In Love With A Highwayman

** #581642 Not An Image **

In Love With A Highwayman Part 1
By
Ted G. Sheridan

I have been on this hard floor for days
The straw that lines these cold dark stones
Is my only bed and I cannot sleep
Imprisoned like a madman I am caged by madness
With nothing more than a pan of stale food
And a cup of water that smells like the bog
That lies just outside these prison walls
The bog that has nurtured the many insects
Which dine on my now much ravaged flesh
As they pierce my body for more of my blood
They are eating well

I had been thrown to this den of inexplicable sorrow
By a simple twist of fate and nothing more
I was a Smithy for my Lords stables in Glasgow
It was me that shoed his many horses and in fact
Made these shackles that now keep me company
With their weight and their constant clamor
Bound to these walls and wrapped by my neck
I only can stand bending over or try to sleep sitting up
There is no movement I can make to avoid
The rats as they fight each other for the crumbs
Of molded bread crust that lay just outside of my reach
Tossed there by my guard as he laughed at me
Knowing my fate had been sealed and that he
Would be seeing a whole lot more of me

How was I to know that my Lord had a daughter
She had come to me crying one day before dark
Pretentions which I failed to see
A simple stable maid in much need of some work
As her mother had died and her father taken ill
And the plague had stolen everything they once owned
All they had left was their mud and thatched home which
Now stood in need of much repair from decay
As she finished me her tale my heart went weak
I found myself just wanting to help in some way
I gave her some coins I had saved from my trade
And I sent her on her way planning not another word
She thanked me and said she was going to return
To her home a few miles from here in the Valley of Clyde
I told her it was too late and she mustn't travel at night
As robbers thieves and highwaymen would lay claim
To her beauty as well as her cart
And so it was I offered a ride to this stable maid
Whose name I did not know
And surely I could not have known the dubious fate
My simple Smithy's life was about to now take

Intuitively I took a little known shortcut hoping to avoid
The local knaves that preyed on such fair people as us
As we entered the valley with fires burning below
Leading our way into a small cove
When all of a sudden three scoundrels did jump
From a tree limb just out of sight in the dark
I fought one off as I grabbed the Daggett from my stocking
Then stabbing the others deep in their chests
I looked quickly around to evaluate the mess
As in a panic I rushed to her side to make sure
The maiden was still safe and that she'd not been hurt
When to my eyes I saw such an unsettling sight
She kneeled weeping over one of the dead knaves
He was a robber of that I'd been sure
Yet sobbing and praying that he should return
His love and his life to no one but her
And from the ground and out of the wet grass
She picked up my Daggett and fell on it's cold blade
Spilling her blood and mixing it with his
Giving up her young life to be with him
A Highwayman

Well for this crime and his Lordship's great loss
Someone had to pay no matter what their cost
In gold or their life for his only daughter was dead
And on the head of one man this crime now would rest
The innocent Smithy would have to be that man
There was no one left alive that could speak for him
And so here I sit with the rats that deprive me
Of my sleep and the insects that bleed me dry
Injecting fever and a madness in me
That I ever had been so kind
To a simple maiden in need of some work

Copyright ©2002 Ted G. Sheridan


I wear these chains for the many crimes of my soul and for no other reason.



In Love With A Highwayman Part 2
By
La Belle Rouge

I followed close behind them, the treacherous maiden
And compassionate smithy she convinced to help her
In her false state of need and destitution.
I looked upon his honest face of kindness
And knew I could not leave him to her cunning devices.
Oh yes, I knew her well and her power over men.
He knew not she was the daughter of his Lord
And neither of them knew that I followed some distance
Nor that her father had not one daughter, but two
The younger of them, being I, who had been banished
From her father’s sight when in giving me life
His beloved wife, my mother, did perish.
Raised by an old crone of the forest who found me and did
Take pity on a newborn child left for the beasts to devour.

I knew every dark secret and hidden forest path, so I followed
And I silently vowed that she would not be his ruin
As others she had already destroyed with her deceit.
If need be, I would use all the forbidden, mystical powers
The ancient one had taught me, before she disappeared
Leaving me alone in the cottage in the heart of the dark wood.
I helplessly watched the whole gruesome scene unfold;
The brave fight by noble smithy to save himself and her
The fatal stabbing of the highwayman and my sister
Who after sending the dagger to her own heart
Lay slumped in death atop her thieving lover
Crimson brightness of her blood mingling with his.
Following again at a distance, as the smithy carried her
Over his horse back to the village where he was unjustly
Bound and imprisoned, left to die a horrible death of
Misery and starvation among the ravenous rats.
I knew at once what must be done to save him
But I could only accomplish it on the full of the moon
Three days hence, so I had no choice but to wait
And to hope that, he being a strong man,
Could live until that time and I could free him.

