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graveyarddirtseries · 4 years ago

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Graveyard Dirt & Salt

Chapter Nine

From out of the tall, un-managed grass of the laid waste cotton field they were riding in, a ghost, a sort of shadow rose up, then another and another. Three of them, blood on their faces from a fresh kill, eyes wide at the approach of another meal.

“You're gonna grow roots sitting there.”

For six days Annie had seated herself right in front of the wrought iron gate and stubbornly refused to move. For six days she screamed whenever someone would try to move her. Sure she came to eat when food was ready and certainly she made a trip to the hastily constructed privy when she had to and she slept in her bed, or rather laid there all night until her rage wore her out and she fell asleep.

But when she wasn't eating, shitting or sleeping, she was sitting in the same ass groove worn into the grass and sullenly staring out at the world beyond the gate.

Easing down beside her, the Lieutenant peered down the same worn cattle trail she was peering down and sighed.

“You know where Halloween pumpkins come from?” He asked the girl.

She seemed to ignore him.

“They used to be turnips, you know. Was a fellow named Stingy Jack, you know him?”

Again Annie seemed to ignore him.

“Well, anyways this man was a rotten sort, used to play all kinds of tricks and schemes, loved to drink. Anyways, one night Jack is at the bar, drinking and he runs out of money. Well, old Jack he wasn't ready to turn in, but at that moment the Devil comes by, checking up on the sinners at the bar and old Jack says to him 'I'd sell my soul for one last drink'.

The Devil thinks this is an easy one and turns himself into a sixpence – do you know what a sixpence is?”

Annie shrugged.

“It's like money from England...well, I think this story is Irish, but...do you know where Ireland is?”

Annie was still.

“Well, anyways, the Devil turns himself into a coin for Jack to buy his last drink with, but old Jack is a wily sort of old bugger, so he buys his drink and then steals back the Devil coin and shoves it into his wallet next to a silver cross he had been carrying, trapping the Devil in his wallet.

The Devil cried out 'let me out, let me out!' And Jack said he would if the Devil promised not to return to claim his soul for ten years.

Well, ten years pass and Jack is out walking on a dirt road one night and the Devil comes up to collect what's owed.

And old Jack says, 'I'll go, but first you have to get me an apple from that there tree'.

The Devil huffed and stomped his hoof, but figured it was easier that fighting old Jack, so he hops up into the tree to get Jack an apple.

As soon as the Devil is in that tree, Jack takes out his pocketknife and carves crosses all around the trunk of the tree, once more trapping the Devil.

'Let me down, let me down!' Shouts the Devil.

'I will, but you got to promise that you won't take my soul from me until I die of old age', says Jack.

The Devil, getting irritated at this point, huffs and agrees.

Well, some years later, old Stingy Jack dies and he gets to the gates of Heaven and Saint Peter says, 'no, can't come in, Jack. You were mean and drunk, and you cheated and you tricked people. You can't come in.'

So old Jack goes down to Hell to see if he can get in there. It's cold and lonely wandering the earth as a spirit and Hell is very warm.

Well, the Devil himself comes to the gates of Hell and he says 'no. I don't want you here, Jack. You're mean and spiteful and too tricky for even Hell.'

Old Stingy Jack considers this and finally asks the Devil, 'well, what do I do then?'

And the Devil says, 'you go back where you came from and you walk the earth'. And he throws an eternally burning ember from the fires of hell at Stingy Jack.

And old Jack he puts that ember in a hollowed out turnip he had in his pocket and he walked the earth. They say to this day old Jack is out there, tricky and sly, wandering the earth with his Jack O'Lantern.”

Annie sniffed to hide a small grin that was threatening to break on her face.

“Benny's like Jack,” she whispered.

“He sure is and he will always trick the Devil.”

Annie gazed back out at the cattle trail, her big, dark eyes taking in the world beyond the gate like a raven perched on the branch of a tree.

“When will this all be over?” She asked him.

The Lieutenant was startled. He thought maybe Annie knew that this was how things were now, but then again she was just a wee thing. Small and young.

“Oh, sweet pea, this is how things are now. There is no over.”

She was quiet, soaking in this information, before she said, “I just want to go home.”

“Where's home?” He asked.

Annie frowned, her face still.

Somewhere outside the wall a bobwhite warbled it's funny little shriek.

The child beside him stood up and took a small step towards the gate.

“I'd stay away from the gate, sweet pea,” the Lieutenant warned her, also getting to his feet.

Again the bobwhite shrieked and Annie hurried to the wrought iron, pressing herself against it to peer out. She tweeted back, a sweet little trill that the Lieutenant couldn't place.

From out of the bush lining the cattle trail, Benny emerged, still dressed in the cassock and grinning, hands up so Sister Dymphna on the wall wouldn't shoot him.

“Good morning,” he greeted casually.

“No shame in coming back defeated,” the Lieutenant teased cautiously, mildly panicked that the man had returned so quickly. Had he been forced to give up their position? Was he compromised?

“Hey, Cordelia,” Benny greeted the child at the gate, reaching through to tickle her cheek.

She pulled away quickly, angry at him for leaving her.

Catching Sister Dymphna who was descending from the wall to open the gate, the Lieutenant held her off from her task for a moment.

“Why are you back?” He asked the shorter man.

“Well, I scrubbed the mission, but...I brought gifts.” Benny explained.

“Guns?” The Lieutenant asked.

Benny grinned. “Sort of. Just...take it easy, okay?”

“Alright.”

“Okay, it's clear, come out!” Benny shouted over his shoulder.

The Lieutenant dropped his shoulder enough so he could slide his rifle off if he needed, as out of the woods came nine people, all of them with their hands up. He still instinctively dropped his shoulder further, preparing for trouble.

“Who are these people?” He hissed at Benny.

“They're friends.”

“You brought people back to the convent?!” The Lieutenant snarled. “You compro-”

“Calm down,” Benny said. “I wouldn't endanger Cordy. She's the only one I like. These people and us have one thing in common. We want this woman stealing group dead. Now let us in.”

The Lieutenant held Dymphna back again, putting her behind him, where Annie was being shoved too.

“I ran across them in the middle of gunning down a group of these men who were trying to steal a couple of their women,” Benny explained. “Let us in. Please? We need to talk.”

“They leave their weapons outside the gate.” The Lieutenant bartered.

“Sorry, but no.” One of them said. He had a voice like the thick black smoke of a forest fire, the kind with embers and a danger.

Studying his marine gear, the Lieutenant asked, “are you a fan or a real marine?”

“Corporal Angel Delgado, I was posted at HQ, I know of you, Lieutenant Vancoughnett.”

“Delgado?” The Lieutenant racked his brain, there were enough marines at HQ that he could only catch the taste at the tip of his tongue on who the man was.

“Hey, Cajun,” Benny said firmly. “Look at me.”

The Lieutenant looked over at the fancy man.

“Trust me, okay? You want these people inside.”

“It's not my convent,” he finally said.

“I'll get Mother Mena,” Dymphna offered, she tried to take Annie with her, but the girl collapsed on the ground in non-violent protest, becoming dead weight.

Benny chuckled. “I taught her that.”

The Lieutenant remained quiet, taking in everything he could of the group of people behind Benny. Delgado was a marine, so he assumed the woman to his right was as well. There three other women, four men. They didn't look very threatening, they looked tired and hungry and two of them had instruments strapped to their backs.

Mena sidled up beside him, as quiet as a kitty cat and eyed them for a moment, before saying, “welcome. You can come on in. But this is a place of peace, please be mindful of that. Dymphna, please get the gate.”

As the gate was opened, Benny strode inside, the others following him slowly. As they passed the Lieutenant, one of them, a young man with dark hair sort of puffed up his chest at him with a smug grin and kept walking. The two with the instruments brought up the rear, both of them tipping their hats to him politely.

The Lieutenant made sure the gate was locked and secured, and Dymphna was back on the wall, before he followed the group, heading for the church Annie sullenly walking beside him.

Inside the church, he took a seat in the back with Annie, feeling like it wasn't his rodeo anymore. The convent was Mena's, the group was Benny's, he was just muscle, he supposed.

Benny, ascending the pulpit, grinned down at the others. “Good morning,” he said like a priest preparing to begin his sermon, and as he was dressed, the Lieutenant almost could forget the purpose of them being there. “Alright, let's get into it. Abbess, I missed you. You look cute in that yellow blouse, did the Lieutenant find it for you?”

“The point, please, Mr. Malone?” She insisted.

“Long story short, these people are in need of shelter, a home. In return they've agreed to help us find these men who have been stealing women. And they've already given us a peace offering.”

“Which is?” The Lieutenant asked.

“We have a prisoner, tied up in an upstairs closet in the farmhouse nearby, he can give us what we need to get these men. The position of their camp.”

“Are you seriously having a fucking meeting without me?” Grayson burst into the church, along with several of the nuns.

“That was faster than I hoped,” Benny murmured. “Hey, Grayson, I see you're still alive.”

“Fuck you, Benny!” Grayson shouted, storming down the aisle.

As he passed by the young, dark haired man from the new group, the other young man reached out and grabbed Grayson by the back of his shirt, yanking him down hard and holding him there.

“Shut your face, you're in a church, dipshit,” the dark haired man ordered. “Go on, Father.”

Not quite liking this man pushing around Grayson, the Lieutenant stood up and moved to rescue the boy, taking him back to sit at his side.

“Go on, Benny,” he said.

“Well, that's pretty much it. We have a good chance to get back Haley, Laila, maybe any other woman who've been taken by these men and in exchange, the nuns get some company here at the convent. More guns, more people.”

“Less food,” Mena added calmly. When everyone turned to look at her, she stood up almost meekly and made her way to the pulpit, crossing herself quickly before Jesus, before moving to stand beside Benny. “Less space. I certainly hope your friends are willing to work.”

“We won't freeload,” Delgado assured her. “These walls look nice enough to keep us invested in the place.”

“I'm saying,” Mena continued, “we of course will provide shelter and aid, but if we want to winter in contentment, we'll need to bring back more food to supplement our garden and our coop.”

“If one of the new group can help me hunt,” the Lieutenant began, “we can dry some meat for the winter months.”

“Yo!” The dark haired young man said.

“You can't hunt, Kane!” The young man with the glasses who sat beside him said.

“Can you, Auggie? No? Then shut the fuck up.” Kane said.

“Greene and I can help hunt,” Delgado said.

“Well, protein is a good start, but we'll need vegetables, fruit. Our peach tree does what it can, but it won't see us all through the winter.”

“We can find farms that have trees and visit them come harvest time,” the Lieutenant offered. “And any canned food we come across will be brought back to the convent.”

“You sound like you're in, Cajun,” Benny said.

“I have to admit, I'm attracted to the idea of more capable guns around here, but...no offence, I know nothing of these new folk.”

“We know nothing of you either, Lieutenant,” Delgado said.

“Whatever happened to jarhead brotherhood?” Benny asked.

“Well,” Mena broke in. “If we can all manage to get along, then I have no problems with newcomers. But I have a few rules we need to keep to here. This is Holy Ground, my nuns won't be assaulted or have vulgar language or actions taken upon them. I won't expect you all to tend to mass, but you're welcome if you want. Please respect that this is a convent first and foremost.”

“Jesus,” one of the woman from the new group murmured.

“Guess that'll put a stop to your weekend catting, huh Saph?” Kane teased.

“Keep your head straight,” the woman named Saph warned him archly.

Mena waited for them to calm down, before saying, “well, if we can oblige each other's rules, then I don't see why we can't provide sanctuary. We'll celebrate our union tonight with a meet and greet of sorts.”

“A meet and greet?” Delgado asked, his tone was a little more accusatory. These new people were decidedly rougher around the edges than the Lieutenant and the nuns were, it was clear.

Mena sort of shifted nervously under his dark eyed gaze. “Uh...well, I don't...I'm not sure what to call it in the end of days. I'm sorry.”

“No, I – I wasn't being mocking, I'm sorry...we've been in a completely different land than you. It'll take a while to get civilized again.” Delgado said hurriedly, sounding almost embarrassed. “I think a small...thing might be good to mingle our group with yours. Get everyone accustomed to each other.”

Mena nodded. “Alright, then. Now, do any of you need medical treatment or...I see you're pregnant, darling. Do you need prenatal care?”

“I've got my vitamins,” the pregnant woman said. “Thank you.”

“Our people are in good shape, Medicine Man Jack keeps us running,” Delgado said. “We just need some sleep somewhere safe. And food would be wonderful. But don't think we're planning on just sitting around, we will work for that food. We'll chip in on chores.”

“You have a doctor among you?” Mena asked.

“Forensic Pathologist, actually, Jack was in the army as a surgeon too, so he's good at wear and tear fixes. Nothing major, so I hope no one needs brain surgery or open heart.”

“Maybe he wouldn't mind working with our Sisters Mary Monica and Mary Claire, they both have some nursing and hospice training, I'm sure they could benefit from more training.”

The man with the wide brimmed, black hat nodded his agreement. He wouldn't have been the one the Lieutenant would have guessed to be the doctor among the group. Especially with the banjo on his back and the almost Amish fashion he wore on his slender frame.

“Why don't you introduce yourselves, Corporal? So we know who we're bringing in to our flock?”

