The Legend of Kissin' Kate

by surena_13

Summary:

In the time of cowboys and bandits, Andy Sachs lives a normal life. Her world gets turned upside down when she gets visited by the most feared woman, a killer, Kissin' Kate.

Prologue

The Legend

 

Somewhere in the nineteenth century in the time of cowboys and little wooden towns with saloons common people feared the troupes of bandits that went from village to village, plundering and ransacking as many houses as possible, but none of those men were as terrifying as the woman that terrorized the same villages. Her goal however was not to get wealthier, no, she rode into village on a black horse, entered what appeared to be just a normal home and killed the man that resided there. She either shot them or slit their throat and before she left, she softly pressed her lips against the man’s still warm cheek, leaving a blood red stain of lipstick behind. A kiss of Death, a Devil’s kiss from Kissin’ Kate.

 

It was said that her beauty surpassed all. Her hair silver as the moonlight with a stubborn lock that almost hid her left eye from view, a pale, ivory and flawless skin, her face graced with high cheekbones and a slender, slightly crooked nose, an oval mouth painted blood red, but it were her eyes that as the tale tells, would catch people’s attention. Ice cold blue eyes, that could narrow dangerously. She could almost glare men dead with them if her gun or dagger didn’t do the trick, but of course this was based on glimpses that villagers got of her when she left their town. The only men that ever got a good look at her never lived to tell the tale.

 

Nobody knew why Kissin’ Kate did it, why she killed all those men and kissed them. Sometimes nothing happened for months and then suddenly she would strike again, leaving behind yet another body with a red mouth shaped stain on his cheek. Some frightened women thought she was a witch, other people called her the Devil’s mistress, for surely no ordinary woman was capable of doing such horrific things. But despite the fact that she was a woman, she seemed to be impossible to catch. No matter what the sheriff’s attempted to arrest her, it was like they were trying to catch smoke with their bare hands. Kissin’ Kate became a legend, infamous for her deeds, famed for her mysterious beauty.

 

Part 1

Kiss from a Rose

 

‘Alright, that was it for today, go out and enjoy the lovely weather,’ Andy said to her pupils. They all cheered, got up and ran out of the small school that consisted out of one classroom. Andy smiled, she loved those children, all of them, she loved them as much as she loved teaching. Pushing a brown lock of hair that had escaped from her ponytail behind her ear she looked out the window which gave her a wonderful view of Red Hill, the little town she lived in. She knew everyone and everyone knew her. In Red Hill Andy was known as a kind woman who taught all of their children how to read, write and do mathematics, but it had only been for two months that people really knew her name. Before that it was ‘teacher’ or ‘miss’, but since two months she had gotten engaged to Nate Cooper, the son of the mayor. Nate’s father did not only run the town, he owned half of it and was therefore the wealthiest men of Red Hill and the surrounding villages.

 

The proposition of marriage had taken Andy completely by surprise. She had talked to Nate a couple of times, but those had been rather uninteresting conversations. Truth be told, she didn’t even know Nate Cooper, let alone why he wanted to marry her. Andy thought herself to be just a common, on the brink of being poor, because teaching didn’t exactly pay well, woman and she found herself pretty nor ugly, just plain. Why would Nate Cooper, the most eligible bachelor in Red Hill take an interest in her?

 

When he proposed though, she accepted. Why would she refuse? She had recently turned twenty-five and had almost given up on finding a husband. Andy had even made some vague plans on how her life was going to look as an old spinster. That alone was enough to accept. Of course it did help that Nate looked rather good. He was handsome with his dark curls and blue eyes. It was his smile however that melted almost every girl. They drooled all over him when he bared his teeth in a seductive smile. It didn’t have that effect on Andy, but she liked him and she didn’t want to die a virgin.

 

Andy walked through the classroom, gathering the books, putting them back on the shelf, picking up pieces of paper that had fallen on the floor, throwing them away. It was her daily routine after the lessons had ended, tidying the classroom. She wiped the blackboard clean, removed ink stains from the desks with a wet cloth and swept the floor to get rid of any sand or dust that might have blown in. When she turned towards her desk she noticed a drawing that one of the children must have left for her. It showed what she guessed was herself in a wedding dress with two identical bridesmaids. Turning it around she saw the names of the artists, Caroline and Cassidy.

 

Her lips curled up in a sad smile. She loved the twins, they were cheeky and loved to play tricks on her, but they were smart and they could be very nice. The girls liked her, probably because she was the only one who could tell them apart, except for their grandmother. The girls’ grandmother was the only family Caroline and Cassidy had left.

 

Their father had been murdered by Kissin’ Kate on the same day that their mother had died, caused by an unlucky fall of her horse when she was riding on the land that belonged with her estate. Miranda Priestly was a well-known woman because of her infallible taste in fashion. She was always seen in the newest designs and colours and with money she helped tailors and designers. At her funeral hundreds of people had turned up, hoping to catch a last glimpse of her, but the casket was closed. Miranda’s mother had wished it so for she didn’t want anyone to her daughter bruised and broken. The twins were orphaned at the age of three.

 

They never showed anyone how they felt about it, but Andy remembered the funeral. Miranda Priestly lived with her husband and children in another village, but Andy’s mother had known Miranda and so Andy was present at the burial. Caroline and Cassidy cried, begged for their mother, holding on to their grandmother’s skirt. After the funeral Mrs. Priestly had led everyone back to the estate where they drank tea. She took the twins upstairs where they remained the rest of the day. The girls never talked about their mother nor did they talk about their father, except during an incident a few days ago.

 

Word had reached Red Hill that Kissin’ Kate had killed another man in a small town about twenty miles away. A couple of girls had gotten scared and had started crying. The Priestly twins had said the girls should not be afraid and that they were stupid to cry. Andy had asked them to explain why the girls should not be afraid. Cassidy had simply said that Kissin’ Kate was just a woman to whom bad things had happened to and that she now tried to stop that from happening to other people. Andy had asked why she thought that and the girls had answered that it was the truth. Her father had been one of Kissin’ Kate first victims, even before the name Kissin’ Kate had started to exist, and according to the eleven year old he had deserved to die.

 

And now Andy couldn’t get those words out of her head. What if Kissin’ Kate had started killing because of something that had happened to her? What if her victims really did deserve to die? It seemed pretty unbelievable that some woman whose real name wasn’t even known and was just called Kate because Kissin’ Kate made a nice alliteration, actually did the world a favour by killing men.

 

She had to give it to the twins that they at least had a fresh approach. All the talk of witches, devil’s mistresses and maniacs started to get rather dull. Especially now that everybody seemed to be talking about it again after poster had been put up with a warning and a reward for anyone who was able to either catch or kill Kissin’ Kate.

 

‘Can I come in, Miss Sachs?’ Andy looked away from the window when the voice interrupted her thoughts. Her fiancé was leaning against a wall, hands behind his back, flashing his famous smile. Andy couldn’t help but smile herself. In just a month they were going to be married and he would be her salvation from a long and lonely life.

 

‘Technically you already are in, Mister Cooper, but you may proceed to enter on the condition that you will call me ‘Andy’,’ she replied. It was a little game between them ever since Nate had proposed to her. When he had asked her to become his wife, he had called her ‘Miss Sachs’. Andy had told him that she was ‘Andy’ to him now. Just to tease her he continued to call her ‘Miss Sachs’.

 

‘As you wish, Andrea.’ Andy snorted. She didn’t like her given name. It just didn’t sound like her, it was too complicated. Her parents, especially her father, had always had a thing for ancient Rome and there had decided to give her a Latin name. She preferred Andy. Despite the fact that it was a boy’s name, it made her feel more at home in Red Hill than the fancy Andrea.

 

‘If you call me ‘Andrea’ one more time I will be forced to call you ‘Nathaniel’.’ A disgusted look appeared on his face. Just like her, he didn’t like his full name either and preferred the shortened version.

 

‘Alright, you win, Andy.’ She smiled. Good. If he was going to be this easy during their marriage, she could live with that. She couldn’t stand a man that took away all her rights, constricted her to their house and banned her to the kitchen, because she had every intention of continuing her work as a teacher even if it wasn’t custom for a woman to continue to work after her wedding, but the children in Red Hill and the surrounding villages depended on her. Andy knew she would never love Nate as much as she loved teaching. In fact she doubted if she could love anything more than teaching children.

 

‘But seriously, putting all jokes aside, I actually came here to ask you if you wanted to have dinner with me tonight.’ Andy looked away from his puppy dog eyes and pretended to leaf through her diary.

 

‘Lucky you, I’m free. I accept the invitation on the condition that you will come to my house and let me cook for you. After all you still need to approve of my cooking style. What if you don’t like it?’

 

‘It’s a deal,’ Nate said and revealed a single red rose that he had been hiding behind his back. Andy gasped and clasped a hand over her open mouth in surprise.

 

‘How did you - - Where did - -,’ she muttered. It was practically impossible to grow roses in this dry area and to get one here without it withering was impossible.

 

‘I have my little ways. Everything for the future Mrs. Cooper. Shall I come around six thirty?’ Andy nodded, still in shock about the rose. Nate leaned in and gave her a soft, quick peck on her cheek before leaving. Absentmindedly she touched the spot he had just kissed. She brought the rose to her nose and smelled it. It had been too long since she had smelled that scent. The last time was eight years ago at Miranda Priestly’s funeral. There had been so many white roses that even if you had never heard of her, you knew she was loved and very wealthy.

 

Although loved probably wasn’t the right word. Andy never met her, but she had heard of her reputation. When Miranda wasn’t present she was called frigid, a snow queen and by some even a witch behind her back. It was more likely that people had feared than loved her.

 

As she was putting the rose down to pack her books and leave, she pricked her finger on a thorn. She flinched and watched how a single drop of blood fell on the petals of the flower. A cold feeling settled in her stomach and she shuddered. Quickly she put her books in her bag, picked up the rose and left, locking the door behind her. She planned to go straight home and start cooking when she saw an old beggar woman she had never seen before near the school selling ribbons.

 

The woman had a crooked back and leaned heavily on a walking stick. Her dress seemed to be made of some ratty grey material that looked extremely uncomfortable and itchy. The beggar wore a very old hat with a couple of holes in it on her head that cover the top half of her face. Feeling sorry for the woman Andy approached her and looked at the ribbons which turned out to be rather beautiful.

 

‘Can I help you?’ the woman asked in voice that sounded like she had smoked all of her life.

 

‘Maybe you can. I am looking for a ribbon for a dinner with my fiancé,’ she quickly replied and studied a black ribbon. ‘I am cooking for him tonight, you see.’

 

‘And who might your fiancé be?’ Andy raised her eyebrows. Clearly this woman was not from around here if she didn’t know that little fact.

 

‘Nate Cooper, the son of - -‘

 

‘Gregory Cooper, yes, I know him. With your hair, I’d suggest this one,’ the woman said and pointed at a dark red one with gold embroidery.

 

‘I think that is a little too much expensive for me,’ Andy confessed.

 

‘For you, it’s 50 cents.’ Surprised Andy reached for the money in her bag. She had expected it to be much more expensive. She handed the woman the money and received the ribbon in return.

 

‘It suits you, like that rose,’ the woman remarked and pointed at the flower in Andy’s hand. ‘Getting a rose is like receiving a kiss. But be aware of the thorns, because like them, a kiss can hurt. Allow me.’ The woman took the ribbon back and tied it in Andy’s hair.

 

‘Thank you,’ Andy whispered. The woman only lifted her head slightly and for a second Andy could see piercing blue eyes, before the hat covered them again. Without saying another word the woman shuffled away and Andy continued her walk home, missing the high heeled black leather boot underneath the old woman’s skirt that showed when the she rounded the corner.