At midnight on the night of full moon ascension
I stood beside deep forest pool, after dropping my clothing
Began to murmur powerful words of incantation
And watched in the dark moonlit water the transformation
As tall lithe womanly form became that of
Small cunning red fox with glowing eyes of green.
Lifting with my teeth the metal pick I had laid upon the ground
I ran silently, swiftly to the hateful prison
And jumping upon the window ledge of his fetid cell
I easily squeezed my small furry body between strong iron bars
Then stood before him and laying the pick on the filthy floor
I did speak to him with the kind softness of woman’s voice;
“Good evening Noble Smithy, I am here to free you of your bonds”
His head was bowed in misery upon his brawny, bare chest
When at my words of kindness he looked up in obvious shock
To see a red fox with glowing emerald eyes before him
“Who are you?” He whispered in disbelief
And as he watched in awe, the transformation
Made me once again the figure of soft rounded womanhood ,
Standing in pale silver moonlight
Covered only by the long red silk of my hair.
Skillfully I used the pick to unlock the iron shackles
Freeing his bleeding ankles and wrists
Then the heavy cell door lock became victim to my cunning
And fell open at my clever touch.
We ran as fast as his weakened state would allow
Deep into the darkness of the forest to the pool
Where he drank his fill of it’s cold clear water
And he ate the cheese and bread I had left there to succor him.
“Run now, you must run far away and never return
For soldiers of the king will surely be hunting you as an animal!”
He drew me close into his strong arms as rough fingers
Danced softly upon the nakedness of my smooth back
And placing a tender kiss upon my lips he replied,
“I will return for you and how shall I find you, My Lady?”
“No, you must never more this way pass.”
“But I shall and how can I find you to take you away with me?”
“Stand here at this pool and call out the name, Esmeralda
And if I yet live and have desire to see you again, I will hear!
Grasping my clothing to my body, I gently kissed his lips
And pressed into his hands my linen and lace handkerchief
Tied within it what few coins I owned and turning, ran away.
As the darkness of the forest closed around me I wondered
Would he truly return for me? Would I go with him if he did?

(c) 11/04/2002 La Belle Rouge




In Love With A Highwayman Part 3
By
Ted G. Sheridan

Months of three or more have passed as
I slowly healed from my hard tenure of being held
Captive within a cold prison's walls
With rats and madness I played for weeks
All for not and not the crime
Of helping some poor maiden home
When I was one night released
By a green eyed red fox who
From out on the bog she had come
Bringing her foggy contortions and many spells

When if by magic or spell
Before my tortured eyes there stood transformed
Such a beautiful and lovely woman
And one that I'd known quiet well
For it was her twin I had helped
That night in the forest so dark
But this maiden was still alive and
Her splendor was such
That she opened with just a pick
The shackles and chains I had worn
Freeing me to live and to change
What had been my life's dismal fate

We ran from the confines of that cold prison
Passed the guards in their sleep
And derelictions of duty to their Lord
As with on a silent breath we did escape
Next to the clear pond of our "Good byes"
When with that woman's soft voice
This red fox with her emerald eyes did say
“Stand here at this pool and call out the name, Esmeralda"
And if I yet live and have desire to see you again, I will hear!
So hence it is that I arrive here with this morning's first light
For days I searched on end to find this crystal pond
That I may bring forth that beauty once more
With my voice now freed by
Esmeralda
Esmeralda
Esmeralda I called
As had been her instructions you see
And with a Smithy's eye to detail
I called again and yet more powerful this time
Esmeralda
Please come back once more
And free this once and still agonized soul
To you're forest and you're home
As two foxes we may forever roam
Freely in the love you preserved for me
I now a Highwayman of no other trade
Will I ever wish to be
If you will go with me my saving Lady
From here into the rest of
Eternity
Esmeralda ............
I await for any response
Copyright ©2002 Ted G. Sheridan

The saga continues...