“Pfft,” Kane – the dark haired young man exhaled.

“We...uh...have pressing matters, another time maybe,” Benny interrupted, motioning to the Lieutenant to join them as he hopped down from the pulpit, heading for the door.

“I will not be blown off, Mr. Malone,” Mena argued, following him down the aisle, everyone, literally the entire two groups, following as well.

In the rush of the crowd, the Lieutenant scooped up Annie, who was still sulking, but allowed herself to be carried instead of getting crushed. He didn't like how fast it was all moving, not that he wasn't used to fast paced, only that he was still a little shaky on his trust with these new people.

Grabbing hold of Dymphna just outside, he eased Annie down and whispered, “keep your eye on these people while we're gone, yeah?”

She nodded.

“And tell the others to keep their weapons on them, they don't have to be menacing, just...cautious.”

Again she nodded. “Will we be okay?”

“I'm eighty percent.”

“Eighty percent yes or no?” She called after him as he hurried to catch up with Benny and Delgado at the gate.

He side eyed a few of Delgado's people, who were milling around awkwardly nearby, as he passed.

Mena joined them just as the Lieutenant did and the four of them stood for a moment at the gate.

“Where are you going?” Benny asked her.

“With you.”

“Not outside the walls, Sister.”

“It's Abbess, please? And I have just as much right to be in on all of this as you, since you decided to start playing fast and loose with our convent supplies. No offence,” she added to Delgado sweetly.

“A little taken, but I get the frustration.” He replied.

“No.” Benny insisted.

“I'm not even going to talk to you anymore,” Mena stated, frustrated.

“Get your weapon, yeah?” The Lieutenant told her. “We'll wait.”

Mena narrowed her eyes at him.

“I promise. We'll wait,” he assured her, grabbing Benny by the hem of his cassock.

As Mena scurried off, Benny yanked his cassock hem back and said, “she can't come. Absolutely not.”

“Why?”

“Because I promised to let this asshole go if he told us everything, so we're going to just let him walk then shoot him dead.”

The Lieutenant glanced in Mena's direction. “Well, shit. We can't leave without her now, she'll kick us all out.”

“Why does she want to come anyways? Have you been letting these nuns loose?” Benny demanded.

“They're free to come and go as they like and...yeah a few of them have been coming with me on hunts and such, I thought it would be best to get them used to the outside world.” The Lieutenant said. “And what the fuck does it matter to you? They need to toughen up.”

Benny nodded angrily, agreeing with him, but clearly not liking it. “Fuck...shit. Yeah they do.”

“What do we do then?” Delgado asked.

The Lieutenant exhaled, he didn't know. This was Benny's fucking mess.

“Okay, we get the information from him, I walk off with him into the woods and strangle the fucker.” Benny said, removing his cassock, possibly to prevent anyone from catching him by the hem again.

“Or,” Delgado added calmly, “we just interrogate him in a room away from her. Shoot him and say he lunged us.”

“That's easier. That'll work.” Benny said, suddenly snapping at the Lieutenant. “Why are you looking at me with a face like a slapped ass?!”

“I'm not,” he argued lightly.

He was, but he wanted to argue a bit. It was an entirely different plan set in motion now. Not a bad plan, just an entirely different one. And, yeah, maybe he hated that it wasn't his plan. Maybe he was a little pissed that it was the fancy man who saved the day for once.

Instead, he turned to Delgado, who was gazing at him with calm, almost thoughtful brown eyes.

“Are your people gonna be okay here on their own?” He asked.

The Corporal nodded. “They're adults.”

“That pregnant one looks young,” the Lieutenant said.

“Hazel, yeah she's our youngest, sixteen. She's a good kid though, quiet and doesn't complain.”

“Who's the father?” The Lieutenant went on with his interrogation dressed up as concern.

Delgado eyed him calmly, before saying, “no one in our group, if that's what you're thinking.”

Mena returned, her giant kitchen knife in hand, empty rucksack on her back. “Ready,” she said.

“Stick close,” the Lieutenant said to her. “Remember what I told you.”

She nodded.

“It's kind of neat, we have three horses stashed in the barn to take back to the convent and everything,” Benny said as they entered a bedroom at the top of the stairs in the farmhouse.

“These men have hor-” The Lieutenant stopped short as a moan came from the closet.

All four of them stopped in their tracks and just stared at the white door.

The moan came again and it wasn't human. Still the four of them just sort of stared in disbelief at the door.

“Hey, dipshit!” Benny finally shouted at the door, kicking it lightly.

The door shuddered in response as the man on the other side threw himself at it, letting loose another familiar moan.

“Shit,” Benny swore, stepping back, circling in a quick pacing motion, before stopping.

Delgado placed his hand on his hip. “He's dead.”

“Fuck!” Benny swore louder.

The door rattled again.

“I knew we should have gotten the information out of him last night!” Benny yelled. “But you wanted to wait!” He pointed at Delgado. “Now that asshole is fucking undead from a stomach wound and we just lost our lead!”

The Corporal blinked at him. “You asked me to offer up my people to fight for you. I wasn't going to do so on blind faith. Sorry, Abbess,” he added kindly to Mena.

She reached out and touched his forearm warmly.

Kicking in the door, slamming it into the uggie on the other side, Benny leapt on top of it and beat it with his fist for a good long time, before pulling out his pistol and shooting him until the clip clicked empty.

Everyone was quiet, their ears ringing in the small room from the shots.

Mena, who had covered her ears at the sight of the gun, lower her hands and looked panicked at the Lieutenant.

“I'm sorry,” Benny apologized, standing up, much calmer than he had been, running a hand through his hair and putting the greasy strands back in place. “That was unfair of me to blame you, Corporal.”

“It's fine,” Delgado said. “But we'd better get moving, those shots will have gotten us some attention.”

“Let's the horses and get the fuck back,” Benny said softly, almost as though he were ashamed of himself or the situation.

The Lieutenant actually felt bad for the man. He was just after these men because they posed a threat to the survivors of the area, namely his nuns, but Benny had lost someone to them. Benny didn't seem the type to make honest-to-god connections with people, so it seemed like when he did, he was attached for life.

He clapped Benny on the back as they left the room, trying to comfort the poor man.

Benny was quiet, but didn't shove his comforting gesture away, just sort of slumped his way down the hall.

“Ever been on a horse, Abbess?” Delgado asked as they saddled the creatures as quickly as they could.

Mena shook her head. “No.”

“Me neither,” he said. “Guess we'll both learn something new today.”

“Cajun?” Benny asked. “You ride?”

“Never.”

“Fucking Cajuns,” Benny replied, swinging up onto his horse easily. “Just like riding a bike.”

“These bikes bite, don't they?” The Lieutenant asked, eyeing his horse warily.

Benny's horse whinnied and side stepped in agitation at the new, unfamiliar rider and Benny almost fell off.

Laughing, the Lieutenant attempted to copy Benny's movements up and into the saddle, adjusting himself down below to a comfortable position, before turning to offer a hand to Mena.

She was already being hefted onto Delgado's horse by the Corporal, sitting in front of him, holding the horn nervously. So he instead pulled Marie off his shoulder and holstered her into the fancy rifle holster attached to the saddlebag.

“Alright, little kick to get them going,” Benny instructed. “Pull this way to go this way, pull this way to go that way, pull both back to stop. If your horse gets spooked, it's probably because of a snake or the undead, hold on like hell and they'll get you away to safety, but they may buck and if that happens? Eight seconds.” He added with a grin at his own joke. “Yup!” He nudged his horse into a trot, out of the barn.

“Fucking Texian,” the Lieutenant cursed, nudging his own horse to follow.

“You know I used to be better at this,” Benny murmured as they rode, keeping to the woods, not deep enough to wear the horses out with rough terrain, but deep enough to avoid the living.

“Riding?” The Lieutenant asked.

“No, tactics. You retire from the army, you get fucking twenty pounds fatter, you sit at home, you watch daytime television, your mind rots and then this happens and you fucking fail at the only thing you were ever good at.”

“We all grow older, Mr. Malone,” Mena said softly. “You did what you could.”

Benny was sullen on his beautiful black and white paint.

“I don't know you well, Father,” Delgado said. “But...I wouldn't have done anything different from what you did.”

“Thanks strange marine,” Benny said almost sarcastically.

“Hey, Texian,” the Lieutenant offered, hoping to cheer up the poor little fancy man. “You got yourself a horse and...isn't that all a cowboy needs?”

“Fuck you, Cajun,” Benny murmured. It was without feeling and quite unlike him. “I'm out of bullets, I'm out of ideas. I don't know. Maybe it's time to die.”

It was a joke, but a dark one and no one else was laughing.

“How about one yeehaw while you're on that horse?” The Lieutenant kept pressing, knowing he was getting somewhere with the teasing.

Benny's eyes shone a little in amusement, though he still looked disappointed.

“Just a soft one? For me?” The Lieutenant went on.

“I'll give you a fucking yeehaw,” Benny grumbled. Turning to Mena, he said, “I have to admit, Abbess, I'm shocked at you. I thought you'd jump up my ass and stay there about that man back there.”

“About how you allowed him to die?” She inquired archly.

“So you are mad?” Benny asked with a small, almost proud smile.

“Mr. Malone,” she began in that way that the Lieutenant knew was her gearing up to scold. Both Benny and the Lieutenant also geared up, bracing for the blow, and even though he was new to their dynamic, even Delgado seemed to steel himself in preparation.

But she didn't follow it up with anything.

Abbess of the Veil of Tears of the Sacred Virgin Convent, Mother Mena, petite and polite, just sat on the horse in front of Delgado and gazed long and hard at the horizon before them.

The Lieutenant was peering at her from his own horse, and Benny dropped over his own saddle horn to peer past the Lieutenant to join in on the staring.

Both men exchanged a curious look at each other, before Benny prodded, “Abbess?”

“There's so much death and dying in this new land,” she began softly, all fire gone from her tone. “I can't bring myself to care much.”

There was a second, only a beat really, before Benny said, “well, now, that sounds like the tone of someone who's defeated!” His loud, overly friendly, almost mocking voice rang off of the surrounding hills and hit back at them hard. It was too plastic, too fake. Just like the Lieutenant, Benny didn't like to hear Mena sound so...apathetic and it must have chased his own defeated attitude off.

Yelling, scolding, even a sermon, was better than this apathy from Mena.

“Dead,” Delgado warned, just as his horse nickered uncomfortably, prancing closer to the Lieutenant's.

The smell was in the air, something rotten, something that wasn't just an old stump in the woods.

Slipping down from his horse, the Lieutenant tossed his reins at Benny and said, “get the others back to the convent. We need to protect the horses.”

Mena struggled against Delgado's arms, and hopped down too to join him.

He didn't have time to tell her to get back on the horse, just pulled her behind him.

She welded her knife though and while she obeyed his wordless order to get behind him, she peeked out from around him to keep an eye on the rapidly approaching dead.

Benny and Delgado were long gone and it was fine, the Lieutenant was used to this new land, but he didn't care for the fact that Mena had to hop down with him. She would be one distraction he didn't need.

But she was here and today seemed as good a day as any for her to learn the hard way about the dead.

Kicking the first one to reach them square in the chest, he sent it back into the others hard, the one at the back collapsing.

Among the snarls and almost hisses of the dead, he heard Mena gasp and chanced only a quick glance over his shoulder, to find the grass rustling to their right as well. More dead.

“Run,” he commanded her, killing one of the uggies that lunged at them with his own knife, before shoving her hard in the direction the grass wasn't rustling in.

She screamed as another of the dead came out of the grass, toppling her and sending them both into the grass to disappear.

With no option, as the uggies were at his heels, he swept into the area the two had tumbled and stomped hard on the uggie's head as it struggled to get to its feet beside Mena who was laying on the ground.

She leapt up and joined him in running towards the woods, but not before punching at one of the dead that had caught up with them. It sent it off course, but didn't topple it. They were so close to the trees, but he knew they wouldn't make it, the dead were already grasping at the backs of their shirts. Grabbing Mena by the upper arm hard, he shoved her ahead of him and stopped, allowing the five dead to topple him, letting his feast be the distraction she would need to escape.

He kicked and punched hard at the group, stuffing his marine issued boot into the mouth of one that was at his legs, preventing it from biting, trying to avoid being bitten by the others using his knife to block any mouth that was thrown at him. It was a battle he was losing fast, there were too many. One of the uggies dropped to the ground heavily beside him, then rapid gunfire and the rest were dropping fast. Scrambling back and away from the pile of dead, he looked himself over for a bite, the action happening too fast for him to notice anything.

Mena was at his side, helping him up, her knife black with the dead's blood.

“Come on,” she urged him, yanking him towards the woods.

Just inside the tree line Delgado had stationed himself up in a tree and was holding his hand down to them to help them up into the old oak. He was so fucking welcome into the group at that moment, hand held down to them, rifle in his other.

Mena first, the Lieutenant ensured that, pushing her up, before following.

“Did they get you?” Delgado asked.

Still looking over his arms, in the safety of the tree as more dead emerged from the grass to gather below, he shook his head. “I don't think so.” He checked and rechecked for a bite, hands shaking. It was close, too close. He had been so damned careful, but that was...it was too close.

