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HISTORIC BATTLE: Lizzie Borden vs. Mary Cotton

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Offline supporturgoddess7-11-57

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HISTORIC BATTLE: Lizzie Borden vs. Mary Cotton
« on: February 22, 2014, 12:51:25 PM »
HISTORIC BATTLE: Lizzie Borden (Infamous American Legend) vs. Mary Cotton (British Black Widow)
                                                  By Supporturgoddess

A well-dressed young woman hurries down the streets of Fall River, Massachusetts. More than the cold wind hurries her along. Children have gathered. They follow behind her, as they have countless times before. Just as she turns off the main street, she hears them singing her name.
       "Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one."
       A tomato flies and explodes on the woman's back. Children laugh. The woman's face blushes red with rage. Her fists clench. She desperately wants to turn on her tormentors, but she knows many eyes are watching her. She presses on.
       A carriage pulls up beside her. A tiny, thin woman looks down.
       "Lizzie Borden! You should know better than to pass those ruffians, all alone! Now, get in!"
       Lizzie climbs up next to the thin young woman. "Heaven bless you, Sarah Hendler! Let's be off!"
       Sarah Hendler knows all too well of the ghastly deeds Lizzie Borden was accused of, but Lizzie is the young woman's only friend, and beggars can't be choosers. Plain, small, thin, flat-chested and desperately poor, Sarah Hendler is a young woman on her way to becoming an old maid. Desperate for companionship, Sarah would befriend anyone, even the most hated...and feared...woman in Fall River.
       The women arrive at Lizzie's home.
       "Come in," Lizzie says. "Stay awhile."
       A chill runs through Sarah's frail body. She stares up at Lizzie's imposing home, the very house where it was said Lizzie hacked her father and stepmother to pieces with an axe. Despite her fears, Sarah accepts Lizzie's invitation. In her mind, she had no choice. Sarah befriended  Lizzie when she first came to town, long before she knew of Lizzie's horrific reputation. By the time Sarah found out the truth, Lizzie considered herself Sarah's best friend. Sarah worried what might happen if she rejected Lizzie. For Sarah, there was no turning back. Lizzie already knew her. Even if Sarah left town, Lizzie could use her wealth to hunt her down. Sarah had to hope her friendship with Lizzie would protect her from Lizzie's wild wrath. Afterall, why would Lizzie hurt her only friend in the world? Besides, Sarah reminded herself that Lizzie had been acquitted of the crime. A jury had found Lizzie innocent.
       Sarah looks up at the imposing house and swallows, hard. Lizzie WAS innocent of those horrific crimes...wasn't she?
       "Honestly," says Sarah, "I don't know why you live out here. The wind whips down through the trees and chills the bones. I don't know why you don't live in The Hills with all the other rich folk."
       "You know why," Lizzie whispers. She glances at a large axe, barely visible through a half-open door on a small woodshed.
       Sarah feels herself shaking and changes the subject. "People do so admire the flowers you grow. Everyone says you have the finest garden in town."
       Lizzie smiles. "I do take great pride in my garden. Its my one source of happiness." Lizzie looked back. "Well, other than our friendship, of course. Why don't you stay for supper?"
       The women head straight to the kitchen. There they prepare a simple meal consisiting of soup, stew, and vegetables. Always a terrible gossip, Sarah simply has to tell someone all the juicy stories she has picked up around town.
       Sarah turns to Lizzie. "Have you seen Mr. Folgety's new wife?"
       Lizzie's eyebrow rises. "Wife? I'd have thought she was his daughter!"
       The women laugh. The evenening is transpiring wonderfully...until....
       Sarah holds a cucumber on a cutting board and brings a sharp knife down upon it.
       CHOP!
       Lizzie jolts, violently. Her eyes widen.
       CHOP!
       Blistfully unaware that anything is wrong, Sarah goes on. "Folgety can pretend he's still a young man all he wants. The truth is, he has warts older than that pretty little thing he married! It's shameful!"
       CHOP!
       Cold sweat covers Lizzie's body. Her eyes grow blank. As she stares off into space, she hears distant, familiar voices crying out her name. Then she hears them screaming....
       CHOP!
       Lizzie seizes Sarah's hands and pulls the knife away. "We...don't need any more vegetables."
