Disclaimer: These are works of fan-fiction created for entertainment. It is not the intention of the author to infringe on anyone's copyright. No rights infringement intended. Warning: General Audience

The Sharpe Fan Fictions of Paul K.

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Sharpe's Family

PART III

Chapter 9

OCTOBER 1788
YORKSHIRE – KEIGHLEY

BLACK HORSE INN

Elsie Myers heard voices before she saw Mr. Willett and a boy enter The Black Horse Inn. She has seen many people come through the inn, but never a boy alone. She has been washing plates and cutlery when they enter.

Elsie has worked at the inn since she was six years old. She started by helping her mother who worked in the kitchen and to serve meals. They had lived in a small cottage outside of town until her father left with a friend to sail with the East India Company. That was five years ago. With the money that her mother earned and that her father left them. They could keep the cottage. Two years ago when she was eight, her mother died of fever. She has had no word from her father since he left. When her mother died, Mr. Oakley, who manages the inn in Keighley, let her move from the cottage to the inn and work in place of her mother. Behind the kitchen was a storeroom. Elsie sleeps in a makeshift bed there. When she is not working, she goes there to rest or dream about someday meeting someone who will take her away to live in a real house.



She watches Mr. Willett and the unknown boy approach her.

“Good day. Miss Elsie. I want ya to meet someone new here. This is Dick Sharpe. He will help me with the horses.”

Elsie looks at the boy. She puts down the plate she was washing. She is used to treating the guests at the inn. Formally, she curtsies to him. “Pleased to meet you Mr. Dick Sharpe. I am Elsie Myers.”

Richard can’t help to stare at Elsie. He immediately notices her slender face, piercing blue eyes, her white skin. Despite the ‘mobcap’ that she wears, her fair hair peeks out and shapes her face. While she wears layers of clothes to keep warm, he can see that she is thinly built. And, when she smiles, he feels warmth he had not felt before. In some ways, she reminds him of Missy from the orphanage. Her voice is soft. He has never heard anyone talk politely. Although she remains standing in front of him, he doesn’t know how to reply.

‘Boy, greet her back. She won’t bite ya.”

“Uh, pleased to meet you too, Miss Elsie.” Richard is not sure if he should offer his hand to shake. Should he bow? Unsure of what he should do, he stands still and says nothing.

Elsie breaks the silence. “Mr. Willett, where will Dick be staying?”

“He will work here and sleep in the stable. Mr. Eagleton wants someone here all the time to tend to horses at all hours. Now, when I am to home, someone needs to fetch me when coaches come in the night. Mr. Eagleton wants the horses and coach serviced faster. With Dick here, no one needs to come for me. I will teach Dick how to tend the horses so he can service the coaches all hours.”

“So, he will sleep outside the inn?”

“Yes, outside. In the stable.”

Elsie feels better. She senses that Richard is interested in her. The only places to sleep in the inn are the rooms that are for paying guests and the storeroom that she now uses. Richard and she are not children to sleep together. “Where will he eat?”

“Here, when we all eat.”

Richard listens to them talk. But, he watches Elsie throughout. Elsie sees him watching her and blushes.

“Come Dick. Elsie has work to do. So do we.”

Richard nods to her then walks away. Mr. Willett shrugs towards Elsie. “He does talk. But, not much.” Then he goes too.

Elsie watches the new boy walk away. She is only ten, but has begun to develop into a woman. She has seen how men look at her. Before her mother passed away she had warned her of the ways of men and to protect herself. Several local boys have noticed her. She makes sure that she does nothing to encourage them. With this boy living here, she will need to be even more careful.



The Black Horse Inn has an archway at its north end that is high enough for the coaches to pass under into the stable yard. Davey takes Richard out to the stableyard behind the inn. Within the fence are four horses. Under a roof is a coach. He sweeps an arm from the archway around to the back corner of the inn. “This is where we work. Mr. Eagleton owns this inn and others like it. Stage coach travels stages of twenty to thirty miles between inns. Carlisle, city to the north of here, is the last stop going that way. Lonsdale is only stop between here and there. London, to the south, is the end there. In between he has Hellifield, Sheffield, Wakefield, Chesterfield Nottingham, Leicester, Northampton, Bletchley and St. Albans.”

“Bob and me met at St. Albans.” Richard offers.

“So he told me. Four coaches run between each stage. Two go in each direction. We has spares. One at each inn.” Davey points at the coach under the roof. “That’s our spare now. It is ready to go. When a coach breaks down, we trade a good ‘un for the bad. Then we fixes the one that is broken.”

“We fix?” Richard wonders if he will have to learn how to fix coaches.

