Page 38 of The Swordmaster's Daughter

Chapter ten

Rosalind

“Finally,”Lucindasaid,securing the front door and wedging a halberd underneath the handle to keep any stray male fencers out. “I thought we would never have the place to ourselves.” Such was the popularity of Grandma’s infirmary that it ran later and later each week leaving the Sisters of the Sword waiting anxiously in the courtyard, restless and raring to start. Lucinda pulled off her outer dress, donned protective leathers and handed out training swords. “This week we will focus on parrying,” she said. “If you cannot parry a sword away when it is coming at you, then you will not live very long. The tip of the blade is the weakest part, closer to the hilt the strongest. If you strike near the tip when you parry, it does not take much strength to knock the blade offline.”

After only a brief demonstration, the Sisters picked up the technique with gratifying speed, quick enough for Maud to declare, “With this rapier in my hand I feel confident of defending myself, but I do not own a sword. What should you do if someone were to attack you, and they have a knife or a sword, and you do not?”

“Then you use whatever you have to hand. A broom, a poker, or a frying pan can make a good weapon; even a cloak can hold off an attack, though of course it is always better with the help of a knife.”

“That might work for you, but you are brave and strong. When the man attacked me, he took me by surprise. I was so afraid, I couldn’t move.” It was now several weeks since Maud was ravished, and she still had the look of a rabbit set to bolt.

Lucinda set her weapon down and put her arm around Maud. “That is nothing to be ashamed of. An attacker has the benefit of surprise and takes advantage of your fear. He had a knife, and you did not, but you are here and still alive. Sometimes acquiescence is the best defense especially if you are caught unawares. But surprise can work both ways, and if you act swiftly and confidently it can turn the situation around. At the very least it can gain you a little time to determine if it is better to fight or not.”

“Do you really think we can ever be like that?” Lizzie asked. Her wild red curls were tightly braided today, giving her a much more serious air.

“With time and practice, yes I do. It is training, not bravery, that allows you to overcome your fear.”

“And a frying pan can be a match for a sword?” Maud was yet to be convinced and needed more than words to quell her doubts, so abandoning her initial plans for the lesson, Lucinda fetched a frying pan, a broom, a bed-warmer, and a fire poker, leaving The Sisters armed with rapiers and broadswords. She was in the middle of showing them how to use the straw-end of a broom to snare a sword blade while clonking your opponent on the head with a poker, when they were interrupted by the sound of running feet. Before she had time to gather her wits, let alone gather up all their scattered weapons, Robert McCrae came bursting into the room.

“Where is your grandmother? I need to see her right away.”

“How did you get in? You should not be here. This is the time we see to women’s ailments.”

McCrae continued to advance toward her, not even the poker in her hand acting as a deterrent. “Christ’s blood woman, I have a key as you are aware!”

“I insist you must leave.”

“We don’t have time for this. It is urgent I find Mistress Jones.” He grabbed at Lucinda’s hands and began to try to drag her toward the door. “Take me to her, please!”

“Now see here,” Moll stepped in, shouldering him out of the way and planting herself between them.

He scowled at Moll. “Pull your lackey off.”

“She is not my lackey.”

“She?” For a moment Moll’s unusual appearance served to distract him from his purpose, but once recovered, he tried to tug Lucinda’s arm. “Something terrible has happened...” His voice splintered with anguish. “T-to my sister. She needs your grandmother’s help right away.”

“I am afraid she is not here,” Lucinda explained calmly and clearly, determined not to become caught up in his panic. “She has been called away.”

“We must fetch her then. I have my uncle’s barge pulled up at the wharf.”

“It is not that simple. She did not leave word of exactly where she has gone.”

Meanwhile the others had quietly continued to put the weapons away and clear the area so once again they resembled an odd assortment of young women rather than a group of trainee female fighters. “Perhaps I might be of help? I could come to see your sister while my friends look for Grandma?”

McCrae stopped trying to drag her away, weighing up her words, a fierce battle between action and caution playing out on his face. “How long until you could be ready?”

”As long as it takes to put on my gown and pick up a basket of remedies and supplies.” McCrae gave a curt nod, clamping his hands together behind his back, his impatience barely contained. It was only then his eyes swept over her and took in the breeches and fencing leathers. “Would you mind turning away or waiting outside while I get changed?” Lucinda asked.

He turned away and looked down at his shoes. While she struggled out of the leathers and back into her dress, Lucinda parceled out instructions to track down Grandma Jones. Her most likely location was the Kings Arms in Cheapside where the publican’s wife was due any day soon. “While I fetch my supplies could you kindly tell my friends where they might find us when they locate my grandmother?”

McCrae had not named the “something terrible” but a familiar sense of foreboding swept over her as she packed the herbs, poultices and remedies she anticipated she might need. The foreboding did not lessen as she followed the fast-disappearing heels of the agitated Scotsman out the rear courtyard door and down the path to the landing where a small but swift looking barge waited, ready to spirit them away.

“What is her name?”

“The barge?”

“No. Your sister.”

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