The Highwayman

The Landlord's Daughter

The Landlord's daughter Bess

The Inn was busier than usual on the account of the guard coming to rest for the night.

There had been robberies in neighbouring towns so the guards were stationed here for security reasons.

There had been reports of a rich man who was held captive by a gun man while his culprits stole the merchants gold and other items of value. After they had taken all the bounty, they murdered him and left him to rot in the moor.

I for one hated the guards after they had a few too many pints. Saying, that no man is respectable after a few drinks.

They would get rowdy and find it appropriate to touch me like I was some common tavern wench. The other women didn't mind it but I did. I felt violated each time a guard looked at me the wrong way.

After working for what seemed like forever, father decided to close the inn and sent the guards to their rooms. Hopefully they will have sobered by dawn or our town will not be safe.

As I walked to my room the air became colder and heavier. There was a chill slowly creeping up my spine giving me a slight shiver. Tim must have forgotten to light the fires in the rooms upstairs. Even though I've know Tim since childhood he still gaven me an uneasy feeling. I couldnt seem to shake the feeling that he was some what disturbed. Father had taken him in as an orphan he was offered accommodation and a job which ,I might add, he is very terrible at. It was better for him to work at the Inn rather than live on streets.

I had to do his job for him once again. After lighting the fires in all the rooms i headed to my room that was at the back of the Inn.

On cold wintery nights such as this I liked to sit in windows edge and look over the town. The stars made every inch of the town shine. I hummed the tune my mother used to sing to me when I was a but just a babe. I sang it whenever I felt lonely or missed her touch or voice. She was everything to me and I loved her very much. Father is a kind and loving man but sometimes a girl just needs her mother.

As I looked out the window I saw a shadow. It was rather difficult to see who it was but it looked like a man riding a stallion. He radiated danger and mystery which I found to be intriguing. We locked eyes and i felt my heart begin to race and my breath hitch slightly. His hazel eyes sparkled with mischief and something else....desire.

I pulled myself away shutting out the cool night and the stranger whose eyes I dreamt of that night.