WEEKEND WRITING WARRIORS #53

Winter is finally beginning to loosen its grip on our little corner of the world, and for that I'm grateful. I've had a dreadful cold and for a while thought it was going to settle in  my chest and set up housekeeping, but it too has loosened its grip and I can BREATHE again.

I'm going to dance ahead in my story (CATHERINE: Pride & Prejudice continued... Book Two) and bypass all the familial sisterly conversations. Vital to the story, but boring in a ten line limit exercise. You can thank me later....

In this scene, Lord George is on his way to Cambridgeshire. His mother's estate, which will be his one day, abuts the grounds of Viscount Stanhope. George believes Stanhope is a traitor to England and his goal is to discover any evidence which supports this belief. On his way to Keswick Manor his horse suddenly rears on his hind legs, unseating George. He realizes a young lad is responsible and has 'captured' him (in an endearing way-I might add) and is now going to question him. We start with the boy talking, yelling more likely.

"Oi. Wot you want wif me?"
The grimy faced urchin kicked and wiggled in vain.
"I'd like to know why you attempted to injure my horse."
"I dunno wot yer yabberin' about."
George hauled the boy over the fence and plunked him down, keeping a firm hand on his neck.
"You spit balled a rock and hit my horse on his flank, which I know was funny to you as I fell arse over tea kettle," - the boy sniggered - "but what if the horse had come down into a rut and broke his leg."
"I never fot of that." The boy stopped struggling and lowered his head. "Wot you gonna do wif me?"

You're going to love Philip. He's a bright boy and his mother becomes a pivotal secondary character.
If you'd like to read other authors who partake in this weekly exercise, then click HERE.

Always with love,

15 comments:

  1. Love Regency urchins! Can’t wait to see more of this guy.

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  2. The urchin is already a fun character! Is spit balled a Regency term? :) Fun snippet!

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    1. I'm not sure, but it's the only possible 'deviation' I have in the novel, so I might leave it in and wait for the scathing reviews!

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  3. For those of you reading my snippet, I tried to go onto various sites but my computer keeps telling me either your site is not secure, or there are privacy issues. I'm not ignoring my fellow Warriors, honest!

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  4. Thank you.

    You said we could thank you later for skipping some parts, so I just did. And BTW, I'm having the same trouble as you accessing some sites.

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  5. Interesting snippet! Yes, I'm having the same access problems today. Frustrating.

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  6. Sue, this is so great -- I'm already liking your hero and your urchin.

    And why have I not heard of Weekend Writing Warriors before this? Because I is one!

    (Well, okay, sometimes I am a Weekend Writing Slug, but never mind.)

    Love the comraderie, love the hunky banner you made, love the "push" to produce words and share them. Thanks for posting the link on FB so that I could discover this. I am so signing up my blog on Monday...

    :) Laura

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  7. Carole in CanadaFebruary 25, 2018

    Oh, I wonder if he will use him to spy on Lord Stanhope?! Glad to hear you are feeling better!

    My only question on spit balling would be how...especially with a rock? It wouldn't have enough impact to bother a horse coming from a young lad. Kids use to do it with paper through a straw, which gave it more distance. The slingshot came in during 1849, still later than the story but closer than spit balling. Just thought I would throw this out to you.

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    1. In my mind he has a hollow reed and because he's close enough, he spit a sharp tiny rock at the horse. Natives in the jungle blew poison arrows into their enemies, why wouldn't a rock startle a horse??

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  8. Spit balling stopped me for a half second. Then I ignored it. I got the idea. The urchin's language is well done. Shows his ignorance and lack of schooling. Good snippet.

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  9. I love the urchin's dialect!

    Glad you are feeling somewhat better and seemed to gotten the upper hand on that nasty bug. It's been a terrible seasons for colds and the like.

    I am also having problems opening several of the blogs on our linky list. I've contacted the linkytools host to see if it is something on their end.

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  10. I bet the kid didn't think of the dire consequences--he just thought of the funny ones. Grown adults can be like that, much less children!

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  11. I had problems opening some of the posts too - got in today though, so trying to catch up on those I wasn't able too. I enjoyed this excerpt - so glad the horse is OK! I sympathise about the cold, I've just got over one myself, and the weather has turned distinctly arctic here in the UK!

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  12. Wow, sort of funny. I wouldn't like to be the boy though he deserves it.

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