My characters:
Katherine Oscuro (Light) Gabrielle
Cody Caldwell Sangria(Blood) Le Diable Xena
Violence: ermmm……yes, of course.
Sex: Ermmmmmm…..yes again.
Anything else: yes, again….just read the story already.
Part 3
Cody knocked thrice on the large door. It was swung open on the third knock and she stepped back to survey Katherine. Katherine was wearing a tight green dress, the buttons done up to the very top of the neckline. Cody glanced down at herself. Her boots could do with being replaced and she could do with a new pair of britches too. She had on her new white silk shirt and her long coat was once again slung over her arm. "What are you doing here?" Katherine demanded.
"I've been….er, sent by the captain to ask you to dinner." Cody replied, peering past Katherine into what had been her cabin. She didn't begrudge Katherine the room of course, but Captain Jameson wasn't the easiest traveling companion. The old man talked too much and had an annoying habit of twirling the edges of his well-oiled droopy mustache.
"Oh. Have you learnt your manners yet?" Katherine asked with a perfectly innocent face. The question unnerved Cody as she remembered being asked the same thing by her mother countless times. She reached for her pocket and drew out a long thin box, from it, she took a long cuban cigar. Instead of lighting it, she twirled it between her fingers. Her eyes flicked back over the cigar as she attempted to light it.
"I must say that I'm….disappointed, Miss Oscuro." She said slowly.
"Disappointed?" Katherine echoed. "What in Heavens name for?"
"In what you have chosen for your future."
"My future, well that doesn't really concern you, does it?"
"No, I suppose not. But I must say that your innocent façade is very convincing. And very appealing."
Katherine looked puzzled. Innocent façade? Disappointed? Realization dawned on her. Captain Caldwell was disappointed that she was innocent, and that she was under the protection of Mr Tinieblas and Ms Worthing. Why, she must have intended on…….Katherine was confused once again. Both she and Cody were women, so what could she have intended by asking her to stay in her cabin? There were only two things clear to Katherine at that moment, number one, she was hungry and needed nourishment fast, and number two, she wasn't sure if food was the only thing that would quell her hunger.
Cody was also looking hungry, but the way that she was looking at Katherine, you could tell that she didn't really want the roast lamb being served in the dining room either. But Katherine had guessed that from the beginning, and now Cody was practically telling her that she was disappointed that she wasn't a loose woman!
"I realize that my beginnings are humble, Captain, but my parents were good people. And my father was an important man." Katherine said slowly.
"I don't doubt that, Ms Oscuro, and no-one has control over their beginnings, but its your future that you have control over. Are you sure that you want the life that you'll get at Ms Worthings?"
"I'm not afraid of working to pay my keep, Captain, if that's what you mean. And I shall only be there for a short time, just long enough to su - sup - supplement my traveling expenses." Katherine blushed an attractive shade of pink at her struggle with the word.
"Then I believe that I underestimated you, Ms Oscuro. And I don't really see any point in waiting until you're established in Ms Worthing's house." Cody said. She bit her tongue sharply as she realised what had come out of her mouth.
Katherine stepped back into the cabin. "I…I beg your pardon!" She cried out.
Cody's eyes widened. "Oh gods…did I just say that? ....would you mind telling the captain that I'll be late for dinner?" Cody turned on her heel swiftly and strode out of the corridor. Katherine put a hand by her neck and gasped…..what was Cody Caldwell up to?
Cody rushed to the edge of the pilothouse and leaned back against the wall. She inhaled a mouthful of smoke and tried to calm her heart as she felt the smoke penetrate her lungs. She was angry and she wasn't quite sure why. Katherine Oscuro had gotten under her skin, something that is never good for anyone who is used to being alone. The girl was confusing to her. She'd been about to offer the girl protection from the damned Tinieblas, hell, Katherine was like a younger sister figure.
Cody cursed herself silently. Admit it Sangria, she thought, you'd love to bed the girl, not just offer her protection. You're fascinated by that blend of childhood innocence and womanly beauty. But is seemed that she had underestimated the fair Ms Oscuro. Cody was wondering about the girls background. She had said that her father was an important man, but surely and important man wouldn't have his daughter traveling alone on a steamboat, heading to a ……. whorehouse in New Orleans. Most probably an illegitimate child from the backwoods whose mother had taken a tumble with a Creole. And hell, she'd known Tinieblas to bring some girls in for his own indulgence. He'd also offered their first time for a high price, something that no-one questionned as the girls were willing enough. Although they only got a small profit from it.
