Terror on the Docks

Two

 Tuesday, December 4th 1917

Everyone is in a good mood today! Joseph didn't even complain about going to school! And then he was even more excited when Mom told him that he could skip school today. Even Alice seems to know what's going on, she's all smiles all day.

Today all six of us, plus Mermaid, are going down to the docks to tell all of Dads friends that he's coming home. We're going to plan a party for him! We go find Clarence first. All of our fathers friends ask us to call them by their first names, and I like that a lot better than Mr so-and-so.

"Hey, Clarence!" Joseph's excited voice rings through the warehouse that the cheery man works at.

"Aye, Joe! Nice ta see ya!" The mans voice calls. "And Tommy, Clara, Elizabeth, Miss Missie, little Alice!" He looks pleased that we're all here.

"Nice to see you too!" Our voices chorus.

Mermaid comes running in, sopping wet. "Mermaid! Yer gonna get pneumonia! It's December!" Clarence scolds her with a smile, causing us all to laugh.

"Now, I know you di'nt come down 'ere just to see how I'm doin'! What's goin' on?"

"Daddy's coming home!" Thomas squeals.

"Is that right? Well!" The man grins.

"We're going to give him a welcome home party. Will you come?" I ask.

"Course I will!"

We stay to visit for a while, before going on to tell two of dads other close friends, Lawrence and Raymond. They both happily agree to come to the party and tell us to say hi to our mother. I know mom will ask our cousins, aunts and uncles to come too. Joseph invites Jasper and Minnie invites one of her friends. Thomas says he just wants Dad to be there and that's all that matters. He's pretty smart for a six year old.

All morning we worked on things for the party, and even though Minnie, Joseph and Thomas skipped school, we still barely had time to eat lunch!

"Clarey I'm tired!" I hear Thomas whine.

"Okay, do you want to go play with your friends?" Clara replies.

"Oh yes!" He wiggles with excitement.

"Thought you said you were tired!" Minnie laughs.

"I was tired of work not tired of play! I didn't do that yet," He protests.

"Okay let's go lazy people!" I call to the three of them, who are sitting on our porch. Joseph is already running ahead of us, and is almost out of sight. 

We head to where our friends usually are, and we find almost all of them. I spot my friend Helen first, along with her older brother Henry. Minnie and Thomas run off to play with little Arthur and Lucille, and Joseph walks over to Jasper. 

Helen's dad is on the same ship as my dad, so I guess this means that her dad is coming home too.

"Did you hear?" She says excitedly.

"Yes! We're having a party! You have to come!" I reply, equally excited.

"Okay! We'll come!"

The four of us talk until supper time, and we invite them over so they can help us plan the party.

  Wednesday December 5th 1917

"And my dad said in his letter that they're bringing explosives on that ship! Mont-Blanc I think it's called, oh but I'm not allowed to tell anyone so don't tell that I told," Henry tells me.

I wouldn't tell anyone anyway. Why would I care if they do or don't bring explosives on a ship? They probably do that all the time with the war going on. Boys get so excited over the stupidest things.

"Okay, I won't breathe a word," I promise.

"Thank you," he grins.

"I'm awfully excited about my Dad finally coming home! Yours too," I say.

"Yes! My dad said he'll tell me everything about the trip!"

"I love their stories," I smile.

"I know, they tell the best ones!"

I look around to see that Clara and Helen are lagging behind us. Today the four of us left our siblings home so we could go to the docks together. I fidget a little and bite my lip.

"You're upset about something," Henry states.

"Yeah, Alice. I left her with Joseph when he got back from school. I hope he's actually watching her," I reply.

"I'm sure Alice will be fine. Joseph's a good kid."

"Yes, but not very responsible."

"True," He laughs.

"Mermaid is probably the one watching her," I giggle.

"Probably! That dog loves you all."

"She does," I smile.

As we reach the docks, we're greeted by some familiar people, and some not so familiar people making their way along the boardwalk, with their heavy winter coats and scarfs on. The gentle breeze makes small, rippling grey-green waves slap at the sides of the old wooden beams that hold the docks up. I can't wait for summer when I can swim again. The water now is like ice, I don't know how Mermaid stands it.

"Just think, in a few days our fathers will be coming into this harbour!" Helen says.

I didn't notice her and Clara catch up to us. We continue to walk down the boardwalk. I read off the names of the boasts we pass. One name stands out to me.

"Imo, what a funny name!" I exclaim.

"Isn't it? Some of these have such interesting names!" Clara laughs.

"If you had your own ship, what would you call it?" Henry asks us.

"Sea Breeze," Clara says without pausing to think.

"Well, maybe the Atlantic," Helen says slowly.

"Very original Helen," Henry laughs. "What about you Elizabeth?"

"The Mermaid!" I grin.