       Sarah's heart pounds. She had been helpless against Lizzie's iron grip. Even more frightening than Lizzie's sudden strength was the look in Lizzie's eyes! Was this the wild look of madness? Was this the look of a young woman possessed by an evil spirit or demon? Were those eyes the last thing her parents saw before....
       Sarah shook her head, reminding herself that Lizzie had been found innocent.
        She WAS innocent...wasn't she?
       The women have their meal and then take their tea on Lizzie's porch. Sarah looks up at a small cage, where Lizzie's pet songbird happily chirps away. Lizzie had always been interested in birds. Sarah chatters away, spending  the evening telling Lizzie all of the local gossip.
       Lizzie looks down the street. "We have a new neighbor."
       Sarah nods. "I've seen her in town. She keeps to herself and never talks to anyone. She's as reclusive as you are. I think I'll pay her a little visit. It's the neighborly thing to do."
       Lizzie smirks. "You just hope you can dig up some good gossip."
       "Why, Lizzie Borden! Whatever gives you that idea?"
       The women laugh.
       At the first opportunity, Sarah hurries  to the modest house down the street from the Borden mansion and knocks on the door. At first no one answers, but Sarah keeps trying. Finally, the door opens. A woman slightly older than Lizzie stares out.
       "Good evening," Sarah says, pleasantly. "I'm one of your neighbors. I thought I should welcome you to the neighborhood."
       "I moved in some time ago," the woman replies.
       "I'm sorry to have taken so long," says Sarah, "but I've been working all hours sewing and working at the mill."
       Sarah's words strike a chord with the woman.
       "I know a thing or two about working long hours, Luv. I've had a hard time of it myself. My name's Mary, Mary Cotton."
       Sarah lifts an eyebrow. "You're not from around here, are you?"
       "I'm English."
       "What brings you all the way to Fall River?"
       Mary's eyes dart around nervously, as if searching for an answer. "I lost my husband and my children to...a stomach disorder. I remarried, but my second husband died, too. Even my Mum died. I felt alone. I was left deeply in debt, with no way to pay. It didn't seem fair that some women are handed such easy lives, while women like you and I have to work so very hard for everything. I decided to come to The States, to start fresh."
       Sarah and Mary become instant friends. They had both lived hard lives filled with loss and misery, and misery loves company.
       One day while the women talk at Mary's door, Mary looks down the street at The Borden House. "Isn't that a sin?"
       "What's wrong?" asks Sarah.
       Mary replies, "Isn't just terrible the way some folks have so many nice things without ever having to work for them, while good women like us work our fingers to the bone for the scraps they leave behind?"
       "Well...."
       Mary sneers. "A woman like me  has to fight for what she wants."
       Those words foreshadow future events. When Sarah quite naturally tries to intruduce her two friends, Mary and Lizzie instantly dislike each other. Mary dislikes Lizzie for being an heiress who, in Mary's mind, never had to work for a living. Lizzie feels threatened. She is jealous of the time Sarah spends with Mary and fears Mary is trying to steal away her only  friend.
       From the start, the women cross swords. Mary talks about how hard she and Sarah work, insinuating hard that Lizzie is a loafer who can't understand hard work.
       Sarah smiles at Mary. "There's a dance coming up, You simply must come with us!"
       "Yes," Lizzie offers. "If you like, I can lend you something nice to wear."
       Mary's eyes narrow, rightly taking Lizzie's offer as a slap in her face, implying Mary has nothing to wear.
      "I have my own dresses," Mary returns. "Besides, if the dance is coming right up, I might not have time to take your dress in at the waist or let it out in the bussom."
        Though Lizzie holds a pleasant smile frozen on her lips, her eyes rage. Lizzie is fully aware the Englishwoman has effectively called her fat and flat chested.
        From that day forward, Sarah must visit each of her friends separately. With each visit Mary tries to convince Sarah that Lizzie is a spoiled, lazy, self-absorbed heiress, while Lizzie reminds Sarah that Mary comes from 19th-Century America's old rival and enemy, England. Lizzie paints Mary as an outsider and a member of a lower class, who simply cannot be trusted.
       Then one day, a line is crossed. Mary Cotton publically announces that she plans to start a flower garden, promising she will grow the finest flowers anyone has ever seen. Everyone in Fall River, including Mary Cotton, knows that Lizzie has always prided herself on having the finest flower garden in town. In Lizzie's mind, Mary has slapped her face and thrown down the gauntlet. War is declared. A private battle is joined.