 

Brushing the dust of her skirt as she entered her small house that had belonged to her parents she couldn’t get the beggar’s eyes out of her head. She had had the feeling that those eyes had looked straight through her and their colour, that icy blue. Never in her life had she seen that shade of blue, not even in Nate’s sparkling blue eyes.

 

Nate. She still had to decide what she going to cook for him and what she going to wear. She may have bought the ribbon, but did she have anything to wear it with? Deciding with a shrug that she would choose her dress later, she entered the kitchen and started pulling out several pots and pans.

 

‘What to cook,’ she murmured to herself. After looking what food she already had she settled on making a stew which would give her enough time to search in her closet for a suitable outfit.

 

A couple of hours later the entire content of Andy’s closet lay on her bed and she had narrowed the selection down to two dresses. With the ribbon in her hand she tried to look objectively at them. While both dresses paled in comparison to the rich silk of the ribbon, the black dress didn’t make her look like a poor girl who just spent her last cent on a too expensive ribbon. Sighing she picked the dress up. This wasn’t exactly the sort of dress she would wear to a dinner with her fiancé, but then again, she didn’t own anything for such an occasion. She never really cared much for clothes, much unlike other women. As long as they fitted her and were functional, Andy couldn’t care about their appearance.

 

With great difficulty she managed to open her dress and let it fall to the floor. Andy lowered her eyes and looked down at her body, the part that wasn’t covered by the shift while her fingers traced the edges of her simple corset. She never had been a self-conscious or idle person, there never was any need for it, but she started wondering. What if Nate didn’t like what he saw? What if he thought she was hideous? As far as she knew there was nothing wrong with her body, but what would she know about that?

 

She pulled the black dress over her head and started to button it up. It wasn’t an enticing dress, but she wouldn’t need one right now anyway. At least not until after the wedding. She found it strange that women had to be a virgin when they entered a marriage, but for men there was no such rule. It made her wonder if Nate had ever slept with a woman. Considering all the attention he received, he probably had.

 

Andy tried to imagine what it would be like to sleep with a man. When she was younger she thought it would be awful, painful and disgusting, but now things had changed. Every once on a while she woke up at night and she had a pleasant tingle between her legs caused by a dream she couldn’t remember save for a pair of fingers that did some very sinful, but heavenly things. Would sleeping with a man be like that or would it be better or worse?

 

She hated being so inexperienced in men. She hate being inexperienced in anything she did, but this was different. Normally she was the only one who could be bothered by her mistakes, but in this situation it would affect Nate also.

 

She pulled her hair back and tied it loosely with the red ribbon. She even painted her lips a little red. Looking in the small, cracked mirror, she smiled. This would have to do. Things wouldn’t get any better than this, so her fiancé should not expect of her to become some socialite wife who did nothing but receive important people, play hostess and enjoy her husband’s money. She didn’t care for money. A little more wouldn’t hurt, but she didn’t find wealth to be the most important thing in life.

 

There was soft knock on her door. Andy exited the bedroom, crossed the small living room and opened the door. The first thing she saw was an enormous bouquet made of mainly red roses, followed by Nate’s sparkling eyes. ‘Good evening.’

 

‘Hi,’ Andy said breathless and took the flowers from his offering hand. ‘Really, Nate, you are too much sometimes.’

 

‘That is impossible. I can never be or do too much, not for you. Especially now, you look absolutely dazzling tonight.’ Andy felt her cheeks getting warm and she knew she was blushing. She turned her back to Nate in the hope that he wouldn’t see her red face. ‘I’m sorry if I embarrassed you. It was not my intention.’

 

‘No, not at all,’ she replied and turned to face him again. ‘It’s just that I’m not used to getting compliments, the least of all from men.’ He placed an understanding on her shoulder and kissed her cheek which made her blush even more.

 

‘I fail to see why that is. Just like why I can’t comprehend you are not married yet. But then again, now you get to be my wife and I a very lucky man.’

 

‘Remember what I mentioned about being too much? That was too much. You made your point with these roses. But please sit down and I will serve dinner in a moment.’ To prevent from getting any more compliments from him she went into the kitchen to put the flowers in water and put the stew on the plates. In truth his praise did make her feel a little uncomfortable. Although it did make her feel as if his interest and proposal was actually genuine.

 

‘Whatever it is you decided to cook, it smells delicious,’ Nate called out to her from the table. Andy grinned. She wondered how he would react when he saw he was only receiving a simple stew. She picked up the two plates and carried them to the table.

 

‘I hope you will enjoy it,’ she said and placed the plate in front of him. Nate didn’t look surprised or appalled, he just closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of the food. He even let out a content sigh.

 

‘If this tastes as good as it smells, than this plate won’t be big enough. Do you want to say Grace or shall I?’

 

‘No, you can do it,’ Andy replied as she sat down and watched him thank the Lord for this wonderful meal and company. He never looked away from her eyes, staring into them, making Andy weak in her knees. When he finished and they both said ‘Amen, he turned his gaze away from her to his plate and brought some stew, in Andy’s eyes, agonizingly slow to his mouth. She watched him chew, swallow and moan.

 

‘My god, Andy, this is heaven. Seriously, once we’re married I will expect this once a week.’

 

‘Don’t be ridiculous. It’s nothing special. Anyone could make this,’ Andy replied and tasted for herself. She had to admit that she outdone herself with this and she knew she would never be able to recreate it again.

 

‘I couldn’t make it, though I wish I could. I’ve always wanted to be able to cook, but my mother wouldn’t let me. She says cooking is a woman’s job and no man ought to be allowed to cook,’ he said as his eyes suddenly looked sad.

 

‘Well, when we’re married I could teach you. You’ll be the boss in our own house and she won’t have any say over you anymore.’ Andy couldn’t believe that his mother at his age still had such an influence over him. She hoped he didn’t turn out to be some Mama’s boy.

 

‘Mm, yeah, hopefully, but enough about me. Tell me something about you, about your job as a teacher. Do you like it?’

 

‘’Like it’ might be a bit of an understatement. I love it and I can’t really explain why. Probably because I love the idea those children will grow up and go out into the world and maybe even make a difference. And I was the first one to teach them something about that. They can survive in this world now, because they know how to read and write they know all the states and the American history. That thought, that I was able to help them a little, is enough for me. It makes me happy.’

 

‘What about the Priestly twins? I heard they can be handful, but anyone who sees that fiery red hair can guess that.’

 

‘What can I say about them?’ Andy said and looked at Nate who seemed greedy for the information. ‘Yes, they can be a handful, but they are also very smart and friendly. And I adore their hair. It’s special and beautiful. Those two will break the hearts of many men.’

 

‘They are very beautiful indeed. But they have quite a temperament. At least that is what I’ve heard from several people. Some even call them a smaller version of Kissin’ Kate,’ he stated and brought the fork with a piece of meat on it to his mouth while Andy’s eyes widened.

 

‘What? No, that is absurd. Those girls might be a little difficult sometimes, but can you blame them after what happened to them? But to compare them with Kissin’ Kate, no that is - -‘ Before Andy could finish her sentence the door slammed open and before either of them could react the sound of a gun shot slashed through the air, making Andy jump. She looked at Nate and screamed. He had a wound in his chest and blood was pouring from it.

 

‘You weren’t talking about me, were you?’ a soft voice asked. Andy spun around on her heel and nearly screamed again when she saw the woman in the doorway. Dressed in a white blouse and black trousers and high heeled boots, Kissin’ Kate gazed at her with cold blue eyes.

 

‘You! You’re Kissin’ Kate.’ Andy tried to say forcefully, but the words left her mouth in a mere whisper. The intruder’s blood red lips curled up in an evil smile.

 

‘How astute,’ she commented in an icy voice. Andy took a step back, frightened by the anger that was in the woman’s look, and tried to look for an escape. ‘There’s no need to worry. I didn’t come here for you. I only come to those who deserve it.’

 

‘Why did he deserve it?’ Andy cried. She couldn’t believe that Nate would anything so awful that he deserved to be killed by this, this woman. Kissin’ Kate raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow.

 

‘As much as I love to stay and explain this situation, I have to finish what I came here to do before that incompetent Sheriff Thompson sees the opportunity to arrest me.’ Gracefully the silver haired woman walked toward Nate’s body, but Andy stepped between them.

 

‘Don’t touch him,’ she threatened, not feeling afraid anymore, but the woman just chuckled softly.

 

‘Do you honestly believe that you can stop me? A schoolteacher stop the most feared woman in this area?’ Andy swallowed. Kissin’ Kate had a point. Even more so when she moved even closer, so dangerously close that Andy could see the small lines on her face, the little green lines in her irises and could feel Kissin’ Kate’s breath on her face.

 

‘I will try,’ Andy said, not trying to stumble over the words.

 

‘I don’t think you will,’ Kissin Kate replied and captured Andy’s lips with her own. Andy froze. The world around her seemed to spin because this was too much to take in. She was being kissed by Kissin’ Kate, a murderess, a woman, an unnaturally beautiful woman and she enjoyed it. Those soft warm lips moving against her own made her knees buckle and she had to grasp the older woman’s shoulders to keep herself from falling. Never had she been kissed like this before and even though she didn’t know what to do, she hesitantly started to move her lips too, synchronizing their movements with those of Kissin’ Kate.

 

Andy never wanted it to end. She forgot about her dead fiancé, forgot about all the scandals that could be caused by this. She felt the other woman’s tongue licking at her bottom lip, seeking entrance, which she granted. The killer may not have intended to kill her, but the moment Andy felt her tongue and tasted her, Andy knew she had died, for nothing this heavenly could exist on the planet earth. Kissin’ Kate hands moved to her waist. Andy felt how Kissin’ Kate turned them around, moving Andy away from Nate’s body, and just as sudden as the kiss had started, it stopped.

 

Too stunned to do anything Andy watched how Kissin’ Kate retrieved a small metal tube from her décolleté, opened it and smeared some of it contents on her lips. It was her trademark, her blood red lip colour. Kissin’ Kate bent forward and kissed Nate’s dead cheek. When she pulled back, a perfectly mouth-shaped red stain was on his cheek.

 

The silver haired woman turned back and faced Andy again. With her thumb she brushed against Andy’s swollen lips, removing the lipstick she had left there. With her heels clacking on the wooden floor she walked towards the door and glanced back at the brown haired girl one more time while a silver lock touched her left eyebrow. Andy longed to touch that lock, that hair. She had never seen anything like it. It was indeed, like the tale said, the same colour as a bright silver moon.

 

‘Buy a red dress, black is simply dull, especially on you. That’s all.’ And then she was gone, leaving Andy completely clueless and with a dead fiancé behind. Andy’s legs started to tremble and she sank down to floor. She heard how a horse disappeared in the distance and how footsteps were approaching. Some of her neighbours must have heard the shot.

 

‘Oh god,’ she whispered and brought her fingers to her lips. She didn’t know what shocked her more, Nate’s death or the kiss. In the corner of her eye, she saw something silver lying just near the door. She got up and walked towards it. It couldn’t be. She picked it up and looked at it.

 

Had Kissin’ Kate really left her lipstick behind? That was impossible. The tube was still warm from when it had been between Kissin’ Kate’s breasts. Before anyone entered her house and could see the tube she put it between her own breasts, keeping it safe from the sheriff. Despite everything that had happened, she managed to smile a little. Sure, her planned future was shot to pieces, but she had Kissin’ Kate’s lipstick and she knew that the murderess would come back for it which meant they would meet again.

 

Part 2

Silver and Red

 

Andy stood in the front next to Mr. Cooper, holding a white lily in her hand which she was supposed to put on Nate’s casket. While everyone around her was listening to the priest, she was very grateful for the veil which covered her eyes otherwise people might have noticed that she wasn’t crying. Well, almost wasn’t. Occasionally a tear would roll down her cheek, but she didn’t know why. There was nothing for her to mourn. Yes, he had been her future husband and he had been nice, but she hadn’t even known the man.

