At the age of seventeen, Caledon was attending the most prestigious school in Philadelphia. He was very popular among his high school classmates and it was then that he laid eyes on American Indian girl, Thalia Indigo. She was tall, slender, very beautiful with long, black, back length hair. She had been adopted by a white family in Philadelphia, which is the only reason she attended the school with Caledon. However despite her attending the school, her and her family weren't rich, they were the opposite of what Caledon and his family were. Thalia and her family were the "Jack Dawson's" of less fortunate. She would be a girl Caledon's father certainly would disapprove of. Caledon sat beside her every morning in class. This particular morning, he decided to do more than just sit beside her and stare. Caledon walked in the class, backpack in hand and sat beside her. She looked up at him and smiled.
"Um, hi Thalia." Caledon said with his "Caledon Hockley" smile.
Thalia looked up at him and smiled, oh how her smile seemed to melt his heart.
"Caledon Hockley, you haven't spoken to me not ever before today," Thalia said with an eyebrow raised and a smirk. "What's with the sudden change?"
Caledon looked down and nodded slightly.
"Well I wanted to ask you to attend a ball that my father is hosting this Saturday," Caledon said in a low voice. "All of Philadelphia's finest will be there, both young and—old."
Thalia laughed.
"So I'd like for you to come." Caledon said.
Thalia looked at him with surprise.
"Well out of all the women you could have asked, you asked me." Thalia said with a smile. "Why?"
"Because I LIKE you," Caledon said. "The other women here are so—contrived, you seem so real, so natural. So I'll see you around eight?"
Thalia laughed and leaned in closer towards him with a smile.
"No," Thalia said firmly.
Caledon's smile faded and a look of disappointment flashed on his face.
"Not without a proper first date, this evening." Thalia said.
Caledon looked away and laughed. This girl was something. Was she actually negotiating the terms of her attending the ball with him? Caledon, who was the richest heir in the entire school?
"Alright, I think I can manage that." Caledon said with his flirtatious smile. "How about you come to my house, around four? We can have a nice picnic by the lake out back?"
Thalia nodded with a smile.
"Sounds great, Caledon Hockley." Thalia said.
"I suppose you don't need my address," Caledon said proudly. "Everyone knows my father has the biggest house in all of Philadelphia."
Thalia laughed and shook her head.
"If your trying to impress me, it won't work, Caledon." Thalia said with a smile. "Your smile already did the job."
Caledon sat back in his chair and smiled, Thalia could see his face blushing a bright red, although he had his face partially turned from her so she wouldn't see it. This would be Caledon's first and only love….before Rose.
Theme Song: "The Mummer's Dance" ~ Loreena McKennitt
It was around four when Nathaniel Hockley arrived home from working at the mill, he walked into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water, when he saw Caledon out in the back yard with one of the maids, talking. There was a blanket spread out on the grass, with a basket and glasses. Nathaniel frowned at the sight. What was his son up to now? Nathaniel walked out to the backyard to where Caledon was.
"Caledon? What's this blanket and basket and stuff doing out here?" Nathaniel asked in a demanding to know tone.
Caledon looked at his father with an eyebrow raised and a brief smile.
"Oh well, father I'm expecting—"
"You! Go inside!" Nathaniel yelled rudely to the black housekeeper standing beside Caledon. "I'm talking with my son, go!"
The female housekeeper quickly ran inside and Caledon looked at the housekeeper with sorrow filled eyes. Why did his father always have to talk to people lower than him with such disdain?
"Father, can't we try talking to the help a little better?" Caledon asked with a slight frown.
Nathaniel looked at Caledon with angry eyes.
"DIDN'T we have this conversation three weeks ago, Cal?" Nathaniel said in a angry tone. "The help does not get special treatment because of who they are, do YOU understand?"
Caledon looked down and sighed as he rolled his eyes at the ground.
"I SAID, do you understand?" Nathaniel said again.
"YES, father, I DO." Caledon said with a bit of sarcasm in his voice.
"Good, I do NOT want to have this conversation with you, again." Nathaniel warned. "Now you were saying, you were expecting—whom?"
Caledon sighed and looked up at his father and tried to clear his face of the angry look he was displaying regarding his father's rudeness towards others as well as him.
"Well, I'm having company over," Caledon said. "A girl, her name is Thalia, so I thought we'd have a picnic out here, if that's alright. I even thought of inviting her for the Philadelphia ball you're hosting."
Nathaniel smiled happily.
"Oh that's wonderful Caledon." Nathaniel said happily. 'Finally maybe I can get some grandchildren from you."
Caledon looked down and scoffed and smiled briefly.
"Father, I'm only in high school." Caledon said. "Don't you think I'd want to finish school first? Maybe go off to college?"
"Oh rubbish, son." Nathaniel said with a frown. "Its never too early to start a family, and there will be no college for you, after high school you're coming to work for your father at the mill, remember?"
Cal's smile faded.
"Father, but father, what if I don't want to work at the mill?" Caledon said in a low voice. "I—I actually would like to go to college and become a doctor."
Nathaniel looked at Cal with a surprised smile and laughed, it was a laugh that Caledon found very offending.
"A doctor?" Nathaniel said in a surprised tone. "Yes son, like YOU could actually become a doctor. No, you're not smart enough. You WILL come work at the mill with your father and that's final."
Caledon frowned angrily at his father. Who was this son of a bitch to tell him what he would and would not do?
"Damn it father no!" Caledon yelled angrily. "You're not listening to me! I don't WANT to work at—"
Caledon was cut off by Nathaniel walking quickly over to Caledon and backslapping him hard in the face. The slap was so hard that the sting felt like a stab wound in the face to Caledon. Caledon held the side of his face and looked at his father with anger.
"Caledon, what I say GOES around here!" Nathaniel said angrily. "You WILL work at the mill and if you refuse, I will make sure that you cease to exist in my LIFE, in the Hockley family and in this world, am I clear!"
Caledon looked at his father with hurt eyes.
"You'd murder your own son for disobeying you?" Cal said in a slightly shaky tone. "Your OWN son?"
Nathaniel stared Caledon directly in the eyes.
"You're damn right I would." Nathaniel said in a low, cold voice. "No one, NO ONE disobeys me. I'm trying to teach you that same principle but you're too damn hard headed to learn it. Now this discussion is FINAL. Excuse me."
Nathaniel walked away and Caledon looked away from his father with anger, hurt and frustration. He felt trapped, trapped from living the life he wanted. He knew the only way out with father was through death. Caledon certainly didn't want to die, so he did the only thing he could do—play by his father's rules and do what his father told him to do. But Caledon would soon find that, that method would grow weary within him and soon death would be a very favorable option for young Caledon Hockley.