“You're lucky you were heading for me,” Delgado murmured, between taking shots at the uggies. “You would have been dead.”

“Thanks,” the Lieutenant breathed. He assumed the man had jumped off his horse as well, sending Benny on to the convent. And he was fucking grateful for the other marine.

Sitting on a branch above them, Mena was quiet.

Reaching up, the Lieutenant tweaked at her booted foot, trying to put her at ease, comforting her the best he could.

“You okay?” He asked her between shots.

She nodded, wide eyes on the dead below them.

“It's okay,” he said. “There can't be that many, Delgado has the ammo to put them all down.” Unless there's more out there and they're all coming to the sound of the shots, he thought, but kept that to himself. It was only then that he realized he didn't have Marie on his back and remembered putting her on the fucking horse in the rifle holster.

Great place for her, you fucking couyon.

There was only five or so left, so he turned to Mena.

“Once these uggies are put down, we have to climb down and run like hell,” he ordered, feeling like the CO he was once more. “There could be more headed this way, we stay close together, we don't stop running until we hit the convent or some kind of shelter. Do you understand?”

She nodded.

“Yes?” He urged needing an auditory agreement that she understood his orders.

“Yes.”

Three more left and the Lieutenant tried hard to ignore the way his branch was cracking under his weight, only three more. It gave out at two left and despite him trying to grab another branch, he fell straight down with the branch, collapsing on one of the uggies below hard. So hard he heard the poor uggies ribs crunch. Delgado shot the last one as he stabbed the poor dead woman in the eye and put her out of her misery, before getting to his feet shakily. He was getting too old to fall out of fucking trees that was for damned sure, but he was grateful for the uggie that broke his fall.

Jumping down, Delgado gave them cover as the Lieutenant reached up and helped Mena down. Then the three of them ran as a unit, into the woods, away from the tree and the tall grass.

Keeping Mena in front of them always, the Lieutenant found Delgado keeping pace with her, hand holding her upper arm. The man had flawlessly moved into the proper position for protecting a civilian from gunfire and for a moment the Lieutenant was a marine again. It was nice to have that trained companion who knew how protocols worked.

They moved through the woods as fast and as carefully as they could, before they stumbled into the clearing where the lagoon for the convent was. They weren't far, but coming up the ass end.

At the sight of the wall, the Lieutenant actually exhaled the breath he had been holding and with Delgado's help, they boosted Mena up onto the wall first, before the Lieutenant stooped down for the other man.

Once all three were on the wall, they sat down and just took a moment.

He looked himself over once more, paranoid a little now that he had been bitten, but he saw nothing but scratches from the branches of the tree and a few dings from the fall. His ankle hurt a bit, but he would be back to one hundred percent in a few days.

“Any battle you can walk away from, huh?” He asked Delgado.

The other marine looked at him with his serious, dark eyes, before a small, almost bashful, dimpled smile spread over his face.

Giving one last, dramatic exhale, the Lieutenant hopped gingerly down from the wall and held his arms out for Mena, but again, Delgado had beaten him to her, easing her down, his hands holding hers, before he hopped down himself.

“You alright?” The Lieutenant asked Mena as they walked around the church.

She nodded, pale and drawn, but seemingly alright.

Grasping hold of his hand before they could emerge from the five foot space between the church and the east wall, she pulled him back into the shadows and peered up at him sombrely.

“Thank you,” she said sincerely, brown eyes so wide and so sweet as they gazed up at him. They were so dark and eternal in the shadows of the church that he swore he could see stars sparkling in them. “I'll never forget how you were prepared to die for me.”

Delgado, sensing he wasn't supposed to be there, just sort of slunk off, leaving them alone.

The Lieutenant didn't know why she was thanking him. He never understood the gratitude. He was trained to save lives, to protect, it wasn't just killing and war, though those were the unsavoury aspects of it. He was a marine, he joined to save lives. His life didn't matter, he wasn't a family man, he didn't have any reason to be alive other than protecting this convent and its people.

Mena, he supposed, more than any other. She was more important around here than him. She had nuns that needed her leadership.

Not good with serious talk, with real emotions, he chucked her playfully on the chin and said, “you did good out there, kid.”

“Lieutenant,” she began, but he was already heading out from behind the church.

Benny came up to them, smiling at first, before calming himself and saying, “gotta play hero, huh? That's gonna get you killed someday.”

“It was almost this day,” Mena stated.

“How's my horse, fancy man?” The Lieutenant inquired with a grin.

As they rounded the church, standing in front, heading for the gate, the Lieutenant noticed Delgado standing with his people in a tight circle, the survivors from his group having hardly moved from where they had been left.

Making a straight line for the new group, the Lieutenant found some nuns also heading in that direction, knowing they would get filled in there.

“So are we being asked to leave then?” One of Delgado's people asked.

“No,” Mena answered for the marine. “We aren't making anyone go anywhere. We still have the agreement than you'd help us in dealing with these men and to be honest I would never turn away anyone who needed shelter and safety here. I just ask that you pitch in with chores. Have you been offered tea or water?” She asked.

They nodded.

“Have you been fed?”

They shook their heads.

Mena frowned, but only offered the nuns with them a small, withering glare, before saying, “well, then let's go inside the cloister and get you something to eat. We can have an early lunch.”

“I'll have to skip hunting today,” the Lieutenant said. “Until the area is calmed down, somewhat. All the shooting and commotion probably scared away the game anyways.”

“Good,” she said. “You can work on digging us another privy hole.”

“Latrine duty, huh?” He asked with a small grin. “For saving your life?”

“For being reckless,” she replied coolly.

He nodded, properly stripped down. “Alright.”

“I can help with that,” Delgado said. “Jack, Billy? Let's get you working with the nursing nuns.”

“That would be Sisters Mary Monica and Mary Claire, they're in that building over there. It's the infirmary, but first your people eat.”

As Mena led the new people away, the Lieutenant watched their retreating backs, the gears in his mind already turning.

“Why's she's pissed at you?” Benny asked, coming to stand with him.

“I don't know,” he lied.

“Well, enjoy the doghouse, dipshit,” the shorter man scoffed, heading after the others.

“Why are you mad now?” He called out after him.

Benny turned in his tracks, walking backwards. “Because you didn't need to jump down from your fucking horse. We could have outrun the dead. You have a hero complex or a death wish. And you need to fix your shit!”

“So what? You wanted us to run the horses here and lead the dead to our door? Was that your plan?”

Benny turned around and scowled darkly, folding his arms. “Is this about me bringing these people here?”

“Look,” the Lieutenant began diplomatically. “We both fucked up today. Let's call it a scratch match.”

“We need to get our shit together,” Benny agreed.

Exhaling a sigh, the Lieutenant knew Benny might be right.

#graveyard dirt & salt series #novel #sorry it took me so long to update #thought no one was reading this anymore #shout out to #gothamsgaygirlgang

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vinummagicae · 4 years ago

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Blue was his favorite color.

How unoriginal was that? Wasn’t blue everyone’s favorite color at some part in their life? There were so many better colors to pick from if you asked him; emerald green that shone like the jewel, a deep dark purple that almost looked black in certain lighting--

Blue was his favorite color.

The sheets in his apartment were blue, the duvet color on their bed was multi shades of the color as an attempt to give it some dimension. Like he knew what dimension was which was almost ironic considering the man created a living with words and turning them into art on paper. So many times he wanted to sit him down and teach him about actual art and this so-called dimension but it was almost endearing in a sort of way that he fumbled through life picking out things purely because they were his favorite color.

Blue was his favorite color.

His notebooks that he scribbled his next ideas, that he carried around with him everywhere were blue. Even the pens sometimes were that basic blue color that all pens came in as an option of ink. They couldn’t go anywhere without them, something he learned the hard way at a young age. How many panic attacks did he witness just because he didn’t have his notebook near him? At first he thought it was silly, just him being dramatic over a little thing - ha - but soon realized that the writer needed the notebook around him to ease his busy mind. His mind was constantly creating new characters and plot lines for his novels that he needed that small blue notebook on him at all times so he didn’t lose what could be the thing that got him his next paycheck.

Blue was his favorite color.

The shirt he was wearing when he proposed was a soft baby blue. Actually it was denim but Ender let him pretend that he wasn’t stealing the 90’s fashion trend and making it his own. It was cute actually how he declared ‘no Ender it is just a light blue shirt’ whenever he teased him, his cheeks turning this adorable red from the blushing. Though it wasn’t as cute as when he got on one knee and stuttered out to a point it was almost painfully slow, asking if he would marry him. Of course he said yes, he loved that little nerd and made sure to show him just how much he loved him later that night. No he wasn’t crying, thank you very much. He just had something in his eye, that’s all…

Blue was his favorite color, but green was Ender’s.

Okay so green was almost just as unoriginal as blue but he didn’t just like green. Green was boring to explain when asked, so he normally began to describe the first green thing that came to his mind. It’s the same kind of green of the mint that floats in your herbal tea. Or the same kind of green that resembled the grass of a dew-kissed morning when you wake up just before the sun fully rose. The same kind of green that called itself emerald with the way it had its moments of light patches as well as dark ones, never knowing what shade you were going to get until the light just hit it perfectly. It was a color he knew how to describe every time; after all Cole’s eyes were his favorite.

Green was Ender’s favorite color.

It was almost a shame that the only liquor that came in green was midori - is that even really liquor anymore? - or la fée verte. He had his fair share of nights with the green fairy that normally ended up with him curled up on the bathroom floor sweating as the last bits of whatever remained in his stomach threatened to join the rest of it in the toilet. At a young drinking age, he learned that absinthe was one of the rare liquors that could knock him on his ass like that with no memory of the night before. He had a hard tolerance for everything else it seemed, no matter what or how much he drank he couldn’t get to the point of black out drunk like the rest of his so called ‘friends’. That was until he met that wonderful, wonderful green fairy. Everytime he decided to tango with his bottle of absinthe he would wake up on that cold bathroom floor with a hand running through his pitch black curls trying to sooth whatever demons still lingered from the night before. “Why do you keep drinking it? What are you running from?” “...I don’t know”

Green was Ender’s favorite color.

Do you know how hard it was to find green flowers? He didn’t want any Belles of Ireland or anything else that looked like weeds - though Cockscomb was almost the winner just because of its name alone - or even carnations that were obviously dyed that fake green. What he wanted was real flowers that were green and that seemed impossible to find. He guessed that was just payback for picking green as his choice of wedding colors but really it was that or more blue and blue flowers were just as impossible to find - they really weren’t but he was just too stubborn to admit to Cole that he was wrong -. In the end they went with gladiolus in a soft pale green that was close to what he was picturing in his mind but still not exact. It went with the ivory decorations that was the other color for their wedding. It was going to look perfect, their wedding was going to be perfect just like their love for each other.

Ivory was supposed to be their color.

It had taken some convincing but eventually once they moved into their apartment, the blue sheets were placed on the guest bed. In their place were ivory ones, satin of course, that Ender ordered off line overseas. He wasn’t exactly sure where but they were expensive and they felt nice on his naked body. It was these same sheets that were caressing his naked skin that night as he lied on his back, head turned to look at the city through their open window. When you were this high up you didn’t have to worry about people looking in while you were having sex, but none of that was happening in their room that night as much as Ender had hoped originally when they got home from their dinner out. “What do you want, En? From us?...From me?” Their wedding was just over a month away, the last details were finally taking place and coming together to create the image they both had in their minds. Well mostly Ender’s, Cole had told him time and time again he would be just happy going down to a courthouse and making it official there; but something stopped him, something was holding him back from giving his fiance what he wanted. He just couldn’t figure out what that was.

When he had asked him the question and slipped that emerald green ring on his finger, he had been overjoyed and almost taken back by the love he had felt in that moment. But after… It wasn’t something he was used to, being loved and it scared him. What if he couldn’t give that love back? What if years down the road Cole realized how fucked up Ender was and tossed him aside like everyone else had in his life. Yet, it wasn’t also just that. Something about the idea of being tied down to one person for so long scared him. The idea that he couldn’t be with someone else ever again, well who the fuck wanted that? These weren’t new thoughts to him, they had been ones that had started creeping up on him when they officially started dating over a year ago after many years of friendship and well now-- “I don’t know anymore…”

Now green was still his favorite color.

Green was Ender’s favorite color but blue, blue was his . It was this reason why Ender reached for the small blue pill that had three little letters on it, SKY, and placed it on his tongue letting the euphoria that came with it. Since coming back from a weekend solo trip to Oslo with the baggy in his pocket, Ender had spent most of his time lying on the bed seeing visions of blue and green over and over again reliving in the past ...just doing anything to see his favorite shade of green once again.

#son of dionysus ( muse )#son of dionysus ( self )#xself #tw: drugs

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culinaryarchitecture · 4 years ago

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‘Baking’ on the Stove 2

Hey guys! :) Hope you’re all doing well! Welcome back to baking on the stove!

Today, as you’ve probably already noticed, we’re doing scones! Scones have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Just like with Black Forest gateaux, they were oftentimes a feature of our family’s Afternoon Tea sessions.

