Anything Could Happen| 1.1 – A Storm's Coming In
Snow crunched underfoot with every quick step she took. To say it was cold would merely be an understatement, but to say it was freezing would take things to the extremes. It was chilly, perfectly so for some. The snowflakes were far and few between, the winds just a tad bit rough, and the air nippy to the touch. A storm was coming in, if one could trust the weather reports, and Lola needed to finish her delivers as soon as possible.
Her hand quickly touched her messenger bag, feeling for the lumps made from the parcels inside. They're still there, good, she thought to herself, smiling. I hope this medicine will help those sick kids…
She made a right when she hit the shoreline. The docks were old and creaky, but quite sturdy as she made her way across. They were made before her time and had seen many a boats, some belonging to the marines, some belonging to mere fishermen, and some…some belonging to pirates. She had never personally met or even seen pirates, but she heard tales and gossip of late. Some of the housewives liked to spread rumors of handsome men coming to town and taking them away to the seas. Just silly stories…but…what if? Glancing off into the waters, she frowned when she noticed the small boats bobbing. The tides are already quite high…
Shaking her head, Lola pushed away any thoughts that had nothing to do with delivering the doctor's packages. He relied on her to do such things due to his old age, but she was happy to help. In return, he would mentor her in the arts of medicine and basic medical care. She had hoped to follow in his footsteps one day.
When she reached her designated street, she hopped off the dock and back into the mushy snow. She smiled and kicked some aside, laughing when some landed near a pair of brown doves. They jumped back and gave her sideway glances, but continued to peck at the bits of grass that stuck out.
She cooed but they didn't pay her any attention.
The couple whom had ordered the medicine was waiting outside their house, shoveling snow away. She slowly opened the gate to their front yard and waved when they glanced up at her. "Good afternoon! I have a package for the Charles family."
The woman smiled. "Yes, that's us, thank you." She opened the door to the house and motioned for Lola to enter. "Please, come inside where it's warm."
"Thank you," Lola responded, walking in and taking in a deep breath of the smells that arose from the fireplace. The house was quite toasty and it smelt like cinnamon. She removed her scarf and flung it over her messenger bag. "How are they? The children I mean? The doctor said they caught a bad flu…"
"Oh, yes…" the woman answered slowly. "They're still sick; worst now due to the cold, but I'm hoping they're spring back to life with the medicine you've brought."
Lola opened her bag as the woman continued talking about the weather. She mentioned something about the storm but Lola wasn't quite listening completely. Handing her the parcel, she glanced over to the father and said, "You both should take care of yourselves as well. Don't want you two getting that flu."
"We've got our shots, thank you," the man said with a smile. "Just didn't get the children vaccinated in time."
"Vaccinations cost money is all," the mother tried to explain, clutching the parcel to her chest. "And money is tight these days…"
Lola arched her brows and frowned. "I didn't mean to pry but the doctor spoke about a shipment of vaccines coming in for this flu season that he plans on setting at a low price. It should be in within the next two weeks, and you should check in often so you can be one of the first to get them."
"Thank you," the man and woman both said, happily.
"And thank the doctor for us, will you?" the man asked.
"Of course," Lola quickly answered. She stood there, clutching the strap of her bag and cocked her head to the side. "If that's all…"
"Oh!" the woman said quickly. "Please don't go yet! You must be hungry and dinner is just about done."
Lola felt wrong about the offer. They were the poorer folk of the town and she didn't feel right about eating what food they had saved up to buy. "I couldn't impose…"
The woman sat the parcel down and pointed to her kitchen. "You wouldn't be! We have enough for another. Please, it's all we can offer for you coming all the way down here."
"Well…if you really want me to stay…" Lola placed her bag and scarf near the entrance and sent a small smile to the woman. "Yes, thank you. I will stay for dinner."
The woman grinned and the father laughed. "I'll take this up to the children and get them ready for supper," he said as he took the parcel.
That late afternoon, Lola dined on beef soup with onion, carrots, and sweet yellow peppers. It was a nice touch to the cold day and it warmed her throat up nicely. Although quite sick, the children seemed lively at the table, telling her stories of adventures they had at school.
She spent three hours there, long enough for the day light to dim and for dark clouds to roll in.
