Have I been teasing you all with the kissing thing? I'm sorry. But that doesn't mean that there's kissing in this chapter either. Haha. You will just have to wait and see!
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Chapter Eleven
Sailors and Civilians
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One night, Serenity's mother drew her into the empty parlor after dinner, an uncharacteristically serious look on her face.
"Serenity, you're a woman now," she began. Serenity bit her lip, not liking where this conversation was going. "It is high time for you to find a suitor, and to be eventually wed."
Serenity sighed.
"You know that we shall let you marry whomever you wish, with your father's consent, of course, as long as he is a decent and hardworking man who is capable of supporting a family," she continued. "You know that we are not royalty or nobility, and there are no requirements to who you may eventually choose. We just want the best for you, Serenity," she said. "You know that's all we've ever wanted."
"I know," said Serenity.
"I don't want you to end up"-
"An old maid, I know." Her mother sighed and folded her hands in her lap.
"I don't want to rush you, either. But you're nineteen and still have no idea of what- or who- you're future holds."
"You're worried that I might never find someone?" asked Serenity, leaning towards her mother.
"No," she answered, not quite honestly. Serenity knew that her parents had married early, and had probably accepted the age of seventeen as the standard age for marriage, and she told her mother that in fewer words.
"I just want to marry when I'm ready, mother," she said, "I'll know it when I'm ready."
Her mother sighed, and patted her hand. "I know, dear," she said. "Is there anyone in your life?" she said, a smile pulling at the corner of her mouth. Serenity smiled back.
"You mean, is that someone Will Turner?" Serenity said playfully, knowing all too well that that was who her mother was getting at.
"Anyone."
Serenity thought for a moment. "No," she said, shaking her head. "There is nothing between myself and Mr. Turner. Nothing serious, anyway," she added as an afterthought.
"No one besides Mr. Turner?" her mother pressed.
"No, Mother," she said, rising to her feet. "Besides, if I never find anyone, I can always join a convent," she said flippantly, leaving her mother sitting in shock in the parlor.
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Serenity wandered down to the beach, not wanting to risk another confrontation with her mother over wedding plans- or lack of them. She meandered among the sailors for a while, the stark white of the sails set against the dazzling sunset. The rush of their conversations filled the air around her as she walked among the boats, not unnoticed, but noticed by men that did not have the time to express their notice. She smiled at a kind-looking one that was ambling up the rigging with the ease and grace of a monkey, and he waved back, swinging on the ropes with his motion.
The smiling sailor kept a happy feeling in her heart as she continued down the dock and finally down to the beach. The sun's last rays lit the ocean in one last display of majesty. Serenity sighed and stood once more with her toes in the surf, holding her petticoats above the salty foam. Briefly she wondered about Daniel's mysterious absence, but then she decided that she didn't care and continued dipping her toes into the miniature swells. Far out to sea a wave peaked and crashed with a roar onto the surface of the ocean, using up its momentum as it traveled across the water's surface and finally rippling in pleasant coolness over the arches of Serenity's feet.
Serenity sighed and returned to the Inn only to be sent back out a minute later to get some flour and salt from the local general store. Not feeling like walking, she slipped bareback onto one of the horses and clung to its mane as it kicked up a cloud of dust. This particular general store was located near the dock for maximum convenience to both sailors and civilians. It was busy at this hour, when dinner was being prepared, and Serenity found herself in the middle of a crazy mix of culture. Tan, rugged sailors with calloused hands grouped with their crewmates in corners, smoking cigars and surveying the bonnet-wearing maids with sharp but playful eyes. They flirted with their eyes until they left, and all was over as quickly as it had begun.
Serenity pushed her way as politely as she could over to the clerk, who handed her two heavy sacks of flour and salt. She took one in each hand and managed to carry them over to her horse without falling over. The sacks thudded onto the ground as they slipped from her hands once she reached the horse and she flexed her fingers before attempting to lift them again.
"Need some help with that?" said a voice from behind her right shoulder. It was an Irish voice, warm and friendly. The owner of the voice was half a head taller than Serenity was, a sailor, clothed in a thin white shirt and the breeches that sailors normally wore. His skin was dark but spots of sunburn showed through, an unmistakable Irish trait. His hair was a deep auburn with red sun streaks in it, and eyes that were the same shade of brown but without the red.
"It's alright, I'm fine," Serenity said, hoisting the flour onto her horse's back.
"I'm Connor," he said as she took his hand.
"I'm Serenity," she said. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure's all mine," he said matter-of-factly. "Now, where are we taking these?"
"You really don't have to"- Connor broke off her sentence with a 'I'm going to help you with this no matter how much you protest because I am a gentleman' look and lifted the salt onto the back of his horse. He waited for her to mount before he repeated his question.
"We're taking them to my father's inn," she said, "so you can just follow me." She started down the road towards the Inn, Connor following her as she had said. They talked a little as they rode down the dusty street and Serenity found that Connor was a good man, a sailor as she had first suspected, and a very amiable companion to talk to. He had a warm, pleasant laugh and a humor that matched her own, and as they reached their destination Serenity told him that she wished that he would stay in Port Royale for a decent amount of time.
"I'll stay as my ship stays," was his answer as he hoisted the salt over his shoulder and onto the kitchen floor. "That's the only way a sailor can survive."
"I don't know if I would like being a sailor," said Serenity thoughtfully as she began the robotic motions of helping Cook prepare dinner, as her mother was elsewhere. Connor took out a knife and began slicing vegetables.
"Most of the time you don't have a choice," he said, looking intently at the blade of his knife as it sliced through the red layers of a tomato. "It's either sail across the ocean or spend the rest of your life frying the back of your neck in a potato field. To me the best choice seemed to be the ocean; the British captains pay better than the farmers at least."
"Doesn't it get lonely? I think I would get lonely, out there in the middle of nowhere really," said Serenity.
"The ocean is funny," Connor said, "either your chasing solitude while you're trying to sleep in the bowels with a bunch of smelly men or you're chasing companionship alone in the 'nest. And believe me," he continued, "It can get very smelly."
Serenity laughed as she began setting out plates on the table. "You know you're welcome to stay for dinner if you like," she offered.
"I wouldn't want to burden you."
"My family runs an inn, Connor. This is what we do."
Connor laughed. "I did forget that I needed a place to sleep. I'm not sleeping in the ship again like we did in Tortuga," he said, shaking his head forcefully.
Serenity smiled and picked up a set of keys from the assortment of hooks on the kitchen wall. "You can have Room Three," she said. "We had a vacancy as of this morning."
"It must be my lucky day," he answered good-naturedly as he picked up his thin overcoat and followed her up the staircase and through a door that was emblazoned with a metal 3.
"If you need to buy anything, the general store that I met you at has everything that you might possibly need," said Serenity as she placed a box of matches next to the candles of assorted height that were arranged on the desk. "Dinner is in about an hour."
"Thank you so much for your hospitality, Serenity," said Connor kindly. "I will try to repay you"-
"You won't have to pay me, Connor," Serenity corrected him, "You'd be paying for the room anyway." He grinned brightly as she closed the door behind her.
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