“We fixes what we can. Blacksmith or carpenter may do some of the work.”

“A team of four horses pulls the coaches. We has two spare teams.” He points to the horses. “When a coach comes in, the horses are tired. In old times, passengers had to wait for horses to rest. With our spares, they can be on the way to the next stage.”

Richard looks at the horses, then to the inn. “If the coach can go, why do we have an inn?”

“Coaches don’t travel at night. Carlisle to London is two hundred ninety miles. Coaches go ten to twelve miles per hour.”

“Ten miles per hour? All the time?” Richard can’t imagine travelling so fast. When he rode with Bob, it was the first time that he traveled anywhere without walking. Even when he escaped the orphanage, he went only about three miles in an hour.

“Coaches stop at toll stations. Sometimes when a coach breaks. Or, if highwaymen stop them. Other times they fly at ten miles per hour.”

“Highwaymen?”

“Yes, men with firearms stop the coaches. Steal money and jewels from passengers.”

“Oh.” Richard doesn’t want to question more. He wants to avoid having Mr. Willett learn that he robbed coaches in London.

“Coaches travel three to four stages every day. At dark, they stop at an inn. Passengers eat and sleep at the inns.”

“How many?”

“Passengers? Most a coach can carry is ten paying passengers.”

Richard looks at the coach. “Ten? Where?”

Davey points to the coach’s front. “Two on the box. Six on the roof..” He sweeps his hand towards the back of the coach. “Four inside.” He points to the door. “Ten. Sometimes, carry six inside and up to ten outside. Sixteen.”

“Driver sits on box seat. You know the driver. He wears many caped coats. Fancy waistcoats. Smells of brandy that he sips. Resupplies at the inns as he goes..

“Mail coaches have a guard. When mail coach enters a village, the guard plays music on a horn. Mail coaches keep to a schedule so tight. You can know time of day when they pass.”

Richard looks at the coach. “Sixteen? Driver. Sometimes a guard. How many fall off at ten miles an hour?”

“Exciting ride, at ten miles an hour and holding on.” He winks at Richard, but doesn’t give a number.

Richard thinks about the coaches that he robbed in London. He doesn’t remember so many people on the coaches. With that many people on one of these coaches, he would never be able to steal anything without being caught.

“Always so many?”

“No, in really bad weather, no one wants to ride outside. Bad weather can be too cold or too hot.”

Richard listens and thinks about how he could steal bags off a coach when no one is outside. For now, he focuses to listen to Mr. Willett.

“Sometimes, not most, we need room for eighteen people to stay here. People with money pay for rooms. Others sleep in the eating room.”

Willett has been working on the coach while talking with Richard. “Come here. We need the coaches to shine. People pay to ride on the best. Coaches get dirty. We wipe coaches from top to bottom. This one came in just a while ago. Get water with that bucket. There is a bar of soap in the bucket. Wet one of those rags. Wipe all the dirt off everything. When you finish, use this rag to wipe all the wood.” He hands Richard a rag. It smells of some kind of oil. “Wipe all the wood with this cloth. Soap removes the dirt. Oil makes the wood shine. Start up top. Finish down here.” He points to the wood that curves under the bottom of the coach.

Richard places the oily cloth over a rail to keep it until he needs it. He goes to the bucket then fills it from the well behind the inn. With soap and water he starts to wipe the coach. When he finishes the top, he looks to find Mr. Willett. When Richard sees that Davey is not looking to him, he sits in the box. He pretends that he is driving the coach.

“Twelve miles per hours!” He thinks. “What must it be like to be a driver?”

He looks back to Mr. Willett who is still working with the horses. Before he is caught dreaming about riding a fast coach, Richard moves so he can wipe the first side of the coach.

He has wiped only a small area, he hears Mr. Willett. “Change the water when you finish the top, inside and each side. Don’t want to wipe old dirt from one area to another. Especially want clean water inside.”

Richard looks in the bucket. The clear water from earlier, is now dark with dirt. He climbs off the coach, dumps the water, then goes to the well to refill. As he returns to the coach, Mr. Willett without looking to Richard says, “Good boy.”

When Richard gets back onto the coach and starts cleaning again, he wonders if Mr. Willett knew that he had been sitting in the coach’s box. Richard wipes the coach with one hand until it grows tired, then he switches hands. After he finishes the underside of the coach, he steps back to look at his work.

“Not done yet, Dick. Polish the wood with the oil cloth.” Mr. Willett calls.

“Yes sir.” Richard was pleased how the coach looked after being washed. With the first wipes of the oil cloth he could see how the oil made the wood really shine. He used slow, small swirls to polish the wood. As the sun was setting Richard finished the coach. The fading light gleamed off the wood surfaces.