       The women continue to attend church services, town dances, and other social events together. They wear false smiles, speak politely, and put on a good show, but Sarah is accutely aware of the growing hostility between Lizzie and Mary.
       Mary knows that under normal circumstances, the battle should be a mismatch. Lizzie is the hometown girl, with endless familiar relations. She is also of a superior social class. Mary begins to wonder why Lizzie is unable to use those advantages to shut her out of Fall River society. She begins to realize Lizzie has no friends but Sarah. Lizzie is unpopular and ostracized. Mary wants to know why. Mary quickly learns Lizzie's terrible secret. Now Mary has all she needs to use against Lizzie.
       Late one night after attending a dance, Lizzie returns alone to her huge, empty house. Wrinkles appear on her forehead. Something feels out of place. The night is quiet...too quiet. Her gaze moves slowly up her porch to her birdcage. Then it hits her. Her songbird always grows excited at her approach. The bird is silent. Lizzie creeps up to the cage, peers down, and sees her bird lying dead on the bottom. She knows the signs. The bird has been poisoned!
       Lizzie gasps, leaping back from the cage. She races into her home, slams and bolts the door behind her, spins, and lets out a high-pitched scream. Terrified, her eyes grow wide. She stares in horror at a small axe, driven into a table near the entranceway. Lizzie's heart pounds. She stares at the axe and hears voices from the past. She sees faces, at first familiar and then horribly mutilated. She fears ghosts have returned for revenge. She almost screams again, but then she looks up the stairs. An immediate threat drives away fanciful ones. Someone drove the axe into her table, and that someone could still be in her house!
       Lost in a blind panic, Lizzie runs across the street and hammers her fists on Sarah's door. Sarah answers.
      "Dear Lizzie, you're as pale as a ghost! Whatever is wrong?"
       Lizzie struggles to form words. "My poor little bird is dead! It's been poisoned! I found an axe driven into my table!" She looks down the street. "It's that awful Cotton woman's doing! I know she's behind it!"
       Sarah shakes her head. "Surely not! Surely this is the wicked work of delinquent children. Mary is a good woman--"
       "She's a low-class tramp," cries Lizzie. "She poisoned my pet and left that axe as a warning to me! She's wicked and horrid! You don't know her! You don't even know why she's here!"
       Sarah shrugs. "She told me that she left England to have a fresh start here."
       Lizzie shakes her head. "More likely she was forced to leave! The Brits probably ran her out! Someone knows the truth! I can't get to the bottom of this. No one will even talk to me. They won't tell me what they know, but...everyone thinks highly of you! You have no enemies. Please, Sarah, I'm begging you to help me. Ask around. Find out the truth about Mary Cotton. She obviously knows my secrets. I have to know who I'm up against!"
       After much wailing and pleading by Lizzie, Sarah agrees to try.
       Lizzie has the local police search every inch of her home. Their comments infuriate her.
       "Everyone in town knows your history. As long as you stay, things like this are bound to happen."
       Lizzie stamps her feet. "I was acquitted! I was found innocent of those crimes!"
       When the police leave, Lizzie hurries to lock every door and window. Though terrified, there is no way in Hell she will let any woman run her out of town, especially not Mary Cotton! Lizzie decides to stay and fight.
       Late that night, someone hammers on her door. Lizzie peeps out through a window and sees Sarah on her porch. She hurries to open the door.
       Sarah trembles. "Oh, Lizzie! I found out the truth! It's horrible!"
       "Calm down," Lizzie says. "Tell me. Is she a prostitute or a mistress?"
       Sarah swallows. "She's England's most notorious female serial killer!"
       Lizzie's eyes bulge. "What?"
       Sarah explains, "I have an uncle who has a friend whose brother-in-law knows a man whose wife works for a man whose cousin's wife's aunt's stepson lives in England."
       "Huh?"
       Sarah waves her hands. "Nevermind that. The point is, everyone in England knows the nightmarish legend of Mary Cotton!
