A Leap of Faith (The Hands of Time: Book 2) by Irina Shapiro Read Free Book Online

females, or she could work at some low-paying job just to make ends meet.  The women who went into service worked long days, in dismal conditions, and eventually died of disease or despair.  Even if Louisa wanted to go into service, she didn’t have the necessary skills.  Nothing she knew could be considered useful.  She was a good painter, but who would allow a woman to paint professionally?  She could sew on a button or make a stew, but that would hardly qualify as job skills.  She supposed she could pour a mug of ale or work as a serving wench in a tavern, but she strongly suspected that most barmaids supplemented their income with other, less savory, activities.  Louisa didn’t even bother to dwell on the last option, since she would sooner die than become a whore. 
    As frightening as these options were, her choices would be even more limited in Virginia.  What would she do in a struggling colony?  There weren’t too many women there at this time , and very few of them came on their own.  They were wives, daughters or servants.  They weren’t single women with no one to look after them, and now she had Agnes to think of as well.  Louisa flipped over onto her stomach, and pulled the blanket over her head, trying to stifle her thoughts. 
    What had she done?  What would happen to her?  She had never been so scared in her life , and she wondered if that’s why Valerie married Finlay Whitfield so quickly.  She must have been scared and alone, desperate for a man to offer her protection and security.  But who would marry Louisa?  She had been with Doug for years, and even he hadn’t proposed.  She chuckled to herself ruefully and turned back onto her back.  What was she even thinking about?  Marriage to one of these men would be more like a form of slavery, rather than a relationship based on love and respect.  If she failed to find Valerie, her prospects were very dismal. All the plans for survival she made back in the twenty-first century now seemed ridiculous and far-fetched. 
     
     

Chapter 9
     
    Louisa tried to hide her smile as Agnes gave some poor sailor a tongue-lashing he would never forget.  The man had the misfortune of slipping on some filth and dropping a crate in front of them, prompting her maid’s ire.  Agnes had assumed her duties as Louisa’s maid as soon as the contract was signed.  She was like no fifteen-year-old Louisa had ever seen.  There was no laziness or sense of entitlement often present in the teenagers of Louisa’s day.  Although small for her age, the girl appeared to be the model of efficiency.  There was nothing she couldn’t do, and Louisa was amazed by her hard work and common sense.   The girl displayed a quiet maturity, and seemed to miss very little of what went on around her.  After knowing her for a few days, Louisa could easily believe that Agnes had made the decision to cross the Atlantic all by herself.  She obviously knew what she wanted.
      The smell of the docks made Louisa’s eyes water.  It was a combination of dead fish, seaweed, muck and stale sweat, occasionally punctuated by whiffs of tobacco.  Not even the fresh breeze off the sea could mask the foul smells that seemed to be wafting from every available space.  Louisa lifted her skirt a little higher, in order to avoid soiling it on the assortment of garbage littering the stone walkway, and trod carefully behind Agnes, trying not to slip.  Agnes was walking ahead of her, reading the names of the ships out loud, craning her neck in search of the one they needed.  The ship would be leaving with the tide this evening, making it imperative for the women to find it soon.
    “There ‘tis, Miss,” exclaimed Agnes, pointing to a large merchant ship some distance from them.  Louisa could see the gold lettering on the side and the carved figurehead of a young woman, her hair flowing behind her, her arms crossed to cover her breasts. 
    “Are we to assume that’s Gloriana