For many years, in our family we all had our individual favourites - I liked plain scones, my mother - raisins and my father was more eccentric; getting the far less traditional cheese and bacon scone today and then showing up with a beautiful rustic scone, decorated with with hand picked slow roasted almonds and sultanas from grapes lovingly picked in the idyllic French countryside. Can you taste the sunshine?

Anyway, as time went on, we all somehow, decided that our ‘scone of choice’ would be a simple scone with raisins. This made for arguments mainly between my mother and I (as my father was still fairly flexible) about who had been eating all her scones. As if she didn’t know that we all ate them now, and don’t get me started on the order of placement of the clotted cream and jam.

But onto the scones!

As my oven is still out of commission and I was craving scones, I decided to try making them on the stove - which after a bit of research, turned out to be an actual dish on its own!

Depending on where you’re from, they may be called girdle/griddle scones (Scotland and Ireland) griddle cakes, bake stones (Wales) and the list goes on.

I chose to make the Scottish version because I felt they were closer to what I was looking for (and the recipe I already had). They’re usually triangular in shape and they’re cooked on a heavy cast iron pan - a girdle (griddle in Ireland, bake-stone in Wales) which is where they get their many, many names.

Scones (and girdle scones) are generally made from a simple dough leavened with baking powder. I also added in buttermilk* which cuts through all that fat and reacts with the baking powder, resulting in fluffier, lighter scones.

Now this is a slightly more sticky/ loose dough than what we would have if we were to bake it in an oven. This is because we need it to cook through completely on the cast iron pan and a dough that’s too thick may compromise that.

I cut them into rounds instead of triangles because I’m special and I cooked them on a preheated cast iron pan for about 10-12 minutes on high heat (flipping once halfway through). They should rise a little bit and you should end up with a nicely browned scone with a fluffy, buttery, crumbly interior.

Something I noticed while cooking is that sometimes, the raisins come off the rounds and swell up into pseudo grapes because of the heat and they’re SO cute.

How you enjoy your scones is really up to you. Obviously, there’s the age old Cornwall -Devonshire conflict; Disclaimer: This is not a judgement free zone, I WILL say something about your order of condiments. I’m fully on the Devonshire side of the ravine - clotted cream THEN jam, the right way. Come on people, get it together.

But everything else is your decision.

When these were done, quite literally hot off the stove, my parents summoned me (or in reality, summoned my scones); we broke out the tea, sat down and enjoyed a lovely Afternoon Tea together.

Please remember to spend time with the people you care about (if you can) especially with the various lockdowns going on. If you can’t physically be there, maybe remind them how much you love them.

On that note, give this a try and please let me know how it goes! Also, if you’d like my recipe or any other questions, just shoot me a message!

See you soon!

Love and sunshine,

Renua

P.S

Buttermilk - I spoke about the science behind buttermilk in my post on ‘red velvet pancakes’ check it out!!

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marvelous-avengers · 6 years ago

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21 questions

i was tagged by my angels @sweetboybucky @evanstar and @buckysbeardliness

Rules: Answer 21 questions and then tag 21 people who you want to get to know better.

Nickname: my coworkers at my old job used to call me “sunshine”, and my girl scout leader called me “bubbles”. my name isn’t cute enough to have a cute older nickname, but there’s one from my childhood my mom and lil sister still call me.

Zodiac: aquarius and it is so obvious and on point omfg

Height: 5′7.75″ ??? somewhere between 5′7″ and 5′8″

Last movie I saw: Iron Man 2

Last thing googled: sofia richie age (she’s 20)

Favorite musician: so many this question is unfair. Fleetwood Mac, Queen, Toro y Moi, All Time Low, The Dip, so so many

Song stuck in my head: Real Love Baby by Father John Misty

Other blogs: my main blog @danversbde

Do I get asks: sometimes! i love it when people talk to me

Following: 780 (my main blog is so fucking old and i need to purge because i always miss everything)

Amount of sleep: somewhere between 6-10 usually. i used to never sleep

Lucky number: 23

What I’m wearing: black sofee shorts, an old school tshirt

Dream job: casual writer, professional napper. i would love to work in music and movies and film and with other people. producer of sorts.

Dream trip: Berlin, Australia, Ireland, England, Italy.

Favorite food: potatoes

Play any instruments: lil guitar, lil drums, lil piano (mama needs to practice)

Languages: english because i am basic as fuck

Random fact: i love cooking and being a host for friends

Describe yourself as aesthetic things: ugh omg. worn books, early sunrise, rainy sundays, warm sheets, handwritten letters and love poems, forehead kisses, soft hoodies, grey crew socks, rings, so many music playlists and burned CDs, mixtapes, unsent love letters, overflowing shelves of nic nacs, cozy naps in bed, too many hoodies, late night conversations, red and pink and yellow carnations, floral string lights, constant music, converse sneakers, evergreen trees, your favorite home-cooked meal and hugs from your mom.

tagging: @fictiontrustandpixiedust @tropicalcap @barnesrogersvstheworld @buckyofthemyscira @bucky-at-bedtime if y’all wanna partake

#about me #tag game #tag meme #21 questions #about jess

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newsiesarchive · 2 years ago

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FF.Net Back Up: East Meets West by Gaelicchick

Originally Published Apr. 9, 2000

When a band of rag-tag immigrant girls lose their distribution center, they are forced to go to Manhattan, a square off with Jack

Rated: Fiction K - English - Drama - Words: 6,993 - Reviews: 8 - Favs: 3 - Follows: 1 - Published: Apr 9, 2000 - id: 18565

Maggie O'Rourke stared up at the towering inferno that had once been the Lower East Side newspaper plant and distribution center. This was not good. It took all the inner strength she could muster to hold back the stream of Irish curses that threatened to spew forth from her mouth. She slowly looked around at the five faces lined up next to her, their hands clasped around the heavy iron bars of the gate, mouths set in firm hard lines, but their eyes all spoke the same question, "What are we going to do now?" One by one Maggie looked at each of her friends, faces covered in soot and ash, all shivering with their feet in 6 inches of snow; and she wondered how such a bizarre mix of people could ever have come together at all. First there was her, 16 years old , who immigrated to this country from Ireland at the age of 9. Like the rest of the girls, she eventually ended up at the Little Sister's of the Poor Orphanage on Orchard St.. Then there was Teresa "Lacy" Felicchi, also 16, from Italy (the girls called her Lacy after the black lace shawl that she always wore, she claimed it was Sicilian tradition, but the girls thought she was just trying to look pretty). Katrina "Kats" Stankovich was 15, and was the only member of her family to survive the crossing from Latvia. Gloria Maria Arosemena de Lacayo was also 16, and from Puerto Rico, and her fiery Spanish temper could almost match Maggie's Irish one. Emma, 15, was the only one of the girls who was born in America, she was from the tenements and had been living in the orphanage since the age of 10. Then their was Frances "Annie" Cabrini, at 9 years old she was the baby of the group. She had been found outside the orphanage when she was two with no identification, so the nun's gave her a saint's name, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, patron saint of orphans and immigrants. But when the rest of the girls arrived, they thought that a cute thing like Frances was too sweet to be saddled with such an awful name, so they nicknamed her "Annie" after Little Orphan Annie in the newspaper comic strip. They often joked that someday Annie's rich relatives would come back and adopt them all, but that never happened. Three years ago the Orphanage had burned to the ground, the girls couldn't abandon Annie, so they took her with them when they ran from the Refuge wagons. They ran as far as Hell's Kitchen, were no policemen dared look too long for anything or anyone, and had been doing all right, until now. -

It was late, and it was cold. With no home of their own, the girls temporary shelter for the night was an abandoned boxcar near the docks. Emma was in the corner with Kats, cuddled under a blanket and a candle, teaching her more English. Since Kats and Emma were both Jewish, they could communicate roughly through Yiddish and Hebrew, and that was how Kats was learning English and Emma learning Slavic. Gloria was huddled under a blanket writing in her journal, as was her nightly ritual. Lacy was out getting water, and Maggie was putting Annie to bed. After singing her a lullaby and checking to make sure she had two blankets, Maggie grabbed a blanket and climbed onto the roof of the boxcar. A few minutes later she heard a scuffle on the ladder, and saw Lacy climb up. Maggie held out a corner of the blanket and Lacy grabbed it and cuddled under. There was a long pause before Lacy spoke.

"Maggie, whata are we going to do? The nights are getting colder, anda without de factory, we have no place to sleep. We willa freeze." The factory had mainly distributed to wagons that brought papers to other distribution centers. Since the girls were the only newsies that used it, the operator let them sleep in a small room over the office in winter, when the streets were cold and the girls could get sick. Now that was no longer a possibility.

Maggie shook her head, "I don't know, but we have ta foind a safe place fer Annie at ta very least. Wot about da convent? Sister Mary Robert still lives der, she would look after her."

Lacy nodded, "I think she would, but what about da rest of us? Where do we work? How do we eat? And how do we stay out of the refuge?"

Maggie stared up at the sky, "Emma suggested da Manhattan distribution center. She said dat we are still newsies, so they would hafta sell us papers just like they do here." She saw Lacy start to protest "I don't like da idea any better than you do. We all know dat the Manhattan boys are a possessive lot, but der's just da six of us, maybe tey won't even notice."

Lacy laughed, "Maggie be serious. Between the accents, me and Gloria's complexions, Kats broken English, and your temper, we couldn't be more-a noticeable than the Popa."

Maggie grinned, "Well, der's always our back-up plan."

Lacy's eyebrow shot up, "What-a backup plan? We never have a backup plan. What is dis backup plan?"

Maggie put a comforting hand on Lacy's shoulder, grinned, and gave her the all no too comforting backup plan. " We run my girl!" -

The November morning was windy and chilly, and the newsies sat on the steps of the distribution center, reading the headlines and searching for stories that would grab attention. No one noticed when the five girls in thin cotton dresses and scarves quietly entered the yard and took their place in line. But soon people began to stare and whisper. There were a few but not many girl newsies in Manhattan, and judging from the accents, clothes, the bizarre lace shawl one of the girls had on her head, and the features of these girls, they weren't from Manhattan. Gloria noticed the attention and nodded to Kats and Emma. The two girls handed their money to Gloria and Lacy, and joined Annie outside the gate, ready to spring into action if there was trouble.

Lacy was the first in line. She slid her money under the window to Weasel, "200 paper." Gloria did the same, trying to ignore the Delancy brothers whistling at her. Weasel looked at the girls suspiciously, "I don't think I have you on my-" Maggie interrupted him. "Check da listings for da Lower East Side Plant, you'll see Teresa Felicchi, Gloria Arosemena, and Maggie O'Rourke, dats us. We were assured dat we could buy from you wid no problems. She leaned in closer to Weasel's face and said, "After all, we wouldn't want ta create a rucus dat might stop Meester Pulitzer from signing yer meager and undeserved paycheck now would we?" She pressed her money into Weasels hand before leaning back. "150 papers, if ye would be so kind." Weasel looked about ready to explode, but he nodded to the Delancys and the girls received their papers.

Jack, David, Racetrack and the other newsies had watched the exchange at the window with no sign of amusement. After all, they didn't know who these strangers were. Were they really newsies? Was this some kinda trick by Pulitzer? There was no doubt that the strangers had to be interrogated, but how to go about it? These were goils, they couldn't just pick a fight with them could they? Jack was the first to act. After all, he was the leader, and he had to get to the bottom of this, however unpleasant it may be. Maggie was leading Lacy and Gloria down the steps, carefully stepping around the newsies sitting down since none of them had bothered to get up. Jack stood up, towering over Maggie who was still a step above him, and held out his arm, hitting Maggie in the center of her chest and preventing her from moving any farther.

Maggie stared down at Jack's hand, which was in a very inappropriate place, up to his face, and back down again to stare at the offending hand. Then quickly, she grabbed his hand and shoved it violently back to his own chest causing Jack to stagger back a step. "Is dat da way yer father taught ya ta treat women?" Jack sneered, and in a voice dripping with sarcasm, replied, "Well, unlike youse," he took a moment to smirk at the holes in Maggie's shoes and the rips in the girls' dresses, "Unlike youse loively ladies, I didn't have nose fadder ta teach me."

Maggie opened her mouth to reply, but she felt a hand on her arm. Gloria and Lacy had come down to stand beside her on the step. Lacy spoke first, "Well then Meestera..." She looked at jack expectantly.

Jack gave a supremely fake smile and made a little bow, "Kelly, Jack Kelly."

Lacy returned his fake smile, "Well then Meestera Kelly Jack Kelly, we all have something in common."

Jack wasn't sure what to say, and having no witty retort, simply mumbled, "Oh". He looked to Racetrack for backup, but Race was staring at Lacy and when he felt the jab in his ribs could only manage, "Uh..." As Race continued to stare, Jack looked to David, who was staring in a similar way at Maggie, who was staring contemptuously at Jack. All David could say was, "Well..."

Gloria smiled at the stuttering, and turned to Maggie and Lacy and said, "Porque estabamos preoccupados? Solomente usan palabras muy pequenas, son imbeciles." Which roughly means, "What were we so worried about? They can only use small words, they're imbeciles!" Lacy and Maggie, who had both learned Spanish from Gloria, could not contain their amusement and erupted into laughter.

Racetrack was livid. "Hey, whats dis? Wha' did she say huh? Youse wanna start somefin say it in English!"