       " Mary married a man named Mowbry. They had a family, but their children mysteriously died of stomach problems...gastric distress. Then her husband died...of a stomach ailment. Mary soon remarried, but her second husband died...of a stomach disorder. She worked her way into a third man's life, but soon the man's child died...of gastric fever. Soon after, Mary's mother grew ill. Though her mother began to recover, Mary insisted on going to her and taking care of her. Shortly after Mary's arrival, her mother, who had been getting better, suddenly died. Mary had yet another child, but it died...of stomach disorders. Mary's husband discovered she was running up huge debts. He threw her out. Mary was left on the streets and desperate. Then she learned a friend's brother had lost his wife. At the time, Mary's friend was acting as a substitute mother to her brother's children. Mary set her sites on her best friend's grieving brother. Suddenly Mary's friend, who had taken the role of caretaker for the children, died...of a stomach ailment. This let Mary become the children's new caretaker. Her position let her console the father, who now had to grieve for a lost wife and a newly lost sister. Mary had her man, but soon he died too...of a stomach disorder. Mary then struck up with an old flame, but he soon died...of stomach troubles.
       "I think you get the picture.  Oh, Lizzie! Mary Cotton was convicted of poisoning! She's said to have poisoned and killed her best friend, various husbands, an old boyfriend, her own mother, and even several of her own children! She poisoned her victims and collected on the insurance!
       "The official record states that Mary Cotton was hanged, but rumors quickly spread that tell a different story. Mary obviously has quite a power over men. Just consider how often and how quickly she remarried! Some say she used this power to seduce several officials. According to the rumors, Mary wore some sort of brace under her clothes that prevented her from hanging. She faked her own death. Her magic over men ensured certain officials would declare her dead, helping her to escape.
      "Oh, Lizzie! According to the rumors, Mary Cotton faked her own death and escaped by sea...to America! Now she's after you! You have to get away! Run!"
       Lizzie's jaw set. "It will be a cold day in Hell before Mary Cotton has Lizzie Borden running scared of her!"
        Sarah tossed up her hands. "At the very least, you have to end your feud! Do whatever it takes! You have to go to her and apologize! You must make amends...bury the hatchet!"
       Lizzie's eyes bulged. "WHAT?"
       Sarah swallowed, hard. "That was a poor choice of words. It's a figure of speach. Lizzie, you have to do something! Whatever you do, don't let her serve you anything to eat or drink! Remenber...her favorite method of murder is poisoning! Don't put anything into your mouth unless you're absolutely sure of where it came from!"
                                                         ***
        Night falls. Violent storms roll in. Sarah lies in her bed, unable to sleep. She rolls over and peeps through her curtains at Lizzie's huge house.
         Across the street, Lizzie Borden sits in a rocking chair. Her huge eyes scan the room. Her ears listen for any  unusual sound. She wears only a light, white slip, which clings to her body. She presses her bare feet on the wood floor and rocks back and forth. She thinks about her bird. She thinks about her flowers. She thinks about the axe. Her anger grows. She refuses to let Mary run her out of town. She hears a gentle knock upon her door.
       "Sarah?"
       Lizzie throws open her door and comes face-to-face with Mary Cotton. The Englishwoman's eyes stab into Lizzie's soul. Lizzie's heart pounds. She grows pale.
       Mary sees the fear in Lizzie's wide eyes and likes what she sees. She speaks with an air of confidence or even arrogance. "Mind if I come in, Luv?"
       Breathless, Lizzie peeps, "It's very late...."
       A wide smile crosses Mary's lips. "Don't worry. This won't take long."
       The Englishwoman presses her palm flat against the bare flesh of Lizzie's shoulder and pushes the American back, letting her enter the house. Lizzie's heart races, as she watches Mary close the door behind her...and lock it shut.
       Clearly on the defensive, Lizzie gasps. "What do you want?"
       The Brit stands toe-to-toe with the American, staring her down. Mary's expression is stern and controlling, the expression of a woman used to being in control.
        "I understand you've had poor little Sarah running around behind my back, asking about me. That will stop...now."
       Never willing to be bossed around, Lizzie's backbone stiffens. A slight, challenging smile appears on her lips.
      "Fine. I already have all I need."
       "Very well," says  Mary. "You know who I am, and I know who you are. Our cards are on the table. It's time we end this."
       Lizzie nearly faints. "Wh-What doest THAT mean?"
       "I think we should call a truce."
        Lizzie finally exhales. "Really? A truce?"
       "Of course," says Mary. "Remember, I'm English. I know the proper things to do. There's no need for ugliness. This town is most certainly big enough for the both of us. We each have enough problems. There's no sense in adding a feud to that list. We can settle this like ladies."
       "Yes," agrees Lizzie. "Let's do that."
