Free Goose Chase by Patrice Kindl

ravenously at the Prince. "I be so hungry I could eat—"
    "A horse!" I concluded cheerfully, holding out sticks with steaming lumps of boiled and grilled leather from the horse's bridle and reins impaled upon them. "And so you shall!"
    "O pshaw!" muttered Lucinda, but she took her skewer of meat and began slowly munching on it. The others followed suit and I began to bustle about, tidying.
    "And so, my dear mistresses," I said casually as I swept the hearth, "what are your plans for tonight? Do you think of trying the next village down the valley? Twould be a blessing to find a new source of meat. This one," I poked at the Prince with the broom handle, "will not last forever, you know."

    "That be a real good idea," said Tessa unexpectedly. "Why don't we do that, girls?"
    "But, Tessa, I don't want to go so far," objected Lucinda. "My bones ache so tonight that I can scarce stand upright."
    "Let's have a dig in the graveyard, I say," said Nellie. "There might be somethin' there we missed and we wouldn't have to walk so far."
    "Shut up yer traps," snarled Tessa. "I said we're agoin' down the valley and so we're agoin' down the valley."
    After much grumbling and complaining it was agreed that the trio would go down the valley in search of the next unsuspecting village they might feed from. Inwardly I rejoiced; aught that took them far away was to our advantage. All appeared to be shaping well for my plans.
    And yet...'twas so little like Tessa to approve of a suggestion of mine. I had hoped to win Lucinda and Nellie to the idea of new worlds to conquer; never had I expected to find Tessa on my side. My heart thumped in my chest as I waved farewell in the doorway, watching the three sisters lumbering away into the woods.
    Once out of sight, I whirled about, my eyes scanning the cottage for anything that might sever my hair.
    'A knife, a knife, I would give all the wealth of the Indies for a knife!" I muttered as I rummaged among the skulls and tibias that littered the corners. 'An ax! A hatchet, a scythe, a rusty old hoe! Is there naught here that will serve my will?"

    The Prince drew back, aghast. "You ... you would not murder me, Goose Girl?"
    I glanced malignantly at him, remembering how he had deprived me of my sewing scissors through his o'erweening stupidity. But yet I must reassure him and gain his trust ere we fled through the forest.
    Shaking my head, I said, "Nay, I'll do no harm to you, Prince. Indeed, I shall do what I can to save your valuable neck, if only you will most faithfully promise to obey me in all things." I fixed him with a fierce stare, which mayhap did little to embolden him. "Will you?"
    "I—I," he hesitated. "Do you mean in
all
things?"
    "Tis what I said, is it not?"
    "O, but—"
    "You do not trust me. I do not blame you. But what chances, my lord, do you think you have if I go away and leave you alone here tonight?"
    "We-ll—" He eyed me dubiously.
    "Promise, or I shall go this moment." 'Twas of course all bluff on my part, as I had not yet the means to cut my hair.
    "Yes, but wait," he begged. "For how long must I obey you in all things?"
    I debated. Twas a fair question. "Until we reach home
and safety, or until I release you, whichever comes first," I replied at length.

    He nodded slowly. "Very well."
    'And when we do reach our home, you must promise me that you will never press me by force of arms, or by any other means, to marry you, and that you will defend to the death my right to remain single so long as I wish."
    "O, in certes I will," he said, with some emphasis. "I shouldn't think of pressing you to marry me again. 'Tis for the best, no doubt, that you remain unwed. Marriage, I am told, is ever an uncertain estate and some are not best suited to it by temperament or training." He flinched as I smashed a human skull on the cauldron and then tried sawing at my hair with the resultant sharp edge. "You, mayhap, are one of these, Goose Girl. In point of fact," he went on, "I