Chapter 2
I sat in the salon, inspectors and detectives probing me for information about the deaths of the master and mistress of the house, including their servants, and why I was the only one left alive.
"He said 'Too wasteful, such innocence and beauty', then drove off down the road." I said again to the men. They made me seem as if they thought that I was the one that murdered the staff and my parents. They didn't care about how I felt, and even less because I was a female.
"Either way, you are too young to be accused of anything. I doubt that she can even hold a gun the proper way, not to mention the sheer size needed of a gun for these bullet wound sizes." I kept my mouth shut and my gun securely hidden down my bodice, if they thought that I was too incompetent to hold a gun, which would make me innocent. I kept my eyes at the floor and tears running down my cheeks so that I maintained the pain of having my parents murdered. I could be less pained, these were tears of joy! I was finally free!
"We have contacted your family in England, and apparently none will have you. You do have an uncle in Germany who says that he can take you in, and that his wife would have it no other way for the daughter of her favourite sister." What? I thought that all of my family was in England, and since they live in Germany, they must not have known of my parent's departure from England. I nodded my head like a good girl and rose with grace. They escorted me to the carriage that waited for me. Of course my uncle would be cheap, making me ride in a horse and carriage when the new invention-cars, were perfectly capable of doing the same job with less time.
"You are to go to the docks, and board the ship there to France, where you will be brought to the castle." I nodded my head again. A castle? My family was given a mansion from the king; a lavish home, but still smaller than a castle, and still less reputation. They must have been rich.
The ride to the docks was long and bumpy on the dirt roads. I tried to fall asleep, but kept getting jostled awake, so I contented myself to watch the scenery fade around me. This will be the last time that I will see these surroundings, and I didn't exactly feel sad to be leaving them behind.
I got on the boat and looked around. It was damp and cool; the accommodations for the long trip were less than par. Hundreds of children were sitting in various forms of disarray on the wooden floor, most with tattered and dirty clothing. I went up the creaking stairs, looking for someone to help me with this terrible misunderstanding. A tall boy with medium length golden hair came up to me; he had a uniform on, and looked at me curiously.
"Excuse me, miss. I'm J. Hale, can I help you? Are you lost?"
"There seems to be some misunderstanding, sir. I am on my way to France, to meet my uncle, and there seems to be peasants and slaves in the waiting hold."
"You do seem out of place with that pricey clothing. This boat is off to France, and it is the second of which to make the perilous journey across the Atlantic. It is the only one at the moment; the Olympic Class HMS Titanic will be here in several months, on the return journey back to Europe."
"Why am I not on that ship then? Why am I forced with the likes of them?"
"I hear the tickets are exclusive and pricey, not to mention that the ship won't be here for a while yet."
"I don't care; I have money, and my uncle I'm going to lives in a Castle. I'm sure we can afford one measly ticket!"
"You're on now and we're already off, so I recommend that you make yourself comfortable before something happens. The Atlantic is dangerous, and isn't to be underestimated.
He pushed me below deck and locked the door, signalling my finality. I had no choice now, and I wondered if my new life would be worse than my old one.
"Get up!" a man growled at us. I woke up out of my torturous slumber and stood up groggily. My skirt was stained, and wrinkled, and my face was caked with dirt. I felt quite dirty, and hellish, but I didn't look near as deteriorated as some of the other children that surrounded me. I wasn't exactly a child, 15 years old, but in society until I married a man and I bore him children I was considered a child myself. Some people around me were skin and bones; severely malnourished, and looked exhausted and weak. At least I still had what little beauty and grace I had been taught and inherited.
We were pushed onto the deck of the ship, and a man lined us up against the wall. "These men are going to buy your services and pay for you to live with them. Act properly and you might get a good home." More men filed on board the ship, and the first man talked silently to the other group of men.
"Sorry, she's already taken. Rich royalty in Germany. Get her out of here, she isn't for sale." Mr. Hale, whom I met before, took me gently by the arm and escorted me to the crew quarters.
"What a pity, she's so lovely, and just the right age for marriage too." I heard the men laugh as I was pushed through the door and the door was shut.
"Those men are good for nothing. They buy young girls as if they were toys, and get rid of them like garbage when they get older. Thank god you don't have to go through that.
"So am I. When will we be arriving?"
"In two days. I have been hired by your uncle to make sure that you arrive safely and undamaged. I am giving you my quarters to make sure that you're comfortable. I'll sleep outside the door to give you privacy."
"Please don't go out of your way to make yourself uncomfortable. I am fine where I was. "The trick to being received warmly by high status peoples was to make yourself look selfless and endure anything to do what you must. I really wanted to be welcomed warmly by my uncle.
"I insist. I'm getting paid a lot to keep you safe, and the best way to keep you safe is to isolate you where I can keep an eye on you. I won't let you go back down there."
I nodded my head feebly and kept my eyes on the floor. He placed a finger under my chin and pulled my face up to look at his. "Please, Miss Swan. Don't be shy. It'll be ok, and we'll be out of here in a couple days." He smiled slightly, but it didn't reach his eyes. We both knew that it was quite dangerous here and even more so when these men on board are buying women. Nobody would put it by them to steal one that they wanted. I shifted slightly at the length that his finger had been on my chin. It was not good for men to be close to women, and only the husband is to touch the wife; women made exceptions, of course, for times when they cheat on their husbands. Most men would order their wives killed for cheating on them, and marry a younger woman, probably which he had been cheating on his wife with during the whole time.
"Sorry." He pulled his hand back and left down the little hall at the other side of the room. I followed him and he motioned that this was to be my room for the next few days until we arrived.
Something pulled at me from the back of my thoughts. Something about before the death of my parents. I couldn't place it, but something told me that it was important and should be remembered. I gave up and make myself sleep, tossing and turning with the rocking of the boat on the swells of angry water threatening to overthrow us.
