Disclaimer: Will, Elizabeth, and Jack all belong to Disney, although Ben Thorndyke is of my own creation.
Ch. 7: Elizabeth's Joys and Hardships
As a whole, the next seven years passed quickly for Elizabeth. The second year since her husband's absence was the most difficult, for that was the year that her dear father had passed away. During his slow, consuming illness, Elizabeth had quit her teaching job to take care of him. Her good friends Mary and Fannie had been her rock during that trying time – Elizabeth had had no one else to turn to. Just one week after her father's passing, Elizabeth stopped mourning and returned to her teaching post. She knew her father wouldn't have wanted her to mourn him for long, so she tried to return to a normal life. But there was a gaping hole in her heart that her father had long filled…she never really would forget Weatherby Swann nor his fatherly love. Throwing herself into her work as a teacher helped Elizabeth get past the horrors of her past – the loss of Will and her father, as well as her sham of a marriage to Benjamin Thorndyke.
Elizabeth loved teaching – every grueling minute of it. Helping the young, underprivileged children of Boston learn was so rewarding in ways that she'd never even imagined. As she watched many boys and girls become the first in their immediate family to receive a basic education, it occurred to her that she was helping to break the cycle of poverty that trapped so many subsistence-farming families. Elizabeth believed that watching the children grow academically was definitely worth the snub that high-society gave her, Mary, and Fannie. The high-class refined ladies of Boston looked down upon them because they were working women, even though they were already financially provided for.
But it wasn't like Elizabeth had the time to sit around wondering what others thought of her. She had the Thorndyke Manor to manage, as well as spend time with Jeremy and Jessabelle whom she'd come to view as her own children. They adored her in return as a mother, and Elizabeth was perfectly happy to fulfill that nurturing role. She could play the disciplinarian if she needed to, but most of the time the children behaved well. In the privacy of their home, Elizabeth taught them how to read and write, as well as practical things like riding horses or how to fix their own meals if the cook was sick. But never did she force them to do actual physical labor; after much coaxing she'd learned from Jeremy that he and his sister had been forced to pick cotton in the fields during their enslavement. She did assign chores to teach them responsibility, but it was nothing more taxing than 'make one's bed' or 'feed the cat and dog'. They spend the weekends playing running games outside, or as they grew older, card games by the fireside. As her adopted children grew up, they tended to depend on her less and less. When Jessabelle had reached the beginning of her adolescence, Elizabeth confidently assumed the role of a friend to her adopted family than a guardian.
However, in contrast to her home life, her school-age charges seemed to present new challenges as each year went by. Only on the weekends did she have time to herself, away from the schoolhouse, which she would occasionally spend with Mary and Fannie. True, most of Elizabeth's days were filled with responsibility, but she wouldn't have had it any other way. Her two best friends and the townspeople of Boston knew Elizabeth as Mrs. Thorndyke – the sunny, spirited young teacher who would go the extra mile to help a child learn, and the woman who took in two former slave-children and raised them as her own.
But the townspeople never bared witness to what Elizabeth viewed as a terrible secret – her occasional bouts of intense sadness. About a half-dozen times during each year, Elizabeth noticed a dramatic change in her carefree demeanor. Seemingly random at first, after awhile Elizabeth realized that her spells of grief seemed to announce the arrival of her monthlies. She'd never heard of such a thing, and decided that whatever it was, she could manage it on her own. It never crossed her mind to tell Mary or Fannie, for those things were just not discussed – even someone as forward-thinking as Elizabeth knew that some subjects shouldn't be shared, even among the closest of friends. On those difficult and trying days, Elizabeth would get through the school day as best she could. After she came home and had dinner with her family, she claimed to be fatigued. Then she would insist that Jeremy and Jessabelle turn in early, so that she in turn could go to bed. Only after she had kissed her children goodnight did she allow her mask of normalcy to slip away.
On those horrible nights, Elizabeth felt anything but normal. Her thoughts were always jumbled and seemed to center around the negative; she was getting too fat for her dresses, she hadn't noticed that several of her students were lagging behind the rest of the class, and worst of all, it was her fault that Jeremy and Jessabelle were missing out on having a real family because there was no real father figure in their lives…
In truth, Elizabeth's body was no longer the barely-there figure that it had been when she was younger. She had filled out nicely, giving her a more healthy, curvaceous build that, to be fair, had attracted the attention of many of the town's bachelors, including the recent widower, Admiral Norrington. As always, a few of her students fell behind in their lessons, but usually due to outside influences, such as the harvest season, when parents would often keep their children home from school to help gather the family's crop. But the father figure issue hadn't come up until recently, when Ben had been listed as one of the missing British soldiers after a battle, and Norrington had come to call. Just the other day, Norrington had told her that his old offer to marry him still stood. Elizabeth had brushed him off at the time with a laugh, but she realized that she was going to need to give the matter a serious bit of thought. Norrington was not a horrible man, she thought…and his bright six year old son, Luke, whom she taught, was down right adorable. Even though she was positive she didn't love James Norrington, she knew their friendship was strong and that being married to him would be better than living the rest of her life as a spinster.
