The Rising of Davy Jones

Chapter Five

Davy continued to pass the letters between the two lovers every day he had his organ lessons. Hannah would ask him to practice the skills she instructed him on the day before while she read and replied to the latest letter and then just before their lesson was over handed him the folded up piece of parchment and asked that it be returned to Mr. Harris. Aside from the first letter, Davy never allowed his curiosity to tempt him to read the notes. He was beginning to understand the privacy and secrecy that surrounded the letters, and having the utmost respect for Mr. Harris and admiration for Hannah, never told another soul about those letters.

The winter months were coming upon them again and with it the diseases. Davy had been at the orphanage for almost a year and couldn't remember much about his time before that. In December, just before Christmas, a large donation of jackets and shoes were given to the children and Davy had his first wool sweater, two sizes too big, and a second hand pair of shoes. Henry, of course, got the best.

Billy had gone away from the orphanage in mid November and was apprenticed out to some shop, which left the role of leader unoccupied. There were two or three other boys as big, if not bigger, than Henry and he knew he could not assume such a role through brute strength. So he found another way to do it.

It seems Mr. Pitt was very easily flattered and after having found this out, Henry used it to his advantage. He kept praising the man for the good work he was doing with the boys, for his discipline which had been sorely lacking. Mr. Pitt, with a smile, rewarded Henry with a few perks such as first pick with the donated items. Another such perk was his trust. If Henry wanted to get another boy in trouble, he would set up a situation in which it made the boy look back and be eye witness to such a scene that would cause Mr. Pitt use his favorite means of punishment...the whip.

From then on the boys understood that Henry had inherited Billy's role of leader, and it went unquestioned.

On a cold day in January Mr. Harris escorted the boys to the church for the Latin lessons and Bible study, but for Davy his organ lessons. It was unusual for Mr. Harris to stay at the church, he would often return to the orphanage to clean up the class room, but today, after making sure the other boys were behind closed doors, he walked Davy into the chapel where Hannah was waiting, red cheeked and bright eyed.

"Hello, Mr. Harris." She said with a small smile.

"Hello, Miss Hannah."

Davy ignored the strange behavior between the two of them and sat right in front of the organ on the stool and began to practice the piece he had been working on the day before. While he was practicing he could hear Mr. Harris and Hannah whispering a they sat on the pew closest to the organ. He didn't very much care about their conversation, but it was distracting him from his playing.

"Well, I'm off, Davy. Mind Miss Hannah." Mr. Harris squeezed Davy's shoulder, then left the building.

"How was that?" Davy asked, finishing the piece.

"That was perfect, Davy." Hannah said coming to stand beside him.

"What do you two talk about?" Davy asked curiously.

"We talk about many things, Davy, most of which are too grown up for a boy such as you."

"Do you love each other?" Davy had a vague understanding of the word love, but from what he gathered, Mr. Harris and Hannah showed all the signs of it.

"Have you ever read," Hannah started after thinking the question over, "the play Romeo and Juliet?" Davy shook his head. "It is a story of two young people who love each other very much, but whose families would not be happy with them if they were to marry. That is sort of how it is with Mr. Harris and I."

"You have families?" Davy asked, bewildered. He didn't think he knew anyone who had parents and siblings.

"Yes, I have a Father and Mother and Mr. Harris as a Father. I come here to volunteer my time at the permission of my Father, but he wants me to go away to school in France. If my Father knew about Mr. Harris I would never be able to see him again."

"What about Mr. Harris, does his Father not want you to marry?"

"Mr. Harris's Father, I think, would not have a problem with it."

"What would happen if you were to get married?" Davy asked, puzzled by all the secrecy.

"I do not know."

Hannah began the days instructions and teaching him a new piece to play. By the time their lesson was over Davy could hear the boys in the back troop out into the cold outside. Davy was about to leave when he remembered something.

"The story you told, Romeo and Juliet, what happened to them?"

Hannah looked as if she was reluctant to say, but replied, "They married in secret and then at the end...they both died."

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Around the end of February the orphanage was bombarded by the influenza. The children were kept inside and fed hot soup and tea and those who were sick slept in one room while those who weren't were in the other. Davy caught the influenza and was so sick he couldn't raise himself from his bed. Mr. Harris came to see him at least once a day and informed him of Miss Hannah's well wishes.