Maggie was the first to regain her composure. She smiled condescendingly at Racetrack and said. "Der's no need ta get all riled up. All she said was dat it was obvious from yer use a such big sophisticated wards dat you were obviously people of supremely high intelligence and dat she was most impressed." This sent Lacy and Gloria into another fit of giggles, but the newsies just stared at Maggie not quite sure of what to make of her response or how to react to it.

But Maggie didn't miss a beat. She smiled at them all, laughing behind her big brown eyes and said, "Now, its been wonderful getting ta meet all of ya, but if ye don't mind, we have ta be getting ta work now. Good'day ta ya." And with that she dropped a mock curtsey and lead a still giggling Lacy and Gloria out of the yard. They passed through the gate, where Emma, Kats, and Annie were rolling on the ground, laughing, and handed them their papers. Gloria turned around and gave a final defiant wink before she followed the others down the street, leaving the newsies staring slack-jawed in her wake. -

It took the newsies about another minute to figure out they had just been had, and by a buncha goils! Jack spoke up first.

"Well uh, I don't trust 'em. They look wrong."

Racetrack turned back to the group from where he had been staring as the girls walked out of sight. "Well I dunno Jacky boy, I mean dat one in da lace, she looks kinda-"

Jack interrupted him. "Aw will youse guys use yer brains fer once? All dey gots ta do is have a pretty face and a skirt and youse all gos weak at da knees."

David was the first to respond. "Now come on Jack. I think that given the position you put them in they responded as anyone would. You weren't exactly friendly"

Racetrack got a big grin on his face, "I could tink of a couple of pozishuns-" Jack slapped him in the back of the head. "Hey! What was dat for?"

"Dream later. Right now we'se gots ta find out were's dose goils comes from and if dey are who dey says they is."

David piped up, "I think you're right Jack. So we'd better hurry up."

Blink shoved into the huddle, "Hurry ups' ta do'se what?"

"Follow them of course. What do you say Jack?"

Jack grinned, "Sound'zlike a plan ta me. Race, Blink, you'se guys in?"

Racetrack had a grin from ear to ear. "You mean you'se guys is ask'in me if I wants ta follow tree goi'ges goils? What did yer brains freeze er somthin'? Of course I'm goin'! Blink, ya in?"

Blink looked around the circle, then down at the stack of papers under his arm. He threw them down and looked at everyone with a huge grin. "Why not? Da runnin wils warm us up, and was a lousy headline anyway!" Then he took off with the rest of the guys across the yard and out into the street. - After they finished laughing about what happened in the yard, the girls set of for the Kitchen, it was now they're nearest selling area, although normally it was so far from the Lower East side they only went on Sundays. Since this was their first time getting there from the new distribution center, they never bothered to think to look back and see if they were being followed. They headed south, and soon they were out of Manhattan and at 59th St., were into the Kitchen. It was insane for anyone to travel alone in the Kitchen, so they split up in groups of two as usual; Emma and Kats took 11th Ave., Gloria and Lacy took 10th, and Maggie and Annie took 9th. By the time the boys caught up with them, the only ones they could see were Maggie and Annie.

The boys tried to look inconspicuous as they observed the girls making their rounds. "You means dats dey lives here?" Racetrack was in shock. Even David was getting a little nervous, "Hell's Kitchen is full of the worst criminals in New York, maybe they really are a threat, what do you think Jack?" But Jack was watching Maggie and Annie deal with their "customers". "Deys dif'rent Davie. Look at howse dey talk ta people, dis is der home."

David looked, and he could see Jack was right. The housewives, store owners, and others that the girls approached clearly knew them. They smiled, gave them a hug, and usually stopped to talk. Almost like they were family.

As Maggie and Annie moved down 49th St., there were steadily less people stopping and greeting them, the streets looked dead. Until Maggie started her pitch.

"Read all about it! Terelli hitman kills two in midnight shooting!"

A man in a black trench coat stepped out of the shadows. "It was three!"

Maggie turned around with a smile of satisfaction on her face. "I figured dat was da way ta getcha outa hiding. How are ya Patty?"

The tall man shook his head, "Well if it isn't Maggie O'Rourke. I remember when I was losing ta yer father in poker every Saturday back in da Old Country. Where ha' ya been girl? I haven't seen ya in at least three months!" He picked her up and swung her around, then reached for Annie. "An if it isn't Little Orphan Annie. Ya get bigger every day lassie!"

Annie looked up into Patty's face. "I remember you!," she frowned, "Ya trew me inta da river last summer!"

Patty laughed, "Aye, I'm sorry fer dat lassy, but'cha had ta learn how ta swim someday!" He paused, "So what are ya doin down here Maggie, last I heard ye was over on da East Side a da rock."

Maggie shook her head. "We had a change a plans. But don't try an change da subject Patty," she pointed to the article, "Tell me dis isn't yer work. Ye told me ye were trew wid all dat."

Patty shook his head and put his hands on Maggies shoulders, "Ya know dat fer yer own protection I can't tell ya a thing. Its nothin dat you would want ta know anyway."

Maggie nodded. "Jest be careful Patty, yer da last thing I have from Ireland, I need ya around." She paused, "Now, care ta read about da great crime?," she dangled the paper in front of him. Patty chuckled and handed her the money, "Now give it here." Maggie and Annie started to walk away when he called after her , "Maggie!" She turned "What da ye want now?" He smiled, "Ye take care a yerself ya ken?" Maggie smiled, "Aye, I ken Patty. An you be careful were ya point dat gun!" - Jack, David, Racetrack and Blink made no move to follow as the girls headed down 9th Ave. past 48th St. and gradually out of sight. David broke the silence. "Well Jack, do you still think they pose a threat?" Jack was silent for a while, "No, dey dont pose no tret." He looked around at the rest of the group. "An from nows on, we aint gonna boder dem no more. Iz dat clear" Everyone nodded. "Good, nows lets get back home. Dis place gives me da creeps." They started back up the avenue. David took a hard look around. He wondered what kind of person it took to grow up here, alone. Suddenly he was very grateful for the family and friends that he had. -

Jack was true to his word, the girls received no more trouble from the newsies. In fact, there was a complete reversal of sentiment. To the girls astonishment, the newsies seemed to regard them with a sort of respect; no more than any of the other newsies, but almost an appreciation and understanding of circumstances. They even, occasionally on the really cold days, let the girls skip to the front of the line since they had the farthest and longest route; but the girls didn't seem to like the preferential treatment, and chose instead to wait it out.

But beyond respect and courtesy, the newsies never really went any farther in attempts to get to know the new recruits. But as the weather got colder, all that changed. -

Maggie was worried. It was getting cold, and the boxcar wasn't very good at insulting them from the icy wind. Annie's cough was getting steadily worse, Gloria was starting to show signs of a cold, as was Katsy. Lacy and Maggie both were suffering from lack of food, and Emma had already gotten frostbite twice from the holes in her shoes. The girls now rotated shoes during the day to keep that from happening. But this could not go on forever. They had all decided on e night after Annie went to bed, that their first priority should be to find her a place to stay for the winter. They had not wanted to send her to the nuns, but times were hard, and an extra mouth to feed would be to much of a burden to any of their friends in the kitchen; although they would have taken her in despite of it.

"So it's decided then," said Emma, "We take her there tomorrow, if we wait any longer this cough could get serious." The girls nodded, even then they could hear the sound of Annie's coughing.

It had not been a happy moment when they told Annie what was going to happen. "But you promised we would stay together, remember!" She started to cry and clung defiantly to Maggies skirt.

"Enough of dat!" She told Annie firmly. "We're not abandon'in you darlin', but we can't take care o' you, and you deserve ta be in a warm bed a night; not a pile o' blankets in a railroad car."Annie started to protest, but Gloria shook her head. "What would we do if we lost you? This is the best option Annie my love, and we can still come see you whenever you want. And if we keep you with Sister Mary Robert, she will make sure the Refuge won't know about you." Lacy put her hand on Annie's shoulder, "Don't make this a'harder on us den it has ta be sweetie, we are da ones who hafta live withoutcha!"

At that Annie smiled, and when the girls had settled things with Sister Mary Robert and left for another cold night in the boxcar , she waved at them from the gate until they were out of sight. -

But things got worse for the girls. Katsy's and Gloria's colds both got worse, and after another two weeks, they only went out every other day. Maggie had caught Annie's cough, and it was rapidly getting worse, Emma and Lacy were no better. At this rate, none of them would be able to work soon, and no work meant no food. As it was, the earnings of Emma, Lacy, and Maggie could barely keep them from starving. They were all getting weaker, and they had less time to visit Annie.

So it was that on a snowy Wednesday afternoon, Lacy collapsed in the snow just outside the gate from the distribution center. Maggie was already in line to buy her papers, she dropped her money when she heard Emma's yell and raced with her to Lacy's side.

"Lacy? Lacy!" She shook her gently by the shoulders as Emma gently tapped her on the face. "Lacy wake up! Please wake up!" To their great relief, she regained her senses in few seconds, her eyes glassy and dazed.

"What-" she was racked with a coughing spell, then continued, "What happened?" "Ya fainted," Maggie replied. Emma put her hand to Lacy's forehead, "Maggie, she's burning up." Maggie's brow creased with worry, and she felt Lacy's forehead, it was indeed burning up. "Jesus Mary and Joseph," she turned to Emma, "Give me yer money, an take 'er home. I'll buy us food an' collect some wood to build up the fire." Emma nodded grimly, them turned back to Lacy. "Can you get up Lace?"

Lacy nodded, and Emma helped her to her feet. Lacy then took her own money out of her pocket and pressed it into Maggie's hand. "Don't forget ta stop'a by da mission near 59th, dey may have some more blankets in." Maggie nodded, and turned to go up the street to buy food, Emma called after her. "Maggie-" Maggie turned, "Ya?" "Come back as quick as ya can, you don't look good either and it's windy today." Maggie nodded, and started down the street as Emma and Lacy made their way in the other direction.

David had watched the whole episode from a distance with the rest of the newsies. He turned to Race, "What do you think is going on?" Race shrugged his shoulders, "I dunno Davie, but dose girls don't look good..." He walked away muttering, "Don't look good at all."

David watched Maggie as she ran up the street to the grocers, as he turned back to get his papers, he saw something in the snow. Coins. It was Maggies money, she had dropped it in the snow when Lacy had fallen and had forgotten it. He picked up the money and put it in his pocket. He would give it back to her tomorrow. -

But the girls didn't show up the next morning, or the next. It was Wednesday, a week after the incident, when, of all people, Annie walked into the yard.

Annie was scared, while the newsies hadn't bothered her since that first day, she didn't know if she could trust them to help her. But she had to find out what was going on with the girls, and they would be angry if she came back to the boxcar, she had promised to be good. So when Sister Mary Joseph said she was coming to the area to visit a fellow sister at another convent, Annie had asked to go with her. She was supposed to be at the store buying bread now, but that could wait.

Annie surveyed the boys in the yard. Most of them were tall, talking in deep, loud voices, and shouting to one another. She was so scared she might have run right out of the yard. But then she saw a younger boy. he must have been about her own age, a little older maybe, he was about her same height. "It's now or never, " she thought, and she struck out across the yard to talk to him. - David had been watching all week for the girls, so he was hopeful when he saw the younger one enter the yard, but he soon saw she was alone. He was even more shocked when she came up to him, turned, and spoke to Less.

"Ex-Excuse me." She stammered, tapping on Less's shoulder. Less turned around and regarded her with large eyes. "Yeah?" Annie took a deep breath, trying to give herself courage, and spoke.

"Have, have you seen any of my friends lately? You know Maggie, or Lacy or Emma or Katsy or Gloria? They were going to come see me on Friday but they didn't, and then Maggie, Lacy and Gloria weren't in church on Sunday, and they never miss church! Especially Maggie and Gloria, they sing in the choir, but not Lacy cuz she's tone deaf and hates to sing and, well anyway have you seen them? Are they here?" She had decided it would be best to blurt the whole thing out quickly in case he tried to send her away, but now she was afraid she had spoken too fast, Less had this flabbergasted look on his face. But he shook his head. "Nope, sorry, they haven't been here since last week, when one of 'em fainted."

"Fainted!" squeaked Annie, "Who fainted? And what do you mean they haven't been here for a week? They'll starve if they don't work, how are they gonna pay for food?"

Less didn't know what to say, but luckily, David had heard the whole thing. "I don't know what to tell you, what did you say you're name was?"

"Annie-well, actually it's Francis Xavier Cabrini, after the Saint of orphans, but the girls thought it was an awful name so they named me Annie instead" David nodded, a hint of a smile playing at his lips, but then he became serious. "Well, Annie, last week one of your friends fainted, and since then none of them have shown up here. And three weeks ago two of them stopped coming, and just the Irish one, the one with the black shawl, and the blond one have been here, and for a week not even them."

Annie's eyes grew wide in fear. "That's Maggie, Lacy and Emma. That means Gloria and Kats must be real sick, they'd have to be if they weren't workin. Something's wrong I know it."

Jack and Racetrack had been standing by listening, and Jack spoke up. "You mean youse hasn't seen em neither? Don't youse all live near each other?"

