3. I Feel Pretty
I arrive to a lovely home just outside the main hub-bub of Port Royal. Once inside the manor, Will invites me to sit down.
"I will go find Elizabeth." He says, leaving me by myself. I sit in the luxurious space, but dare not to move, in fear of breaking something or some rule of 17th century etiquette. Will finally returns with Elizabeth and she smiles when she sees me.
"Will told me everything." She says immediately. "And I do believe you. I'm Elizabeth." She holds out a friendly hand and I shake it. I stand up quickly, afraid that I am being rude.
"Thank you so much…both of you." I reply with full gratitude. "I'm Lindsey." I say to Elizabeth. She nods with a smile.
"You wouldn't mind if I fixed you up to appear more from our time, would you?" Elizabeth asks; I smile, delighted to finally get to wear clothing from the 17th century.
"Oh I wouldn't mind at all." I reply.
"Brilliant." She says with a bright smile. "Will, you don't have to stay any longer…unless you'd like to."
"Are you sure, Elizabeth?" He asks, trying to seem interested in this new makeover.
"Positive, darling. I understand you're busy at the shop." She replies.
"Alright then. I'm almost finished with today's swords, so I shouldn't be back terribly late tonight." She nods her head, kisses him and he leaves.
"Now, follow me." She instructs as I follow her upstairs. She leads me down a long hallway to a room at the end of it. Once in the room, she shuts the door and begins to shuffle through a closest. Every so often, she glances over at me as though figuring out my size. Finally, she pulls out a few dresses and a corset. She lays them down on the bed and smoothes out any wrinkles that are on the dresses. She then makes her way to a dresser and pulls out a very simple, off-white dress and lays it down next to the dresses.
"Here, try this on." She hands me the simple off-white dress and I go behind the changing wall. I slip out of my clothing and into the dress. I walk out from behind the changing area and present myself to Elizabeth.
"Okay! Lovely! It fits you well!" She exclaims. "Now for the corset." She reaches for the corset and begins to untie it.
"Wait…that goes over this?" I ask.
"Oh yes. Wait, did you think that that was the dress I was going to give you to wear?" She laughs.
"Yes!" I laugh along with her.
"No no! That's just the under garment for any dress that you may want to wear." She replies, now moving behind me. She hands me the corset and wraps it around my slender torso. She begins to tie it, not snuggly, but so tight so that I could not breathe.
"Wow." I manage to say as she tightens the corset even more. "Pretty tight."
"I know…they're awful aren't they." She says with a frown. "Okay there we go. Now let's slip you into this dress and see how it fits." She takes one of the dresses off the bed and helps me into it. It fits me gorgeously and I've never felt so lovely before. That's what women were back then; lovely, and now I am lovely too. I look at myself in the mirror and smile happily at the reflection I see.
"Wow, I never knew I could look this good in a dress." I say excitedly. "I feel pretty."
"You do look lovely." She replies, admiring her work of art. She said it! 'lovely'. I knew women were considered to be lovely. I smile with satisfaction and turn to her.
"Thank you so much, Elizabeth. I don't know how to thank you." I say sincerely.
"No thanks are in need," She says. "Oh, and these four dresses are yours to keep. They're perfect to get you started in building your new wardrobe."
"Thank you so much." I say with a smile.
"But I do have to inquire you about something," She says, more seriously now than before. "What were you doing the night before you realized you were in this century?" She asks.
"I was playing the piano, I believe." I reply, thinking back to the previous night. "Yeah, I was playing the piano in my room."
"What were you playing?" She asks quietly, as though to make sure nobody could hear us.
"Uh…I'm not sure of the name of the song. It was a song I had learned earlier that day while I was in town." I reply.
"Oh, alright." She says, smiling once again.
"Why do you ask?" I ask her, curiously.
"Oh, well I thought perhaps I knew the reason as to how you became a part of this century rather than your own…but it turns out I'm wrong." She replies nonchalantly. I nod, not really caring to press the matter further. I too wondered how I came about to a different century in time, but didn't really care to look into it at this hour of the night. I am beginning to feel tired and wish to go to sleep. It's been a long confusing day.
"Elizabeth, if you don't mind too much, I'm feeling awfully tired." I say, trying to seem proper.
"Oh, but of course!" She exclaims. "If you'd like, you can sleep in one of the guest chambers…" She says.
"Actually, I was hoping I could go back to the store," I say, not trying to seem rude.
"Oh, of course. Well, if you ever feel the need to spend the night here, you're certainly welcome to." She says. I take the dresses and we both commence downstairs to the parlor.
"I'll have Will take you home—it's far too dangerous for a lady to be walking around Port Royal alone at night." She says.
"Oh, I'll be fine!" I assure her. "Trust me, where I'm from, things are much more dangerous than they are here."
"Oh, but do you have pirates where you come from?" She asks eagerly.