Many children died that month as well as Miss Mary. Davy didn't even discover that piece of news until he and the survivors began to return to health a few weeks later. It had been a horrible loss for the boys. No longer did they have a Mother figure to fuss over them and coddle them.

Once Davy was well enough to resume his lessons, Mr. Pitt decided it was time the boy began his lessons in Latin. No longer was he able to retreat into the chapel and run his fingers along the wooden keys of the organ, or bring out such beautiful music from its pipes. Latin was very distasteful to Davy and when he learned that the langugae he was learning was no longer spoken, he grew sullen.

"I have an important job for you, Davy." Mr. Harris said quietly as the two of them walked behind the other boys as they made their way to the church one Sunday. "I have a note here in my hand and I want you to take it and give it to Miss Hannah before she leaves, all right?"

Davy nodded his head and took the note from Mr. Harris and put it in his pocket. The sermon seemed to go on forever and Davy couldn't find the patience to listen to any of the words. He was too curious as to what the letter contained. It seemed much more important than any of the other letters ever had been. As soon as the last notes of the organ rang out into the chapel and the other boys were getting up to go back to the orphanage, Davy slipped the paper out of his pocket and started walking down the isle towards Miss Hannah.

"What do you think you're doing?" Someone grabbed the note from Davy and he turned around to see Henry, unfolding the paper.

"Give that here!" Davy shouted, reaching for the paper, but Henry was holding it too high from him to grab it.

"I think Mr. Pitt should take a look at this." Henry said after reading the first few lines. Grabbing Davy by the arm he dragged Davy with him to where Mr. Pitt was talking with a gentleman in the back. "Mr. Pitt, I found Davy carrying this letter and it seems awfully suspicious to me."

Mr. Pitt, frowning, took the note from Henry and read over it. "Where did you get this letter, young man?" Mr. Pitt asked, staring down at Davy.

Keeping his lips sealed tight, Davy refused to answer.

"I saw Mr. Harris hand it to Davy, sir." Henry supplied the needed information.

"I shall have to deal with this. Go back to the orphanage, boys."

Davy couldn't believe he had failed both Miss Hannah and Mr. Harris. Whatever was in the letter caused Mr. Pitt to look extremely vexed. He wondered what would happen. And it all came back to Henry. Never since Smith's death had Davy wanted to hurt Henry so much. As they walked back Davy's head was filled with horrific ideas, ideas he had never thought before, but which caused him to smile.

Mr. Harris and Mr. Younge never taught on Sundays and therefore Davy had no idea where to go to warn Mr. Harris. He especially couldn't go back and warn Miss Hannah, it might lead Mr. Pitt directly to her. So Davy waited, until night fell, before he crept out of his bed. Since his health returned he had been sleeping in the same room as Henry, and knew his bed to be near the window. Davy crept towards the bed and could see Henry's face in the moonlight which glimmered through the window. Henry stirred in his sleep and Davy kept still until all was silent.

Thinking of Smith and Hannah and Mr. Harris, Davy took the heavy jug of water which rested on the table at the foot of the beds and brought it back to Henry's bed. Holding it high over his head, Davy closed his eyes and with all his might brought it down on Henry's head. A loud thud echoed in the room and a scream broke the silence. Over and over again Davy hit Henry with the jug until his little arms were too tired to hold it. By the time he was finished there was blood everywhere and Henry's face unrecognizable.

Slowly Davy registered that the rest of the boys were screaming and the door at the other end of the room swung open. Davy turned to see Mr. Pitt enter the room, along with Miss Nelly, the woman who replaced Miss Mary. Knowing exactly what he was going to do, Davy ran to the window, opened it and jumped out onto the street below.

It was cold out and it seeped into his lungs as he ran down the street, his bare feet slapping the stones. Knowing exactly where he was going, Davy made the necessary turns, never looking back, and soon he could hear the water and smell the salty sea air. He was finally there, at the dock, with the might ships moored and creaked with each little wave. A few people were walking along the dock and Davy ran to the nearest ship. A thick, heavy rope was tied to the dock that went up to the ship and deftly Davy clung onto the rope and began to climb up it until he landed on the ships deck.

Making sure no one could see him, Davy ran to the other side of the ship, took a long glance out to sea where the moon was reflecting off the waters, rippling before him, and then he found himself a place to hide among some barrels, and he waited.

(Sorry the chapter is so long, but finally he's on a ship, right? I wonder how he comes to be captain????)