 

Cautiously she tried to look around her. A couple of girls were crying and Nate’s stepmother, but apart from that, no one. Somewhere she understood that none of the men were crying, because letting everybody know that you’re weak, at least in their eyes, wasn’t something they were willing to do for a friend, but even Nate’s sister wasn’t crying. Nate and his sister had always seemed close. Andy couldn’t understand why she didn’t show any emotions.

 

She remembered how her fiancé’s had been carried out while Sheriff Thompson had been asking her questions. ‘Can you tell me what happened? Describe her appearance. Why didn’t she kill you too?’ and so on. Andy had told him as mush as she remembered, but left out the kissing part and the fact that she found Kissin’ Kate’s lipstick. She couldn’t approve of what Kissin’ Kate did and had done, but she just had to meet her again.

 

The mysterious woman stayed in her memory. She even dreamed about her, about them, about their kiss. But somehow in the dreams the kiss didn’t stop, instead time seemed to stop and everything was about them and nobody else. And it didn’t just end there. The older woman’s hands started to move from her waist, moving them up Andy’s body towards her breasts. Andy could never remember what happened next in her dreams, but she knew that it wasn’t something that people would approve of.

 

They wouldn’t approve of her kissing a woman either, and a killer at that. That was something she could not understand. If God thought they were all equal, why couldn’t a woman love a woman or a man love a man? Just because they can’t have children doesn’t mean they can’t love. She once had tried to bring that up in a discussion with her parents, but they had only looked at her as if she was mad. She could still hear her mother’s voice. ‘What you’re talking about, Andrea Mary Sachs, is wrong. God doesn’t think it right, so it’s wrong.’

 

Suddenly she felt an arm around her shoulders. She looked to the side and saw her friend Lily standing there, looking at the casket. ‘You should put the flower on it now, sweetie,’ she whispered and softly pushed Andy towards it. Slowly Andy took a few steps forward and looked at the white coffin. It still seemed unreal. Just a couple of days ago she thought she was getting married and everything had seemed so simple, but now her fiancé was dead, she had kissed his murderer who she now couldn’t get out of her head, she was confused and scared.

 

‘Goodbye Nate,’ she whispered and placed the lily on his coffin and with it her carefree life. When she walked back to her friend she saw her nod approvingly with a comforting smile. Andy almost gave a weak smile of herself but decided against it. Lily was one of her best friends, despite the fact that she was black.

 

Lily had been left on Mr. and Mrs. Draper’s doorstep and anyone else would probably just have left the baby to die, but the older couple didn’t have children and didn’t care that Lily was black so they raised her as if she was theirs. Later in life Lily took over her father’s business, selling vegetables, which led to the fact that she got respect from almost everyone in town. There had been a few incidents, but especially the women always protected her.

 

Andy watched from her place beside Lily how Nate’s family and friends also placed their flowers on his coffin. He was gone. He was really gone. She might have come to love him over the years, he had seemed suitable to be loved, but now Andy was only wondering what his crime might have been that got him killed. Was Kissin’ Kate to be believed? She was a woman that killed men. Someone like that must be mad. Why would she think he had deserved it?

 

She remembered the Priestly twins. A couple of days before Nate’s murder they had said exactly the same thing as Kissin’ Kate had. She shook her head. Impossible. Nobody deserved to die, at least not until they had had a fair trial. If people just took matters into their own hands, what would come of the world then?

 

When they lowered the casket into the hole, Sheriff Thompson spoke. He had been a close friend of Nate Cooper. Andy wasn’t sure what to think of him. He seemed like a nice enough man, but there was something about that didn’t add up. She just couldn’t decide whether it was his sleek blonde hair or his sleazy smile or quite possible his behaviour. He was supposed to be the Sheriff and yet she always had the feeling he was acting like a criminal himself. Sneaking around all the time, appearing suddenly behind people, disappearing in dark alleys.

 

He spoke of his friend at first, but then quickly his speech turned into propaganda. Andy couldn’t believe he would do that on his friend funeral. Well actually she could, because it was exactly the sort of thing he would do, but somewhere she had hoped that he wouldn’t.

 

‘What this woman has done and does is terrible, awful and disgusting. Not only does she murder men, but she violates their bodies and destroys the peace and quiet in every village she enters. She terrorizes this state from Red Hill to Lake Town and further. She rips families apart, leaving them broken and sad behind, so they themselves can pick up the pieces.

 

We cannot allow this any longer. She has killed many men, one of them was my best friend, Nate Cooper who was to be married soon and have children, but she destroyed that future. Poor Andy Sachs lost her future family. Mayor Cooper will never see those grandchildren. Who knows how many times she has done this and who knows how many more there are to come? When will she stop? I can tell you that, she won’t. We have to stop her.

 

The fact that she is a witch or the Devil’s mistress or any other thing they might call her. Everybody knows those are just old wives tales. Kissin’ Kate is nothing but a common woman and a murderer. We can stop her. I know we can. So I am asking if you know anything, anything at all. Help me. Help all the other Sheriffs. But don’t do it for me. Do it for yourself, for your husband, father, uncle, brother, or for your son. Protect them from this evil. Help me to stop it.’

 

When he stopped Andy released a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. How dare he? How dare he give such a speech at her fiancé’s funeral? Nobody with even a little self respect did something like that. A normal person would have waited a day or two, but no, not Christian Thompson. She suppressed the urge to snort. At least he wasn’t wearing his usual Sheriff uniform, although he was still wearing his hat with the bright shining silver star.

 

‘Andy, are you coming?’ Lily asked. Andy looked at her friend. The woman had been so sweet to her these last couple of days. She had stayed at Andy’s house and looked after her, had comforted her when she thought Andy had had a nightmare, which most of time had been dreams about Kissin’ Kate, had cooked for her and had done everything else that Andy might have needed. Andy realized she had done nothing in return, she wanted to, but not now.

 

‘No, not yet. I think I’ll walk for a couple of minutes,’ she replied. She didn’t want to see everybody, she didn’t want to hear ‘my condolences’ or ‘my deepest sympathy’ a hundred times. She didn’t want to hear ‘he was such a sweet boy’ or ‘I’m so sorry that couldn’t marry him’. Right now, she just wanted peace, quiet and a moment to herself which she hadn’t had since Nate’s death.

 

When the group left the small cemetery for the Coopers’ house, Andy walked in the other direction towards a small group of tree situated just outside the village. There she sat down on a bench, pulled the veil off her face and stared ahead of her over the yellow plains. She didn’t know what to feel.

 

Mainly she was just scared, because she had no idea what was going to happen next. Of course she was going to continue teaching, that was the only thing she was sure about. As for the rest, at her age she wasn’t going to find a husband, not anymore. The prospect of being alone the rest of her life was a little terrifying, but not as terrifying as the woman that just wouldn’t leave her thoughts.

 

She really wanted to see her again, she had to see her again if only to ask her why she had killed Nate. What could have been his crime, if there even was a crime? But that wasn’t the only reason she wanted to see the other woman again. No matter how much she tried to deny it or tell herself it was wrong, she felt a certain attraction to her. She refused to believe it was just the kiss. She had never felt anything like that for Nate or any other person.

 

Looking up, she saw a small figure in the distance. She had to squint her eyes to see that the person was leaning on a stick. The beggar woman was looking at her, standing so still she could have been a statue. Andy frowned. She had only seen the woman once. Why would she be looking at her? Deciding to approach her, she got up and took a couple of steps forward. The old woman didn’t move.

 

Suddenly she was startled by a couple of birds that started fighting over a mouse behind her. She growled. Her heart was beating so fast and for nothing. When she looked ahead again, the woman had disappeared. ‘Now look what you’ve done,’ she said to the birds who took no notice of her.

 

School was closed in the couple of days that followed, so that she could ‘grieve’ as Mayor Cooper had said it. Andy didn’t want to stay home. She wanted to work, to take her mind of things, but he had insisted and now she sat on her small couch reading a book. At least she was by herself again. Lily had left the day after the funeral and returned to her own home.

 

After a couple of minutes she realized she had been looking at the same line for the entire time without reading it. Sighing she put the book down and instinctively her eyes flew to the locked drawer in which she kept Kissin’ Kate’s lipstick. She had put the key on a chain and wore it all the time. She wasn’t going to make it easier for the killer. If she wanted her precious trademark, she was going to have to meet with Andy first. Andy hoped fervently that Kissin’ Kate hadn’t just bought a new one.

 

She got up, walked to the small cabinet and opened the drawer. The silver tube shone when it reflected the light. Slowly she picked it up. Andy hadn’t touched it since the day that Nate was killed. It was only now that she saw a small engraving on it. She brushed over the marking with her thumb and inspected it closely. It was so small that she almost needed a looking glass. It were just two letters. MP. Nothing more. Well, at least now she knew that Kissin’ Kate real name was most definitely not Kate. She was relieved. Kate was too ordinary was such an in so many ways extraordinary woman.

 

Frustrated she threw the tube back in the drawer and locked it. What was it that kept hunting her? Was it the murder, the kiss, Kissin’ Kate’s eyes, her voice, or perhaps the woman itself? Luckily she would return to school tomorrow. She needed something to distract her from everything. She needed to focus on something she loved.

 

‘Good morning miss,’ the class chimed when she entered the classroom for the first time since Nate’s death. She managed a weak smile. They hardly ever did that. Usually they sort of mumbled it, but she guessed that their parents had told them to be nice to her.

 

‘Good morning everybody,’ she returned and sat down behind her desk, immediately noticing the drawing of herself and the bridesmaids she had left there the day of Nate’s murder. Without letting anyone see it she slipped the drawing in one of the drawers. She didn’t want to be reminded of that, not today.

 

‘Miss?’ a small boy said and slowly got up.

 

‘Yes Billy?’ Billy McDuff was a small, skinny boy who was rather insecure about himself. He always doubted himself while he was one of the smartest boys in the class, but that didn’t seem to get through to him. Even now he hesitated to continue.

 

‘Well, I uh I would like to say that we are really sorry about what happened and well we hope that you will be alright.’ Billy sat down as almost every child nodded as if they agreed with him. Andy smiled at the class. Despite their differences in age, social status and even hometowns they really were one group and they were almost always friendly to each other.

 

‘Thank you. That’s really sweet of you. I will be alright. Now, shall we begin or do you want a story first?’ Aside from just teaching, Andy also told the children a lot of stories. When she was a child she could get lost in a story. The words sucked her into another world and she loved it. And the children in her class liked it too, though some of the older ones pretended that they were too old, but Andy could tell from their expression that even they enjoyed it too.

 

‘A story,’ the class answered in unison. Andy grinned she had expected that.

 

‘Alright, what kind of a story do you want?’ Immediately everybody began talking, causing Andy to not understand a single word they were saying. Suddenly she heard a clear voice above them all.

 

‘As long as it not some fairy tale.’ Andy looked at the girl and saw her sitting with her arms crossed next to her twin. The class fell silent.

 

‘Well, what do you want, Caroline?’ All heads turned and stared at the girl who glared back. Slowly she stood up and looked directly at Andy.

 

‘I don’t know, Miss. As long as it’s not something that starts ‘with once upon a time’ and doesn’t end with ‘and they lived happily ever after’. That just isn’t how the world, the real world works,’ she replied and sat down while her sister nodded in agreement. Andy sighed. Those were not the stories she told. She wanted to tell happy tales, because there was enough ugliness out in the world, but she could understand where the girl was coming from.

