A playlist
Jan. 14th, 2013 04:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
valarltdSince I am apparently serious about writing the steampunk boxing story.
A bit of the opening:
She stopped. Flossie would worry. Lillian scribbled a note to her maid and left it propped on her hair brush. “Dear Flossie. I've gone out and about in disguise. It's a bit of a lark, and I shall be home before morning, so do not fret yourself. Lil.”
She secured a moneybelt around her waist and headed out to the fights. Her hand trembled on the latch of her bedroom door, from excitement and fear both. She knew this could ruin her forever in her hometown.
No women were allowed at the illegal boxing matches. It was unseemly and dangerous. She'd paid her driver well to listen to the men's gossip and let her know when one was. He was adamant in his initial refusal, but she claimed she only wanted to make a couple of wagers, through him, so he relented. He would be horrified if he knew she was going to one, even in disguise.
Lillian let herself out the back door, taking care not to let it shut loudly, slipped down the back stairs and across the yard. The big prairie night stretched above her, with a million stars and a fat orange moon low on the horizon. Every shadow lay in stark relief and she imagined anything from coyotes to the local sheriff waiting to fall upon her. She made her way out of the little town and to the place where a gypsy wagon was parked.
It was a long walk and the boots she had bought had thin places in the soles that didn't match her feet. She kept walking, carrying herself as tall as she could. A man wouldn't slink and cower. He would walk. And tonight, she was a man.
A large black tent had been put up, and two big men stood at the door. Lil held onto her bribe and marched up, like the young man she was pretending to be. She named herself Standing Elk and was prepared to say it if asked.
Standing Elk wouldn't be afraid, even though the men were bigger than he was. He walked right in, slipped the bribe into the hand of the guard and took a place not far from the double fighting ring of stakes and ropes.
A bit of the opening:
She stopped. Flossie would worry. Lillian scribbled a note to her maid and left it propped on her hair brush. “Dear Flossie. I've gone out and about in disguise. It's a bit of a lark, and I shall be home before morning, so do not fret yourself. Lil.”
She secured a moneybelt around her waist and headed out to the fights. Her hand trembled on the latch of her bedroom door, from excitement and fear both. She knew this could ruin her forever in her hometown.
No women were allowed at the illegal boxing matches. It was unseemly and dangerous. She'd paid her driver well to listen to the men's gossip and let her know when one was. He was adamant in his initial refusal, but she claimed she only wanted to make a couple of wagers, through him, so he relented. He would be horrified if he knew she was going to one, even in disguise.
Lillian let herself out the back door, taking care not to let it shut loudly, slipped down the back stairs and across the yard. The big prairie night stretched above her, with a million stars and a fat orange moon low on the horizon. Every shadow lay in stark relief and she imagined anything from coyotes to the local sheriff waiting to fall upon her. She made her way out of the little town and to the place where a gypsy wagon was parked.
It was a long walk and the boots she had bought had thin places in the soles that didn't match her feet. She kept walking, carrying herself as tall as she could. A man wouldn't slink and cower. He would walk. And tonight, she was a man.
A large black tent had been put up, and two big men stood at the door. Lil held onto her bribe and marched up, like the young man she was pretending to be. She named herself Standing Elk and was prepared to say it if asked.
Standing Elk wouldn't be afraid, even though the men were bigger than he was. He walked right in, slipped the bribe into the hand of the guard and took a place not far from the double fighting ring of stakes and ropes.
