Crimson Lace

Leaving Home

*18 June 1914*

Her mother gently holds her little dainty hand in hers while she carries her youngest daughter in her free arm. Her husband drops her son off in the back seat of the taxi. "Beatrice?" he says softly to her as she struggles to keep the tears from taking over. "Are you sure, Elliot? Do we really have to leave our home?" she asks sadly her husband who looks at her with calm green eyes. "It's best not to be here as long as the war goes on," he sighs lightly and knows very well that it is not easy, but he wants his family to be safe before Germany is hit by bombs. The First World War broke out not too long ago and Elliot was recruited to the front. But before he leaves he wants his wife and children to be far away from all this. He knows that Beatrice has a hard time leaving the home where they grew up, but right now it's too dangerous to stay there. Fiona watches her parents as she stands beside her mother and holds her hand. Her father smiles at her encouragingly. Then he kneels down to put his hand on her head. "Fiona? Be a good girl and listen to what your mother is telling you, okay?", his voice is gentle yet determined. "Yes Papa," she says while nodding her little head. Her father took her in his arms and put her next to her brother in the back seat. Her mother asks again if there is another and better way. Her father shakes his head, making it clear that there is no other way. The driver is a little impatient and if you want to leave by boat today you have to leave soon enough. Elliot kisses his wife goodbye before she sits down with Emma in her arms. Fiona continues to watch her parents, then the taxi driver leaves, and her mother looks for a long time in the direction where her father was standing.

The ride is not very pleasant and rather bumpy because of the holey and partly damaged roads. They barely made it onto their ship which was taking them to America. Fiona carries her brother, who became 4 years old on 09th March, into the quite big ship. Meanwhile, her mother holds Emma, who is not yet a year old, in her arms. Her luggage has already been loaded into the ship and brought to her cabin. Her mother showed the papers to a sailor before they were allowed inside. After that, they only had to look for their cabin, which is not as easy as it is. It is located below the deck. The corridors are quite narrow and just 2 people can stand next to each other. They are happy when they finally reach their cabin. It is not very big with its bunk beds but it is definitely better than nothing. Fiona sets her little brother down on one of the lower beds. He has just woken up and is looking around a bit confused. "Mummy where are we going?", he asks his mummy who is already sitting next to him. Beatrice strokes a blonde strand from her face before giving her son an answer. "We are taking a boat to New Orleans. We're going to visit some of your father's relatives," she said in a calm voice, gently stroking her blond-haired son over the head. Erik looked at her with his blue eyes for a moment before nodding his head slightly and lying down in the bed. Fiona wonders what her grandparents on her father's side are like. She has never met them and her mother's parents passed away when her mother was quite young. Fiona never asks because she knows how strongly her mother reacted to being asked. During the long voyage, Fiona inquires around the ship. For her, it is a new world that has been waiting to be explored and discovered. Her brother Erik was not so enthusiastic about it. He threw up several times and is certainly happy to have land under his feet. The ship swings slightly back and forth which his stomach can't handle. That's why her mother is mostly with her siblings and almost never outside to get some fresh air. Fiona takes every opportunity to go out on the deck and watch the people she saw there. It's Emma's birthday on the way. She turned 1 year on July 17th. Fiona and her mother sang a song for her sister on her birthday. They couldn't get a present for Emma because they are still on the road. The days passed rather slowly and it was not until July 25th, 1914, that they reached the port of New Orleans. Erik is the first to get off the ship and jump on the ground. "At last," he says, laughing happily. Beatrice can't help smiling when she sees how happy her son is to finally be off the ship.
She looks at a piece of paper with the address of her husband's parents. She knows full well they would not welcome her. They believed that she seduced their son and cast a love spell on him to make him fall in love with her. Which is complete nonsense. Fiona looks around a little curiously, where she also sees people whose skin is darker than hers. She didn't approve when one of the dark-skinned men was punished by a light-skinned one for a mistake. She would have loved to go there immediately, but her mother said she shouldn't interfere and it would only make things worse. It is the very first time she came into contact with racism. She wonders why this person is treated differently than a fair-skinned one who has made the same mistake. She just doesn't understand this. She holds her beige teddy bear with a pink ribbon in her arms as a boy attracts her attention. He has brown hair as well as brown eyes, he wore brown dungarees and a white shirt. She approaches the boy carefully while her mother tries to find out where they had to go. Fiona approaches the older boy, checking him out a little. She could tell that he was beaten up. He had some small bleeding wounds on his body as well as a blue eye, his clothes are a little torn. "Are you all right?" she asks him carefully, startling him. He looks at her and doesn't really know what a little girl with ruby red hair and emerald green eyes wanted from him. Hastily he tries to hide the rope marks on his wrists and wipes the blood away from his chapped lip. He puts on his broken glasses. The glasses have cracks and the frame is slightly bent. Gently, she pushes her teddy bear into his face, smiling lovingly. He looks at her a little confused. However, her loving gesture cheers him up a bit. "Here. You can keep it. He will always cheer you up when you're feeling bad. Just like he did it for me. When you hug him, you feel much better," she says with sparkling green eyes. He took the teddy bear and looked at her again. "What's your name?", the boy asks her calmly, whereby he feels quite comfortable around her. "My name is Fiona Fabiene Bach, and I am still 8 years old," she answers him with sparkling green eyes. Before she can ask him what his name is, her mother calls her. "I'm coming mummy," she called to her and said goodbye before she went to her mother. Then she went with her mother and siblings to the estate of her father's relatives. The boy looked after them for a long time, and he has a feeling inside him that he does not know. "Fiona," he whispers to himself while holding the bear, and it makes him very happy. He hopes very much that one day he will see her again.