As Richard admired his work, Mr. Willett came up to him. “Good first day, Dick. Ye done well. If’n ya learn how to do something, do it well every time. Makes a difference. Let’s go set supper, eh?”

Richard smiled. He was happy with his work and that Mr. Willett liked what he had done. He was also ready to eat.

The first week at the inn went by quickly . Each day four coaches came through the inn. Two came before noon. Two came in the evening. Each time, one was going north and the other to the south. Mr. Willett taught Richard how to unhitch a team of tired horses and then to hitch a team of rested horses. Richard needed to be quicker with the first teams because as soon as the teams were changed, the coach would leave. With the evening teams, the passengers would stay at the inn. Richard would help to unhitch the teams and then wipe the coaches. Each day when he finished, he was tired and ready to sleep. He had to rise early to hitch the teams so that they were ready when the passengers had finished their breakfasts. The drivers always wanted to be off at first light. When the coaches were gone, he could then eat his breakfast.

When he ate, he noticed the girl in the kitchen. He had not talked with her since they first met. Today as he was eating breakfast, he was watching her again.

Davey noticed Richard watching Elsie.”Cute girl, Elsie, eh?”

Richard quickly looked away without replying.

“Elsie draws a lot of looks. Some local boys come to the inn just to see her. We are lucky, Dick. We get to see her everyday.”

Richard blushes that he was caught looking at her. He mumbles, “Yes, lucky.” Then returns to eating his meal.

Davey looks at Dick and then to Elsie. He chuckles. “Finish yer breakfast. We will have coaches soon.”

Outside, they prepared the tack for the teams so that when each coach came in, they could quickly change the teams and send them on their way.

While Richard was working, he heard someone call him. “Dick Sharpe. Are ye here?”

Richard turned to see Bob Porter come through the gateway.

“Hello Bob.”

“Ah, there ye are. How do ye like Keighley, Dick?”

“I like it, so far.”

“So ye won’t be joining me to go south to Sheffield?”

Richard forgot that Bob had offered to take him back to Sheffield if he didn’t like Keighley. “No, I’ll stay here longer.”

From behind him, Mr. Willett says , “He has his eye on ‘the girl’, Bob.”

Bob laughs. “No surprise there. She is a handsome young thing. Wish I were younger meself. Would give ye some competition, Dick.”

Richard turns his head away.

“Well, then, I will go. Need to get my load to London. Another youngster, Master Truman, rode here with me from the mill. Went inside to see ‘the girl’ too. Says he wanted to get something to eat for the trip. I know better.” He beams a smile.

Richard reddens again from being the subject of their talk. But, Bob’s comment about another boy causes him to look towards the inn.

“Well, you got Dick’s attention with that, Bob. Will be interesting to see what ‘appens when Masters Truman and Sharpe meet, eh?”

Both of the men laugh.

“God speed, Bob. Dick and me have work to do.”

Richard wonders who Master Truman is as he turns from looking at the inn to resume his work.



Two days later, Dick was unhitching the horses from a coach that had arrived in the middle of the day when he noticed that one of the horses was not breathing normally. He held the horse by the muzzle. Drool dripped from its jaw. “Mr. Willett. This horse isn’t right.”

Davey came to look at the horse. When he touched the horses flank, it shivered. Willett looked into each of the horse’s eyes. “Horse has a fever. Take her over to the spare coach. “We need to keep her away from the other horses so that she doesn’t make any of the others sick too. Tie her to that rail.” He points to a rail that runs along the inside of the wall.

“Put together the new team. We need to bleed the sick horse. When they go, I’ll get the fleam.”

Richard led the horse into the enclosed area where they kept the spare coach. He tied her to the rail before he collected the horses to put in trail for the coach.

The coach’s driver and passengers came out of the inn before long. When they had left, he went to the mare. He held the mare’s reins and talked to her until Willett returned.

Willett held what looked like a club in one hand and an iron tool in the other. The iron tool was a long box-shape with a bowl under one side about an inch back from an end. Richard saw him pull what appeared to be a blade from within the box to hold up. The blade and several others were attached to the end of the box opposite the bowl. The blade that Willett pulled out had a triangle at an end. When the blade is stored within the boxes channel, the triangle rests in the bowl. After looking at the blade, he fans out the other blades from the channel within the box. Three more blades have triangles, each larger than the one next to it. Two blades have a hooked end and one is just a straight blade. Richard watches intently while Willett examines the blades and then chooses one.

“She’s a big horse. With a thick skin. Will need a big blade to open her up.”