Anne shook her head. "We used to, we all lived together after the Little Sisters of the Poor burned down, but it got real cold, and since the East Side plant burned down, we don't seem to have real luck with fire, we didn't have a wintering spot. Anyway, its got real cold, and I got sick, so they took me to live with Sister Mary Robert and the rest of the nuns for a while. They used to visit every other day, but it's been over a week now."

Racetrack stopped her rambling, "So where are deys livin now?"

Annie paused, reluctant to reveal their hiding place, then gave in and told them. "In a boxcar near the railyards and the docks."

The boys eyes were wide in surprise. Racetrack spoke first, "You mean youse been livin in dis wether," he gestured to the falling snow and wind, which was rapidly picking up, "in a boxacar?! No wonder deys sick, its a miracle dey ain't dead!" David elbowed him in the ribs to shut him up. He knelt down to bring his head level with Annie's. "Annie, this important, can you take us to the boxcar? Your friends may need help."

Annie shook her head, "I can't. It's a secret, if anyone found out we could be thrown in the refuge, or they could be shipped back home. I'll go myself, I'll be fine."

It was Less who spoke up, "Come on, be serious. If ya have to chop wood, or get someone to a doctor, you'de be to small to carry them, I know cuz I would probably be too small to carry someone too. At least let the few of us come with you, you may need the help. Just me, David, Race, and Jack. You can trust them I promise."

For some reason, such a simple, matter-of-fact statement from a person her own age made sense to Annie. She nodded,"All right then, we'd better hurry." And with that she took off at a run, the boys following her. - Maggie was tired. She was alternating between feverish/delirious spells, and when she was not sleeping she had to take care of the others, whom she knew were taking care of here when she was out of it. They were all very sick, that was for certain. Although this was more than a cold she had and she knew it. Her symptoms were not much different from the others', but she now feared this was a result of watching the Rapkin baby a week ago. They baby had been sick and she had been taking care of her, until little Sara had died, of scarlet fever. Please God don't let it be the fever, she prayed. She had avoided the girls as much as possible, staying at the far end of the car, and going out to let the air clear. She struggled with the water bucket, it was heavy, and she had to haul it from the pump at the railyard when no one was looking. The wind whipped at her dress and she wished she was going home to a warm house and a soft bed, not a freezing cold boxcar and a pile of blankets. She stumbled on through the wind and snow, and was soon back at the car door. She beat her shoes against the outside and opened the door a crack, puling back the blanket they had hung inside in front of the entrance to keep in heat, and pushing the water bucket in front of her. Katsy's head appeared, pale and gaunt, and she gave her a weak smile and took the bucket, and helped Maggie up into the car.

Kats knelt by Gloria, who still had shown no signs of improvement, and Maggie took up post next to Lacy. Emma, thankfully was resting quietly, not having shown any signs of fever, not yet anyway. Lacy, however, shifted restlessly in her sleep, alternating between being flushed with fever or shaking with the chills. Maggie used a damp rag torn from a blanket and wetted with the cool water to cool her forehead. There was still some broth, kept warm from the fire-in-a-barrel the girls had going in a small garbage can in the middle of the room.

Maggie felt herself dozing off when she heard a peculiar knock at the door. Long-short-short-short-long. Their code. It must be Annie! Maggie glanced at Katsy, but she had fallen asleep against the side of the car, a blanket around her and a hand still on Gloria's brow. Maggie gathered the blanket around her, but she found herself dizzy as she stood up, and had to take a second to get her bearings. The knock was repeated and she heard low voices outside. Was it the police? The refuge? Had they found Annie and forced her to- She stopped, what did it matter? They were in no position to run anyway. At least the refuge would have to give them a warm bed. She pulled aside the curtain that hung in front of the door to lessen the draft, undid the chain around the handle on the car, and tried to pull it open. It took all her strength but someone on the outside pulled and the door sprang open.

Annie was there all right, but with four newsies? What was this? She didn't have time to say anything.

"Maggie?" Annie asked, "Maggie what happened, whats wrong?"

Maggie didn't know where to start, she just leaned her tired body against the doorframe and said, "Ya best come in and see."

When the newsies entered the car, the scene that met there eyes was not pleasant. Maggie had turned back to tending to one of the other girls on the floor, David didn't know their names, and Annie, upon seeing her friends so ill, had let out a little cry before grabbing a rag and tending to another one.

But most of David's attention was focused on Maggie herself. She was pale, gaunt, and haggard. Yet she was spending all of her energy caring for the girl on the blanket beside her. "Come on Lacy," she pleaded, holding a tin cup to the girl's lips, "Take a sip a da broth, jest one little sip fer me." But Lacy wouldn't eat.

Jack spoke, "Youse beens livin here? His voice full of shock and disbelief. Maggie nodded.

"We don't have a home, if da refuge knew about us, they'd take us fer sure. We used ta winter in the office a da old distribution center but, well dats gone now. We got no place else ta go."

The boys stared at each other dumbly. "Jack," David said, "If they stay here much longer they could die. They obviously aren't eating enough, it's freezing , and if something happened no one would know they were even out here." Jack nodded, but what could be done, none of them had a home to offer...

"Wait a minute," Racetrack interjected, "Youse newsies ain'tcha? So whyse doin't ya just live at da lodgin house like da rest of us?"

Maggie looked up at him, "Ya have a whole house?"

Race nodded and smiled. "Well it ain't Buckinham Palace, but de rents decent, the beds soft, and its damn better den dis place. Ders udder newsies like youse der too."

Maggie looked at Lacey's quivering form on the pallet, at Emma restlessly tossing in her sleep, at Gloria's pale face, and the look of utter exhaustion on Katsy's face. What else could they do? It was no little secret that neither the girls or the newsies trusted each other, they had avoided contact since the very beginning. Why trust them now, for all she knew they were waiting to ship her off to the refuge.

She felt a tug on her arm, and looked to see Annie kneeling next to her, her big blue eyes silently pleading. "They want to help Maggie. When I told them something was wrong they insisted on coming, they wanted to help!" She was silent for a moment , then she climbed into Maggie lap and threw her arms around her. 'Please come Maggie, please! I don't like being in the convent I'm lonely I want to be with you, and Lacy and Gloria and Emma and Katsy, please!"

Maggie slowly stood up, bracing herself on the door frame and trying her best to appear stronger than she really was. "Well," she sighed, "I don't really have muchava choice in da matter now do I?"

- David tried not to stare at the slight figure trudging through the snow and wind beside him. Maggie had refused to let anyone help her along, insisting that it was bad enough that poor Jack and Racetrack had to carry Lacy and Gloria, although judging from Racetracks expression as he shifted Gloria's head to the opposite shoulder, he wasn't minding the chore all that much. Katsy had been able to walk, and she and Less and Annie were supporting Emma, who had refused to be carried, and was making remarkable progress. Annie clung tightly to Maggies free hand, her other was holding the small packs that contained their few possessions, and David carried a few of them as well. Jack had given him a knowing nod when David said that he thought it would be a good idea for him to bring up the rear with Maggie. Despite the bravado, he could tell that she had overworked herself and was ready to drop any minute. Maggie took a blanket from of her back and wrapped it around Annie, whose teeth were chattering. She looked up at David, "How much longer till we get der?" David tried to smile through his chattering teeth,"Nottttt m-much longer." Maggie nodded, but as they trudged along, she began to fall more and more behind the rest of the group. Finally she leaned up against the side of a building. "I'm sorry, "she said,"Could ya jest let me rest here a minute, I'm a wee bit tired-" David caught her as she fell. He scooped up her packs on one arm, and then scooped the unconscious Maggie up in both arms and headed toward the Lodging House as fast as his feet could carry him "What's all this!" exclaimed Kloppman as Jack, Racetrack, Less, and David paraded past him carrying their respective burdens.

"No time to explain, where's Sammy?" "Right here Jack, what's de matta?" A tall girl with muddy brown hair appeared the top of the stairs, her eyes widened when she saw what the boys had quite literally "dragged in".

"Sammy, you knows abouts taken care of sick folks right?" Sammy nodded, "I've toldja lots a times, my pops was a doctor before the accident." She looked carefully at the girls, "I don't know, deys could just gots colds, it could be more serious, you'de better isolate 'em. Follow me."

Sammy lead the boys up the stairs past the girls and boys dormitory floors, all the way to the top of the house, under the eaves in the little used attic. "We'se can keep em comfy up here with dat fireplace, and make sure no ones else gets sick from em, if it's catchin'. Now, out all a you, we'se," she gestured to the little troop of girls that had come up the stairs with blankets and firewood, "can handle it, youse would jest be in de way, out widg you!"

Nobody ever questioned Sammy when she used that tone, and the boys retreated downstairs in a flurry of footsteps. Sammy turned back to her patients and began getting the room organized. -

Maggie was the first to recover. To her great relief she had not caught scarlet fever from the Rapkin baby, and was simply suffering from a combination of hypothermia, dehydration, and malnutrition. A day or so of bed rest and plenty of Sammy's patented broth, and she was feeling well enough to walk about. And as soon as she was ale to walk, she was taking care of the others, despite Sammy's orders. Maggie tried to put it as graciously as possible that she was extremely grateful for what Sammy had done, but, if she did not let Maggie out of bed, she would have to throw her " good intentioned yet thick skulled American arse" out the window. Sammy let her get up.

Within a week, Maggie was ready to go back to work. She and Annie were rather shocked at the great spectacle that ensued every morning while the newsies were getting ready, and tried to slip out before all the hubbub broke loose. But they weren't fast enough. Racetrack leaped down the steps, picked up Annie, and twirled her around and around above his head. 'Tried ta sneak out didja? Gots'ta get up early in da mornin' ta fool me sweetstuff!" "Put me down! Put me down! Maggie help!" Annie laughed. "So sorry my dear, but dunna forget dat it was yer own idea ta pull these scoundrels inta our business, I'm afraid yer stuck with 'im." Maggie replied, trying to keep as straight a face as possible.

"Bedda believe it! Youse is stuck with us no Irish, weda youse like it or not, "and with that Jack flipped her over his shoulder and carried her halfway down the street like a sack of patatoes. As Maggie laughed and beat her fists against his back, she was reminded of her father. It dawned on her then that for the first time since she had come to this country, she had a home. A real home.

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fox-sleeping-minyard · 7 years ago

Text

Tag Game

Rules: answer all the questions and tag some blogs you wanna get to know better.

I was tagged by the beautiful @i-ship-it-verymuch :* ♥️

A - Age: 24 (yes, I am a fandom mom)

B - Birthplace: Germany

C - Current time: 23.28

D - Drink you last had: An elderflower/cranberry lemonade

E - Easiest person to talk to: that has to be @marmelade-sky

F - Favourite song: That's a hard one, but at the moment Havana by Camila Cabello is my go-to song

G - Grossest memory: when I was a nanny and my nanny child vomitted all over me (you wouldn't believe the amount of vomit that can come out of a tiny two year old) and then after I changed vomited all over my right again (but tbf I also laughed when she did it a second time because it was so ironic)

H - Horror yes or horror no: Yessss

I - In love?: nah

J - Jealous of people?: Hmmm maybe a little

L - Love at first sight or should i walk by again?: Pls walk by again. and then again. And again. I'm demi af.

M - Middle name(s): None

N - Number of siblings: None

O - One wish: To finally get a goddamned girlfriend pls

P - Person you called last: my voicemail lmaoo nah but really it was @marmelade-sky

Q - Question you are always asked: What it's like to live in England/London

R - Reason to smile: my friends, my cats, a good book/movie/fic/song, nice weather, cute things the children at my work do

S - Song you sang last: I think it was Red is the Rose by The High Kings

T - Time you woke up: at 7.30 (god damn my body being used to work times) but I could go back to sleep till nine

U - Underwear colour: dark blue with little comic-y pizza slices on it lmao

V - Vacation destination: Dubai, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Croatia, Japan, USA

W - Worst habit: I can be lazy af lol

X - X-rays: finger, jaw, spine, knees (I'm an old lady ok I got back and joint issues), thyroid

Y - Your favourite food: Uhhh I don't have one in particular tbh

Z - Zodiac sign: Leo

I tag @marmelade-sky and @breathtakinglybrutal and everyone of my followers who'd like to do it (tag me so I can see all of them ♥️)

#tag game #not aftg

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efortmanteau · 4 years ago

Audio

(via https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5X5MAFJVh2Hqn9wX2sONbH?si=KaEgJFL0Qlud26fyzioAyw)

1. A song that feels like it's about you or from your point of view Wallet - Regina Spektor (I like taking the time to help out in little ways with lost items.)

2. A song that feels green (mostly for the synesthetes, but those without that power can give it a shot!) Good To Sea - Pinback

3. A song you associate with warmth Constellations - The Oh Hellos

4. A song that got you through a tough time Mercury - Sleeping At Last (A great song for being mellow, dramatic, and melodramatic.)

5. A song that's not in English or includes lyrics from a non-English language Ne Me Quitte Pas - Nina Simone

6. A song with no lyrics at all Saro - The Westerlies (Saro or Pretty Saro or Pretty Sara is a folk song that comes from Ireland and had a resurgence of popularity in Appalachia. The original has lyrics but this brass quartet cover doesn't of course.)