       "Very well," says Mary, "then I'm sure you'll accept the peace offering I've made, just for you."
       Mary brings a small, silver tray out from behind her back. All the color washes from Lizzie's face. She stares down at the little cakes on the tray. Lightning flashes.
       Mary tilts her head. "Well? Surely you won't insult me by turning down my gift, will you?" A wicked smile appears on the Englishwoman's face. "Go ahead. Have one. Eat up!"
       Lizzie smiles, coldly. "After you."
       Mary's eyes narrow, but she reaches down and takes the only cake with nuts sprinkled on top. She eats the small cake and then thrusts the tray with the other cakes into Lizzie's hand. Lizzie trembles. Mary has her cornered.
       A clap of thunder shakes the house. Lizzie feigns fright, jolting and deliberately dropping the tray to the floor.
       "Oh dear," says Lizzie. "We certainly can't eat them now."
       Mary picks up one of the cakes. "You keep your floors spotless. it's pefectly fine. Have a bite."
       Lizzie pulls back. "No, thank you. I've walked barefoot on this floor all night. I won't eat off it!"
       "Don't be silly." Mary thrusts the cake at Lizzie's mouth.
        Lizzie grabs Mary's wrist and forces the cake back at Mary's lips. "You first."
       Mary snarls. "Eat it!"
       Mary shoves the cake against Lizzie's mouth. Lizzie holds her lips tightly together. The cake crumbles,as Mary grinds it into Lizzie's face.
       Lizzie wipes cake off her face. "How dare you?" Lizzie's rage boils over. She slaps Mary's face. Outraged, Mary slaps Lizzie's cheek. The two women trade stinging slaps, until Lizzie resorts to a closed fist. Mary falls back over the back of Lizzie's couch. Raging, Lizzie grabs Mary Ann Cotton by her hair from behind. Mary cries out in pain as Lizzie pulls viciously at her hair. Mary ends the attack by pushing off the couch, leaping backward and slamming Lizzie against the wall. Mary spins. The two notorious women trade fists. The Englishwoman quickly has the American on her heels. Lizzie's head flies over one shoulder and then the other, as she takes lefts and rights from the Brit. A fist driven deep into the belly sends Lizzie Borden down.
       Mary gloats over Lizzie. "You should have taken the cake, Deary. It could have been over quickly without a fuss, but you had to choose the hard way. Very well! I'll enjoy taking you down!"
       Mary comes in, but Lizzie kicks hard, sending Mary flying away.
       Mary leaps at Lizzie. Lizzie kicks her foot deep into Mary's belly. Mary coughs, loudly, and falls to her knees at Lizzie's feet. Again Lizzie tears out some of Mary's hair. Again Mary yells in pain. Lizzie yanks the hair behind Mary's head, snapping her head back and making her stare up into Lizzie's face. Lizzie lowers and sinks her teeth into Mary's forehead. Mary cries out in anguish, genuinely startled by the savagery of Lizzie's attack. From her knees, Mary claws madly at Lizzie's body, shredding Lizzie's flimsy slip at the waist. A gaping tear leaves Lizzie's midsection open to attack. Mary's fingernails dig into Lizzie's flesh. Lizzie screams. Each woman tries to overcome the other in a battle of wills. Each is determined to prove she can both give and take more pain.
       Lizzie loses the battle. She lets out a high-pitched cry, spins, wraps her arms around her midsection, and staggers away. Mary charges from behind, running Lizzie forward and ramming her head into a wall. Mary stands behind Lizzie. She curls her fingers around Lizzie's hair and then slams Lizzie's face against the wall over and over again until the plaster shatters. Mary presses Lizzie against the wall and then bites Lizzie's bare back between the shoulderblades. Lizzie screams madly.
       Across the street, Sarah Hendler sits straight up in her bed. Lizzie's cry has risen above the roaring storm. "It must be cats fighting," Sarah tells herself. "Yes, that's all it is. Nothing human could make such a terrible cry."
       In The Borden house, the Englishwoman overpowers the American, forcing her to the floor. Mary sits on Lizzie. Her knees pin Lizzie's shoulders to the floor. Mary snatches up one of the cakes.
      "Now, eat up, Deary!"