 

‘If you want that, why don’t you tell us a story,’ she offered. Caroline looked shocked at first, but after she had exchanged a glance with her sister, she nodded.

 

‘Sure, but only if Cassidy is allowed to help me.’ Andy gestured that this was fine with her and the girl got up again, took a deep breath and started talking.

 

‘This story did not happen once upon a time, but a little less than a decade ago. There was a woman who lived in a town not far from here. She had almost everything a woman could want. She had money, two children and a big house with a bit of land. She was very pretty and wore very pretty dresses. There was one problem. She didn’t love her husband and her husband did not love her. He only wanted her to be a simple housewife that he could control and she did not want that.

 

In the town where they lived there was talk about him. Instead of being home with his family he spent most of his time with women and paid them for being with him. His wife did not like this, but she didn’t do anything about it, because she wanted her children to have their father.’ The girl’s voice began to shake and she sat down before any tears could escape.

 

Cassidy gave her sister a hug as Andy and the entire class watched them. In the beginning of the story Andy had already figured out that this was no ordinary tale, but a history. The story of the Priestly family before their ‘happiness’ was destroyed by two deaths. Judging by the looks on the faces of her pupils they hadn’t realized this. After a short moment of silence Cassidy got up and continued the story.

 

‘Then the woman got a new servant. It was very quick that the woman realized that she had feelings for this new person in her life. But she decided she would not be like her husband and ignored them. She pretended to hate the servant. One night however she learned that the servant also had feelings for her.

 

When her husband was again with one of his women she and the servant met each other under the largest tree on the land where they kissed. It was just one time, but they were seen by someone who told the husband. The man was very angry at his wife and he killed the servant. And he broke his wife’s heart who swore to get her revenge one day. Because he didn’t want anybody to know of the murder, he buried the body under the same tree where his wife had kissed the servant. A week later the tree had lost all of its leaves and never grew green again.’

 

The red haired girl sat down while the class stared at her. The boys didn’t seem to know how to react, but the girls all looked sad and a few cried silently. Andy just wanted to get up and hug the girls, but from their body language she learned that probably wasn’t a good idea. She had had no idea that something like that could have happened to Miranda Priestly. Suddenly she felt very sorry for the woman.

 

‘And what happened then?’ Little Billy asked with a shaky voice. ‘Did she get her revenge?’

 

‘No,’ Caroline said. ‘She died when she fell off a horse while her husband was killed by Kissin’ Kate.’

 

‘Oh. Well at least he got what he deserved,’ he whispered. Andy’s head snapped up and she looked at the girls. All of a sudden she understood what Cassidy had tried to say when she said that Kissin’ Kate only killed those who deserved it. But if that were true, what had been Nate’s crime?

 

‘It was very beautiful, girls, but very sad. Next time I’ll tell a happier story, but now it’s time for mathematics. Go get your books everybody.’ She gestured towards the shelf where the books stood. All the children got up and walked as fast as they could towards the books, all wanting to get the one that didn’t look as if it had been used a thousand times.

 

After that rather difficult start the day went by very swiftly, much to Andy’s disappointment. When the last child had left her classroom she was alone again and there was nothing left but go home where her thoughts and memories wouldn’t leave her alone. As slowly as possible she walked home not wanting to be in the place where her whole life had changed.

 

It wasn’t until she closed the door behind her she noticed the large box resting on her table. Cautiously she approached it. Who had left it there and why had they been in her house without her permission? It would not have been any of her friends. They knew she wouldn’t be home until after school and they would not enter her house without her consent.

 

With shaky hands she lifted the top and peeked inside. Gasping she took a step back. Of all the impossible things she might have expected this was not one of them. When she lifted it out of the box the deep red fabric nearly slipped through her trembling fingers. Speechless she stared at the beautiful dress.

 

‘Who?’ she whispered. And even though she already knew the answer, she searched the box and the dress for a note, but there was none. Until she suddenly noticed a small slip of paper on the floor that must have fallen there when she lifted the garment out of the box. ‘Hopefully the beginning of a decent wardrobe. MP.’ was written on it.

 

Andy had to sit down. She had already known who had given it, but the confirmation still scared her. Kissin’ Kate had been in her house and left her the most beautiful red dress that she had ever seen without anyone seeing it. If she hadn’t kissed her Andy would have doubted if Kissin’ Kate was even human.

 

Her eye fell on the drawer that contained the lipstick. She jumped up and rushed towards it, yanking the key from her neck. She sighed in relief when she saw that the silver tube was still in the drawer. For a moment she had been afraid that Kissin’ Kate had taken the tube which probably would have meant that Andy would never see her again. But if Kissin’ Kate had left this gift without taken her lipstick Andy’s hope of seeing her grew.

 

It was not until Friday that Andy wore the dress for the first time. It seemed to be made for her, accentuating all the right things. Kissin’ Kate had been right. Red really was her colour. With her brown hair and brown eyes, but light skin the deep colour almost made her glow.

 

‘Wow, where’d you get that?’ Lily asked the moment she saw her friend. Andy smiled and continued her walk to the school. She had known the dress would be an eye catcher.

 

‘It was a gift,’ she replied with a mysterious tone her voice. Lily narrowed her eyes and scanned her outfit, taking in the expensive fabric and the handmade lace.

 

‘That is one hell of a gift, Andy. Who gave it?’ Andy unlocked the school and entered the building. Lily was right of course. Even if she saved her money for a very long time, she would not be able to buy the dress. Which made her wonder how Kissin’ Kate could have bought it. It wasn’t like she could just walk into any shop and buy a dress. She would be recognized due to all the stories about her appearance which was rather significant.

 

‘Wouldn’t you like to know,’ she teased, not wanting to tell Lily the truth. Not that her friend would believe her if she did, because lets face it, it was unlikely. She barely believed it herself.

 

‘But - -‘ Lily started but Andy cut her off by raising her hand.

 

‘No, you can try anything, yelling, begging, anything. I won’t tell you, not now anyway. I have to teach right now. Go and open your shop. I’ll talk to you later.’ Lily looked as if she wanted to protest but walked towards her shop.

 

‘Fine, but you better tell me one day, Andy Sachs,’ she warned. Andy sighed. Perhaps one day she would, but not soon. For some unknown reason to Andy, the day went by incredibly slow. The Priestly twins did compliment her on her dress, but other than that the day was uneventful. No strange stories, no fights in her class, no questions about Nate’s death.

 

At the end of the day Andy walked back home, relieved not to bump into anybody who could ask questions about her clothes. When she approached her house she saw that there was light inside. For a second she doubted if she had forgotten to blow the lights out when she left for school that morning, but then she realized that she never forgot that. She would never do something as careless as leaving a fire burning in a wooden house.

 

Hesitantly she opened her door. Andy had to blink a couple of times to make sure that she wasn’t hallucinating. With her slim legs crossed, Kissin’ Kate sat on her couch reading a book. Slowly the woman closed the book, never taking her breathtakingly blue eyes of Andy. For a couple of seconds Andy could do nothing else but stare at the silver haired woman who was again clad in tight black pants and high heeled black boots, but this time instead of wearing a white blouse, she wore a deep purple one. Her lips looked surprisingly nude without their blood red colour. Then Kissin’ Kate opened her mouth and spoke, the soft tone of her voice filling the small room.

 

‘By all means, stand there gaping like a fish with the door open. It’s not like there’s a price on my head,’ the killer said in a bored tone. Quickly Andy shut the door. The last thing she needed was people seeing she had the most wanted criminal of this area in her house. She didn’t know what to say to the woman. For days she had wanted to meet her again, but she never thought about what she would do if she did. Luckily Kissin’ Kate took the lead. ‘And so we meet again, Andrea.’

 

Part 3

History

 

For the first time in her life Andy liked her full name. Or at least the way her name was pronounced. The ‘e’ had been replaced by an ‘a’ making it sound foreign, as if she were some rich French countess. But it was the manner in which her name rolled from the other woman’s tongue, her soft voice caressed every syllable, that made her knees buckle.

 

Kissin’ Kate’s blue eyes narrowed and slowly made their way from the hem of her dress to the neckline and further up until they met Andy’s eyes. Andy squirmed uncomfortably under the woman’s intense gaze. Another part of the myth that was true. The killer’s eyes were lethal weapons.

 

‘I knew this dress would suit you the moment I set eyes on it,’ Kissin’ Kate drawled. On shaking legs Andy walked over to a chair and sat down across from the murderess who watched every move she made. Andy was amazed how calm the woman appeared. She was a wanted woman, a killer and she did not appear to think for a moment Andy would rush out and report her to the sheriff.

 

‘Did you loose your tongue?’ Kissin’ Kate asked sharply. ‘From what I’ve heard you are a very talkative person. Are you afraid?’ Andy wanted to say ‘no’, but she didn’t think that lying was the smartest thing to do, especially since her hands couldn’t stop trembling. So she nodded.

 

‘Does that surprise you?’ she asked. ‘You killed my fiancé in front of my eyes and I’m not supposed to be afraid?’ Kissin’ Kate’s lips curled up in a smile that was meant to be both amused and mocking.

 

‘Don’t be ridiculous. You ought to know by now that I don’t murder women. Taking that in consideration and the small detail that I don’t carry a gun or a dagger with me at the moment, there is absolutely no reason for you to be afraid of me.’ Andy breathed a small sigh of relief. She had known of course that Kissin’ Kate didn’t kill women, but the confirmation comforted her a little. That and the fact she was not armed.

 

‘Why are you here?’ she inquired, already knowing the answer. The lipstick, of course.

 

‘You have something that belongs to me. I want it back.’ The older woman looked at her as if Andy had lost her mind, as if it was the dumbest question she had ever heard.

 

‘What makes you think I still have it?’ Kissin’ Kate raised an annoyed eyebrow that warned Andy not to play games with her and Andy knew that this wasn’t an empty warning. Maybe Kissin’ Kate would not kill her, but Andy was sure there were much more horrifying things the woman could do.

 

‘Everything in this house is unlocked with the exception of that drawer. You are wearing the key around your neck and from the moment you sat down you have been looking nervously at said drawer.’ Andy shivered. The warm soft voice suddenly sounded cold, hard and deadly. If she wanted to get any information at all, like what Nate’s crime had been, she had to be careful.

 

‘Okay, so I still have it and I’ll give it back. But first I want to know why you killed Nate.’ Kissin’ Kate uncrossed her legs and leaned forward, her blue eyes flashing dangerously as she looked at her. Andy felt her cheeks turning red when she saw that in this position she had a nice view of the deep V of the killer’s breasts that rose against the edge of her corset. 

 

‘It is not a habit of mine to explain myself and I would not want to spoil your little soul with repulsing stories of the crimes men commit.’ Andy gulped and attempted to hide her sweaty palms from Kissin’ Kate’s view. Nate’s crime could not have been that bad, could it? He was a nice man, loved by many.

 

‘Try me,’ she replied with a shaking voice. This time both the other woman’s eyebrows raised in surprise. She pursed her lips slightly, but gave a small nod.

 

‘Do you have a cigarette?’ Kissin’ Kate asked. The question took Andy by surprise. She shook her head. She didn’t smoke, so she didn’t have any cigarettes. She never liked the smell of cigarette smoke. Her jaw dropped when she saw that Kissin’ Kate retrieved a small silver box from her pocket, opened it and took out a cigarette holding it delicately between her slim fingers.

 

‘You had them yourself?’ Andy asked, feeling almost offended.

 

‘Yes,’ came the curt reply. Andy didn’t know whether she should be angry or start laughing.

 

‘But then why did you ask if you had them yourself?’ The silver haired woman completely ignored her while she put back the silver box.