7. A song that has something to do with insects Night of the Worm Moon - Shana Cleveland (oh, worm?)

8. A song from a piece of media you enjoy (video game music, used in a movie or TV soundtrack, podcast intro song, whatever) Time to Get Up Little Spaceman - Peter McConnell (This is from Broken Age which is a cute and intriguing point-and-click puzzle adventure video game about two characters--Vella the seaside baker and Shay the little spaceman)

9. A song that has something to do with flowers Milkweed - Iron & Wine

10. A song you have seen performed live (either by the original artist or a cover) We Intertwined - The Hush Sound (This concert was pretty small but so fun! The audience sang along to all the songs from this album… and respectfully listened to the newer stuff haha.)

11. A song with fewer than 50,000 plays on Spotify (or just a lesser-known song if you don't use Spotify) No Ghost - Canyon Spells (I found this band because they did a somewhat viral cover on YouTube of Bon Iver's Holocene, which shows up later in the playlist.)

12. A song that evokes rain Hover II - Andrew Bird (A windy rain perhaps!)

13. A song that reminds you of a fictional character from one of Rusty Quill's podcasts (or, if you're not familiar, a fictional character of your choosing) No Choir - Florence + The Machine (If you're familiar you've probably guessed it… this is Martin Blackwood from The Magnus Archives, specifically when he and Jonathan Sims go to the safe house)

14. A song that is longer than 5 minutes Achilles Come Down - Gang of Youths

15. A song that is religious, spiritual, or meaningful for you Holocene - Bon Iver

16. A song with some interesting instruments or use of instruments Be Brave - My Brightest Diamond

17. A song that is queer in some way Empire - Of Monsters and Men (The song itself isn't particularly queer, but one of the music videos features a gender non-conforming individual and an older woman bonding in a romantic/sexual way.)

18. A song by someone who is no longer alive (or by a band with a member/members that are no longer alive) Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers (Passed in 2020… RIP.)

19. A song that makes you want to go outside Delicious - Linda Perhacs

20. A song that reminds you of a friend No Children - The Mountain Goats (A couple of my pals who are dating sing this song to each other all the time. It's not a very romantic song but they like it! @powpowhammer)

You can grab a clean version of the prompt here: https://e4knee.tumblr.com/post/644972034352381952/playlist-prompt-1

#music #playlists #playlist #playlist prompt #playlist prompts

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hellielives · 7 years ago

Text

Tagged by @hevendemo

rules: answer the questions and tag 20 people

Name: Rachelle Louise

nickname: Rach, Rachie, Kurakding (papa only), Hellie

Zodiac sign: Libra

height: 5’0”

Orientation: Bisexual Demiromantic

Nationality: Filipino-Canadian

favorite fruits: blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, ya pears, macopa, tangerines, rambutan, coconut, WATERMELONS (I could finish one big one by myself), lansones, MANGOS (anything mango flavoured is valid), longan

favorite season: SUMMER!!!!! 🌈🌸🌺🌼🌴 Beaches, ice cream, bright colors, tropical flowers, rain, not having to hide your fashion under dumpy winter coats!!!

Favorite scent: home cooked meals, my pillow, men’s aftershave, fruity smells, freshly washed blankets, the city right after a rain

Favorite color: turquoise, navy blue, mint green, pastel pink, sky blue, gold

favorie animals: 🦔🦔🦔

Coffee,tea,hot🍫: tea 🍵 I like the ritual of putting loose leaf tea in a bag or whisking matcha tea. I will also drink coffee but rarely make it myself at home. Hot chocolate for those extra miserable winter nights and I want something sweet

average hours of 💤: 9-10 naturally, 4 when deadlines are near or I’m super anxious

Favorite fictional characters: Everyone from Cardcaptor Sakura (special ❤️ goes to Yukito), Link from Legend of Zelda, Cliff, Doctor, Wizard, Jin, the Harvest Goddess, the Harvest King, from Harvest Moon series, Alistair, Zevran, Leliana, Morrigan, Purple!Hawke, Varric, Isabela, Fenris, Carver, Cassandra, Dorian, The Iron Bull, Scout Lace Harding, Solas, Cullen, from Dragon Age...the list goes on and on

Number of blankets you 💤: one gray fleece blanket and one comforter with cute designs

Dream trip: it’d start with going back home to Manila and Bicol and say hi to Mt Mayon, buy so many pinoy food and sweets, then I’d visit Japan like the weeb I am, then hop around Europe (I wanna see France, the UK and Ireland, the Netherlands), maybe also explore Canada by train (I’d like to see Quebec again)

blog created: I forget. 2012? 2013? Whenever it was I got into BBC Sherlock 🤷‍♀️

tag 20 people: @shouritsu @lindira @queerzaza @princecatling @oceanembers @ghostoftheyear and I can’t be bothered to tag anyone else if you like go do this and force your mutuals to do as well ❤️

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unnursvanablog · 7 years ago

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The movies I watched in 2017

... And what I thought of them.

This is my second post where I do this kinda year-at-a-end lists. The First one was the music that stood out to me and now it‘s all the movies that I watched (or remember watching or wrote down) and what I thought of them.

(x2 means that I watched it more than once)

Rouge One x2: I was not sure where the story was going or if I liked it or not, until I realized they were all dying. Then I immediately liked it much better. It was something different. It had a punch to it. I think this one might be my favorite Star Wars movie, now that I have watched it again.

Assassin's Creed: I have never played the computer game, so I just went into this as an interesting adventure-thriller. And yes, it sort of managed to be that.

Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet: Very slow, maybe a bit too slow at times, but also very poetic and beautiful, as well as very sad. Based on historical events, but I feel like they sort of expect you to know something about that history before you see the movie.

Finding Dory: Very, very cute and funny. But it did not reach the same heights as Finding Nemo did.

Resident Evil - The Final Chapter: I went to see this one just so I could witness Lee Jun Ki, on the silver screen, for about five minutes. I may have screamed a little when he appeared for the first time and then laughed at myself for doing so. I thought it was a fine action movie, more or less.

Me Before You: I watched it for the actors, not the plot. Some funny scenes in between. Found the clothes that Clarke was wearing super cute.

(Hyung) My Annoying Brother: cute story, but I wasn’t super into it.

Love & Friendship: I'm very fond of Jane Austen's types of costume-drama, and I do remember liking it a little. But it also didn’t really stand out to me that much.

Mood of the Day: A rather dull rom-com.

Beauty and the Beast: I was never really a fan of the animation as a child (I didn’t own it on vhs). This was kinda a step by step adaptation of the story. Loved the soundtrack and the costumes. Tried to do some things differently, but some of it didn’t really do it for me. This 'exclusively gay moment' was not so impressive imho.

Logan: I found this very impactful and fitting end to the Wolverine saga. Much more bloody than I thought at first, but I didn’t mind it.

The Bronze: Sometimes I found this movie very funny and sometimes I was not sure where it was going.

Sing Street: A very good coming-of-age story of teenagers in Ireland, but it's the music that stands out to me the most.

New Trial x2: Wonderfully acted and there are really heartfelt moments in between that make up for the more gruesome scenes.

Guradians of the Galaxy: Still makes me laugh a lot.

Guardians of the Galaxy 2: Had been funnier if the plot had not gone on for so long and if it had just been simpler. They were stuffing an awful lot into this movie. Maybe you should try too much. But still I found it enjoyable.

How to Train Your Dragon: One of my favorites.

Ég man Þig: Not a very faithful adaptation imho and too be honest I wasn’t really a fan of the changes. Didn’t really scare me ether.

The Lego Batman Movie: I usually do not like Batman as a character, but this one made me laugh a few times.

Okja: Very beautiful, sincere, adventurous movie about girl and her giant pig, with some other colorful characters. Although she did not get me to become a vegan (I'm grew up on a farm), I thought that this picture would be great to mix of hollywood filmmaking mixed with Korean style of filmmaking. One of my fav this year.

Wonder Woman x2: I found this one awesome! I thought she was able to mix humor and the more sincere bits very well. And it gave me this 'I want to go out and save the world' feeling in my chest, after I left the cinema. The only big minus was toward the end of the movie, when that clichy good vs. evil fight went on.

Lady Chatterley's Lover: saw this while I was in the UK, on the British Netflix. It was just an ok-ish costume-drama.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone x2: Watched it twice. Once for Christmas and once for Harry Potter’s bday.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1: It's really impossible for me to watch the second part of DH without watching the first one.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2: I both enjoy watching this movie, and it also makes me kinda sad.

Spiderman - Homecoming: I laughed a few times, but I still expected more from this movie.

Hansel and Getel - Witch Hunter: Sometimes I found this adventurous movie work despite its clichés and sometimes it really didn’t.

Jurrasic Park: I knew so much about this story from quotes, GIFs and other things so that while I had fun of watching it, it didn’t really surprise me.

Fantastic Beasts: I still think it's rather good and well-made adventure film from the Harry Potter world. Not terribly excited for future movies and Grindelwald tbh.

Fabricated City: I felt like there was more time (and money) put into making the story look coo, rather then making a good story. Also the subs that I had started to get worse as the movie went along.

My Cousin Rachel: I think I liked the mood and the atmosphere of the movie, rather than the story itself.

Kingsman - The Secret Service: I still think this is a very good fun-action movie.

Sing: The story was nice, I mostly just enjoyed the songs.

Kingsman - The Golden Circle: Only good proof that when something British goes over to the United States, it will not be as good. Some good moment here and there, but not something I'm bothered to sit through again.

Get Out: A very interesting and innovative movie. I wasn’t very scared while watching it, but then again horror movies tend to not scare me.

Pete's Dragon: Cute, but not much more than that.

Flatliners: I found it a nice enough movie, but not really that terrifying.

Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl: I decided to try and see if I could still enjoy POTC, even though Depp was in it. She was a favorite during my teenage years. And yes, I still enjoyed it a lot.

Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest: And since I watched the Black Pearl, I thought I had to try to watch DMC, because it was always a favorite of mine. Still a solid adventure movie.

Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Men Tell No Tales: Why these film-series continues on, despite the fact that the story has long been over. This movie just annoyed me.

Little Evil: Netflix movie that managed to be very ironically funny at times. With a little dark humor, but also a some heart. Nothing terribly scary.

Thor - Ragnarok: I found it funny, colorful and fun. I'm in no hurry to see her again, but it was a very good superhero film.

The Devil Wears Prada: It's always good to visit old favorites.

Warriors of the Dawn: Very slow, but not in a bad way, until under the end. Then last 20 minutes lost a lot of steam and kinda dragged the story to the finish-line.

Midnight Runners: The film includes mixing humor and excitement in a very fun way. And it had some drama as well. Would watch again.

Coco: Amazingly colorful and cute picture. And I swear that there was something in my eye at the end of it.

Anastasia: A Christmas movie in my book. One of my favorites since childhood.

The Chronicles of Narnia – The Lion the Witch and The Wardrope: Another Christmas movie, in my mind. And one of the best book-to-film adaptations.

Attack the Block: Managed to be a really good thriller, science fiction and horror movie, all at once. Great cast and really funny at times. I liked it a lot.

A Christmas Prince: Such a rom-com cliché! And I, of course, enjoyed every minute of it.

I, Tonya: I found this very interesting movie. I really liked how sarcastic it kinda was and just how it was told. And there was a certain style over it that I liked.

Iceman: So much clutter. I did not understand what was happening most of the time, or why the characters were doing the things they were doing. The back stories were all muddled up. The story was just very strange and confusing and I doubt I will watch the second part to finish it.

Baby Driver: A very fun thrill-ride. It also surprised me a few times, even if it follows the laws of heist movies in many ways. Very colorful characters as well. Love the style of it.

The Beguiled: I liked this period-drama, despite it not being as dark and gruesome as I had been expecting. But I liked the story well enough.

Star Wars - The Last Jedi: I found the first half of the film a bit flat. It was as if some of the storylines there didn’t matter that much to the overall story and it was a bit of a filler. But I had a lot of fun in the second half. And I at least felt some a sort of hope in my heart for this rebellion when I left the cinema. A very nice space-adventure.

Love Actually: I had never seen Love Actually before. I started this one after the first ten minutes had started. But I have now seen most of this Christmas classic, and I did not find it super Christmassy or very romantic, I enjoyed some of these storylines.

Hjartasteinn: The first part of the film made me be very thankful that I was not a teenage anymore. Some Coming-of-Age stories can be tricky for me. Sometimes I manage to relate to them despite them being an awful lot about wanting to have sex or start drinking, and I never experienced those feelings as a teen (or as an adult), and sometimes that don’t manage to resonate with me when I watch them on screen. Unfortunately, Hjartasteinn was a coming-of-age story that I was not connecting an awful lot with. And during the second half of the movie I was just dreading the ending, because I knew it would be sad.