In Love With A Highwayman Part 4
By
La Belle Rouge

Three times the Moon Goddess had
Once again reigned in her fullness
As I awaited, in great anticipation, his return
During the day my time spent
In harvesting of food and herbs for spells
Long evenings spent in desolate solitude
In my cottage deep within the dark forest
Alone save my thoughts and hopes
And the company of woodland creatures
That so oft came to share
My hearthside on chilled foggy nights
Yes, hope was present there with me
For I dared to think that perhaps at last
The wound of being despised by my father
And wanted or loved by none
Would at last be healed by the kind devotion of so
Gentle and good man as the compassionate smithy
I watched oft the rising of the Goddess of night sky
And covered in her diamond beams, I dreamed
Of love and laughter and touch of fire
I wondered if he sat bathed in her silver light
With thoughts of love and me

He was not the first I had freed, oh no
More than one man owed his life to the red fox
All had vowed undying love and promised to return
But each time I had waited in vain as they ran away
To new lives, new hope and the love of another
Who had no part in their salvation, but would
Forever enjoy the sweetness of their love
Would he be as all the others,
A promise quickly blown away in the wind?
I knew not so much as his name, yet felt the power
Of his warmth drawing me, calling me from afar
There had been no time to learn who he was
And he thought he knew my name
When in truth I had hidden it from him
Giving him a false one with which to summon me
Should he, by some miracle of mercy return to me
Lest I disclose too soon and over much
The reality of who and what I was
For having done so before I vowed that
Never again would any man know the real me
Until his devotion be undeniably proved,
So I sat in the moonlight and I waited
To hear his deep voice calling “Esmeralda”

At last when hope had been smothered
By sorrow to become only a flickering ember
I heard in the dark of night, far in the distance
His voice calling, Esmeralda, over and again
My heart leaped with anticipation
Of the swift demise of my loneliness
With the strength of his masculine touch
And warmth of his lips covering mine
Fiery passion of his love, sweetness of devotion
And running toward the sound of his voice
I felt myself suddenly imprisoned in the tendrils
Of a most horrible monster wrapped around
My trembling body until I could scarce breathe
And my legs could no longer run to My Love
My screams in the night resounded
Through the thick, opressive silence
So I begged Sister Wind to carry my cries to him
The monster that held me fast cruelly laughed
At my panicked distress and announced his name
As “Fear” and his intention to never release me
I was helpless in his awful grasp and could only
Hope that My Smithy would be bold and swift
To liberate me, as I had once freed him
For I longed to be loosed from this crushing fear
And to share in safe comfort of true love, at last
With a man of honor and true devotion, my name

(c)11/04/2002 La Belle Rouge
The saga continues...



In Love With A Highwayman Part 5
By
Ted G. Sheridan

Esmeralda I cried many more times over
Esmeralda please come forth to me this day
Esmeralda I then heard a distant echo say
From the forest dark and deep it repeated
As it added "There is no Esmeralda here"
"You lie and your lies be damned"
To the forest I was compelled to exclaim
"And why I know not your treason" I shouted with the air
Of my now planned revenge to search
With my death's promise that I shall find
My Esmeralda
Fair and only maiden of my heart
For until I see her emerald eyes as they were
Feel them
Light the love I have for her inside
And until I can run my begging fingers through her
Flaming red hair
As it covers her white shoulders
Naked and bare
My eyes shall not close to sleep
And I shall not rest but continue to weep
Until I can hold my dear and sweet
Esmeralda once again
To my poor and barren but still beating chest
This now be my Ordained Quest
My Mission of Love

Just then as I was about to turn and leave
The pond of our "Goodbye"
Sister Wind disturbed it's calm surface with
A rippled message from my love that read
"The one that you seek is being held against her will
As the monster known as "Fear" does keep
Her heart and her body in his treacherous grasp"
"Go quickly you must
For if you are truly her heart's chosen one
Destined to know this Lady's love and her true given name
You have no time to lose or waste
If you ever wish to see her beauty again"
"You must find and conquer the beast named "Fear"
God be with you my poor man of but a Smithy's trade
For it will take all your great strength
And the power of your love's conviction
To defeat him in the battle he does now wage
For her fate he now holds like your reflection
In the waters of this pond
As he strangles the light from her eyes
As he will watch her die before giving her freedom
From the spell cast long ago that proclaimed
Her father's riches or another man's
Love she was cursed never to know"

And on that last breath of Sister Wind I set forth
But a step or so when I did notice wrapped in lace
Now burdened and soiled with age
The coins that my maiden had pressed to my hand
All that she had
She had given to me
All that she had
I had left
All that I wanted was to know be it true
Was it me
Was I truly that Noble man
Who could slay a monster like "Fear" and win
The hand of a maiden so dear
Or like the bones and relics that my eyes now found
Scattered about the bank of that pond of "Goodbye"
Where so the secret has been revealed to me
Of the many men that had never left here alive
Of the many that had failed to free on their own
That beautiful vision that had once led me here
To seal the deal that would be my fate
With these precious coins I now hold
I must go forth before it is too late