 

‘Do you at least have a fire for me or should I light it on the candles?’ Chewing on her bottom lip to stop herself from making an enraged remark, Andy got up and got a box of matches from the kitchen. She walked back to Kissin’ Kate who watched as she tried to light one. When she finally managed it, her hand shook so violently that the older woman reached out and took hold of wrist, stilling Andy’s hand.

 

Much to Andy’s surprise the other woman’s grip was soft and her skin was warm. She watched how Kissin’ Kate inhaled when her cigarette was lit and slowly exhale. Although Andy never really liked when people smoked, she thought she had never seen anything as sexy as the smoke escaping from Kissin’ Kate’s oval lips while a look of contentment appeared on the woman’s face.

 

‘Shouldn’t you put that out?’ Kissin’ Kate remarked and pointed at the match that was still burning. The flame was coming dangerously close to her fingers. She had been so mesmerized by the other woman that she hadn’t even noticed it. Quickly she put it out before she burned her fingers.

 

‘Your beloved fiancé,’ Kissin’ Kate started while she looked at nothing in particular, her eyes suddenly very dark and cold, ‘had developed a love for girls, young girls.’ She inhaled again, not paying attention to Andy who stood frozen beside her. ‘On more than one occasion he tried to force himself on girls not even older than fourteen years.’

 

‘That is not true,’ Andy said. Tears started form in her eyes. That could not be true. Nate had been a nice, friendly man. He did not violate young girls. He wouldn’t have. Kissin’ Kate’s wry chuckle broke through her thoughts. ‘Why do you think he wanted to marry you? Who better to bring him closer to those children than the teacher?’

 

‘Nate wasn’t like this. How do you know that he wanted that?’ Her voice trembled, but she didn’t care. The first tears had rolled down her cheeks. Somewhere she knew the woman was right, but she didn’t want to believe it.

 

‘My daughters told me after he came after them one day. They also informed that they were not the first. They however had been fortunate enough to escape from him before he could do anything.’ At the word ‘daughters’ Andy’s head snapped up. She taught Kissin’ Kate’s daughters?

 

‘Daughters?’

 

‘Don’t tell me you haven’t figured out who I am. I thought that you would be smart enough to put the pieces together.’ Andy frowned. Put the pieces together? What was she talking about? Suddenly it all came together. The story of the twins, their theory about Kissin’ Kate’s motive, the engraving on the sliver tube. MP.

 

‘You’re Miranda Priestly,’ she whispered. The other woman rolled her eyes as if to say ‘finally’. ‘But how - - you died.’

 

‘Obviously I did not. After the story my girls told you I’m sure you can figure out what really happened, but perhaps I should tell it myself, considering it took you this long to know who I am.’

 

The night was dark, but there was enough light for Miranda to see where she was going. Stephen was out again, probably with one of his whores. And then he was surprised she did not even want to kiss him anymore. Underneath the large tree she could already see the shadowy form of the person she was supposed to meet. Her head was telling her not to go, that it was a mistake and she was just like her husband, but everything wanted it so much that she continued walking.

 

‘I’m surprised you came,’ a slightly accented voice said when she reached the tree. Her servant’s face was beautifully lit by the little light of the stars.

 

‘I am too, Jacqueline,’ she whispered. The woman that leaned against the trunk smiled. Only Miranda called her by her full French name. Everybody else just called her Jackie which she hated. ‘I shouldn’t be here,’ Miranda continued.

 

‘I know,’ the française replied and walked closer to Miranda. Slowly Miranda lifted her hand and touched Jacqueline’s face. The skin was smooth and warm against her palm. The servant leaned forward and gently brushed her lips against Miranda’s. It was then that she realized she was lost. How many times had she snapped at her servant when actually she had wanted to this, just this?

 

‘Oh god,’ Miranda breathed against Jacqueline’s lips as she felt slender arms wrap around her waist, pulling her closer until their bodies touched each other’s completely. At that moment Miranda desperately wished that there weren’t any clothes between them and she wished she could feel the other woman’s skin against her own. A tear rolled down her cheek. Finally she felt loved. Suddenly she pulled back.

 

‘I can’t. I’m sorry.’ With those words she left, her tears flowing freely now. She could not do it. How right it felt, it was still wrong. She had a husband, though he didn’t act like it, and two women, how much she wanted it, could not be together. When she reached her house she ran to her room and locked the door. She would forget that this ever happened and tomorrow she would act like the ice queen again towards Jacqueline. But the pretend could not take away the pain every time she saw the woman she loved.

 

‘As you know, I had fallen in love with my servant Jacqueline and  - -‘

 

‘Your servant was a woman?’ Andy exclaimed. That was why the twins had always referred to her as the servant or that person. They probably didn’t want to tell the wife in their story had fallen for a woman. That would never have won the sympathy of the class. Andy wondered if Miranda had told her daughters about their kiss.

 

‘Do not interrupt me,’ Miranda snapped. Andy immediately shut her mouth. The glare that was sent her way was as lethal as a gun or dagger. ‘Yes, my servant was a woman. After I foolishly had given in to my feelings, someone betrayed us. When I came home one day, I found my husband leaning over the lifeless body of Jacqueline. He had bludgeoned her to death.’ Miranda’s voice was monotone, emotionless, but her eyes shone with unshed tears.

 

‘Jacqueline?’ Miranda called out as soon as she entered her house. She needed her to take some dresses upstairs. But no one reacted to her calls. Jacqueline never let her wait, because she knew that Miranda hated to be kept waiting. ‘Jacqueline!’

 

She entered the living room and saw her husband leaning over something. She wondered what he was doing home this time of the day. ‘Stephen, what are you doing here?’ she asked while she approached him. Suddenly she saw something, no someone, lying on the floor in front of him. Then she noticed the statuette in his hand. To her horror she saw blood dripping from it, forming a little puddle on the floor.

 

‘Stephen, what is going on?’ she demanded, not able to stop her voice from shaking. When her husband did not react, but kept on staring at the body in front him, she yanked him aside. She opened her mouth to scream, but not a sound left her mouth. Despite the blood and the terrible wounds she still recognized her, Jacqueline, her servant, her love. She fell on her knees and gently wrapped her arms around the body, the blood staining her light blue dress.

 

‘How could you?’ she whispered while she tried to wipe Jacqueline’s face clean.

 

‘That bitch stole my wife from me,’ Stephen spat. Miranda whipped her head around, her eyes narrowing dangerously. That son of a bitch. It was practically impossible that he just said that.

 

‘You lost me long before she even arrived in America. Did you really think I didn’t know about you and your whores?’ Stephen lifted the heavy statuette again as if to strike her. Miranda closed her eyes and waited for blow. She prayed that she would die too, because she did not want to live with this pain. Instead she heard a loud bang and saw that he had dropped the sculpture.

 

‘If you weren’t so unresponsive, so frigid, I wouldn’t have to do that. You made me. All you care about are your silly dresses, tailors, your girls and that woman. You kissed that French cow, but not me. When was the last time you kissed me?’ he shouted. Tightly she gripped Jacqueline’s body. It took all of her willpower not to pick up the heavy objection and swing it in his face.

 

‘You murdered her because of a kiss?’ her voice could have frozen hell over. She let go of Jacqueline’s body, placing it gently on the floor and slowly got up. ‘I will kill you one day, when you least expect it, I’ll be waiting for you.’

 

‘I threatened to kill him and for once he realized I wasn’t kidding. He buried her body and cleaned up the mess he made. A week later I shot him and gave him the kiss he had killed Jacqueline for.’

 

Without any doubt in her step Miranda approached Stephen’s office. The small gun felt heavy, but good, hidden between the folds of her skirt. He deserved to die and so she would kill him. She pushed the door open and saw Stephen writing behind his desk. He looked up when he heard the door. She despised his face, his dull eyes, and that constant smug look.

 

‘What do you want?’ he asked uninterested. Miranda sauntered towards him and leaned on his desk, giving him a view of her décolleté, acting like all the whores he slept with.

 

‘Do you still want me to kiss you, darling?’ He pushed away the papers he was working on and turned his attention to her breasts. His rough fingers moved over them, squeezing them, his hand working its way beneath her corset. Miranda resisted the urge to gag. He made her sick.

 

‘It took some time, but you finally get it, don’t you? You belong to me. Too bad the French girl had to die for you to realise it.’ With a smug grin on his face he leaned forward hoping to get a kiss. When his lips almost touched hers, she put the gun to his chest and pulled the trigger. The sound hurt her ears, but she didn’t care. All she cared about was seeing the bloody hole in his chest as he fell back into his chair, his eyes wide with shock and pain. His hand was still in her corset, holding her breast. Disgusted she pulled it out and threw it on his lap.

 

As his last breath left his body, she pressed her lips to his cheek, leaving the blood red imprint behind. ‘That’s all,’ she whispered and turned, leaving his dead body behind. When she shut the door behind her she realized that she had created a problem, one that was very difficult to solve. She did not regret her actions, but she realized that of course she would be hanged if she was caught.

 

‘Miranda, dear, we’re back.’ When her mother’s voice filled the house she suddenly felt relieved. Her mother would know what to do, she always did. Slowly Miranda descended the stairs where she saw her mother and her daughters. Her mother took one look at her and sighed. ‘What did you do?’

 

‘Not here,’ Miranda replied and guided her mother away from her children to a smaller room. ‘I killed Stephen. His body is in his office.’ Much to Miranda’s surprise, her mother did not get angry or sad, she just sighed again and wrapped her arms around her daughter’s shoulders.

 

‘I wondered when it would come to that,’ she whispered in Miranda’s ear. ‘And now you want to know what to do.’ It wasn’t a question, but Miranda nodded anyway. Her mother always had the ability to make her feel ten years old again. ‘Do you know someone you can trust, preferably someone who doesn’t live in a town?’

 

‘Nigel Kipling,’ Miranda replied without hesitating. She and Nigel had known each other for years. He was one of the best tailors in this part of America and he had made several garments for her. Despite his ‘fame’ he preferred a secluded life away from livid villages.

 

‘Ah yes, dear Nigel. Ride to him. Make sure no one sees you and stay there until I come fetch you. I’ll tell that you fell off your horse and died. I’ll make up a story. We’ll figure out what is to come after ‘your funeral’ later. You need to get away from here.’

 

‘But my daughters - -’

 

‘It’s better if for the time being they believe you to be dead also. We’ll sort everything out later. But go now. You’re no good to them if you go the gallows.’ Miranda shook her head. She couldn’t do that to her daughters. In their three years they had hardly seen Stephen, but she was their mother, they needed her. Her mother’s stern voice however made her sigh in defeat. She slipped out the house and saddled up her horse.

 

‘My mother and I staged my death. While I stayed at Nigel Kipling’s house, everybody, including my daughters thought I had died. I was there that day of my own funeral. It was then, when the coffee was served downstairs, that I sat upstairs waiting for my girls.’

 

‘I was there, in the house, I mean,’ Andy interrupted. To her astonishment Miranda nodded.

 

‘I know. I saw you.’

 

‘I don’t want to sound curious, but what will you do with your life now?’ Nigel asked her when he came to visit her a week after her funeral. Miranda shrugged. She had given it some thought, but nothing logical came to mind. Too many people knew her face. She was going mad inside the house. Only at night was she allowed to go out. Of course she had considered moving so far away where nobody knew her, but somehow she couldn’t. She felt connected with this town, this area, like there was still some unfinished business. And it was impossible for to leave Jacqueline’s body behind.

 

‘So you’re just going to spend the rest of your life here, inside this house.’

 

‘Don’t be absurd. Of course not,’ she snapped.

 

‘There’s always the option of being a professional killer,’ Nigel said. At first Miranda thought this was just another one of his weird attempts at humour, but when he continued to look serious, she understood he was not joking. She hoped that he wasn’t going mad.