Picking up her items, Lola said her goodbyes and wished the children a healthy recovery. She winced once outside, where the cold had turned for the worst and the winds had picked up. Even though the soup was yummy and the family kind, I regret staying as long as I did…I need to get back before the weather gets worst.
Tucking her hands under the armpits of her coat, she slowly treaded through the snow, keeping her head down to avoid snow whipping into her eyes. Her nose began to run by the time she made it back to the docks.
Glancing at the boats, she was horrified to see them thrashing about wildly. The report was quite right about that storm…
She quickened her pace, footsteps making loud thumps against the wood as she made her way across.
There were voices in the dark, somewhere out in the water where the boats were held.
"Hurry up! It's fucking cold out here!" one voice yelled.
"Don't scream," another ordered, quieter than the first. "I'm almost done…you know this isn't exactly the easiest to do in the dark."
"Whatever."
A huff followed afterword.
Lola slowed down to a stop and squinted. She could barely make out two figures standing near a boat. One was knelt over, fiddling around with what seemed to be a rope. The other stood off to the side.
"There, I tied it."
"Great. Let's go find an inn."
"We don't have any money, Kid…" The one knelt over was now standing up. They were walking forward and Lola blinked a few times before starting to move again. Her footsteps were loud.
"Somebody there?" one of the voices called out.
She stopped and frowned. It was dark and the storm was raging on. And she didn't know these men. "Yes?" she answered back. "Who are you?"
"Who are you?!" one snapped.
"Shut up," the other said. "We're looking for a place to stay." When they approached her, their appearance became clear. Two scruffy looking men, one a bit more built than the other. One, the quieter one, had a strange contraption covering his face.
Is that a mask?
"Would you happen to know the direction to an inn we can stay for the next few days?" the masked one asked. The man beside him gave her a deathly glare.
"Uhhh…" she slowly spoke. "Um, yeah, center of Main Street has a few motels."
The built one frowned. "Where is it?" he said, annoyed. His face seemed paled from the cold. The wind blew some of his hair over his face. He was quick to fix it though, with an angry expression.
Looking off towards their small boat, Lola arched a brow. They're clearly not marines nor fishermen…but they don't look like pirates either… "Just follow me. I'm heading back there right now." With that, she turned and continued her hurried walk back to town. For a few moments, the two men didn't follow, but after a rather loud howl of wind, she heard their footsteps quickly catching up to her.
They were whispering. She couldn't hear what the masked man was saying but she could only guess by the loud reactions of the other.
"You thank her!" he had snapped from behind her. "I don't care if I am…I order you to thank her, since you're the one with your panties all tied up in a bunch."
The masked one approached Lola's side. She tucked her hands under her arms and glanced over at him.
"Thanks," he said before slowly returning to the side of his friend. He must have said something because the other snorted and laughed loudly. She ignored it.
"We're here!" she announced as she came to an abrupt stop. One of the men stumbled into her, causing her to fall face-first into the snow.
Loud laughter could be heard from one of them.
"Great job, Killer!"
"Shut up…"
She felt a hand grab her arm, tugging her back up. Snow covered her face and lingered in her mouth. She spat it out and rubbed the back of her hand across her nose. It stung a bit but no to any harm. "The motel is just right over there," she whimpered as she pointed to the left.
The redheaded man quickly pushed past her, hurriedly making his way to the building. The other gave cocked his head, mumbled a quick apology, and followed suit. Lola just stood there and tried to blow the snow out of her nose.
"You're welcome," she muttered to herself, frowning as she watched the men enter the motel. Weirdoes. Shaking her head, she took a small path right, which lead to the medical district of the town. Besides the small office building that was the doctor's clinic, a small hospital stood nearby for the critical patients. It was rather hectic at times there, especially during flu season, so Lola enjoyed just sticking to the simplicity of the doctor's office.
Who were those guys?
She quickly crossed the path and entered the building, pushing away all thoughts about those two men.
To be continued…
Next Time: Lola finds something at the doctor's office. The two strangers run into her again and the storm outside gets stronger.
A/N: Hey there! Thanks for reading this story. I wanna say that I'm not really ever going to go into a physical detail about what Lola looks like because I really want to leave that to the reader, so that each of you can have your own personal image to what her appearance is. I also would like to say that if any of you want to submit an OC of yours to be a member of the pirate crew, to please PM if interested! I think it would cool to do something like that and make it more identifiable to some of you guys.
Again, thanks!