       A terrified, high-pitched whine comes out from between Lizzie's tightly-closed lips. Lizzie thrashes. Her bare feet pound and slide on the floor. She twists her body and turns her head side-to-side, desperately trying to keep the cake out of her mouth. Mary reaches down with her free hand and digs her fingers into Lizzie's mouth, trying to pry it open. Lizzie bites down hard on Mary's fingers. Mary reflexively arches her back, pulling her fingers free. Lizzie kicks her feet up and around Mary's face, pulling her down backward, hard.
       Lizzie runs. Mary chases her round and round a tabe. Lizzie throws plates. Mary throws vases and other objects. They are at a stalemate, until Lizzie grabs a chair and slams it across Mary's body. The chair shatters. Mary falls backward to the floor. Lizzie dives on top of her. The women fight wildly, rolling across the floor in a savage catfight. Again the Englishwoman simply proves too much for the American. Mary sends down dozens of hammering blows. She wraps her hands around Lizzie's throat and throttles her. Lizzie can't pull Mary's hands off her throat. Darkness closes in on her. She presses her feet flat against her wood floor and forces the top half of her body under a sofa, pushing her neck out of Mary's reach. Mary lies down flat on Lizzie's body and drives brutal fists into Lizzie's exposed belly. Mary seizes Lizzie's ankles and pulls her out from under the sofa. She pulls her up to her knees. Lizzie looks up from her knees. Tears roll. Her hands raise, begging Mary to stop.
       Mary sneers. "It's far too late for that, Bitch! The local children will simply have to change the rhyme they made up about you to add the part where Lizzie Borden met her end, when she dared fight Mary Cotton! It serves you right for what you did in this house!"
       Lizzie looks up, helpless and at the mercy of the figure holding her fate in her hands. Suddenly images from the past fill her fragile mind. She remembers another time, when the roles had been reversed. For an instant, Lizzie seems to vanish. For an instant, someone or something else seems to appear behind Lizzie's eyes.
       Mary lifts Lizzie and flips her completely off her feet by her hair, sending Lizzie crashing down over the table. She breaks a chair across Lizzie's back. Lizzie collapses, but she makes no sound. When Mary lifts Lizzie, something has changed. Lizzie's huge eyes are blank. She appears confused. Seeing Lizzie apparently beaten sensless, Mary goes all-out. She hugs Lizzie, lifts her off her feet, spins, and drives Lizzie's back down across a short coffee table, coming down ontop Lizzie, body on body. The table breaks under the force of impact. Lizzie lies motionless with her back against the shattered table. Lizzie stares up at Mary through huge, blank eyes.
       Mary puts her foot on Lizzie's throat.
       "Time to say good-bye."
       Lizzie's stares up. Her eyes are wide, but she shows no fear. Her porch light is lit, but no one is home.
       Mary presses her foot down with all her might. Lizzie's gags hard once, but then she seizes Mary's ankle and pulls it off so violently that Mary falls. They rise. Lizzie stares at Mary through cold, dead eyes.
        A blinding flash fills the room! Lightning strikes the tree outside, sending a huge limb crashing in through the window! Deadly shards of glass fly! High wind blows in.
       THE LIGHT GO OUT!
       Mary Ann Cotton screams in fear. When lightning flashes again, Lizzie Borden is gone!
       Mary's heart pounds. She hyperventilates. She is terrified, but she knows there can be no turning back. She sees a candle overturned on a table. She takes it into a kitchen lit by almost constant lightning. With each flash, she fumbles through drawers and cabinets until she finds a match. She leaves the kitchen armed with a candle, and a very large carving knife. Mary Cotton floats through The Borden House as silent as a ghost, cautiously searching room after room. Lizzie cannot hide from her forever. She ascends creaking steps. She searches room after room. She looks in closets, behind curtains, and under beds. Her hand tightens around her knife.
       Mary enters the room where Lizzie was said to have murdered her own mother with an axe. Cold sweat covers her forehead. Her chest heaves for air. She searches the room. She looks under the bed. She reaches her trembling hand to the closet door and throws it open.
       Lightning flashes. Lizzie Borden comes screaming from the closet! Lizzie's face shows total madness. Her eyes blaze with Hellfire, and she wears a bone-chilling, insane grin. Lizzie strikes Mary's wrist, sending the knife flying out of Mary's hand. Screaming like a wild animal, Lizzie slams Mary to the floor and sends down blow after horrific blow.
       Mary's horrified scream rises above the storm.
