Chapter 1: Life at Home
9 years later…
Rose shot up in her bed, taking deep breaths. She looked around and was safe in her canopy bed, and knew that it was only a nightmare. Her bedroom was very dark and silent, with the curtains blocking out the morning sunlight.
"Again?" she muttered placing her small hand on her heart. "Why does this keep happening to me? It's been nine years since it happened. I just wish this dream would stop following me."
The redhead stretched her arms up and turned on her oil lamp. She crawled out of her bed, with her bare feet landing on the cold wooden floor. She turned around to make her bed, smoothing out the sheets and pillows. The long skirt of her dark blue nightgown dragged across the floor, and made her way towards her washroom. She stood in front of her vanity and stared at her reflection in the mirror.
She pulled her long auburn hair trailing down to her waist, framing her pale heart-shaped face into a low loose bun. She allowed her hands to trail along the pouring lukewarm water, and splashed it on her face along with soap, to wash away the sleepiness. The minty toothpaste woke up her taste buds and spat it out in the basin watching the pale green residue going down the drain. She shut off the water and gave a heavy sigh, wishing the shadows of her past would go away, no matter how hard she tries to cope with the pain. She jumped out of her quiet mind by the sound of knocking outside from her bedroom door.
"Rose?" A female British voice called from outside. "Are you awake dear?"
The girl rushed over towards her closet and yanked off a sky blue robe off from a hanger and threw it over and tied the ribbon around her waist.
"Are you decent?"
"Ah, yes, yes!" the redhead stammered, calling through the door. She stood up straight, watching the door slowly swing open.
A tall and slim feline woman entered the room walking gracefully as her long legs strode across the floor. Her green eyes glittered with confidence and her short red hair was pushed behind her cat ears with sideburns on the side of her face. She wore a blue captain's coat, khaki pants, and black heeled boots that reached to her thighs.
Captain Amelia had a manner that expected things to be obeyed, but deep down, she has a good heart and deeply cares and loves her adopted daughter. Two maids followed in, one went towards the curtains and pulled them apart letting in the bright sunshine, lighting up the room. While another, held a breakfast tray and set it down on Rose's table in a corner.
"I see you're awake already, I hope that you've slept well," said Captain Amelia.
"Well, almost Mother…" the girl said, looking down.
Captain Amelia noticed the girl's distress and came towards her, placing her clawed hands on her shoulders. The captain stood tall above the girl, as Rose only stood at five feet tall. The captain would sometimes kneel down in order to have equal eye contact with her.
"Have those memories been coming back?" she asked.
"Yes Mother," Rose said with a heavy sigh. "I thought I'd get pass these memories, but they always come back to haunt me again. I just wish they would go away all in one piece and never think about them."
"Oh Rose, I know your past has been hard on you. Other times, the past can catch up whether you wanted to or not. But you must keep your head up high and never let those memories prevent you from doing the right thing, always be good and do your work as well as you can."
The redhead nodded, and never forgot her adopted mother's advice. Shortly after her parents' funeral, Rose was sent to a home for girls on Gandorona and spent one month there. However, she turned into a fearful person, and feared almost everything.
Soon, Captain Amelia and her First Mate, Mr. Arrow, (the one who rescued Rose on the night of the attack) came to the home and the moment the Captain laid eyes on the girl, she interviewed her and decided that she and Mr. Arrow would adopt her. Rose spent nine years living with her adopted parents; unfortunately, the girl developed many fears and one that was much worse from her childhood. She spends most of her life in isolation away from people in the outside world, and only interacts with her adopted parents, her governess with her daughters, and the servants. Despite her fears, she grew to love her adopted family and the people in her home.
The other servant followed Rose to a screened-off dressing area, and helped her take off her nightgown, throwing it over the screen.
"Rose, there is something of valuable interest that Mr. Arrow and I want to address to you this afternoon," the Captain said.
"What might that be?" Rose asked pulling on a white shirt.
"A voyage that leads to a far off planet in the galaxy that is very considerable."
"And what is this planet?" she asked pulling on her dark green dress and tying a black sash around her waist.
"Well, I think Mr. Arrow and I will tell you later. I will allow you to finish dressing up and continue your normal routine and your lessons."
Rose slipped on her black flats, "All right Mother, I'll see you later."
