Journey to a New World

chapter 5

Night had fallen by the time they had arrived to where Rolfe wanted to take them.

"Wow, it's already night time." Patch said.

"Sorry it took so long..." Rolfe told them once the carriage stopped.

Pocahontas arrived at the front door with her friends, very eager to see what a home in London was like.

Rolfe got the door and opened it. "Mrs. Jenkins!" he called, followed by glass shattering upstairs.

"What was that?" Patch asked.

"That sounds like Mrs. Jenkins is coming." Atticus said.

"Gads-me-gracious!" a woman who wasn't Madame Forte appeared at the top of the stairs. "Is that my Johnny?" She rushed downstairs, taking Meeko in her hands and kissing his face, chuckling.

"Forgive me, Jean, but I believe you need your glasses." Madame Forte chuckled as she went to accompany her friend in need.

"And may need new glasses." Patch murmured.

"Eww, Johnny, you need a bath..." Mrs. Jenkins dropped the raccoon.

Madame Forte found her friend's glasses and placed them on her eyes. "Luckily you didn't lose 'em before we gave little Charles a bath."

Meeko sniffed himself, wondering if he smelled dirty to the nearly blind woman.

"Wait, isn't Forte's first name Charles?" Atticus whispered.

"I don't know..." Cherry admitted.

Pocahontas smiled at the bond between John Rolfe and Mrs. Jenkins.

"Oh, speaking of which... Excuse me..." Madame Forte left the room, hearing the cry of an infant.

"Strange, I even smell Charles's scent." Patch said.

Madame Forte came back with a dark-haired infant, then gently placed a bottle in his mouth.

"Whoa... Feels so weird to see Forte as a baby..." Cherry mumbled, then spoke up. "Pardon me, Madame Forte, but where is Mr. Forte?" she asked, referring to the father of three children.

Madame Forte's smile disappeared. "I'm afraid Mr. Forte isn't with us anymore... He left as soon as my little Charles was born..."

"So, you mean he just abandoned you because he couldn't take the pressure of having to raise another child?" Atticus asked out of shock.

"Well... That's the reason I'd like to believe, but it's not true..." Madame Forte said as she fed her baby.

"Then what was the reason?" Atticus asked.

Madame Forte sat on the couch with Cherry and Atticus on her sides. "Well... You see... My husband was away at war for quite sometime... I was very lonely without him and I needed something to fulfill myself... The children were growing up and I just felt empty nest syndrome coming on... I met this man at a tavern and we started to talk... We got a little drunk... And a while later, I found out I was very sick and the doctor announced to me that I was pregnant."

"Wow." Atticus said.

"I'm so sorry to hear that..." Cherry said as she looked to the baby.

"Me too... I just hope I can find a way to take care of my three children alone..." Madame Forte sighed. "I don't really have anyone else..."

"What about your parents?" Atticus suggested.

Madame Forte looked long-suffering as much as her future son did on a regular basis. "My parents died in a fire when I was seven-years-old..."