"Well, no…but we have gangs." I say apathetically. She nods her head and smiles, not really knowing what to say.
"Thank you again for your generosity." I say as I walk myself to the door.
"Be sure to come back and visit tomorrow!" She exclaims to me as I leave the house. I am so glad I finally met kind people here in Port Royal.
My walk home is a little bit of a longer walk than I had hoped, but I decide to walk briskly. The thought of pirates hadn't crossed my mind until Elizabeth had mentioned it and now I am a little disturbed. 'No, you want to be a pirate!' I think to myself.
There are people on the streets of Port Royal as I make my way closer to the store. Most of them glare at me; I figure that news of the "daft" girl have spread rather quickly around town. I finally make it back to the store. I open the door quickly and shut it and lock it. I feel around the room for a candle to light. Once I find one, you light it and begin to light other candles. The store is a complete mess, so I decide that I will change out of the dress and back into my comfortable clothing and clean the store. I make my way over to the stairs when suddenly a figure appears in the shadows. I drop the dresses and scream at the top of my lungs. A man appears and he is holding a sword.
"Scream a little louder, young Lass, and I'll cut yer 'ead off!" The man shouts. I run to the door and try to unlock it as the man comes closer. Finally, I unlock the door and open it and run into the street. All is dark on the street and I have no idea as to where to run to. The only thing I can see is the man and the shining of his sword in the air. I scream again, just to see if anyone would hear me…but no one does. I begin to run but the dress gets in your way. The man chases after me and catches up to me quickly. Suddenly, I hear the man stop and the voice of another man. I hear swords clash, so I decide to make my way back to the store. Just as I get to the door leading into the store, a man approaches me.
"Milady?" The man asks. I scream, afraid for my life. I run into the store and the man begins to follow me back into the store. I see that it's not the same man, but I can't really tell his features in the dim light.
"Leave me alone!" I scream as I find a piece of wood and heave it at the man, hitting him in the head. He shakes off the blow and walks back into the street where he eventually collapses, unconscious. I run over to the door and lock it. My heart is racing fast, but I know that there is nobody else in the store. I sigh, pick up the dresses and make my way upstairs to the bedroom. I light more candles for light, and change back into my clothing. I take a candle down the stairs with me and set it down on the counter. I look around and see a broom in a corner. I decide that it's time for this old store to be cleaned up…and cleaned up well, for that matter.
Morning sun wakes me from my slumber. I had spent a long time cleaning last night, but it was well worth the effort. I run down the stairs to see the job I did now in sunlight. I am amazed at the store I had seen the day before in comparison to now. I smile with satisfaction and decide that I am going to open the store to the public today and that it is going to be a music store. I quickly get myself ready for the day, full clothed in one of Elizabeth's gowns and make my way down the stairs. I unlock the door and open it to let in some fresh air. I walk out the store and head over to Will at the Blacksmith's.
"Will!" I exclaim when I see him. He looks up and sees me and how I have changed dramatically from the past day. He smiles and walks over to me.
"Wow! What a change." He says with a smile.
"Thank Elizabeth for that." I say. "I actually have a favor to ask of you," I say.
"Another one?" He teases.
"I'm sorry!" I laugh.
"I'm kidding. What is it?" He asks.
"I'm going to open up the store and I need a sign…could you possibly make me one?" I ask, trying to seem appealing so he would say yes.
"Sure. It's no problem." He says with a smile.
"Thank you so much." I reply gratefully.
"What would you like it to say?" He asks.
"Um…Music, I guess." I reply, not really knowing what to have it say. "It's going to be a music store, so yeah…Music."
"Alright. It'll be ready by noon." He says.
"Thanks a bunch!" I reply and skip away back to the store. When I arrive back, I see there are a group of ladies looking around the store.
"Good morning, ladies," I greet them. "May I assist you with anything?" They look over at me, and the glance suddenly turns to a glare.
"She's that daft whore," One of them whispers to her friends. They giggle for a moment, then one of them walks over to me.
"Yes, miss, you can help us with something." She says arrogantly. She hands me a piece of music from the shelf. "What is this?" I look at it for a moment then walk behind the counter.
"It's a madrigal by Orlando di Lasso." I reply, smiling.
"I know that." She snaps back, snatching the music out of my hand. "What I meant, was, what is it for?"
"Oh. It's four-part vocal." I reply.
"Do you have anything for…piano?" She asks, looking around.
"Yes, I actually do." I reply, walking over to the piano. I take the piece of music I had written back at my aunt's house and handed it to her. "I have this one and this one. They are contemporary pieces." I say, feeling proud of my usage of adjectives. The women look the pieces over and nod.
"We want four copies of this one." Says the main woman. "We'll be back this afternoon to pick them up." I nod as they leave the store, their noses in the air. I hold the music close to me and smile. I don't care that they treat me like some recluse; I had just made my first music sale. I immediately take some manuscript paper and begin copying the piece down.