Mistress
Paine lay in her cell and heard a key in the door
The guard
walked in with a bowl of gruel and threw it on the floor
“The floor
be fitting for a whore,” he said and began to roar.
And
continued to laugh as he locked the door
She crawled
to the food and scooped it from the ground
Voraciously
scoffed it like a famished hound
The measly
portion failed to satisfy
And she lay
on the floor and began to cry
“Oh, Blaine.
How long still before I see you again? I cannot bear being locked in this cell.
My life has become a living hell.”
She heard
the jangle of keys and stared in alarm
Fearing he’d
returned to do her harm
She grabbed
her blanket and nervously gnawed
With
mounting terror of being beaten and pawed
She stared
in disbelief when she saw Maude the bawd
And a tall
dark stranger she introduced as Claude
“It’s Claude
you should applaud,” said Maude. “Never shall you have to worry again, for
thanks to Claude the guard has been slain. Now you are free to look for Blaine.”
“Madam Maude
and Claude, I don’t know what to say. Such kindness I can never repay.”
“Rejoice in
your emancipation,” said Maude. “You would have done the same for me without
hesitation.”
“Maude, we
must be on our way,” said Claude. “Very soon night will become day.”
“Oh, Maude. If
only I knew where to look for Blaine,” said Mistress Paine as they started to
leave.”
“On his way
north, I believe.”
“You know
this for sure?”
“Straight from the mouth of the hag in the wood
and certainly not obscure.”
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