       Across the street, Sarah fears her heart may stop from sheer terror! She hears the sounds of a terrible battle. Finally she can stand no more. She dares peer out her window through a crack in her curtains. She sees Mary running blindly around the yard. Lizzie chases her toward the street. Mary cries for help or mercy, but Lizzie closes in. Shaking from fear, Sarah pulls the windows tight, praying neither woman saw her watching. Sarah hears a splash . She knows the two are now wrestling in the yard. The final battle has been joined. She hears a long scream. Then there is only the wind and the rain.
       After a long time, Sarah peers back out her window. She sees Lizzie standing in the pouring rain. She is pushing something into a large burlap sack at her feet. With great effort, Lizzie drags the sack across her yard into a shack behind her house. Then, Lizzie steps back out of the shed, and pulls an axe out from a log. She returns to the shack and closes the door.
       Sarah pulls the windows shut. She sits in bed, pulling her knees up to her chin. "It could be anything," Sarah whispers to herself. "It doesn't have to be--"
       CHOP!
       Sarah's almost faints. A moment later, she hears the sound again.
       CHOP!
       Sarah spends the next half-hour listening to the steady sound of an axe.
       CHOP! CHOP! CHOP!
       Sarah pulls her pillow around her head, trying to muffle the sound. Though Sarah cannot sleep for even a moment that night, she does not dare leave her bed the next morning until well after sunrise, when people are  passing by on the street. The instant she leaves her home, she sees Lizzie calling to her. She has no choice but to go across to The Borden House. Sarah instantly sees the cuts, bruises, and scratches covering Lizzie's body.
        Lizzie smiles, pleasantly. "That was quite some storm we had last night. You're lucky to have come through it so well. I wasn't so lucky." She points up to a boarded-window. "You can see where the limb crashed through my window. Flying glass cut me, badly. I hope I didn't keep you up all night, but I couldn't very well leave a tree limb sticking into my house, now could I? I had to chop it down. After that, I had to chop up an old crate to use for wood, so I could cover the window until I can have the glass replaced."
      Sarah's voice wavers. "You...chopped up a tree...in the middle of a violent storm?"
       Lizzie shrugs. "What was I to do? The rain would have flooded my home! If I hadn't patched the window, who knows what wild animal might have crept in?"
       Lizzie's huge eyes search Sarah's, to see if she believes her. Sarah knows she had better. She leans in and hugs Lizzie, saying, "I'm just glad you're all right."
       Lizzie smiles. "Don't worry. I'm much tougher than I seem."
       Weeks pass. Curiously, Mary Cotton has vanished. Some say she has returned to England, but no one knows for sure.
       Months after Mary vanished, the sun rises on a warm day. Lizzie Borden sits on her porch, sipping tea with her friend, Sarah.
       "It's a lovely day," says Lizzie.
       Sarah nods.
       Passerbys stop at the edge of Lizzie's yard to admire her garden.
       Sarah says, "My, your flowers have come in especially well this year. Everyone in town is talking about them. They've never seen such large, beautiful flowers."
        Lizzie smiles. "I used something special in the fertilizer this year."
       Sarah almost chokes on her tea. She glances down at Mary's empty house and finally asks the question she has wanted to ask for months.
       "What do you suppose happened to Mary Cotton?"
       Lizzie looks away. "I really couldn't say."
       "Well," says Sarah, "I'm glad you finally ended your feud. How did you end it, anyway? Whatever happened between you two?"
       A wide, wicked smile spreads across Lizzie Borden's lips.
     "I followed your advice. I came right up to Mary Cotton...and buried the hatchet!"
                                                                                                                   The End

        Now you know who won. I'll explain why in a moment. First, let's all sit back and take a deep breath. While it made sense to me to wonder who would come out on top in a battle between two of history's most feared women, remember that this is pure fiction. Lizzie Borden was only a child at the time  of Mary Cotton's death. Even if Mary had staged her death, she would have been an old woman in the years after Lizzie became famous. This story is written in the spirit of the TV show "Deadlisiest Warrior". It's only a hypothetical battle between historical figures.
       Also, please note that despite the extremely violent nature of the combatants, weapons played no real part in the outcome of the battle. Mary does not poison Lizzie, and Lizzie never even touches her infamous axe during the fight. They engage in a pure, woman against woman catfight, and no more.
