated with herself a while, she got up, stretched her shoulders, and jutted her chin out defiantly. First she would go to Donovan to learn of his decision. When she arrived at the forge, she saw a half dozen horses standing in front of Donovan’s workshop. One was without a rider, and the others seemed to be waiting for him. Ellen paid no attention to them but considered leaving again. Perhaps it was good that Donovan obviously was busy. Now she could go over to the house and explain to Glenna that she had offended the daughter of a merchant and had better leave town. Glenna would certainly understand, and Donovan wouldn’t care if she never came back.
    Just as she was about to