My Lucky Star (Complete)

2. Leaving home

"Thirteen, I still can't believe we have parted for three years. I'm turning fifteen this month. You probably couldn't recognize me at all. I'm not the fat girl you used to know."

Juliette smiles when she posted her letter. She still writes to him every week. Sometimes Thirteen would write back. Or he won't write at all.

Life in a circus is tough. They keep moving from town to town. Although Thirteen has a friend in London who stored all his letters for him.

Juliette is saving money to buy a new violin. She has been working in a strawberry farm during her break. She wants to buy it as a present for Thirteen.

Today she arrives home earlier than usual. The farm has harvested the strawberries yesterday. Not much work today.

She is walking upstairs when she overhears it.

"When would he come to take her away?" asks her Aunt.

"Next week."

"Good riddance. She eats too much. You should have sent her away a long time ago."

Her uncle says, "The buyer in Belgium only accepts teenager girls. Of course we have to wait, My Dear."

Juliette walks to her room as silent as she could. She has heard rumors about this Belgium buyer. The old man would take poor farmer girls and take them away. They won't be seen again.

I'm scared. I don't want to be a whore...

She quickly writes another letter to Thirteen.

"I'm scared, Thirteen. My uncle is going to sell me off to Belgium buyer. Please come and save me..."

She goes out to post the letter. This time she pays higher postage fee so it would be delivered faster.

One week. Will he receive my letter in time?

Juliette got worried and she becomes ill.

Her aunt hits her with a broom when she got up late the next morning.

"You lazy bum! You are lucky enough to live with us! You should have cooked breakfast one hour ago! Your uncle has nothing to eat! Ungrateful mutt!"

"I'm ill, Auntie..."

Another hit with her broom.

"Useless wretch! You should have died with your parents! Wasting my foods for years..."

The angry aunt leaves the small attic bedroom.

Juliette weeps bitterly. Still no reply from Thirteen. The buyer would come and take her away in few days.

She forces herself to rise from the bed. If she didn't cook anything, her aunt would hit her again. She does her daily chores although she is suffering high fever.

*****

In the fifth day, finally a letter arrives from Thirteen.

"I'm coming for you. Get some male clothes and money."

That's all he wrote in his letter.

Juliette secretly hides her uncle old clothes after she washes them. She makes adjustments to the waist part. And the length of the pants.

She has been saving money to buy a present for Thirteen. Never thought she would be using it to escape from home.

She keeps on waiting but Thirteen never comes.

*****

A storm is coming. 

Today is the seventh day. The buyer from Belgium shall arrive today. Her aunt couldn't stop smiling from early morning. She orders Juliette to take a bath and comb her hair.

Where are you, Thirteen? Do you really care for me?

Juliette is closing the coop for the hens. Securing it because the storm is coming.

Suddenly she hears, "Hello."

Thirteen looks a bit older than the last time they met. His height is still the same. One meter tall. For an adult man. It's like a big flaw.

"Thirteen!"

She gives him a good hug.

Thirteen comments, "I'm wondering if it's really you. How come your waist shrunk this much? They really didn't feed you..."

"I'm scared..."

Thirteen scratches his head.

He confesses, "I took care of the old man."

"What?"

"The buyer. He's dead. I was going to scare him using an Indian native mask. He fell off his horse and..."

"Oh...you saved me, Thirteen!"

The midget looks gloomy when he responds, "Not yet. They would send another man to take you away."

"What should I do?"

Thirteen holds her hand and he asks, "Do you trust me?"

She stares him.

The one they called devil. He looks like a freak because he has very short body. It's like an adult man forever trapped in a child's body. A man who would be laughed all his life.

She replies, "Yes, I trust you, old friend. No one else in this world loves me like you do."

"Come with me. Leave this wretched place once and for all."

"Me? But I..."

"Forget your past life as Juliette Dawson. Live freely as Jules Knight, a young man. Not bound by society rules."

The wind is blowing stronger.

Thirteen asks, "Do you want to come with me or not? It's now or never..."

"I'm been waiting for you. Let's go."

Juliette goes back to behind the chicken coop to pick up her hidden suitcase.

Thirteen says, "We better get going. Storm is coming. No one would come out in a weather like this."

"Yes. Let's go."

"One more thing. Change your clothes. From today forward, you shall be Jules, my partner."

"Partner for life," says her.

Thirteen makes a gesture for her to lower her body. He cuts her braid using a sharp knife. Then he puts his hat to her head. It's a bit bigger for her head. A sign that Thirteen is smarter than her.

That day, Juliette has died behind the chicken coop.

A young man named Jules Knight follows the devil out of the village.

One last look to the home. Before Jules turns away and leaves with steady paces.

Never go back again.

London is waiting for them.

In the postal carriage, Thirteen glances at his young friend. Maybe it's wrong to take her away from her only home. He doesn't regret it. The way she has been treated. Wished he could take her away a long time ago.

No, he has to wait. Until she's old enough to travel without slowing him down.

One thing Thirteen has known. He doesn't know how to handle a kid too well.

Thirteen notices the box and asks, "Is this?"

"Yes. Your violin. I couldn't leave it at home. Auntie might sell it."

"Could you play it?"

"A little bit. Better than the last time we met."

"Good."

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There is a reason why Thirteen asked her to become Jules. A woman in Victorian era is very restricted by rules. She couldn't travel freely with a man. She couldn't find a job. Unless she becomes a laborer in a factory. Working long hours with little wage.

This story is inspired from a true story from a crime in Victorian era. One woman has become a male clerk for a year before it was discovered. She committed theft otherwise she would never be found out.