“Open her up?”

“Yes, we need to bleed her to let the bad humours out that are making her sick.”

“Bleed her?”

“Yes, I’ll open her jugular vein. In her neck. Let blood out Put a poultice on, then let her heal.”

“How much blood?”

“Maybe a good tankard of ale, eh?”

Richard remembers the blood when he killed Maggie’s attacker. “Wbere does it go?”

“On the ground, or us if we aren’t careful.”

“She’s not going to like this. Hold her against the rail. I’ll bleed her. You need to hold her steady. Be good if we had another pair of hands. Keep her still.”

Richard softly pats the mare, then pushes her against the rail. He watches Davey line the blade of the fleam against the skin where the mare’s jugular lies. He lines the blade with the vein and points the triangle at the skin. He leans a shoulder into the mare just before he uses the club to strike the fleam. As the blade penetrates the skin, blood sprays out. Some splashes onto Willett’s arm.



The mare tries to jump, but Richard holds her against the rail more firmly. Davey twists the blade of the fleam to increase the flow of blood. When he is satisfied that he has let enough blood out, Willett removes the blade from the horse’s wound. “Wipe the blood off her. Then hold this cloth against her until the blood stops.”

Richard uses one cloth to wipe the wound, then holds it against her. Willett washes the fleam and his arm in a bucket of water. “Ye did well, Richard. Horses get sick like people. They cost Mr. Eagleton a lot of money to buy a new one. Ye and me will have to heal any that get sick. This was your first. There will be more. Now that ye saw how I did it, ye can do the next one.”

“Me too?”

“Yes, watch me. Learn. Then, Ye’ll do the bleeding.”

Richard isn’t sure that he can use the fleam like Mr. Willett. But, there will be time before he will have to try. He thinks about what he saw today. When he lifts the cloth, he offers “She stopped bleeding.”

Willett looks at the wound. “This will heal. Leave her tied here. Check her before ye sleep and first thing in the morning. If she is still sick, get me.”

Willett puts the fleam and club away, then leaves.

Richard finished wiping down the horse before going into the inn. As he wiped the horse, he noticed someone watching him from the entry gate.



Matthew Truman was happy to return to Keighley. Four weeks ago, Bob had taken him to Sheffield to approve the next order of weaving machines for the mill.

His family lives in Skipton. He has always been good with his hands and machinery. When he was a boy, his father apprenticed him to a mechanic at one of the mills in Keighley. The owner of the mill saw Matthew’s abilities and took him to Sheffield to learn the machines that would be used in the mill. At fifteen, he is now trusted to keep the old machines running and to bring each new machine into the mill. His strong voice causes people to pay attention to him. His work often takes him away from Keithley.

Today he returned on one of the coaches. He would get off at the inn in Keighley and then walk home to Skipton. Since it is the middle of the day, Matthew would get something to eat first. And, he could say hello to Elsie. He liked Elsie. Even though Elsie was five years younger and still developing from a girl into a woman, Matthew has been moon-eyed over her. He often thinks about a future for the two of them. He hopes that she could someday agree to marry him. Matt enters the inn and sits at a table. Shortly, Elsie walks over to him.

“Good day, Elsie.” Matt beams at her.

“Good day, Matt.” Elsie smiles shyly. “What will you have?”

Matt takes his time to reply. He likes looking at Elsie and is happy when they talk. “What do you have today?”

“Same as all time. Lamb stew. Fish stew. Eggs. Bacon.” Elsie looks away from Matt around the room to see who is watching them.

Before Matt orders, she sees the door to the stable open. Richard enters and walks to the table in the corner that he always chooses.

Matt sees her watching the new boy.

“Who is that?” Matt asks gruffly.

Elsie turns to him. “Dick Sharpe.”

“Dick Sharpe?”

“Yes, Dick Sharpe. He works here now.”

Matt looks at the new boy. He noticed that he is tall, maybe a bit taller than Matt.

“New? From where?”

“From London. Two weeks he works here. Helps Mr. Willett.”

“Works here? Stays here?”

“Yes, works and stays here.” Elsie is uneasy answering Matt’s questions. Matt’s tone with her changed as soon as Dick came in. “What can I get for you to eat?”

Matt looks at the new boy, then to Elsie. “Lamb stew.”

Elsie is glad that Matt has stopped asking questions. “Lamb stew.” She turns and goes to get Matt’s food. When she returns, Matt watches her approach. Elsie carries the bowl of stew carefully. The new boy looks up quickly to watch Elsie approach Matt. He then lowers his head when he sees Matt watch him.