The servants finished dressing up Rose, brushed her long hair, and tried a green ribbon, and they left along with the Captain. The girl walked over to a large tank that had many branches and leaves as if it were a rainforest. She opened the lid and grabbed a piece of fruit, she held out it waiting for her pet to come out. Then, a small green-blue chameleon climbed out of the leaves and crawled up on the girl's palm of her hand, and stuck out her tongue to eat the fruit.
"Good morning Artemis, how are you?"
Artemis chirped and turned green, her crescent moon on the side stayed white. Rose named her chameleon after the Greek Goddess of the Hunt and the moon and was given by Mr. Arrow who recused Artemis when she was just a baby and nearly died of starvation on the side of the road. After rescuing her, he and Captain Amelia gave the chameleon to Rose, and the two became the best of friends.
"I see, are you up for a little assignment after we eat?" she asked.
Artemis gave a nod and crawled up on her mistress's shoulder. Rose headed over to her table to eat her breakfast, and shared the rest with Artemis, mostly on the fruit. After finishing it, she headed over to her experiment table holding her chemistry set and her collection of plants.
She sat on her chair and pulled out her book on the experiments she practiced with her governess. She carefully read over the instructions her governess gave her last week, to study a leaf disk experiment. She took out a small dish filled with cold water and spinach leaves, a baking soda solution in a glass, and a liter of water.
The redhead pulled out a hole puncher and gripped the tool tight punching out twenty leaf holes landing on the glass surface. Her pale fingers reached for the forceps and gently picked up each hole and placed them carefully in the syringe. She grabbed a plunger and placed it in the syringe. Rose pulled up the plunger in the baking soda solution watching the tiny disks float around, pulling out the air from the leaves.
The air floated out from the leaves, and Rose gave a nod. She pushed on the plunger to disperse the baking soda, with the leaves remaining at the bottom. She placed the plunger in another beaker of clear tap water, and sucked it all up. She tapped it gently to let the leaf disks to land at the bottom. She nodded in satisfaction and placed the syringe at a holder near the sunlight shining through her window.
Rose scribbled down her notes, filling in the answers, with her pencil making stroking sounds writing up the words. Then a knock came at the door, and she sat up straight.
"Come in," she said.
The door slowly opened and her governess arrived. Lorraine Anderson was of mid-height, her high cheekbones fitted her fair face and her black midnight hair was tied back in a low graceful bun. She wore a white shirt with elbow-length sleeves, a black/ dark green bodice with blue lacing, a long black skirt, and black boots. She walked towards the girl and gave a warm smile.
Lorraine was a friend of Rose's late mother and knew each other when they were young girls. Lorraine's husband, Thomas was a friend of David and thus brought the four of them together. Thomas and Lorraine have two daughters, Hazel and Willow; they have been friends with Rose since they were little. Lorraine and her girls came to live with Rose after Thomas died while battling pirates.
"Hello Rose."
"Hi Lorraine."
"How have you been doing with your studies?" the woman sat on a chair next to the girl.
Rose pulled up a chair, and sat up straight, pulling out her assignment. "I've been doing them well, thank you ma'am."
"That's wonderful, let's get started with the next lesson and I'll look at your experiment." She pulled out her books and opened them up.
The redhead continued to watch and listen to her governess giving a lecture about plants and examined her assignment. Time felt very long as Rose was indulged hearing her governess's voice and the writing of ink from her quill on her notes. The dark-haired woman looked through the plunger of the leaf holes and wrote down a few notes marking down the girl's assignment.
"Well Rose, it looks like that you've done well on your assignment," Lorraine said. "Though there were only a few incorrect answers, you did very well. You're a good student Rose, and very hard-working."
"Thank you, Ma'am."
"Now then, I have learned that you've done some training in nursing. We've done some good practicing, and it seems that you've been improving more."
"Yes, I also practiced on drawing blood, sewing stitches, cleaning wounds, and using needles. I'm starting to get used to them."
Lorraine nodded and the two continued with the lesson for the next two hours. Rose emerged herself into the session, though time felt very slow. The redhead continued to scribble down the notes. What felt like forever, the girl's governess had finished up the lesson.
"That will conclude our lesson for today," Lorraine stood up. "I'll be picking up my daughters. I'll let you see your parents about what they want to talk with you about, and if you feel uneasy, you can always talk to me. Have a good day Rose."
"Have a good day Lorraine."
The governess smiled, she packed up her books and notes and headed out of the door. After closing the door gently, Rose turned back to Artemis and came up with an idea to pass the time before meeting up with her adoptive parents.
"Since we have plenty of time before the meeting Artemis, would you like to play our favorite game?"
