Before The Beginning

Chapter 20: Shipwrecked

Begin!

~Beatrice's POV

It was nearly daybreak when we reached the pier. There was no one around, but the boat Ike was giving me was sitting on the water waiting for us. Bertrand was paranoid and surveyed the area with his spyglass while I set our things inside. It was a nice boat, all things considered. The inside had all the comforts of a home in it. Ike wasn't going to skimp on taking care of his little sister. I only wish I hadn't needed to do this at all. I had already informed him and Josephine of my plan when I asked for this favor and said my goodbyes ahead of time. It would be a long while before I saw my family again and I accepted that.

"Everything looks clear, Bea," Bertie said hopping onto the deck with me.

I nodded, "Then we're ready to go?"

"Yeah we are," He replied before going to start the engine.

We had a map, and we knew more than a few V.F.D. locations that would welcome us along the way. But we still had no permanent destination for this journey. I sat down in a chair and pulled a commonplace book out to begin to detail our journey together. (Something to pass the time.) I was thankful that Bertrand was so mechanically apt as I had little knowledge about such things. It meant that during our journey he was capable of mending those kinds of problems. My skills however were in animal care and fighting; a strange, but effective set I know.

For the first few weeks everything was fine. We stopped at a V.F.D. training island for supplies and got to hear the news of our friends and families in the process. Apparently, Olaf had dropped off the radar once more, but many had been given orders to capture him on sight. Almost the whole organization was trying to catch him and yet none of them could. I heard Lemony went to live in Stain'd By The Sea permanently and that Jacques and Kit visited when they were able. I wish Lemony and Moxie all the happiness in the world; it made me happy that they were unharmed after the ball.

The bit that concerned me more was that there was talk that Esmé might have been in contact with Ernest... that was a deadly combination. Ernest was a threat due to his resources and contacts. Esmé was a threat because of her determination and loss of rational thinking. But I was away from her. I was safe. Bertrand was safe too. We were together on our boat traveling the waters and neither of my enemies knew where we were in the slightest. That thought helps you sleep at night.

And then on June 15th the storm hit.

It was deafeningly loud and it had been so dark you couldn't see in front of your own face. It was also something we were not entirely equipped to handle. Traversing this storm nearly killed us several times. There were so many crashing waves and we were tossed around an awful lot, we had no idea how we would get back on track afterwards but what mattered was surviving first. Bertrand had to make multiple repairs to keep us afloat. It went on for so long that it truly felt like the end. I was sure that we would be taken down to the bottom of the ocean never to see what our future together would have held. In those moments I couldn't stop myself from wondering what our life would be like if we made it out.

And by the end of the storm everything was so soaking wet I slipped and hit my head rather hard to the point of losing consciousness. As everything went black I knew, I had to rely on Bertrand to get us somewhere safe...

"I can trust you Bertie..."

~...

Why was it so bright now? My eyes were closed but everything was so bright. I was still alive, of that I was certain. I slowly opened my eyes to find the soft white color of a tent canopy above me. The sun was shining once again but why was there a tent? The last thing I remember before blacking out was the storm and we were on our boat. I turned to my side and saw a few cots laid out in the large tent and on one of them was Bertrand. He was sitting up and had several bandages on his hands and a small cut on his cheek.