 

‘Did you smack your head? Become a professional killer? I might as well just walk to the sheriff and turn myself in. And despite of you may believe, I’m not so heartless that I can just kill an innocent man.’ She hadn’t gone through the trouble of staging her death, just to go out again and practically beg to be arrested.

 

‘Don’t talk to me as if I am one of your servants,’ he warned. ‘Who said anything about innocent? You could become our own Robin Hood. You know people, whether you want to or not. When you meet a person within a few seconds you know if you can trust them and you’re never wrong. With that ability you can pick out which men are criminals, and I mean real criminals, that escape the law because of their money and you can kill them.’

 

Miranda thought Nigel had lost his mind. He was right though about her ‘ability’. She knew exactly which men in the town treated their wives badly. She even could tell from one particular man’s body language that he had raped a girl once. The idea sounded ridiculous, but it made sense. She could kill the men that deserved to die. She could hardly believe it, but she nodded. She was going to do it.

 

‘You’ll need different clothes however and a new look,’ Nigel stated as touched her long, auburn hair, that already had begun to turn silver at some places. ‘I’ll make you some pants, and don’t look so outraged, women can wear pants and you especially with those legs. Besides you’ll need them. Today’s dresses are not very easy garment to kill men in. Trousers will make horseback riding easier and faster.’

 

The next day Nigel brought a pair of barber’s scissors with him. Together they discussed what he would do with her hair. Finally they settled on a very short, yet feminine cut with a daring lock that almost fell over her left eye. It was different from anything she had ever seen, but she liked it and decided to never change it. Neither did she want to change her new clothing style.

 

At first she eyed the tight black pants suspiciously. She could not understand that Nigel seriously thought she would wear something that masculine. Women never showed their legs in public. The skirts of their dresses were long and wide for a reason. But the moment she put them on, she wondered why women didn’t wear these every day.

 

The black slacks were a tight fit and she had to get used to them. Then there was an impeccably white blouse that she buttoned up over her corset. Despite the very manly clothes, she didn’t feel like a man. Quite the opposite. She wouldn’t be surprised if one day every woman would wear clothes as these. Nigel whistled when she showed him how she looked in his creations.

 

‘Turn,’ he ordered. Slowly she turned around. After she had finished Nigel walked towards her, opened a few of the top buttons and stepped back. ‘There. You will kill men just by entering there house like this. If I could fall for the fairer sex I would kiss you right now.’

 

‘Your life would be easier if you didn’t love men,’ Miranda replied. She had always known that Nigel didn’t fall for women. She didn’t mind, but he had made his life so much difficult by going after several men when they were younger. People frowned upon love for the same sex. People frowned upon everything that was unknown or different, but somehow homosexuality was one the biggest issues.

 

‘Says the woman who fell in love with her female servant,’ he teased her. Miranda shot a glare at him, but he ignored her completely, because he knew he was right.

 

‘With Nigel’s help I changed into who I am today. After my first few victims I received that dreadful nickname,’ Miranda finished. Andy could from her expression that there was more to the story than the short version she had been told, but it did not seem right to ask.

 

‘But Mrs. Priestly - -‘

 

‘Miranda. Mrs. Priestly is my mother. My late husband’s name was Tomlinson. I will never be a Mrs. again.’

 

‘But Miranda didn’t you ever feel regret or guilt after all those crimes you committed?’ Miranda exhaled some smoke and put out her cigarette.

 

‘No,’ she simply stated.

 

‘No?’

 

‘They were murders, but not crimes. Every man I murdered deserved it, even your precious Mr. Cooper.’ Miranda nearly spat the last two words as if she had put all of her own and Andy’s hate in them. It surprised Andy that she could come to hate a person as much as despised Nate now within the hour.

 

‘How can you be so sure of that? Have you never once been mistaken?’ Andy inquired. The ice cold look she received made her shiver. ‘It’s a possibility, right?’ she muttered.

 

‘Perhaps I ought to send my girls to another school if their teacher is or at least acts incredibly thick. I’m an ice queen, but not cruel. Every crime has its witnesses. I find them. And before you go asking unwanted and unnecessary questions, they don’t report me to the sheriff, because I help them.’ Andy’s eyes widened. She had the feeling Miranda could read her mind sometimes.

 

‘Now, the lipstick.’ This definitely was not a request. This was demand and one that should not be ignored. Andy pulled the key from its chain, walked to the small cabinet and opened the drawer. The silver tube felt cold and heavy in her palm. Would this be it? If she returned the lipstick to its rightful owner, was Miranda going to disappear out of her life forever? It was the easiest solution. Her easy, uncomplicated life would return. From the corner of her eye she looked at the feared and beautiful killer. No, she did not want that to happen.

 

‘Did you fall asleep?’ The bored tone in the older woman’s voice made her turn around. She held out her hand with the lipstick. Miranda’s raised eyebrow however made her walk towards her and place the lipstick in her hand. A soft tingle went through her body when she brushed against Miranda’s skin. And if the sharp intake of breath was any indicator, the other woman had felt it too. Miranda rolled the tube between her index finger and her thumb before putting it between her breasts. Andy felt a blush develop on her cheeks.

 

‘If that was all,’ Andy started, but realized she didn’t know what to say next. The silver haired woman got up and walked past her, allowing Andy to smell her unique scent. Her high heels made a hollow sound on the wooden floor. Andy knew that Kissin’ Kate would soon reach the door and disappear out her life. Was she ready to let them happen? Could she let the only person that made her blood go faster disappear? She heard the door being opened.

 

She turned on her heel, the red fabric rustling at the sudden movement. Within a few paces she had reached the door, slamming it shut before Miranda had a chance to get out. Miranda raised an imperial eyebrow, but there was also a small smile playing on her lips as if she was glad Andy stopped her. ‘Yes?’ she asked. 

 

For a second Andy wondered if she had made a mistake, if this was wrong, but one look at Miranda’s eyes and soft lips made her lean forward, crashing her lips against Miranda’s. The kiss was harder than intended and she felt her lips bruise, but she didn’t care. All she cared about were Miranda’s hands on her back and in her hair.

 

She pushed Miranda back until her back hit the door with a soft thud. Andy took pleasure in the soft moan that escaped from Miranda’s lips. With her tongue Andy traced Kissin’ Kate’s bottom lip. Without hesitation the oval lips parted and granted Andy access. Was it possible that she tasted even sweeter than last time?

 

Cautiously Andy touched Miranda’s waist and felt the hard corset underneath the soft fabric of the blouse. She trailed her fingers downwards to the curve of Miranda’s hips and rested her hands there. That pleasant tingle that she had between her legs after sensual dreams was there again only much stronger this time.

 

‘Do you have a bed?’ Miranda whispered in her ear.

 

‘Why?’ The moment the word left her mouth she felt stupid and she knew she deserved the eye roll Miranda gave her.

 

‘Because I won’t do this,’ she said and pressed her hand through the layers of fabric between Andy’s legs. ‘against a door.’ Andy whimpered, took hold of Miranda’s wrist and practically dragged her to her bedroom.

 

Part 4

Impossibilities

 

Sexual intercourse, or sex, had always been more of a term to Andy. She never really thought about it until a couple of strange dreams. The idea only became real because of Nate, but she could not imagine, even if he hadn’t been a criminal of the worst kind, that it could be as good as this.

 

Miranda hovered above her, half undressed. Her deep red corset had just been tossed onto the floor along with her blouse and lipstick, the structure leaving red imprints in Miranda’s ivory skin. Andy’s dress, corset and shift had been removed in the living room.  Andy reached up and cupped the strange soft weight of Miranda’s breast, receiving a content sigh in return. The nipple hardened under her touch. She rolled it between her fingers. Miranda cried out and softly bit Andy’s neck which caused Andy to arch her back and for the first time their naked upper bodies touched.

 

Andy gasped as their hardened nipples brushed. Miranda’s skin was soft and warm against her own, making her belief that this was it, heaven. But then Miranda’s hand made its way in her underwear, her fingertips brushing against extremely sensitive places. Without any warning Miranda slid two fingers inside her. Andy cried out in pain. Miranda’s eyes widened in surprise as if she had forgotten or hadn’t expected Andy to still be a virgin.

 

‘Don’t stop,’ Andy gasped as she stretched around Miranda’s fingers. Slowly Miranda started to pull her fingers out and then pushed them back in. With each movement the pain became less and the pleasure increased. Andy held on to Miranda as if her life depended on it, rolling her hips further onto those slim fingers. She didn’t mind that she had given up her virginity to a woman, a killer. All she could focus on were Miranda’s fingers inside her, making her feel incredible.

 

Something started to build up inside her, something that was closing its release. Andy understood what it was, but it didn’t want it to happen. She felt so wonderful, she didn’t want it to end. The older woman must have felt it too, because she leaned forward and started to whisper words in her ear.

 

‘You’re close, aren’t you?’ Andy could barely nod, her breath coming in short gasps. ‘Well then, come, come for me. Andrea.’ Miranda pressed down with her thumb on the most sensitive spot, causing Andy to let go. A small scream fell from her lips when she came. All of her muscles tensed up and then slowly one by one started to relax.

 

‘Oh, god,’ Andy managed after a few moments. She felt how Miranda removed her fingers and lay down beside her on her small bed. She still felt a warm tingle between her legs that slowly spread through the rest of her body.

 

‘Not quite,’ Miranda said which caused Andy to chuckle softly. No Miranda was definitely not god, but she sure was divine.

 

‘I am so going to hell for this.’

 

‘Care to explain?’

 

‘Oh come on. I’ve neglected my duties as a civilian by not reporting to you and hiding evidence, I’ve slept with a woman, no worse, I gave my virginity to a woman who happens to be a serial killer. That sounds like a one way ticket to hell to me,’ she joked and placed one hand on Miranda’s exposed stomach, trailing her fingers up and down the soft skin. She wondered if she could do the same thing Miranda did too her. The thought of not knowing what to do with Nate was a little scary, but thinking about doing anything to this gorgeous woman terrified her. She wouldn’t know where to begin.

 

‘I’ve been through hell, several times, and that is not nearly enough to get you there,’ Miranda retorted. Andy propped herself up on her elbow and looked at her. In the dark room, Miranda suddenly appeared so much older. Time had been kind to her, Andy could tell that, but now when she looked vulnerable, she looked her age which Andy now guessed was around fifty.

 

‘What do you mean you’ve been through hell and that helping you, sleeping with you is not nearly enough?’

 

‘You’re not very curious, are you?’ Andy blushed, but Miranda ignored her. ‘I had sex long before I married with some pathetic excuse for a man after I had gotten extremely drunk. My father kicked me out because of that. I had no home, food or water. Finally I ended up in a whorehouse where I worked until my mother came and get me after my father had died of a stroke.

 

When I was thirty two I married Stephen. After almost ten years there were still no children. My dear husband then decided to tell me it was his fault. But he had a plan. I was to bed his best friend who you probably know, Gregory Cooper, for he would be able to give me children. I refused, but eventually his pleas and my desire to have children made me see Gregory. He’s a dreadful man, but I lay there, night after night, underneath him. I’ve never felt so low. Not even when I slept with random men after I had killed my husband, just once in a while to get rid of the tension. I never told my children that they weren’t Stephen’s. That and the fact that I’ve murdered so many men I’ve lost count, is enough to send you to hell.’

 

Andy just lay still when Miranda told her story. She couldn’t believe that she had worried about looking good enough for Nate, or if she would ever get married after she heard Miranda’s story. As she looked at Miranda, she realized there was something familiar about the way Miranda pronounced Gregory Cooper.

 

‘Miranda, can I ask you something?’

 

‘Again?’ The woman sighed and looked at Andy, her eyes nearly piercing a hole in her head. ‘I suppose so. I worry more about answers than questions.’

