Tabitha The Rumor-Bag

'You shall help me?' Gina turned to her cousin sharply.

'I shall help you. While I help you with Ansley, you shall help me find my stranger.' Missy looked at the drawer where she kept the drawing of her stranger.

'I reckon there shall be no need for us to work at the tavern anymore.' Gina smiled.

'My stranger visited the tavern. He may return another day, but we must be there to serve him. We shall work at the tavern.' Missy announced.

Everything was beginning to look up for the two cousins. To them, it was impossible that anything could go wrong.

'Gina!'

To Gina, she was asleep and her aunty, Donna was screaming her name in her dream.

'Gina!'

The scream was louder but still, Gina did not get up from her bed. She laid there hoping she was still asleep. She knew what the day was, and she planned to act ill so that she may be excused from meeting with Ansley as he had requested.

'Gina, do you not hear me, child?' Donna threw the doors to Gina's room open.

She walked briskly to Gina's bed and shook her awake.

'Aunty.' Gina opened her eyes and groaned.

She knew the only thing that could save her from meeting with Ansley was death and she hoped, for her father's sake, that it was Ansley's death and not hers.

'You must get ready now child. A carriage is waiting for you in the yard. Ansley has prepared the finest horses to take you. I reckon you shall go to the Oaktree valley.' Donna smiled.

Oaktree valley was the one place Gina wanted to visit but she wanted to go with Richard as her companion.

'I must prepare myself accordingly then. Thank you, aunty.' Gina slipped out of the bed and looked around the room.

'I shall have the maids draw your water at once. Do not waste any time scrubbing your skin, you must not appear red to Ansley, lest he thinks you have a rash.' Donna walked away from the room.

Just like Donna said, the horses Ansley sent to fetch Gina were one of the finest in the town. The carriage was large, and Gina had never ridden in something so grand.

She wondered why Ansley was going through all the trouble of wooing her if he really knew about the shed. Unless of course, he was planning something terrible like he always did.

Before long, Gina was at Ansley's ranch. As she stepped foot out of the carriage, her eyes met with the hooded eyes of Richard.

'Gina.' Richard's voice was firm.

'Whatever are you doing here?' Gina queried.

Richard took her hand from the footman and led her away. It had been a while since Gina felt Richard's touch and so it made her quiver.

'I shall pose the same question to you. Ansley has called me here for a meeting.' He responded.

He took a glance at her. she had not changed much from the last time he saw her. She still felt small in his arms and her hair was still brown and thick.

'He has asked for my hand in marriage.' Gina stopped in her track and looked at Richard.

She hoped to hear him curse, or at least show concern for how she felt. But Richard said nothing. He only stared at her blankly and continued moving forward.

'Shall you not say anything? Your enemy wants to take me as a wife.' Gina tightened her grip around Richard's arm.

'If Ansley wants to take you as a wife, then you shall agree. I have asked you to stop waiting on me.'

Words Gina had heard time and time again but still, they hurt as much as the first time she heard them. She did not understand why Richard was so hard to please. Or maybe she just did not know what pleased him.

'You are aging, Richard. You must take a wife and I shall give you myself.' Gina said.

'A woman's prime is only but a short few years' whereas a man's prime increases with his age. Gina, if Ansley seeks your hand, then you must marry him.'

She knew what he had said was true. The more time passed, the more appealing he was to women but for her, the less appealing she was to men. But she could not let herself love another man.

She wanted Richard and she was going to fight for him just like her aunty, Donna fought for her uncle, Benedict.

'I shall hold out for you, Richard. Nothing shall make me give up.'

'You shall be wasting your time then.' He said.

Ansley was standing at the door to his workroom when they arrived. He was smiling and looking from one face to the other.

He knew he had them exactly where he needed them and there was no way they could escape.

'Let us go in and sit.' Ansley opened the door and led them in.

His workroom was small and had animal skin on every wall and on a shelf at the side of his table, there were swords of different shapes and sizes.

It was confusing to Richard and Gina for they knew Ansley was but a wrestler and animal rearer. There was no need for him to have swords or animal skin. But then, Ansley was a very eccentric man.

'Why have you called us here?' Richard demanded.

'Shall you not begin this conversation on a friendly note? I am not the enemy here.' Ansley laughed.

'Whoever is the enemy then?' Gina queried.

'You may be here, Gina, but you are still but a woman. You must not speak while the men speak.' Ansley stared daggers at Gina.

'Ansley, why have you called us here?' Richard's tone was calmer.

He wanted to finish with Ansley as fast as he could for, he promised his mother to travel with her in the heat of the afternoon to see his father.

'Richard, Tabitha is an old friend. She meets with me when I want her to and so, I may tell her of you and Gina whenever I feel like it. But of what good will that do me?' Ansley laughed again.

Gina had many things she wanted to tell Ansley, but she also feared because he had mentioned Tabitha's name. Gina knew if her secret with Richard got to Tabitha, then it was truly over for her. Tabitha was the town's rumor bag. She was surely going to tell anyone that had ears.