Outlander: A Bonnie and Clyde Story Vol. 1

Chapter 8

Weeks went on, my leg was healing slowly with Stephen's aid. He and I were acting more and more like a newly wed couple without announcing anything official. From time to time, he and Daniel would leave for hours on end to run some "errands", or so I'm told. I knew very well what they were doing, but we had no other choice in that matter. I excepted Stephen's way of life, and secretly even envied him going out and doing these things without me.

"Darling, you need to rest." Stephen said as I cut up vegetables for our dinner. I was getting more and more experienced with cooking rabbit stew, because it was the only animal that was easily available. "How long have you been straining your leg today?

I rolled my eyes playfully. "If I had started preparing this later, we would never have dinner on time, now would we?" I scoffed as he kissed my forehead.

"I'd rather you not injure your leg any further." he said.

"My leg is fine. I'm fine. Don't worry about me." I said as I gave him a wink.

"You both are very unsettling for my stomach." Daniel said, as he peeled the last of the potatoes. We both sneered at him.

Then, there was a sudden knock at our door. I shot a worried look at Stephen, as he hid himself behind the counter, readying his dagger. Daniel quickly looked at me as I nodded for him to open the door and play it cool.

"Good afternoon Mr..." a fancy dressed man said as he looked down at a piece of parchment.

"...Abbey." Daniel concluded. The fancy dressed man looked offended.

"Mr. Abbey. The crown has invited every head of the household and their spouse.." he bowed his head toward me and I smiled sheepishly. "...to a party. Please wear the appropriate attire..." he raised and eyebrow and scanned Daniel from head to toe snobbishly. ".... as you will be in the presence of his majesty."

Daniel huffed as he took the invitation from the fancy man, bowed and saw them off before closing the door.

"A party? That sounds fun!" I said as Stephen stood up from his hiding place.

He walked over to Daniel and scanned the invitation intently. "This is a great opportunity." he said.

"There should be enough there to buy ourselves a ship, Captain." Daniel said looking back at him, his eyes sparkling.

I realized what they were talking about, and interjected my thoughts right away.

"But that's dangerous Stephen!" I exclaimed. "You're talking about stealing from the crown. There would be a lot of soldiers patrolling this party and what if someone recognizes you?!"

He came up to me and held my shoulders. "I realize the risks love. But this is our chance to come out of hiding." His eyes were sparkling with motivation and I knew I couldn't convince him otherwise.

I saw his point. It's not like I could've helped with money anyway because I was a woman and I'd probably get laughed in the face for trying to find work. What work would I go into anyway that didn't sacrifice my dignity?

I nodded hesitantly in agreement. He was right, they didn't have a choice unless they wanted to live with looking over their shoulders their entire lives.

"Well, where should we get the appropriate attire for this party?" I asked in defeat. 

Stephen and Daniel glanced at each other, thinking of an answer to my question.

"There's that seamstress shop in town." Daniel suggested. "I'm sure there would be clothing there for us."

Stephen nodded.

The night of the party quickly arrived and I practiced my speech as much as I could, but I was still not confident enough, despite Stephen's positive feedback. 

I was still intimidated by the proper way to dress in this era, especially when it came to important gatherings like this. I told Stephen to show me step by step but I refused to let him dress me himself. He did my corset and everything else that needed to be done by another person, but the dress part was mine and mine only. It was about time I learned anyway.

I stepped out of the cottage nervously. Stephen and Daniel were pacing back and forth and stopped in their tracks to look at me in awe.

"If I look terrible it's your fault! You got me the dress." I said defensively, crossing my arms over my chest.

Stephen walked up to me, took my hand and kissed it. "You look extravagant, love."

He was dressed in what they would consider servant clothes and wore one of those white wigs. He tried to hide every thing he could that wouldn't show his true identity. Daniel wore a fancy over coat with frills, which made me chuckle.

"Am I humoring you mistress?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I'm just not used to seeing clothing like this, other than on display at a museum."

They both glanced at each other for a minute and shrugged their shoulders. I suppose this era was the reason WHY museums were made in the first place.

"Are you prepared, love?" Stephen asked me intently. This was a dangerous mission for all of us. "Your speech has been improving, however if you're not confident enough..." he cupped my cheek in his hands.

"I'll keep a low profile and I try not to engage in long conversation." I promised.

"Good girl." he smiled and kissed me on the forehead.