It had always been difficult, living the life of a single woman. Although Elizabeth had the freedom she'd always craved, this freedom came with a most severe penalty - loneliness. The young schoolteacher had been lonelier than she cared to admit. True, she had her adopted children and the servants, but there was no one for her to turn to if there was a problem with the children, or if the roof sprang a leak. There were times, more times than Elizabeth wanted to remember, that she wished she had a man with whom she could share her life. But she didn't wish for Ben's return like a good wife – far from it. The man for whom Elizabeth pined was the man she could never have.
Will. Her fingers curled around her golden heart necklace as she shut her eyes in grief, just remembering his gentle touch.
Elizabeth didn't understand it. Just earlier that week, during lunch at school, she'd finally shared the story of their adventures with the pirates with Mary and Fannie. Her friends had giggled when she'd recounted that Captain Jack Sparrow, in jest, liked to call her former fiancé a eunuch. That day, she'd had no problem saying Will's name or discussing the amazing times they'd shared. Could it just be the change in atmosphere? Could the dark mysteries of night really transform the smiling Elizabeth of the day into this brooding, unhappy woman that she barely recognized? Whatever the cause, night was when she was most prone to feeling forlorn and alone.
Tonight, as she fell into a sorrow-induced stupor, she reflected on bittersweet memories of her and Will. Mostly, she remembered their secret nightly meetings on the beach, or the occasional picnics, or even the time they'd snuck into Fort Charles undetected to watch the sunrise. He had truly been a vibrant soul; so very full of life. But now he was gone forever, never again to dry her tears or reassure her that 'everything will be fine'. She knew in her heart that she could never love another man the way she had loved Will – they had braved so much together and in turn strengthened their bond of everlasting love. Elizabeth loved her adopted children more than anything, but she had secretly harbored a desire to have a child of her own. But that wish had died along with Will. It pained her to think of what might have been; the family that she could have had with her beloved William Turner.
Putting on a brave face everyday is starting to take its toll on me, she thought as she stared at her own tear-streaked reflection in her bedside mirror. Her bloodshot eyes reflected her current despair. But one small thought gave Elizabeth comfort. At least she'd been blessed to have shared those glorious months with Will. She had –albeit for a very short period of time- experienced true love at its best. It was better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all, she thought. Heaven help those pour souls who go through life alone, without being touched by the power of love. Muffling her sobs with her pillow, Elizabeth slowly cried herself to sleep. Somehow, in the morning, she would fine the strength to go on…she always did. Things always seemed better in the morning.
One bright and crisp fall Monday morning, Elizabeth awoke with the feeling that change was upon her. It rather unnerved her, for she mostly liked her life the way it was, thank you very much! Teaching was as fulfilling as ever, Jeremy and Jessabelle were growing into fine young people of sixteen and thirteen, and her friends Mary and Fannie were as close as ever. While Elizabeth made her way down to the schoolhouse, she pondered what could have triggered this strange feeling. Perhaps she would receive a letter in the mail that day saying that Ben had been found. That would be a blessing, for her husband had been among the two-thousand soldiers listed as missing in action after the last battle, which had taken place over two months ago. Although she'd grown accustomed to living without a man, Elizabeth was not so heartless that she wished him dead.
Or, perhaps this unsettling feeling had been provoked by a dream that she'd had the night before. She'd dreamed of Will, and in the dream he'd told her that he would be returning to her. The dream had caused her to wake in the middle of the night in tears, for she knew that in death Will could never come back to her. It had also cost her a good night's sleep, she thought, grumbling with displeasure. Still, the dream made her wonder – why did she dream of Will now, when his face had not graced her dreams in several years? True, she thought about him almost every day, but his memory in dreams hadn't haunted her for a long time. No matter, she thought, trying to push thoughts of Will from her mind, as she had reached the schoolhouse. It would take every bit of her focus to keep her students on task!
The day had gone as planned, and Elizabeth had given her pupils time to read at the end of the school day. This allowed her time to plan for the next day's lesson. So she was shocked to hear Jessabelle's voice abruptly interrupt the silence of the room.
"My goodness, Jessabelle, what are you doing here? Is something wrong at home?" Elizabeth asked with concern.
"No, ma'am," said Jessabelle, answering the way she'd been taught to in public. "Mr. Thorndyke has just come home from the war, and he wishes to see you right away."
"Class dismissed," Elizabeth said, in a dazed voice. How on earth was she going to face her husband when she'd learned to live without him all these years?
End Ch. 7
A/N: This was sort of a 'filler' chapter, to help with the transition over seven years. Things really start to get interesting in the next few chapters, and even some humor too! Keep reading and thank you to those who are reviewing. It makes all the difference in the world.