       Okay, so now you may be wondering about the ending. Any story featuring two women known for infamous  murders is likely to be a horror story. Given that, I gave the story a wicked, horror-movie-like ending, implying that Lizzie used a very ghoulish ingredient in her fertilizer to make her garden grow. Sure, it's creepy as Hell, but...it's not likely. Think about it. I give an official version of events, in which everyone escapes relatively unharmed. The last anyone sees of Mary Cotton is when is being chased by Lizzie Borden. It seems likely Mary simply ran away. Yes, Sarah heard chopping sounds, but only for a short time. Lizzie said that a tree branch had crashed through her window. We saw that happen in the story. Lizzie then says the chopping sounds Sarah heard happened when Lizzie cut down the branch and then cut up a crate to use to seal her open window. Sarah talks to Lizzie early in the morning after the fight and sees the branch is gone and the window is sealed. If Lizzie didn't cut down the tree and fix the window, who did?  When did they have time to do it? The branch had to be cut down and the window had to be fixed at some point. If the brief chopping Sarah heard really had come from Lizzie's attempts to hide a body, then when exactly did someone cut the limb and fix the window? Why didn't Sarah hear them do it? It seems likely the official version of events, in which Mary simply runs scared of Lizze, is the accurate one.
         Lizzie Borden was found innocent by a jury, but most people don't see it that way. The events in The Borden House became the stuff of legend. I give the reader two possible outcomes, one more likely and far less violent, the other a classic horror-movie-style ending. Like the true legend, this make-believe tale gives you two possible outcomes, one more believable and one more frightening, and then lets you make your own choice.
NOW... Why Did Lizzie Win?
       In many ways, the women were remarkably similar. Each woman (allegedly) murdered members of her own family. Each became so feared and famous that wicked rhymes sproutted up about their evil deeds. There were, however, stark differences, the most obvious being that though Mary Cotton was found guilty and hanged for her crimes, Lizzie Borden was judged innocent. Obviously, for the sake of this story, I had to presume her guilt.
       Anyone who has read my stories knows I tend to give British ladies an advantage, but in this series I'm trying hard to tell who I honestly believe would win, without bias. I might be wrong, of course, but at least give me a little credit for trying to give you my honest evaluation.  English Mary did have quite a few advantages. Lizzie was a spoiled heiress, used to having things done for her. She had a full-time maid, for example. Mary knew hard work. The simple fact that she had so many children proves she was no stranger to pain. If the two had engaged in a direct physical competition, like a wrestling match, I'd have bet heavily on Mary to win. She was likely the tougher woman. She was also probably far more cunning and ruthless. Even if Lizzie was guilty, she acted  only once. Mary struck again and again, year after year.
         Lizzie, however, had advantages, too. Lizzie would have been a much younger woman, and with youth comes stamina and energy. In this particular battle, they fight in Lizzie's house. Homefield advantage cannot be underestimated in a story like this one. When the lights go out, Lizzie can simply run her hands along walls and move effortlessly through the house. She knows every inch of it. Mary is lost, groping blindly around every corner.
        Here is what decided the fight for me. Mary's acts were almost passive-aggresive by nature  (though she was around to see the effects). Lizzie was up close and personal. She became a whirlwind of destruction, acting brutally with her own hands. She had to be the ultimate psycho chick. (For wrestling fans, think AJ Lee on steroids...or more like gamma rays) It's one thing to slip some poison in. What Lizzie was accused of doing takes things to an entirely different level. Lizzie wins... by being the craziest warrior.
         I decided to write this historical battle after seeing Christina Ricci play Lizzie Borden in a TV movie. I kept her in mind when writing about Lizzie. (I had a younger Julia Sawalha in mind in the role of Mary Cotton. Both women can act!) The truth is, though, this story even scared me. Both women and there histories are extremely unsettling. I may do more battles between history's most legendary women, but I'm steering clear of such violent women from here on out.   

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Offline Rocko23

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Re: HISTORIC BATTLE: Lizzie Borden vs. Mary Cotton
« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2014, 05:38:31 PM »
Wow. Brilliant premise and excellent story. Agree with the winner and like the ambiguity as well- although I don't agree with the official version lol.

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Offline Kayla

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Re: HISTORIC BATTLE: Lizzie Borden vs. Mary Cotton
« Reply #2 on: February 22, 2014, 08:00:05 PM »
Pretty cool story!  ;D ;)

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