Free His Michaelmas Mistress by Marly Mathews Page B

lot of tosh. He thinks he can steal from me because of our familial relationship, and that ain’t going to pass muster with me. Not anymore, it ain’t.”
    “Wot you sayin?” his father looked confused. “Y’er not talkin right, boy. Thee is rich now, an’ yew owe us.”
    “Felix, Lucky, please get rid of these buggers, for me. I don’t want to lay my eyes on my bitch of stepmother, but I want her the hell off my lands.”
    “We’ll take them down to the New Bridewell,” Lucky said.
    “Oi! I ain’t goin to no prison!” His father looked a little panicked, and before he knew it, he’d turned tail, and started running. “Get yaahr arse, movin, Ma!” he shouted.
    Tiny and Lucky looked at him. “Suppose we get to be the ones who give chase, eh?” Tiny asked.
    “I think if we let Freddie do it, they’ll never get down to the gaol alive, look at him,” Lucky said. “Freddie has blood in his eyes. I’ve never seen him filled with such rage before…well, not since our days fighting the Frogs.”
    Alfie still sat by him. He’d have to have a good bath before he let him into Wilton Park. He couldn’t give him back to his father, and he couldn’t leave him to fend for himself either. It looked as if he finally had another dog.
    “Well, come on, rough and tough. Let’s go and get you scrubbed down.”
    There was no two ways about it. The villages of Castleton and Maidstone would now know the sort of people he hailed from. It was a good thing that he and Julia hadn’t married, because his lowborn origins were about to be flapping out of everyone’s gums. She was going to think so ill of him. There was no point in trying to hide it, there was no way to hide such a terrible past. He’d never been polished, and now…now he felt rougher than sandpaper.
    There was a reason why Freddie had used his mother’s maiden name when he’d enlisted in the army. He didn’t want anything to do with the piece of shite that was his Da. He was a good for nothing layabout, and if Freddie was lucky, he and Madge would be sent to Australia for their crimes. He couldn’t see Julia’s uncle sentencing them to hang, but exile was probably something he would think was befitting of their crime. 
    “Don’t fret, mate,” Felix said, before he set off to follow Lucky who was already giving chase to his father and his stepmother. He could hear his stepmother screaming as if someone was murdering her. “No one will know about those two pieces of filth.”
    “Oh, no…everyone will know. And you know what, Tiny? I don’t care. I’ve spent too long trying to be someone that I ain’t. I’m going back to being the man I’ve always been.”
    “I never thought you had turned into someone else,” Tiny remarked. “Oh, hell, it looks like Lucky needs help. We’ll have to truss them up and then deliver them to the Parish Constables for them to take onward to New Bridewell.”
    “Keep your eyes on the both of them. I think you should go with them to Devizes. I’ve seen the elected Parish Constables, and they will probably need help with me Da and Madge. They’re sneaky little devils.” He watched as Lucky narrowly avoided being hit over the head by a cast iron frying pan, wielded by his stepmother. His father was going for his musket.
    “If you dare use that,” Freddie bellowed. “I shall shoot you dead. You may trust me on that one. You bloody bastard.” He stood up and aimed at his father with his own rifle. 
    His father looked as scared as he’d ever seen him. His eyes widened, and despite his fear, his mouth slid into a sneer. Freddie smiled. If only he’d brought his axe, that might have made his father mess his drawers.
    Slowly, his father put down his musket, and put his hands up. He could hear him muttering, “Ungrateful brat. If yew was younger an’ smaller I’d beat yew black an’ blue.”
    Mayhap, he’d get lucky, and Edward Lovett would sentence the despicable man to hang after all. He daren’t think