#movie review

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arplis · 5 years ago

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Arplis - News: Dishy Vintage Coat Hooks

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Arplis - News source https://arplis.com/blogs/news/dishy-vintage-coat-hooks

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agilenano · 5 years ago

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Agilenano - News: Dishy Vintage Coat Hooks

Agilenano - News from Agilenano from shopsnetwork (4 sites) https://agilenano.com/blogs/news/dishy-vintage-coat-hooks

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dominickoslan-blog · 6 years ago

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An Interview With Pop Feeling Aaron Carter

What occurred on Dancing with the Stars period 9's 3rd week of competition? Who performed "the Samba from zombietown"? Who suffered an damage during the 7 days, casting a shadow of question more than his ability to carry on on with the DWTS season nine competitors? Study on for the DWTS particulars! The evening finished with Melissa and Mark tied for initial place with Mya and Dmitry. The scores were flip flopped all over the place. Followers and judges had been shocked when their explanation and his partner Karina Smirnoff landed on their own in the base two. But in the end, it was enthusiast preferred Chuck Liddell who recieved the lowest mixed judges and fan votes. Chuck danced his last dance to the Texas Two Stage.

youtube

Snowboarder Louie's smile on the dance floor looked like the ultimate representation of deer in headlights: he danced like a truck was about to strike him. Louie received some pretty significant praise from the judges, even if he did get known as a "little dancing hobbit" by Bruno. I guess Louie can dance all the way to The Shire with a rating of 19, and with a very great impact on the team salsa.

Aaron Carter Arrest

Macy Gray. Sweet mercy that voice is back again. Allow's hope for an early exit, or for her to put on 1 of these dresses marketing her new album like she did on MTV's VMAs that one yr.

DeLay had to toss a joke about politics in there, saying that it is "simply outrageous for him to go left." His "Wild Factor" dance was explained as "surreal," and his dancing was actually much better than I believed it would be. He was goofy, and that was most likely a great concept to get the voting public to believe of him as a polarizing figure. Kathy Ireland and Tony Dovolani. Kathy Eire is a design, actor, Sunday school teacher and CEO. Will this famous bikini model and corporate entrepreneur have what it requires to make it to the leading? Her companion is beloved Tony Dovolani who has come close to the leading of DWTS, but has never taken house the mirror ball trophy. His previous companions had been Melissa Rycroft, Susan Lucci, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Jane Seymour, Leeza Gibbons and Stacy Keibler. This team may get hands-down in the appears department, but do they have what it requires to attain the end line? Maybe so.

Aaron Carter Fool'S Gold

Age has not been kind to the 68 year previous music producer. Phil Spector -- who can title John Lennon, the Righteous Brothers, Leonard Cohen, and George Harrison amongst songs's greats related with him - was finally convicted of 2nd degree murder in the death of Lana Clarkson. His reserving photo - the now famed Phil Spector mug shot discovered on the Cigarette smoking Gun - provides increase to speculation that pretty a lot any sentence handed down on May 29 will be a life sentence. There has been a lot speculation and many media reports encompassing alleged quotes from singer Aaron Carter on the legendary King of Pop, Michael Jackson. When a noted job interview produced headlines more than alleged estimates from Carter, the singer rapidly denied that he had ever stated any of the things that he was being quoted as saying. In accordance to a new update made by the singer by way of Twitter, Aaron Carter will reportedly be featured on E! News these days in an job interview in which he will be discussing the Michael Jackson story. The first group to perform was Team Paso, consisting of, Mark Dacascos, see this site, Mya and Michael Irving, along with their Dancing with the Stars expert partners. The judges praised Group Tango and scored each 24 factors.

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Sooner Or Later Lyrics Aaron Carter

Kelly Osbourne and Louis van Amstel experienced a big obstacle to overcome this week: Kelly. Her insecurities, which have plagued her all season, came back again in rehearsals for the jitterbug. Regardless of her lovable sequined gown, the schedule lacked spunk and the kind of wild abandon brought by mark. Kelly went through the motions with some achievement but her facial expressions swung from a large smile to a severe pout. The tabloid preferred will have to depend on her fans to have her via. Co-hosts Tom Bergeron and Samantha opened the hour of the initial Dancing with the Stars fall 2009 outcomes display by turning to head decide Len Goodman and requesting the judges' pick for the encore dance. Final night's surprise sleek swan of the ballroom Kelly Osbourne and Louie van Amstel delighted the group with their Viennese Waltz as soon as again. I'm still so impressed with Kelly. I had, pretty literally, almost no anticipations for Kelly Osbourne on DWTS season nine. I thought she'd suck and I felt terribly for bad Louie. But she's amazing and was incredible yet again tonight.

Aaron Carter 2016

Q: You are a songwriter; you've labored with some incredible artists like Robbie Williams and Hilary Duff, who do you like listen to when you're not training? Mark Dacascos and Lacey Schwimmer threw on their own into the jitterbug with frantic flips and frighteningly higher kicks. The Iron Chef The united states star stored up with the creative choreographer from his partner and the work paid out off. Combined in with the required jumps and snaps had been some impressive stunts from Mark, including a back flip and the splits. The entire schedule was tremendous cute - with Lacey dressed as a feisty feline - all the way to the finish when Mark collapsed on the flooring. Dancing with the Stars the Results Display will air tonight, 11/03/2009, on ABC aaron carter naked at 8:00 Central time. Tune in to find out who will be voted off on the double elimination round and which two contestants will have the lowest scores, therefore competing in a dance off, where the Dancing with the Stars judges will determine their fate.

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whatchudrinkin · 8 years ago

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History Nerd, Meet Beer Nerd

I am a nerd. I always have been. As a teen my method of music discovery was to read wikipedia articles. I’d start at something I liked, say the Ramones, and click on every artist mentioned on the page. I’d read all those, and then move deeper. When I started this blog the second thing I did was go to the library and find a bunch of books on beer and brewing. Because I’m a huge nerd.

(I’m such a huge nerd I’ve been poring over my beer books again for a month, to get this post just right.)

When Sarah’s parents suggested we check out Colonial Williamsburg on our recent trip, I was fully onboard. On top of the usual history, there’s beer. Last year, Colonial Williamsburg hosted an historical beer summit. They brought in lots of beer historians to talk process and ingredients and the place of beer throughout human history.

Colonial Williamsburg is a great place to host an historical beer conference, Williamsburg is a hub of historical recreations. As part of studying colonial life, reenactors regularly brew beer. If you come at the right time, you can watch Frank Clark, head of Historic Foodways, boil wort over an open fire. I’m not sure anyone actually gets to taste Clark’s homebrew. But if you visit any of the numerous Williamsburg pubs, you can taste some commercial recreations of those historical brews.

Before anyone could try those beers, the brewers had numerous hurdles to clear.

Finding the right ingredients is problem number one. The barley grown today is a completely different species from the grains grown in 1800, and modern maltsters aim for maximum efficiency. Frank Clark tells a story on the Colonial Williamsburg Past & Present podcast about an early test brew that finished at fourteen percent alcohol, way too strong for daily drinking in the Virginia sunshine.

The second issue is modern brewing technique. In the eighteenth century America, brewing was household chore. A brewster would make small batches for family and friends using cast iron pots and pans over a wood burning stove. Scaling up an ancient homebrew recipe to a modern brewhouse all trial and error.

But the Williamsburg Historic Foodways team persisted, and with the help of Alewerks Brewing recreated these colonial beers. We sampled a few at Josiah Chowning’s Tavern on Duke of Gloucester street, where the beer is served from a conventional keg -- not my first choice for historical accuracy -- in cute earthenware mugs.

The first was a historical brown ale called Old Stitch. Brewing a brown ale can be difficult, because most modern porters and stouts are brewed with pale malt and only enough dark malt for color and roast flavor. Historically dark beer was made with all brown malt. What was that malt like? Hell if I know. It was brown and probably dried over charcoal fires.

Old Stitch started from a few offhand references in old brewing manuals. There was no recipe available. So Clark, as described in another podcast, did some detective work. It was listed as a table beer, so he was able to guess at it’s relative strength, probably around five percent alcohol. Then they tackled the question of malt, looking for something that looked like the descriptions in the old manuals, even if they couldn’t specify exact kiln temperatures.

The Old Stitch brewed at Alewerks definitely tastes like a precursor to a modern porter, toasty, balanced. I only had the six ounces, but it didn’t taste all that historical to me. It tasted pretty plain to be honest, and drawn from a keg, it lacked the historical flatness I was expecting. But historical beer nerd beggars can’t be historical beer nerd choosers.

Next they tackled the obscure, extinct style known as Mum or Mumme. Mum seems to be one of those beer styles, like milk stout, that was marketed as a health tonic. Old recipes are chockful of herbs and spices. The historical product had a ridiculously low attenuation and intense herb flavors. Mum was probably a very bitter, very sweet beer.

Dear Old Mum, the Williamsburg version, is a spiced ale brewed with coriander and grains of paradise on a base of wheat and oats. It tastes a bit like a Belgian-y wit without the yeast character. It’s spicy and sweet, like hot apple cider with ginger. Not exactly the weird beer I was promised, but interesting in its own right.

The final beer in my tasting was Wetherburn’s Tavern Bristol Ale, which is toted as a precursor to modern India Pale Ale. Of course, the menu is lacking in any actual history. The best I can get from the Alewerks website the simple fact Bristol was a major port shipping supplies to the American colonies. That’s true. But Clark and others repeat the old saw about export ales being both hoppier and stronger to survive the journey. It’s a story repeated endlessly, without much actual evidence. British brewers exported everything. If it fit in a ship, it found it’s way throughout the empire.

But Alewerks and company fail to specify what sort of beer Wetherburn’s is supposed to emulate. I’ve never come across any references to “Bristol Ale.” There are plenty of proto-IPAs out there. There’s strong October beer, which brewed with the freshest harvest of hops. There’s the famous Burton ale, brewed in Burton upon Trent and famous for its bitterness. The point is, the label “forerunner to the modern India Pale Ale” is a lot to lay on a single pint.

But why does Wetherburn’s taste like coffee? The brownish ale is toasty, with a bitterness more akin to black coffee than hops. I thought it was just a fluke. I was almost convinced I had the wrong beer. On our way home, I insisted we stop in one of the many small shoppes lining Duke of Gloucester Street so I could take another look. Still tastes like coffee, but it tastes stronger, more alcoholic.

Of course, I couldn’t grab just one bottle, or just one beer, so I grabbed a couple of Toby’s Triple Threads Porter while I was at it. This too was a difficult beer to recreate due to the burnt sugar in the recipe. What do you mean a modern brewery isn’t equipped to deal with boiling sugar set on fire?

Triple Threads is not a recreation of a classic London Porter, which legally could never include licorice, molasses, or burnt sugar. In those days taxes were paid on the malt that made the beer, not the final product. The taxmen were wary of anything that went into the brew kettle that hadn’t been properly assessed. Toby’s Triple Threads is said to be based on a colonial recipe. The colonies were the wild frontier. Anarchy in the brewhouse.

Those little additions really give Toby’s Triple Threads it’s flavor. Of course, the roasted malt adds the most flavor, but it’s helped along by the molasses and licorice. There’s just a hint of acidity in there, too. It’s just a whisper of something fruity.

The name Triple Threads comes from an old myth that Porter evolved from the practice of drawing beer from multiple kegs into a single tankard. The most popular was a blend of sweet ale, hoppy beer, and ‘twopenny’ strong ale. Brewers tried to recreate that flavor in a single cask, or butt, and called it “entire butt” beer. The story goes that that “entire” morphed into Porter. The story though, seems too good to be true.

But that’s is really the problem with recreating these historical beers. The stories we tell are so compelling, and the history is so muddy. Tracking down reliable information is hard. And, like all things, beer changes over time.

Porter has gone through so many different phases. At one point it was a strong ale brewed with brown malt which was heated until it cracked and popped like popcorn. At the start of the 19th century, porter was aged in huge wooden vats for up to two years, where it most definitely went through a round of secondary fermentation with wild Brettanomyces. But by the mid 19th century, Porter was served mild, or fresh. At the same time in Ireland Porter was being brewed with black patent malts and efficient pale malt, the formula that eventually led to classic Guinness and the modern Porter we are familiar with today.

If pick a single point between 1750 and 2017 you are liable to stumble across a beer called Porter, but you’ll likely never taste the same thing twice. One porter will be sour and vinous. The will be sweet and smokey. A third might be nine percent alcohol, while the others are closer to three percent.

There are a million fascinating stories you can tell with these beers, stories of changing tastes and changing technology. But Frank Clark and his team seem less interested in telling the story than making a decent beer. Nowhere online or off did I see an explanation of Mum or the story of Porter. I was given a single sentence description of each beer and told to enjoy.

For an organization ostensibly meant to educate the masses on life in the American colonies, Historical Williamsburg seems more interested in selling a passable product than explaining what it is and how it’s made and why. The barmaid simply makes a joke about the water being unsafe and plugs your order into a concealed computer terminal. There’s a veil of authenticity -- they make reference to old brewing logs, they mention archaeological evidence -- but the details are glossed over in favor of play acting and expensive facsimiles.

I have no problem with anyone making a buck off of history, I just want to see the homework finished before you go play pirates.

If you want to read more about the historical beers of Britain, I cannot recommend Amber, Gold, and Black by Martyn Cornell enough. It’s great, it seems to be out of print at the moment, but there’s an Amazon e-book version for a tenner. Read that book and Ron Pattinson’s blog, Shut Up About Barclay Perkins, and you’ll know enough about old beer to piss off anyone.

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