Coach (Episode 2 - The Further Chronicles of a Young Lady (and her Maid)

Continued from Episode 1 - Rabbit

The story so far:  You can find out how our two heroines came to be where they are today by reading The Chronicles of a Lady (and her Maid) either here on ABCTales or in book form.  In brief, after a series of adventures, at the end of the last episode, 'Ethel' and Gwladys ran away from a life of servitude at the Inn, run by her former Lord along with his partner (and their baby), to take their chances on the road (much to Gwladys's chagrin).  After a night camping out in a forest, they're now back on the road:

“It looks rather a pleasant little town” Aefelthrith said, with a certain satisfaction.
“As good as anywhere, I s’pose” Gwladys conceded, grumpily.
They were steering their coach down the High Street, or, more accurately, Aefelthrith was steering the coach down the High Street, as she wanted to try her hand at driving, much to Gwladys’s annoyance.
“Yer ‘oldin’ them reins too tight, yer know?” Gwladys pointed out.
“You are just jealous because I am just as good at this as you claim to be” Aeflethrith said, with a superior smile.
“Yer can ‘ardly go wrong, can yer?  It’s been a straight road all the way from where we were last night, ter ‘ere.”
“Nonetheless, I think my natural breeding shows when it comes to horsewomanship” Aefelthrith said, proudly.
“That, and never ‘aving to turn a corner” Gwladys muttered.
“Ah, look, there’s a Livery Stables just here, on the right.  That should be a fine place to drop off our coach and horses” Aefelthrith said, brightly.
“No, I dunner think so” Gwaldys shook her head.
“Whyever not?  We will need a stables to deposit this if we are to find somewhere civilised to rest for the night”
“Yeah, I know, but not there”
“What can you possibly have against that establishment?  Have you been here before?”
“No, and I doubt I’ll be ‘ere ever again.  Look, lovey, if we try an’ put this ‘ere coach and ‘orses in there, the first thing they’re gonna want ter see is the documents showin’ as ‘ow we own ‘em”
“Will they?” Aefelthrith looked astonished, “But surely, my word as a Lady would be sufficient?”
“Shouldn’t think so” Gwladys shook her head, again, “they dunner know you from Adam, or Eve I s’pose…”
“Huh!” Aefelthrith sniffed.
“What?”
“Well…Eve, I mean, really!”
“’Ang on, yer not puttin’ yerself above Eve now, are yer?”
“The woman wore no clothing” Aefelthrith said, confidentially, “and, if we’re going to be honest, she seduced him!”
“Just as well she did, else none of us’d be ‘ere to tell the tale!” Gwladys raised an eyebroww and chuckled, “Anyhow, If yer start layin’ down the law about ‘ow yer dunner need to show no proof of ownership, on account of yer bein’ a Lady an’ all, I reckon we’ll ‘ave the Watch crawlin’ all over us before you can say ‘knife’”
“Knife?”
“Yeah, ‘knife’, an’ just remember, this ‘ere coach ‘n’ ‘orses, it’s nicked…”
“I think ‘borrowed’ might be a more accurate description” Aefelthrith sniffed.
“It’s been nicked, not once but twice” Gwladys said, firmly, “first by yer bloke, what was ‘e then?  Parson Brown or summat?  Any road, ‘e ‘ad it away with it when ‘e were supposed to be ‘iring it, then the bailiffs caught up with ‘im, now we’ve nicked it off of the bailiffs!”
“That is not quite how I would describe the sequence of events”
“It’s what they’d say in Court, an’ just remember, it’s an ‘anging offence” Gwladys gave her a stern look.
“Hmm” Aefelthrith pulled the coach to a halt, “well, if not the Livery Stables, then where would you suggest?”
“Let’s try one of these side streets, see what’s down there”
“Erm, that means turning it, does it?” Aefelthrith looked at the reins, helplessly.
“Oh, for goodness sake, give it ‘ere!”
The coach made numerous turns after that, as it wound its way down side streets and back alleys.  Finally, Gwladys brought them to a halt.  They were at the front of a plot on which there was a large shed which was either in the last stages of construction or the first stages of demolition.  All around it were piled parts of coaches and carts, shafts, wheels, bits of spring suspension.  Across the front of the ‘shed’ was a sign bearing the legend:

‘Onest Maurice
Carts ‘n’ Coaches for Sail ‘n’ Higher
Items Bort ‘n’ Soled
Deliveries Maid
Truss Me!  Best Prices!