Cody exhaled smoke through her slightly parted lips again. She hated Tinieblas, and she always had. He had worked his way through his partners money, and it had always been rumoured that he was involved in the murders of four of the towns most promising citizens. And now he was planning on devouring young Ms Oscuro. The idea of him selling her into white slavery almost made Cody physically sick. Hold on now, she ordered her stomach, the girl seems quite happy to go along with it. And tidied up a bit, Katherine could make a fortune at Anna's. But she was cut from a different cloth than the other girls at Anna's. Cody bit her lip. She'd never questionned the girls' future plans or beginnings. Most of them moved on to occupy a rich man's home as his mistress, and most were a lot more content than the gents wives. So that must be it. Katherine was going to establish herself at Anna's then move on to become some Creole's mistress. Just like all the others.
It's fine, Cody told herself, we'll just stay out of the way until she leaves. And that will be soon at the rate that we're sailing.
Cody glanced at the skyline of New Orleans. It never ceased to amaze her that she was a part of that city. Katherine sidled up beside her.
"Isn't it pretty?" She breathed. Her new life was going to start here at Miss Worthing's house. What Cody had said had disturbed her all week so she had resolved to stay as far away from the captain as possible. It had been difficult - there are only so many places to go on a ship! - but she had succeeded. The boat pulled into the dock with a sudden lurch. It threw Katherine to the side slightly into Cody. The darker woman grabbed her arm to steady her. Katherine pulled away quickly as if she'd been burnt.
"It was ……an experience meeting you, Captain." She said, her lips tight.
Cody scowled. "Surely a nice experience, Miss Oscuro."
"I'm not so sure." Katherine said. She offered her hand to be shook. Cody's eyebrows furrowed in the middle. She grabbed the flimsy fabric of Katherine's dress and pulled her in close. The movement was so quick that it startled the younger girl. Cody kissed the girl's neck, just below her earlobe and then pulled back.
"You'll remember it though, miss oscuro." She said before stalking off the deck to collect her belongings.
Katherine turned her attention to the scene in front of her, ignoring the mark she was sure was burnt into her flesh. An attendent had moved her baggage down onto the dock and Katherine Oscuro followed it, uncertain of what the future may bring.
Katherine sat on a small stool on the dock. Angel was asleep in her lap, the cat bored from being stuck in its box. "Miss Oscuro?" A soft voice asked. Katherine looked up at the woman.
"y….yes?"
"I'm Anna Worthing. Can I help you into the carriage?" The woman said. Her voice ran like honey over Katherine who hadn't heard a kind voice since her mother passed away. She handed the woman Angel's box and picked up her bag.
"Thank you."
The woman had red curls piled up into a fashionable style on her head. Her dress had a sweeping neckline surrounded by tiny gems and cascaded into a full skirt. She headed over to a carriage.
Once they were safely seated, Katherine found out that Miss Worthing had been late due to an accident on the road.
"Did you have a good trip?" Miss Worthing asked in her soft voice.
Katharine nodded. "Yes, but there was one person….anyway, it doesn't matter, I'm never going to see her again am I?"
"That would depend on who it was." Anna replied.
"A captain of a ship, Cody Sangria. Do you know her?"
Anna nodded, a small smile creeping onto her lips. "Very well, in fact, we've had a few business dealings together." They rode in silence for the remainder of the trip. Finally, the carriage stopped in front of a large three storey brick house. "Come along then Katharine, the other girls will want to meet you right away."
"Other girls?" Katharine asked.
"Yes, eight of them to be exact. And two maids. But one seconds as a cook. She makes the best apple pie, you simply have to……." Katherine nodded politely as Anna chattered on. All of a sudden, she felt the need to prove herself to this woman.
The 'girls' were seated comfortably around a plush living room. Three were seated on chaises, another two were playing chess and the others just lounged on the floor laughing and talking.
"Ladies!" Anna clapped her hands together, "I'd like you to meet your new housemate. This is Miss Katharine Oscuro, and she'll be staying for a short time."
One of the girls stood up. She was wearing a simple dressing gown and shift. "Hello," she began in a soft tone, her accent was slightly french but her english was perfect, "My name Alexia, I hope that you'll stay long enough for us to become friends."
She extended a brightly painted hand and Katharine shook it, Alexia didn't pull away and Katharine clung to it like a much needed lifeline.
"Alexia," would you take our guest up to the room we prepared?" Anna interrupted.
Alexia nodded and twisted her hand to hold Katharines more securely.
"Come." She said softly, and Katharine nearly did.