“Lamb stew, Matt.” Elsie chirps to him. She saw Matt look at Dick. Matt’s face had changed from bright when he was looking at her, to dark when he looked at Dick.

“Thank you, Elsie.” Matt looks once more to the new boy before he begins to eat.

Elsie leaves him to go to talk to the new boy. Matt watches them while he eats. They talk, but Matt can’t hear them. He notes that the new boy says little. Elsie talks with him only a short time before she goes to get food for him. She returns with a bowl of stew for the other, too. Without saying anything else to him, she places the bowl then goes back to the cook area.

While he eats his stew, he switches from watching Elsie to the new boy. He notes that the other boy eats very quickly. He finishes before Matt, takes the bowl to the kitchen, then leaves by the door to the stable.

Elsie is busy in the kitchen. She had served the coaches’ other passengers before the boys. Now she visits the passengers’ tables to remove the dishes. As she passes Matt, she looks to see if he has finished eating. Each time, she smiles before leaving.

Matt deliberately, eats slowly so that he has food remaining each time Elsie passes. He likes that she smiles at him.

He decides that he needs to leave for the mill. When Elsie comes by again, he hands her his bowl. “Thank you, Elsie. The stew was good.”

“I’ll tell cook.”

“I may come by Sunday. May I see you?”

“I’ll be here. I work everyday.”



Matt had hoped that he could see Elsie alone for some time. “Oh. I hoped to be able to talk with you.”

“We can talk here, while I work. Between coaches, I am not so busy.”

Matt hoped for more. “Sunday between coaches, then?”

“Maybe.” Elsie bashfully smiles. Then leaves with Matt’s bowl.

Matt watches her go, then leaves by the inn’s main door. As he passes the entry to the stables, he sees the new boy working. No one else is in the yard. He decides to say something to him. He strides to where the boy is brushing one of the horses.

“New boy.” He calls to Richard.

Richard turns to see the blonde-haired boy that had been talking with Elsie approach him quickly.

“My name is Richard.”

“Heard they call you Dick, Richard.” Matt says bluntly.

“Friends call me Dick.”

“Well, Richard” Matt sneers, “You are new here. Saw you watching Elsie. Don’t get any ideas about her.”

Richard doesn’t like that this boy was watching him and talking about Elsie.”

“She something to you?”

“Good friend. She’s young. Don’t want you to touch her. Saw how you look at her.”

Richard knows that he is drawn to Elsie. “How I look at her?”

“Yes, you may sleep here, but don’t try to sleep with Elsie.”

Richard is confused about his feelings for Elsie. He has not thought about having her in bed, now or for the future. He is drawn to her more like Missy at the orphanage than like Maggie. Elsie is pretty and treats him politely. Richard treats her politely. He doesn’t like this boy telling him what to do.

“What’s your name?”

“Matt.”

Richard squares up to Truman. “Matt. I haven’t touched Elsie. Been here two weeks, only. I work. She gives me my meals. No more. And, don’t be telling me what I can or can’t do.”

Matt looks up at Richard, then punches him in the stomach. Richard bends from the blow and recoils away. He quickly recovers to fend off the next blow from Truman. He remembers the lessons Dan taught him, Although he is bigger than Matt, he keeps away trying to find a weakness. When Matt swings his next punch, Richard blocks it on his left arm, then punches under the swing into Matt’s ribs. Matt grabs Richard to wrestle him to the ground. Although Richard is taller, Matthew is stouter and is quicker than he appears. When he has fought, he has wrestled more than boxed. The two of them thrash and roll on the ground trying to get an advantage.

“Stop! Stop!” They both hear.

Elsie is running to them swinging a bucket in her hand. She stands over the two of them as they lay on the ground. They try to separate.

“Stop! “

Richard crawls towards the horses to stand. He faces Matt. Matt stood where he was. They glare at each other. Elsie steps between them.

“Why are you fighting?”

Matt speaks first. “Don’t like him. He looks like trouble.”

Richard doesn’t answer. He sidles away from the other two.

“Matt, Dick is new. Don’t know him. So far, he is no trouble. I feed him his meals. Nothing else.”

“Don’t like him. Watch him. He is trouble.” Matt says, then turns to walk out of the stableyard.

Elsie looks at Richard. “Are you trouble, Dick?”

“No, Elsie.” He pauses before deciding to leave. “ I have work.” He turns and goes to the horses.

Richard is embarrassed that Elsie treated Matt and him as children. He avoids looking at Elsie while he starts on the horse again. Behind him, he hears Elsie get water from the well and then leave.

For the rest of the afternoon he thinks about what has happened. Matthew Truman will be trouble for him.

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