And so it was I entered
The dark and unknown forest
With it's pitfalls and it's branches of deceit
I feared not the demands of my desire
I feared not the darkness of my enemies soul
For he had sold his soul long ago
This fact I did recall from the many tales of old
As he stole the treasures of those he imprisoned
With his poisoned vines and undergrowth of lies
Illusions his power truly was
It had been said
But only this fact would be revealed to those
Pure of heart
Strong in body
And rich in kindness
And being that I was
Once imprisoned for the kindness I had
Paid to a maiden in need of work
I found myself the richest man alive
As I now entered the monsters tangled lair
With a few gold coins with which to temp
The one called "Fear" as I would appeal
To his enormous greed
And with my Dagget
On which my maiden's twin sister fell
To mix her blood forever
With that of her love a Highwayman
I would now use it's rigid blade of steel
To cut out the very heart of
That monster known as "Fear"

I found my maiden with the emerald eyes
Laid out like a sacrifice to an Evil
That had inhabited this forest with it's
Dark presence and it's will
Her long red hair and shoulders bare
Meant to tempt me into a trap
Where we both be slain
But as I tossed the coins on the alter
I slashed and tore with all the strength I did possess
Though "Fears" deceiving veil of vegetative growth
Penetrating his heart
Tearing it from his monstrous body of distain
For all that was pure and good in man
And as I knew he would in his greed for more
He left my maiden unguarded
As he did make his expected grab
For with the gold coins
I had bid him his due
As once again we would
Escape as if on silent breath
To our freedom I ran with my maiden on my back
Out of that forest and back to the pond
Where this time when I looked in her eyes
I wish not to say "Goodbye"
Please my love
I beseech you
Tell me your name and make it true
As my name for evermore
Shall be given this day to only you
For as my father
Bless his soul once said
Remember the men from whence you came
Be you known for always as Callum my son"
I Callum do await your word my love
So that
Your name be it heard in my heart

Copyright ©2002 Ted G. Sheridan

Please LaBelle put this poor bastard out of his misery and Please I beg you reveal your true name. For the sake of all those involved.

The saga continues...



In Love With A Highwayman Part 6
By
La Belle Rouge

I struggled with every small bit of strength left
To free myself from the oppressive tentacles of Fear
Finally I lay paralyzed in the monster’s unrelenting grip
I could hear the calls of my would be savior
As he continued to call out in desperation the name, Esmeralda
In ceasing to struggle, my hope of freedom dimmed then died
I could neither move or make answer to his calls
And yet he continued to call that name as he moved closer

When at last he did come into my view,
My heart melted within with love for him
And I watched in silence as he cast upon the
The altar of my sacrifice to Fear the few coins
I had given to him at the pool of our “Goodbye”
I had given unto him in his need all that I did possess
And not one coin had he used selfishly
But did now cast upon my altar, all that he possessed
I watched as greedy Fear thought to capture even this
The gift of My Love’s sacrifice for me
And moving as swiftly as a deer of the wood
My beloved did pierce through the black heart of fear
And slash away his clinging smothering appendages

Lifting me into his strong arms he did carry me on his back
Away from such hateful an altar and now defeated adversary
When at last Fear was destroyed and we stood
Far from his destructive grasp at the pool of our “Goodbye”
He held me close to his heart that beat so true
And tenderly did cover my face and ruby lips with kisses of fire
“If I have proven my worth to you, My Lady, then tell me
In truth the name of she whom I have this day risked my life for
Let the sweetness of your name enter my ears and
Reign forever in my waiting, longing heart, I Callum
Am you faithful and loving servant til time is no more!”

“Yes, your name is Callum, the warrior, the strong and brave
And you have proven your deep and unselfish love
You have returned for me and destroyed forever Fear’s vile claim
You have spent not one coin selfishly but poured out
All you possess to buy my freedom
My name, My Love, is Mercy, the motivation of my heart
And though many have been freed by my mercy
None but you has ever won my love
In returning unto me, unselfish true affection
And deepest desire to know the secrets of my name and body
You have broken the curse that condemned me to a life alone
Come and let us take our fill of love until the dawn
And on the morrow I shall leave this deep, dark forest
Of my loneliness, isolation and despair
With you, My Brave Callum for now I do indeed
Give unto you, not a meager handful of coins
But the secret of my name, the passion of my body
The enduring love of my fearless heart.
And then I heard him sigh, “Oh, Mercy!”

(c)11/05/2002 La Belle Rouge

"Poetry, Reflections Of Love"

La Belle Rouge
~~Image #match Sharing Restricted~~

ID: 543111 Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. by Not Available.

ID: 482518   (Rated: GC) ADULTS ONLY  Poetry, Short Stories For ADULTS ONLY, WARNING, MATURE CONTENT by La Belle Rouge

ID: 368324 Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. by Not Available.

** #443561 Not An Image **