Crunch time. Does she go or doesn't she?
***
A Hard Man To Predict
After lunch, no one seems to need Faye. Edward and Jack have been safely packed off for a nap, after much protesting on Jack's part, and Faye reckons she has a safe hour or so to get to the smithy and back. Will always comes home for lunch, so Matthew should be on his own.
He is surprised to see her, and was worried after her non-appearance this morning.
'I'm sorry,' she says, before he can even greet her 'I'm sorry I couldn't come, I couldn't get away.'
'Oh. It's alright, don't worry about it.'
He is her only friend, and all the way here Faye has been debating whether or not to tell him about her dubious parentage. She needs his advice on what to do, on whether to go after her father or not. Faye knows she can't be a maid forever, the thought chills her to her bones, but what could she tell this man who she hasn't met in years, who probably would want nothing to do with her? But he is family, and she is made in his image... She looks at Matthew, and she just can't lay the burden of the knowledge on him.
'I need to ask you a question. Please just let me finish before you answer it, and tell me honestly.'
Matthew nods. 'Ask away.'
Faye takes a deep breath, encouraged. 'If there was something you knew you had to do, but you were afraid of it, and yet if you decided not to do it you know you'd regret it for the rest of your life, would you do it?'
Matthew thinks for a moment as he tries to follow the sentence. 'Faye, please, tell me what this is about.'
'Just answer the question, it would mean a lot to me.'
Matthew weighs up both sides in his head for a moment. 'If I'd regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't, then I suppose that I'd just have to face my fears and do it, whatever it was.'
Faye nods to herself, and sighs resignedly. 'Thank you. You've been a great help.'
She looks up at him, and wonders melodramatically if she'll ever see him again. He is concerned, she can see so clearly, and she wants to be close to him, hold him, tell him don't worry, it's alright, it's alright. But if she does, if she steps forward, she won't ever be able to go. 'Goodbye Matthew,' she says, looking at the floor.
'I'll see you tomorrow,' he replies, smiling, and turns back to the anvil.
Faye bites her tongue and tries to hold back the salty water that is threatening to pour down her cheeks. She leaves in silence, for fear of not leaving at all.
That evening, after the children in are in bed and before the servants eat dinner, Faye slips away down to the docks. She can hardly search the entire ocean for one man, but she knows a good place to start. She asks the first non-navy sailor she comes across when the next ship to Tortuga is leaving. He shrugs, and points her in the direction of an older man sitting at a makeshift table with a thick leather-bound book out it front of him.
'Excuse me', she begins, 'when is the next ship to Tortuga leaving?'
The man glances up at her. 'Why on earth would you want to go there, young miss?'
Faye narrows her eyes at him, and the man shrugs. 'See that ship down there at the end? It's called 'The Eastern Star.' It's leaving for Tortuga at midnight tonight. If you want to barter passage, you'll have to go and speak to the captain.'
'Tonight? I'm sorry that's far too soon.'
'Well don't worry; it leaves again the same day next month. Hardly anyone goes to Tortuga from here, miss.'
'Thank you so much,' Faye says, as she turns on her heel and heads down to the ship he pointed to. She can't wait a month, that's for certain. If she doesn't go tonight, she won't go at all.
She finds the captain on the ship by seeking out the youngest-looking member of the crew and making his life difficult until he fetches his boss. The captain explains to Faye that this is a merchant vessel and they don't take passengers, but the promise of vast amounts of silver, about a month of Faye's wages, makes him think differently. All the same, he makes her understand that if she isn't on board by midnight, the ship will simply leave without her.
Back at the house, Faye avoids her aunt and uncle, evades all calls for her help with various things, and slips up to her room to pack. A large but very old case that she unearthed from the attic is only half filled with her possessions – a few clothes, her phoenix, five years wages that she has never used, and 'Legendary Pirates'. She thinks about it for a moment, and decides to take the book out. It makes the pirate world seem glamorous when she knows by her own existence that it most definitely isn't. She has no need for those stories now.
Faye is tired but she doesn't dare try to sleep in case she misses her boat. She stares out of the window, watching the stars, as the house below her gets quieter and quieter. She listens to the church clock chiming – eleven o'clock, the quarter hour, then the half hour. At the half hour she hauls her case out of her room and down the stairs as silently as possible. As she passes the corridor that leads to her aunt and uncle's room, tears begin to make their way down her cheeks. On the lowest and final floor, she wipes the tears away, squares her shoulders, and prepares to walk out into her future. It is only then she realises that she is heading totally unarmed into one of the most dangerous places in the Caribbean. She thinks quickly, scrabbling for a fast solution.
In the drawing room, balancing precariously over the fireplace, Faye takes down one of the first swords Will ever made. He keeps it sharp, to show off Faye thinks, but at least it would keep her safer. She has no scabbard for it and no time to find one, so hurriedly she opens the case, praying that the sword will fit. It does, with a little persuasion, and Faye hurries out of the servants' entrance, down the path, out through the gate, and on through the town.
The final sailors are just going up the gangplank and onto the ship as Faye rounds the corner at a run and pounds up behind them. The captain grins down at her.
'We were starting to think you weren't coming.'
'After all the money I gave you? Don't be ridiculous.'
The captain is a little taken aback by this response, but smiles anyway. She's a character, this girl.
Faye makes her way to the stern of the ship, and puts her case down. She ignores all the sailors running around behind her, and the captain's shouted orders. As the ship begins to pulls away from Port Royal, Faye stands and watches. She stays there for as long as it takes for the only home she has ever known to disappear into the mists. Out with the maid, she thinks, and in with the pirate.