 

‘Were the woman who sold me that ribbon?’ Miranda exhaled slowly and then chuckled.

 

‘Took you long enough. Yes, that was me. It’s easier to blend in like that. Are there any other questions on your mind you wanted ask?’ Andy smiled. She found sort of sweet, if that was a word to say in one sentence with Kissin’ Kate or Miranda Priestly, that Miranda would dress up as an old lady just to roam the villages and gather information. She remembered that she had seen the old woman the day of Nate’s funeral and another question jumped in her head.

 

‘Did you leave your lipstick on purpose?’

 

‘Don’t be ridiculous. I would never do that.’ Despite the snappy way in which Miranda said it, Andy could still hear a hint of laughter in her voice. Andy flopped back down on the bed as she saw how the older woman gracefully rose.

 

‘Where are you going?’ As a reply Miranda showed the fingers of her right hands. Andy cheeks turned into a deep crimson colour when she saw her own dried blood on those slim digits. ‘Oh, that.’

 

‘Precisely.’ After Miranda left the room, Andy was left alone with her thoughts. This certainly had been the most eventful evening of her life and she felt exhausted. Not only did she physically do a lot, but her mind was making overtime. There had been so many emotions these past hours that her head hurt. She rolled to her side and curled up. Before she could help it, she fell asleep, before Miranda returned.

 

A loud knocking awoke Andy the next morning. She groaned and rolled over only to find an empty space beside her. Slowly she opened her eyes and scanned her bedroom. There was absolutely no evidence that Kissin’ Kate had ever been here. If she hadn’t had a faint burn between her legs and hadn’t been half naked, she would not have believed that it had actually happened.

 

The person that was knocking became impatient and started pounding. Andy grunted and sat up. She felt blue and used. How dare Miranda just barge in her life, have sex with her and with that effectively turning her life upside down and then leave her the next day?

 

‘I’m coming,’ she shouted at whoever was attempting to break down her door. It would take too much time to lace up her corset so she didn’t bother with that. Spying her corset on the chair made her remember how the previous night she had hastily unlaced Miranda’s corset only to be gob smacked when she had seen the ivory skin and the breasts tipped with pink nipples. 

 

Quickly she threw on her robe and fastened it. When she walked past her mirror, she spotted a purple mouth shaped spot on her throat. ‘Great,’ she sighed and tightened the collar around her neck. She walked towards her door and opened it. She could barely contain a sigh when she saw Sheriff Thompson standing on the other side.

 

‘Good morning Miss Sachs,’ he said and took off his hat. Andy wanted to snap at him. He was about the last person she wanted to see right now.

 

‘Good morning,’ she replied without meaning it. This had been far from a good morning and it was getting worse every second.

 

‘May I come in?’ Andy was tempted to say ‘no’ and slam the door in his face, but shrugged and opened the door further so he could enter. As she accompanied him to the living room she noticed she could smell the faint scent of cigarette smoke.

 

‘How can I help you, sheriff?’ she asked politely.

 

‘Christian, call me Christian, please.’ Andy narrowed her eyes. What was he up to? ‘I’ve actually come here for some unpleasant business. You see, this morning I was told that Kissin’ Kate was in town and not only that, but that she was in your house.’ Andy kept her expression neutral, but inside she was shaking. How was that possible?

 

‘Kissin’ Kate was in my house when she killed my fiancé,’ she replied blankly, trying not to choke on the word ‘fiancé’ as she thought about Nate’s crimes. If Miranda or rather Kissin’ Kate had not killed him, she would have.

 

‘That I know. What I meant was that she was in your house last night and this morning.’

 

‘That’s the most idiotic thing I’ve ever heard. Why would I let that woman in my house, after she murdered Nate in front of my eyes?’ Lying had never really been one of her best talents, so she prayed that Christian would not notice it.

 

‘Why indeed? Some say that Kissin’ Kate is a witch and others say that she is the Devil’s mistress, so who knows how she got in here.’ Andy rolled her eyes.

 

‘Aren’t you a little old to still believe in fairy tales. Next thing you know we are going to burn women or drown them because they are too skinny or have a large nose. And besides, if Kissin’ Kate really was a witch, wouldn’t she have been able to hex me so that I would not remember the encounter? Since I still remember last night, that is not so. And as far as I can tell Kissin’ Kate had only been on this house on one occasion and we both know when that was. But if you want to search the house, feel free.’

 

‘That won’t be necessary. I’ll just tell my source that he was wrong,’ Christian simply replied and got up. ‘I’m really sorry that I bothered you, Miss Sachs. This must be very difficult for you. I hope you can forgive me for the inconvenience.’ Andy nodded. She had not expected him to be polite.

 

‘Just out of curiosity, who was your so called source?’ Christian frowned, making his ridiculous eyebrows seem even stranger. ‘Oh, come on, who am going to tell? Unless you fear that I might run to Kissin’ Kate’s secret hiding place and tell her so she can kill him.’

 

‘It was Mr. Cooper,’ Christian said slowly. Andy breathed in sharply. In the past twelve hours she had come to hate the entire Cooper family. The sheriff raised an eyebrow at her reaction. His eyes flew towards her throat and Andy realized that she released the collar. Clutching it tightly she hoped that hadn’t seen too much.

 

‘Good day, Christian,’ she said. He nodded, placed his hat on his hat and exited her house. Andy exhaled slowly. She let her head fall in her hands. At that moment she just wanted to disappear. She hated everything about her life. She hated Nate for doing all those horrible things, she hated Miranda for revealing who he really was, for kissing her, for sleeping with her, she hated Christian for being a pain in the ass and she hated herself for letting it all happen to her, for falling for Miranda and for being a coward.

 

Not wanting to feel sorry for herself anymore, she stood up and starting putting her clothes on, after she had gotten rid of her bloodstained underwear, finishing with the red dress. Just to be sure she checked the entire house for a note, even her books. But there was none. She decided she was going to go to the Priestly estate and confront Miranda. Without realizing or wanting it, she had fallen for the assassin and she wasn’t going to let her get away with a one night stand.

 

The long walk to the enormous house did her some good and the fresh air cleared her head. The estate was about a mile away from the nearest town and Andy understood how Miranda could have lived here all those years without being discovered. The house seemed awfully quiet and for a moment Andy feared that no one was there, but then she heard someone laughing inside. To her surprise she noticed that it was Miranda who laughed. She loved the sound. She only heard a once or twice chuckle, but this real, genuine laugh was like music to her ears. Suddenly she remembered why she was here and she marched towards the door and knocked. A redhead opened it.

 

‘Yes,’ she asked in an annoyed tone.

 

‘Hi, I’m Andy Sachs and I want to speak with Miranda.’ The redhead’s eyes widened and her mouth nearly fell open.

 

‘Well, I’m Emily Charlton and I can tell you that no such person lives here,’ she snapped after which Andy heard that the woman was British. She tried to close the door, but Andy stopped her.

 

‘Don’t lie to me. I heard her. If you don’t let me in I will go to the sheriff and tell him that I know where Kissin’ Kate lives, and we wouldn’t want that, would we?’ Emily looked thrown off for a second. Apparently she hadn’t expected Andy to threaten. She didn’t know that Andy would never report Miranda. Just as she opened her mouth to reply a person behind her appeared.

 

‘Emily, fetch my girls and take them out,’ Miranda said in her soft voice. Andy had to suppress the urge to gasp. For the first time she saw Miranda in a dress and not just any dress. It was made of the deepest black fabric, left her shoulders bare and displayed her cleavage in a way that would make most people drool. The contrast between the fabric and Miranda’s skin was so large it almost looked as if she was glowing. Andy wondered how the dress stayed up without sleeves.

 

‘But - -‘ the British woman started, but stopped when Miranda narrowed her eyes.

 

‘That’s all, Emily.’ The redhead nodded and went in to get Caroline and Cassidy. Miranda leaned against the doorframe, hand on her hip, her eyes slowly taking in Andy’s appearance, lingering a little on the purple spot on Andy’s throat.

 

‘When you threaten someone, you should at least try to say it as if you are actually going to do it, Andrea.’ Andy shook her head. Was there nothing this woman did not notice?

 

‘Can I come in? I want to talk with you,’ she asked as politely as possible. Miranda turned around and entered her house. Andy guessed she should follow, so she entered and closed the door behind her. Instead of going into the living room, Miranda led her up the stairs. Downstairs Andy heard how Emily took Caroline and Cassidy outside. They entered what looked like an office and Miranda closed the door behind Andy.

 

‘Talk,’ she ordered.

 

‘Why did you leave?’

 

‘Did you think I was going to stay until the morning? It would have been impossible for me to leave.’

 

‘Then why didn’t you leave a note or something?’ Miranda raised her eyebrow as if to say ‘do I look like the kind of person who leaves notes?’. Andy ignored it. ‘As strange as it may sound, I like being with you.’

 

‘No, you don’t. You only think you do because we had sex,’ Miranda retorted. Andy felt the anger well up in her. How could Miranda be so cold? Andy wasn’t that foolish to mistake sex for something else.

 

‘No, I don’t. I felt something for you after you first kissed me. I could not get you out of my head. Have youany idea how happy I was to see you again? Of course, you don’t. Well, like it or not, I think I’ve fallen in love with you,’ Andy shouted and she was glad Miranda had made sure that the girls and Emily were out of the house.

 

‘You shouldn’t be in love with me. It’s too dangerous.’ Miranda tried to sound aloof, distant as if she wanted Andy to leave, but the small nearly unnoticeable tremble told Andy that Miranda felt something entirely different.

 

‘I don’t care. This morning Christian Thompson visited me after your good old friend, Gregory Cooper, had told him he had seen you in my house. And I got rid of him. I don’t care if it’s dangerous, I just want to be with you.’ At the name of the mayor Miranda’s head had snapped up, but she didn’t say anything. She didn’t even reply to anything at all.

 

‘God damn it, Miranda. Do you even care?’ The older woman could not look Andy the eyes, but kept her gaze on the floor. Andy just wanted reach out and shake her to get some sort of reply. Tears filled Andy eyes, but she did not let them fall. ‘No, of course you don’t care,’ Andy whispered.

 

Suddenly she moved forward, slamming Miranda into the wall. A soft cry of surprise and pain fell from her lips, but Andy paid no attention to it. Instead she grabbed Miranda’s wrists and pinned them above Miranda’s head against the wall. She brought her lips down on Miranda’s parted ones, narrowly avoiding a collision of noses, her tongue forcing its way into the killer’s mouth, the unique taste of Miranda combined with smoke filled her mouth. She kissed her as if this was the last kiss they would ever share which probably was so. Miranda moaned and completely gave herself to the kiss. Andy pulled back and watched Miranda. Her cheeks were flushed her pupils were dilated and she seemed to beg for Andy to continue. Carefully Andy brushed the silver lock away from Miranda brow.

 

‘Goodbye,’ she whispered and fled the room, running down the stairs away from the house. She didn’t see Miranda sliding down the wall until she sat on the floor, nor did she see the bald man that looked at the dethroned ice queen, shaking his head. Andy nearly ran all the way home, but instead of going to her house, she took a long walk and did return until it was dark.

 

Ever since she became a teacher she thought she could never love anything more than teaching, but then Miranda had walked into her life. Now she believed she could have loved the woman with all of her heart. She would even have been willing to give up teaching. But as the tears rolled down her cheeks, she realized that it was over. She wanted to believe she had seen emotions in the other woman’s blue eyes, but Miranda had made it clear. She did not want this, did not want her.

 

Slowly she made her way to her house. Teaching and being alone. This was going to be her life. She looked down at her dress. If she hadn’t been outside she would have ripped off her body. It reminded her too much of Miranda. When she reached the front door she heard voices inside. She put her ear to her own door and listened. After a few moments she realized that Miranda and Gregory Cooper were in there. What on earth were they doing in her house?

