Lady Pirate Read Online Free Page B

her quartermaster. “Can you drive a carriage, Henry?”
    The man’s face scrunched up at the question, his doubt obvious. “Well, now, I ain’t never had no reason to drive a carriage—but I reckon if Skully can drive one of them things, so can I.”
    A rare smile briefly touched her lips at that. Skully and Henry were the best of friends, but it was a competitive relationship. They were constantly trying to outdo each other. Shaking her head, Valoree pulled her pistol out of her belt and laid it on the table, then began to shrug out of her vest. “There’s no need for you to try if Skully knows how. Take him with you and go rent a carriage and horses. The best you can find. It must be a quality carriage,” she emphasized. “Then I want you to get clothes for yourself, Bull, Skully, and One-Eye. Make sure they fit.”
    â€œWhat kind of clothes?” Henry asked suspiciously.
    â€œServant’s clothes. Livery.”
    Henry opened his mouth to refuse, but Valoree forestalled him with one sentence. “I need men I can trust with me, and I can trust you four.”
    Closing his mouth, Henry nodded and turned toward the door.
    â€œHave the men bring me a bath before you go,” Valoree called as the door closed behind him. She wasn’t sure he’d heard her until the men brought in an old wooden tub, followed by pail after pail of hot water. Once the tub was full, Valoree slipped quickly out of the rest of her clothes and slipped inside. She bathed herself quickly and a bit impatiently, then started to dress.
    Half an hour later she was grateful that she had left herself plenty of time for the task. It wasn’t as if Valoree had never worn a gown before, but that had beensome thirteen years ago. And good Lord! She didn’t recall donning a gown to be such a complicated task. There were stockings, and the fussy little garters that held them up; the chemise; the petticoat; the farthingale; the corset—a nasty piece of work, that; the partlet; the kirtle; the overskirt; and finally the bodice and sleeves. Good Lord! And with all those clothes on, she was still catching a draft up her skirt! It was indecent to be walking around with nothing covering her nether regions under those damned voluminous skirts. At least, it certainly felt indecent to a girl who had been well trussed up in breeches for thirteen years.
    Muttering under her breath, she grabbed her trousers and attempted to pull them back on under her skirt, finding it quite a chore with all the binding upper clothes, and the layer upon layer of lower clothing. Dragging skirt after skirt laboriously upward, she tried to hold them with her chin so that she could don her breeches, but that simply did not work. Giving that up, she dropped to the floor, dragged her skirts up, and tried again. A moment later, panting with the effort, she stuck one foot in one leg of her breeches, then her other foot in the other.
    â€œNext time I’ll put these damn things on first,” she muttered to herself, dropping flat on her back. Arching her butt off the floor, she proceeded to wiggle, squirm, tug, and pull in an effort to don the damn pants.
    â€œCaptain?” One-Eye’s voice drifted through the door, followed by a brief tap.
    â€œHold yer arse!” Valoree roared, rolling onto her side but still struggling with her clothes.
    There was a brief silence; then One-Eye spoke again. “Ah, Captain? Are ye all right in there? There’s an awful lot of bumping and huffing going on.”
    â€œThank God!” Valoree gasped as her breeches finally pulled into place. Letting her skirts slide back down over her legs, she dropped flat on the floor andtried to catch her breath. A moment later the door opened and One-Eye popped his head in. Valoree gave him a surly look. “I told ye to—”
    â€œHold me arse. Aye, I heard ye,” One-Eye said, peering at her flushed face with concern,