***
Into the future...Please review!
***
A Hard Man To Predict
After lunch, no one seems to need Faye. Edward and Jack have been safely packed off for a nap, after much protesting on Jack's part, and Faye reckons she has a safe hour or so to get to the smithy and back. Will always comes home for lunch, so Matthew should be on his own.
He is surprised to see her, and was worried after her non-appearance this morning.
'I'm sorry,' she says, before he can even greet her 'I'm sorry I couldn't come, I couldn't get away.'
'Oh. It's alright, don't worry about it.'
He is her only friend, and all the way here Faye has been debating whether or not to tell him about her dubious parentage. She needs his advice on what to do, on whether to go after her father or not. Faye knows she can't be a maid forever, the thought chills her to her bones, but what could she tell this man who she hasn't met in years, who probably would want nothing to do with her? But he is family, and she is made in his image... She looks at Matthew, and she just can't lay the burden of the knowledge on him.
'I need to ask you a question. Please just let me finish before you answer it, and tell me honestly.'
Matthew nods. 'Ask away.'
Faye takes a deep breath, encouraged. 'If there was something you knew you had to do, but you were afraid of it, and yet if you decided not to do it you know you'd regret it for the rest of your life, would you do it?'
Matthew thinks for a moment as he tries to follow the sentence. 'Faye, please, tell me what this is about.'
'Just answer the question, it would mean a lot to me.'
Matthew weighs up both sides in his head for a moment. 'If I'd regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't, then I suppose that I'd just have to face my fears and do it, whatever it was.'
Faye nods to herself, and sighs resignedly. 'Thank you. You've been a great help.'
She looks up at him, and wonders melodramatically if she'll ever see him again. He is concerned, she can see so clearly, and she wants to be close to him, hold him, tell him don't worry, it's alright, it's alright. But if she does, if she steps forward, she won't ever be able to go. 'Goodbye Matthew,' she says, looking at the floor.
'I'll see you tomorrow,' he replies, smiling, and turns back to the anvil.
Faye bites her tongue and tries to hold back the salty water that is threatening to pour down her cheeks. She leaves in silence, for fear of not leaving at all.
That evening, after the children in are in bed and before the servants eat dinner, Faye slips away down to the docks. She can hardly search the entire ocean for one man, but she knows a good place to start. She asks the first non-navy sailor she comes across when the next ship to Tortuga is leaving. He shrugs, and points her in the direction of an older man sitting at a makeshift table with a thick leather-bound book out it front of him.
'Excuse me', she begins, 'when is the next ship to Tortuga leaving?'
The man glances up at her. 'Why on earth would you want to go there, young miss?'
Faye narrows her eyes at him, and the man shrugs. 'See that ship down there at the end? It's called 'The Eastern Star.' It's leaving for Tortuga at midnight tonight. If you want to barter passage, you'll have to go and speak to the captain.'
'Tonight? I'm sorry that's far too soon.'
'Well don't worry; it leaves again the same day next month. Hardly anyone goes to Tortuga from here, miss.'
'Thank you so much,' Faye says, as she turns on her heel and heads down to the ship he pointed to. She can't wait a month, that's for certain. If she doesn't go tonight, she won't go at all.
She finds the captain on the ship by seeking out the youngest-looking member of the crew and making his life difficult until he fetches his boss. The captain explains to Faye that this is a merchant vessel and they don't take passengers, but the promise of vast amounts of silver, about a month of Faye's wages, makes him think differently. All the same, he makes her understand that if she isn't on board by midnight, the ship will simply leave without her.
Back at the house, Faye avoids her aunt and uncle, evades all calls for her help with various things, and slips up to her room to pack. A large but very old case that she unearthed from the attic is only half filled with her possessions – a few clothes, her phoenix, five years wages that she has never used, and 'Legendary Pirates'. She thinks about it for a moment, and decides to take the book out. It makes the pirate world seem glamorous when she knows by her own existence that it most definitely isn't. She has no need for those stories now.
Faye is tired but she doesn't dare try to sleep in case she misses her boat. She stares out of the window, watching the stars, as the house below her gets quieter and quieter. She listens to the church clock chiming – eleven o'clock, the quarter hour, then the half hour. At the half hour she hauls her case out of her room and down the stairs as silently as possible. As she passes the corridor that leads to her aunt and uncle's room, tears begin to make their way down her cheeks. On the lowest and final floor, she wipes the tears away, squares her shoulders, and prepares to walk out into her future. It is only then she realises that she is heading totally unarmed into one of the most dangerous places in the Caribbean. She thinks quickly, scrabbling for a fast solution.
In the drawing room, balancing precariously over the fireplace, Faye takes down one of the first swords Will ever made. He keeps it sharp, to show off Faye thinks, but at least it would keep her safer. She has no scabbard for it and no time to find one, so hurriedly she opens the case, praying that the sword will fit. It does, with a little persuasion, and Faye hurries out of the servants' entrance, down the path, out through the gate, and on through the town.
The final sailors are just going up the gangplank and onto the ship as Faye rounds the corner at a run and pounds up behind them. The captain grins down at her.
'We were starting to think you weren't coming.'
'After all the money I gave you? Don't be ridiculous.'
The captain is a little taken aback by this response, but smiles anyway. She's a character, this girl.
Faye makes her way to the stern of the ship, and puts her case down. She ignores all the sailors running around behind her, and the captain's shouted orders. As the ship begins to pulls away from Port Royal, Faye stands and watches. She stays there for as long as it takes for the only home she has ever known to disappear into the mists. Out with the maid, she thinks, and in with the pirate.
***
Into the future...Please review!