 

‘ - - I wanted to marry you, to raise our children together,’ Gregory said.

 

‘You only liked me because I was the only woman who ‘willingly’ spread her legs for you. And my girls are not our children. They’re mine and mine alone,’ Miranda spat back.

 

‘And yet you killed my son. You shouldn’t have done that. I knew then that you weren’t dead. I always suspected it, but then I knew it for sure. I knew that if you were still alive you’d want revenge for what happened eight years ago.’ Apparently Miranda had no idea what he was talking about, because suddenly Andy heard him laugh. ‘You don’t know? It was me who told Stephen that you kissed that servant of yours.’

 

‘I should have known,’ Miranda whispered bitterly. Andy clenched her fists. She wanted to burst down the door and break Mr. Cooper’s nose. All the suffering he had caused, but then again if he hadn’t she would never have met Miranda.

 

‘Yeah, you really should have. And that’s not the only mistake you made. You gave Andy that dress. I knew it the second I saw it. I’d recognize Nigel’s work anywhere. The girl barely has a pot to piss in, let alone buy a dress that expensive. I knew you’d want to see her again, so I waited here. I was lucky the first night, because you were there. When Christian did not arrest her or you, I waited again for you to come and you didn’t disappoint. You love her, don’t you? No point in denying it, I saw it in your eyes yesterday.’

 

‘Yes,’ Miranda replied. Without thinking about her actions first, Andy slammed the door open, tears now freely running down her cheeks.

 

‘You do?’ she asked, ignoring Gregory who looked surprised at seeing her. If Miranda was surprised, she hid it well. ‘You love me?’

 

‘Yes.’ Andy ran towards her, wrapped her arms around her waist and pressed her lips against Miranda’s. With just one word her broken heart had been mended, her life looked well again and everything was going to be alright. Until they both realized that Gregory was still there.

 

‘I would say I’d hate to ruin this moment, but I’d be lying,’ he said coldly and took out a gun, pointing it at Miranda. Andy froze and in her arms she felt the older woman reach for her own gun. ‘Oh no, Miranda. If you even try to resist, I will shoot the girl.’ Miranda immediately froze.

 

‘What are you going to do with her?’ Andy asked, hating it that her voice trembled. Gregory laughed again, sending chills down Andy’s spine.

 

‘Since I know that Miranda would rather die than be with me, that is what is going to happen. Just imagine how peaceful and quiet this area could be if the feared Kissin’ Kate was caught and was going to be hanged. It’d be a shame to kill something this beautiful, but I think I will enjoy the moment I’ll hear you beg for your life and then the sound when you’re pretty little neck breaks.’

 

‘You’ll die before you see that day, Gregory,’ Miranda replied coolly. Gregory growled, grabbed Miranda’s arm and yanked her from Andy’s arms. This was impossible. Andy was surprised her head not burst open from all the emotions she felt in such a small amount of time. She desperately hoped that this was just some terrible nightmare and that when she woke up she would be in her own bed with Miranda beside her and was going to be yesterday again.

 

‘No,’ Andy shouted. ‘You can’t do that. I won’t let you.’

 

‘You stay here and be a good girl or I’ll shoot you anyway. The choice is yours. Either way she will die.’ He turned, dragging Miranda with him, who freed herself from his grip and glared at him.

 

‘Don’t ever touch me again,’ she spat and walked towards the door while Andy stared at her, crying. Was this going to be last time she ever saw her? Gregory followed Miranda. Suddenly Andy noticed something on the table. Miranda’s dagger. She must have put it there when she entered Andy’s house. Within seconds Andy had picked up the dagger and sprinted towards the door. Without hesitation she drove the silver blade deep in Gregory’s back. He screamed. The sickening sound of the blade entering his body nearly made Andy scream herself. It was so revolting.

 

‘What - -‘ Miranda started and spun on her heel. She fell silent when she looked at the scene in front of her. Quickly she covered Gregory’s mouth with her hand, silencing his scream and together with Andy started dragging him back in the house. Andy pulled the knife out of the man’s back and let it fall to the floor. Trembling she sank down on her couch. Gregory made strange noises and started to choke up blood. Miranda reached for the dagger.

 

‘You might want to look away,’ she warned Andy. Andy put the hand that was not covered with blood over her eyes. A second later she heard the most awful sound she had ever heard. It was a muffled cry combined with the slashing of a throat. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

 

‘It’s alright. He’s dead,’ Miranda whispered in her ear and took her in her arms, rocking her. ‘You did not have to save me. You did not have to kill him.’ Her voice broke as she said these words.

 

‘My hands are of your colour, but I shame to wear a heart so white,’ Andy mumbled. Miranda chuckled softly.

 

‘I doubt you’d make a good Lady Macbeth, now me on the other hand - -’

 

‘You could never live with a spineless insane man.’ This time Miranda laughed softly and stroked Andy’s hair. ‘I couldn’t have lived with myself if I had just stood by and did nothing to prevent your dea - -‘ she choked on the last word. She didn’t want to think about what would have happened if Miranda would have died.

 

‘Thank you for saving my life,’ Miranda said after a few moments. Andrea started sobbing again which made Miranda hold her even tighter. ‘You silly girl. But I love you for it.’

 

‘Really?’ Andy asked and lifted her head.

 

‘Really,’ Miranda replied and smiled. Gently she planted a kiss on Andy’s lips. ‘Since you’re Lady Macbeth, I’m going to say ‘‘T was a rough night’, but it isn’t over yet. We have to leave here. We can’t just live at my house, that would be impossible if neither of us could go out.’ Andy nodded. She understood, but didn’t mind leaving all this behind. Even if it meant she could never see her friends again. She just wanted to be with Miranda. They were going to be alright, wherever they would end up.

 

Epilogue

The Beginning

 

‘Ouch,’ Andy yelled as pin pricked her again. Nigel looked mock apologetically.

 

‘Oh, I’m sorry, dear. Did I hurt you? Because you know I wouldn’t if you stood still.’ Andy rolled her eyes and obliged. It had been two years since she and Miranda had burned Andy’s house down, staging Andy’s death. Andy still remembered the ride from her house to Miranda’s. She had sat behind Miranda on the black horse, her arms securely wrapped around Miranda’s waist. She had felt free. After that, they had explained almost everything to the twins and Miranda’s mother. The girls were a bit reluctant at first, especially when they heard they were going to move, but they had completely settled in there new house.

 

It had been a huge change for both Andy and Miranda too. They both had lived all their lives in small villages and now they lived in New York City. The journey had been long, but necessary if they wanted to be in a place where nobody knew Kissin’ Kate or Miranda Priestly. Andy was glad that it had become New York. She liked this city.

 

There had been some complications. When they had been only 30 miles away from Red Hill, Miranda had noticed that someone was following them. She had told Andy to continue with her daughter while she was going to find out who it was. For two days Andy had not seen Miranda, until on the third night she had heard the familiar clacking of Miranda’s high heels. When Miranda joined her in bed, she had asked what had happened. The other woman mumbled something about Sheriff Thompson and how she had dealt with it. Andy couldn’t feel very sorry for him.

 

Miranda’s mother had not moved with them. She was too old. She had died almost a year after their escape. Somehow Miranda had discovered that. It pained her that she could not have attended the funeral, but Andy helped her get through it.

 

Two months after they had settled in New York Miranda let Nigel know. He immediately came, claiming that life had been very dull ever since Kissin’ Kate had disappeared. He also brought Emily, who despite her haughty attitude and her constant mood swings proved to be very capable and nice sometimes.

 

In two years time Miranda had built up her own little fashion empire. She helped designers and tailors to make a career and made Nigel career better than it could have ever been in Red Hill or any of those towns. Which was why Andy was now playing model for Nigel. He said that she had a regular size, one which most women had which was perfect to adjust his clothes to.

 

Of course nobody knew that Miranda and Andy were a couple. Despite the fact that nobody in the Priestly house had anything against homosexuality, it was still despised by most of the population. Most of the people thought Miranda was some rich widow and Nigel her lover. Andy had taken on Miranda’s last name which caused that many people thought her to be Miranda’s niece or something like that.

 

Sometimes Andy still found Miranda in front of a mirror wearing her black pants and a blouse, like she almost longed to be Kissin’ Kate again. It had been her mask for so long Andy could not blame her. But she could not risk becoming a killer again. They had their new life now and it could not be endangered by that. It was however always on those nights that Miranda did not make love to Andy, but instead she fucked her until Andy was sure she could not walk the next day. Those nights were raw, wild, nearly animalistic. At first at had shocked Andy a little, but soon she learned to love it and return the favour.

 

‘When can I get out off these clothes?’ Andy asked. Nigel raised an eyebrow and pretended to be offended.

 

‘Thank you for the compliment,’ he said sarcastically.

 

‘No, I just mean. This is your winter collection and in case you hadn’t noticed, it’s July. It’s hot and with it’s this even hotter. I just want to get out off these clothes.’

 

‘By all means do,’ an amused voice said behind. Andy turned and looked right at Miranda’s face. The woman sauntered towards her, swaying her hips, because she knew it would turn Andy on and it did. Andy immediately felt a slickness develop between her legs.

 

‘I think I’m going to leave you two to it and take our darling redhead for an afternoon of shopping. Just don’t ruin my clothes,’ Nigel said and left the room in search for Emily.

 

‘Hi,’ Andy said and kissed Miranda on her lips.

 

‘Is that how you greet me?’ Miranda asked with a raised eyebrow. Andy chuckled and pressed her lips against Miranda’s. The taste of smoke and Miranda invaded her mouth and she revelled in it.

 

‘Eh, you guys?’ they heard from the doorway. They broke apart and looked at the sound. Caroline and Cassidy were standing with arms crossed and raised eyebrow, looking a little too much like their mother.

 

‘Just because we are okay with you two being together, doesn’t mean we like looking at you eating each other’s face.’ Andy grinned while Miranda looked at her daughters with an amused look. They always complained about them being too clingy, but Andy and Miranda both knew they didn’t mind that much as they said. Andy winked at Miranda and kissed her again, but this time the silver haired responded in such a way that made Andy’s toes curl. When they stopped for air, the twins were gone.

 

‘How was your day?’ Andy asked sweetly. Miranda sighed, lit a cigarette and sat down. 

 

‘Dreadful. How hard is it to tell the difference between turquoise and cerulean? These incompetent - -‘ Andy just smiled while she listened to Miranda ranting about the failure of so many small, but important things, at least to Miranda they were. Andy went to stand behind her and slowly massaged Miranda’s neck. She started to plant soft kisses on the white skin while her fingers unbuttoned Miranda’s dress.

 

‘What do you think you’re doing?’ Miranda asked when Andy had begun to unlace her corset.

 

‘I’m trying to make this day a little less dreadful,’ she replied and fastened her lips to a sensitive spot between Miranda shoulders while her hands slipped inside the corset and cupped Miranda’s breast. She received a barely contained moan in return.

 

‘Then you may continue,’ Miranda said, trying to sound casual, but failed to keep the lust out of her voice. Andy smiled and continued to undress Miranda.

 

Her life was so much better than it had been two years ago. She was in love with the most gorgeous woman on the planet, she had her own family now and felt happy. She wasn’t teaching anymore, but she did help Miranda with promoting the clothes by writing little articles about them, something pleased both her and Miranda. Miranda was even considering starting up her own magazine, a sort of newspaper, but only for fashion. And together with the twins and Miranda, Andy put her storytelling skills to good use by started a novel about a legendary woman, named Kissin’ Kate. Though that story was already over, their story as Miranda and Andy Priestly was just beginning.

 

The End