Vivid Fizz
Supernova
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2009
Lillianâs heart raced. A fine sweat had coated her palms and a bead of it rolled down the ivory skin of her face. This was the first time that had she ventured outside of the residential and shopping districts of London. In fact, it was the first time she had left her home without an escort of any kind. It just wasnât seemly for a young woman to be out without some sort of protection. On her way to the port many men had approached her and propositioned her, thinking that she was some common street trollop. Of course she slapped them and went on her way. To think!
Nervously she twirled her parasol around and looked around. The dockyard was busy. Everyone was working hard with ropes, boxes, and other things that a woman of fine breeding had no reason to know about. Her brow knit as she looked around. Going on to a passenger vessel probably wouldnât have been the best choice. People expected stowaways on them and security was likely to be a problem. She didnât want to be on a carrier vessel but she needed to find SOME way to the States.
Her mind went to her sister. Emma had been kidnapped, stolen away because of the sins of their father. She was a beautiful young girl and, of course, was a target for these debt collector. Damn her fatherâs gambling. They were once a prosperous family who owned a very lucrative shipping business. But her father was ill prepared to inherit it from his own father and the man squandered all of the profits on expensive airships and in poker games. Debt collectors were vicious, vicious men.
With a new determination she lifted her chin. No. Her older sister would not pay for her father. She pushed one of her dark auburn curls that managed to escape her tight bun behind her ear and walked towards the other end of the dock, where less people were. The shipyard had been sorted by where they were going and it seemed that not many were going to America. That was fine by her. Some people had gave her strange looks but she simply ignored them and moved along.
Then she saw something that made her heart stop. There was a ship that looked virtually empty with only a dozing guard at the main entrance. It also looked fairly well kept for a cargo ship. Her heart jumped and she slowly made her way over, looking for the cargo hatch on the airship. She found it and with some huffing and puffing was able to get it open enough for her to slip through. It was insanely dark as the hatch shut with a resounding metallic clank. She stumbled around, knocking against objects. The metal boning of her underskirt made it much more difficult to maneuver but finally she managed to find a piled of something soft, which she flopped down in. It felt like she was laying in a bed of silk. These people were obviously merchants of the highest quality. She clutched her lacy umbrella to her chest and waited. As soon as she saw a crack of light she would have to duck behind something.
Though that didnât happen and after thirty minutes of sitting fearfully in the dark, the lovely young woman found herself drifting off.
Nervously she twirled her parasol around and looked around. The dockyard was busy. Everyone was working hard with ropes, boxes, and other things that a woman of fine breeding had no reason to know about. Her brow knit as she looked around. Going on to a passenger vessel probably wouldnât have been the best choice. People expected stowaways on them and security was likely to be a problem. She didnât want to be on a carrier vessel but she needed to find SOME way to the States.
Her mind went to her sister. Emma had been kidnapped, stolen away because of the sins of their father. She was a beautiful young girl and, of course, was a target for these debt collector. Damn her fatherâs gambling. They were once a prosperous family who owned a very lucrative shipping business. But her father was ill prepared to inherit it from his own father and the man squandered all of the profits on expensive airships and in poker games. Debt collectors were vicious, vicious men.
With a new determination she lifted her chin. No. Her older sister would not pay for her father. She pushed one of her dark auburn curls that managed to escape her tight bun behind her ear and walked towards the other end of the dock, where less people were. The shipyard had been sorted by where they were going and it seemed that not many were going to America. That was fine by her. Some people had gave her strange looks but she simply ignored them and moved along.
Then she saw something that made her heart stop. There was a ship that looked virtually empty with only a dozing guard at the main entrance. It also looked fairly well kept for a cargo ship. Her heart jumped and she slowly made her way over, looking for the cargo hatch on the airship. She found it and with some huffing and puffing was able to get it open enough for her to slip through. It was insanely dark as the hatch shut with a resounding metallic clank. She stumbled around, knocking against objects. The metal boning of her underskirt made it much more difficult to maneuver but finally she managed to find a piled of something soft, which she flopped down in. It felt like she was laying in a bed of silk. These people were obviously merchants of the highest quality. She clutched her lacy umbrella to her chest and waited. As soon as she saw a crack of light she would have to duck behind something.
Though that didnât happen and after thirty minutes of sitting fearfully in the dark, the lovely young woman found herself drifting off.