“This’ll do us” Gwladys nodded.
“You must be joking?”  Aefelthrith looked at her in astonishment.
“’Orses fer courses, watch an’ learn” Gwladys winked, and jumped down from the coach, “MAURICE!” She yelled.
A man, of indeterminate age, wearing a cap and sporting a clay pipe, edged out of the shed.
“’Ow do yer know me name?”  He asked, frowning.
Gwlady pointed to the sign above him and raised an eyebrow.  Maurice peered up at the sign, as if seeing it for the first time.
“Oh ar!” He nodded, “wotjerwant?”
“Got a proposition fer yer” Gwladys explained.
“It’s not ‘er, is it?” Maurice nodded toward Aefelthrith, “Only, she ain’t my type”
“Cheek!” Aefelthrith stamped her foot and glared at him.
“Nah, it’s not ‘er” Gwladys chuckled, “Look, can I come inside?  I need to ‘ave a chat”
Gwladys shepherded Maurice back into his shed and dragged the door shut behind them.
Aefelthrith fumed and drummed her fingers on the seat of the coach.  After some time, Gwladys reappeared, tossing a small bag of coinage from hand to hand.
“Cheers, Maurice” She shouted through the half-open door behind her, “Nice to do business with yer.”  She looked up at Aefelthrith, “Right, ‘op down then”
“Are we stabling the coach and horses here, then?”  Aefelthrith looked astonished.
“In a manner of speakin’” Gwladys nodded, “We need to get our luggage out of there, an’ all”
Gwladys hauled the bags out of the coach and started to stride away.
“Just a moment!”  Aefelthrith shouted, trying to catch up with her, “Where are we going?”
“Find somewhere to get our ‘eads down tonight, get a bite to eat, that style of thing”
“What about the coach?  The horses?”
“All sorted!  Made a few bob an’ all” Gwladys grinned.
“What do you mean, you ‘made a few bob’?” Aefelthrith frowned.
“Fer the coach an’ ‘orses” Gwladys explained.
“You’ve sold them!” Aefelthrith looked shocked.
“Yeah, ‘course I ‘ave” Gwladys nodded, “Why?  What didjer think I was gonna do?”
“How are we to transport ourselves from place to place?”
“Dunno!” Gwladys shrugged, “What was it you said?  Oh ar, (She mimiced Aefelthrith's voice) ‘“buying and selling, investing, brokering deals’, you can do some of that, can’t yer, so we can buy summat else?”
“Well, yes, I suppose” Aefelthrith said, doubtfully, “but, surely, with the sale of the coach and horses, we should have sufficient resources to fund our lifestyle here for a while and purchase for ourselves adequate transportation?”
“Nah, shouldn’t think so” Gwladys shook her head, “gerrus a couple of nights board ‘n’ lodgin’, mebbe”
“WHAT?  How much did you get?”
“Like I said, a few bob” Gwladys bustled onward.
“FOR A COACH AND HORSES?”
“Keep yer voice down” Gwladys hissed, “Don’t tell everyone!”
“What have you done?” Aefelthrith stopped, hands on hips.
Gwladys stopped, sighed and turned to face her.
“Look, it’s like I told yer.  If we’d been caught with that coach an’ ‘orses, we’d ‘ave been for the gallows, an’ no mistake.  So, we ‘ad to get rid, ‘an quick.  Sellin’ it, at all, was gonna be tricky but if yer can find some bloke like Maurice, what don’t ask no questions, yer can shift it.”
“But…how can you be sure he will not report us to the Watch?”
“Well, ‘e could, I s’pose” Gwladys nodded, “but, then again, I saw what ‘e’s got in that there shed of ‘is, an’ I reckon ‘e wouldn’t want that gettin’ out.  If ‘e shops us to the Watch, we shop ‘im an’ ‘e goes down an’ all.  We all ‘ang!”
“That is quite some risk!” Aefelthrith unconsciously stroked her slender neck.
“Nah, ‘e’ll be’ave ‘isself”
“What will happen?  To the coach, and the horses, for that matter?”
“Oh, yer dunner need to fuss yerself about that” Gwladys picked up the bags and set off, again.
“But, they could be recognised.  What if someone should see them?”
Gwladys stopped, sighed and turned back, again.
“That’s not gonna ‘appen” She shook her head, “yer see, I reckon the coach, that’ll be a pile of bits, by now”
“And the horses?”
“Ah, yer don’t want ter think about that.  Trust me!”
“What?  You mean…?” Aefelthrith looked aghast.
Gwladys bit her lip, frowned, shrugged and set off with the bags, again.
“Gwladys!” Aefelthrith stood with her hands on her hips.
“Leave it!” Gwladys shouted over her shoulder, “Believe me, yer dunner want ter know.  But yer might wanter give steak a miss fer a week or two”

You can find The Chronicles of a Young Lady (and her Maid)(link is external) in both Kindle and paperback formats.

Now read Episode 3