Notes:
Hello readers! Thank you for stopping by. This is my fifth N&S fanfic. Writing a retelling is more difficult than starting from somewhere middle of the story, as one has to make sure there are enough changes in the story so that it's not mundane. In spite of it, I did have a rough idea of a possible fresh take. Moreover, I love to explore the psyche and vulnerabilities of the characters, especially John Thornton. A few characters like his help to add different pov on the story.
I thought to keep the first chapter as a basic introduction of this story, mentioning the subtle to not-so-subtle or the OOC changes. But I decided not to, and to keep it open.
Obviously, I did not invent these characters, neither do I own them. All credits go to Elizabeth Gaskell (for the book) and the series. I am also not an expert in the Victorian era history but I will keep the plot close to the ways of the times.
This chapter is a foreshadowing, meaning it is an event that will come up in one of the future chapters. From the next chapter onward, the story will start from the beginning as in the book and series.
That's all your honor.
Happy reading!
TW: slight description of violence, suicide
The old Japanese fairy tale of Urashima Taro sprang to his mind.
He had gone to sea as a young, lively man, leaving behind his dearest family and little hamlet Helstone to seek adventures in the sea. Tales of pirates and voyages were what he grew up with, which later took form as his aim. He toiled, he researched, he waited. And he was rewarded with an opportunity to board a ship of the Royal Navy and thus start his voyage.
Now that he was out of the sea and in the land of the man, he felt too old, despite his youth still in bloom. At just 25, he felt he had spent a thousand leagues under the sea.
Little did he know that he had boarded the ship of doom- HMS Belfast. It held so many promises and experiences at first but the inhabitants did not. At least not everyone. The captain turned from friend to foe, and soon, the cruelest man to ever exist. His venomous deeds couldn't be told in words and the very thought of it nauseated him. He became a savage in a place on earth that was so disconnected from civilization as if the sea needed a master to tame the waves and the creatures that lurked deep in the waters. The voices of the crew members were trampled and restrained by the captain. His demeanor seemed to be shaped by immoral and primitive tendencies, which were reprehensible to the highest degree. He smuggled ammunition, stole from the crew, abused his men, molested women, and even went to the extent of taking away lives. What was once a ship of promises soon turned into a sailing graveyard. The sea enveloped them all like a witch's cloak. Everyone on board had to live amidst the incomprehensible, which was detestable. He was at once fascinated, yes- fascinated by the utterly dark abomination the captain held in his heart, for no other human on earth would be capable of such deeds. His days were spent in growing regrets of leaving his parents and young sister, the yearning to escape, the powerfully powerless disgust of being the audience of many gruesome sights, the timid surrendering, and the loath. The dead were thrown into the sea as bread crumbs for the starving fishes. Starvation and deprivation became the sight. The only sight.
Then came the doomsday. He knew not how he mustered the courage but he became the leader of those final lot who managed to survive. Mutiny was the answer they arrived at. The quarterdeck was safely captured first and then the captain's cabin. Capt. Reid Hook, who was never refused anything and feared at, was the one frightened this time. How could he not when he was finally surrounded by the last remaining twenty of them? They gawked at him and despite their starvation and malnutrition, they were fastened by a collective motive which made them look deadlier. And the motive was to kill him.
But they did not. They were stopped by him, the one who hailed from Helstone.
He pardoned the captain from death. If he had to answer him in the same cruel way as he did, then there would be no difference between them both. The next minute he knew, they put the captain on the rescue boat and off he sailed, all alone.
The rest took an oath to never speak of the mutiny to the unawares and took aliases.
That was the end of it. But also the start of years long exile.
Several, he got to know, committed suicide for fear of getting captured by the Crown. A few others were shut in asylums for they had deboarded the Belfast, but the memories of it didn't depart from their hearts. And some others, like him, were surviving in different parts of the world.
