The Captain

two

I spent the rest of the day shut up in Amelie and I's shared room. I was trying to fight the urge to either cry or throw myself off the boat. 

Now that we were actually here, everything seemed so much more real.

There was no more pretending that the marriage was just going to disappear, it was happening, and I had twelve days to mentally prepare for the rest of my life. 

I rubbed my eyes tiredly as the boat began to move. Amelie had already gone onto the main deck after I'd made her promise to be careful. The floor beneath me seemed to sway as we got into open water. I stumbled slightly and sat down on the bed, pulling off my hat and tucking it away with the rest of my clothes. 

It wasn't exactly marriage that terrified me, it was the fact that Kenneth Thompson seemed nice, but was also almost thirty. I'd never met him, and I had no idea what he was like. Was he tall, short? Kind? Did he like books? Was he actually going to treat me like his wife, or like a business transaction? I was a little offended that he hadn't even bothered to come on the boat that was picking me up. I felt less like a bride and more like one of the cargo containers below. 

Sighing, I twisted the engagement ring on my finger a few times, trying to erase the foreign feeling of the metal against my skin. 

In an effort to dispel the cloud that had formed over my head, I took off my shoes and lay back on the bed. 

Probably an hour later, I was woken by a horrible sensation in my stomach. I sat up and nearly lost my lunch. 

Staggering, I pulled on my shoes as fast as I could and rushed up to the main deck where I took three steps to the railing and vomited.

"Ooh. Probably should've warned ya that you might get seasick. Sorry 'bout that, Miss Harlow."

Another man, maybe in his thirties, with flaming red hair was looking at me sympathetically. 

I wiped the clammy sweat off my forehead and tried to look as composed as possible, despite the wind pulling my hair everywhere and the fact that he'd just seen me throw up.

I opened my mouth to respond, but instead turned back around and heaved again.

I stayed there, letting the cool breeze blow across my face as I tried to fight the waves of nausea. 

"Here, miss."

The same man was back, this time holding a canteen of water. 

I gingerly took a sip, waiting for my stomach to reject it. When it didn't, I took another sip.

"Thank you, Mr..." I trailed off.

"Mr Otteson, miss. Tristan."

I nodded, closing my eyes against yet another surge of nausea. 

He was watching me pityingly.

"It'll pass by tomorrow, but until you get your sea legs about ya, it'll be a bit of a rough ride."

"Thank you," I said, handing him back the canteen. 

Carefully, I released my death grip on the railing and took a cautious few steps. 

"You wouldn't happen to know where my sister is, would you?"

"She's up at the bow with Fletcher I think, miss."

"Thank you again, Mr Otteson."

I walked carefully up the side of the ship, seeing my sister's silhouette at the very front of the boat. 

"Amelie!"

She turned, a wide smile on her face.

"Hi, Florence! You don't look so good," she remarked after examining my pale face. 

"Thanks."

She, on the other hand, looked radiant. She didn't seem to be having the seasickness I was plagued with. Fletcher was standing beside her holding a spyglass. 

"Hello, miss Harlow. I was just showing your sister how to use the spyglass."

"I see," I remarked quietly, noticing the blush on his ears. I could tell he had a little crush on my painfully oblivious sister, which was fair, assuming that he didn't run into many girls on a merchant ship, let alone girls his age. 

"Try it, Flo," Amelie said, pulling me over to the railing. Fletcher handed me the spyglass, to which I held it up to my eye carefully. 

"Wow," I muttered, staring out at the crystal blue expanse that seemed to go on forever. There was no sign of land in any direction, almost like it had never existed. 

"I know!"

Amelie gripped my hand tightly as she stared into the horizon. 

Despite everything, I was incredibly glad that my sister was with me. This entire journey was going to be hard enough, and it would've been a million times harder if I was alone. 

For the next few hours, we wandered around the deck. Fletcher introduced us to the rest of the crew, most of whom seemed entirely uninterested in us as long as we stayed out of their way. 

Fair enough I guess. 

When the sun was beginning to lower itself in the sky, we were called down to what I learned was called the galley by the cook Markus.

To my surprise, we ate with the rest of the crew. I kinda thought they'd want us to leave them alone, but we ate our soup and bread with everyone else. I listened to them talk, fascinated by the stark contrast between their lives and ours. After dinner, Amelie and I were "encouraged" to head back to our room. We changed into nightclothes and got ready to go to sleep. 

"This really is amazing, don't you think?" she said dreamily as I brushed her hair. 

"It's certainly something. Much nicer when you're not vomiting. I think someone had their eye on you today," I remarked. 

I could tell she was embarrassed by the red blush spreading across her neck.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh please, Fletcher practically followed you around like a lost puppy."

She swatted my hand away from her hair. 

"I just met him today, Flo. Don't make it strange."

I shrugged.

"Okay. I saw that smile though," I said innocently as I went to braid back my own hair.

"Oh shut up."

I drew the curtains across the window and climbed into bed next to her. We lay in the dark silence for about a minute before she spoke again.

"I can't believe you're getting married."

My eyes strained against the dark as I stared at the ceiling, feeling the boat rock under us like a huge cradle. 

"Yeah," I breathed, "me either."