He kept in touch with his family through letters. That's how he got to know, if not see, his younger sister's adventures, thoughts, and deeds. His father's teachings and mother's love. He knew that he had failed them as a son and brother. He should be the breadwinner of the family and living in peace at Helstone but that was the distant past. Spain became his home after so long- thanks to Messrs. Barbour. He started yet again- toiled and yielded, and it bore results in the form of his own little fortune.
When he wondered about the absence of correspondence from Margaret, a letter came but not a happy one. It mourned his absence, it screamed of sisterly love. If only I stayed at Helstone would they have not ventured anywhere near to Milton, he thought. And papa and Margaret would have been fine and merry.
But it was too late. He couldn't stay anymore in Cadiz. He pushed down the fact that his head had a hefty price and an invisible noose hanging on his neck and set sail. To England.
The voyage was nostalgic and painful and fearsome. He no longer feared for his life, but for his family's. If by any chance suspicion arises, the entire Hale family would deteriorate. As he neared the town of Milton, he was stunned and checked Margaret's letter twice and thrice to see if the address was indeed correct. He was hardly able to picture her and his parents in such an abysmal setting. There was no patch of verde anywhere. He understood that it was all deprivation and poverty here as well, with looming factories in almost every street.
He reached Crampton safely and with great caution. He at last saw his father and sister after years and it was joyful and miserable at the same time. They rejoiced, mused about the past; his father did try to hide his sorrows behind a mask of cheer, but the name- Mr. Thornton slipped often. He trusted him it seemed. He felt a bit of envy to hear his father call an ordinary mill master like his own son. But somewhere in his heart, he was grateful for the pupil as well as curious of him.
Finally, his time had come to bid goodbye to the town and retrieve back to Cadiz. He cried bitterly and so did his father and Dixon. Amidst them all, only Margaret stayed resilient. He wondered how and when she turned from a little joyful girl to a woman. She asked him to leave town immediately just as he had come. They reached Outwood, and after a dreadful scuffle with Leonards and promising his sister that one day they would be together again if there's hope, he departed.
After three days of extreme secrecy and vigilance in London, he met Henry Lennox. He had to narrate the entire mutiny word to word again, despite knowing that it was in vain since he would never be pardoned by the Crown. It was only for Margaret's sake and hope that he agreed to consult this haughty Lennox, who always spoke highly with a hidden motive. Soon enough, he came to know that he was pining hopes for his sister, to make her his wife. So, this was the bargain- Margaret in return for fighting the court martial, even though he didn't spell it outright. He would never use his sister as a pawn and hoped she wouldn't agree to his offer of marriage. Later, on the advice of his brother Captain Lennox, the barrister assuaged to take up the case for the bargain of five thousand pounds.
He thought hard if he must inform his sister and father of the impending trial, but decided not to. If he was to be hanged, it would be better that it was sudden. He was no more afraid of death but at least his family would be saved from misery for weeks on end. He made a few arrangements beforehand for the fortune he so earned to be handed over to his family and started focusing on the court martial boldly.
The next few weeks, crucial as they were, went in a haze, collecting testimony from previous members of the navy, family members of the deceased passengers, evidence such as letters and accounts mentioning the cruelty of the captain, and also searching for the whereabouts and current life of the captain himself. The latter was the most difficult but not entirely impossible.
The day came when he and several had to finally enter the court and stand the trial. As he stood now besides the pew, he hoped that their evidence would be corroborated and that he could finally be free in his homeland again.
The countdown began. In the next few hours, his destiny would be sealed, either by a noose on his neck or by the freedom he so yearned for.
Notes:
Urashima Taro- protagonist of a famous Japanese fairy tale, rescues a turtle and takes it to the dragon palace beneath the sea. Otohime, a princess spends time with him in the sea for several days. When he returns back to the land, he is shocked to know that he was gone for a hundred years. When he opens a jewel box gifted by the princess, he turns into an old man. I thought this somehow suits Frederick Hale, so mentioned it.
I did read up much on court martials of mutinies and the punishments given to the detainees during the Victorian era. I shall discuss it in detail in the future chapters where this part of the story will come up.
Thank you for reading, reviews are welcome!