Chapter 1
Sydney stood on the forward deck looking slowly at the faces of the people around her. Most of them looked sleepy, but in some faces she detected fear. Fear, just like she felt tight in her stomach. Tight in her shoulders. Tight in the muscles around her eyes. Tight in her fists.
Sydney felt relieved too. She had been planning for a year to board the Crista Montiga without a proper ticket and could not believe how easily it had been accomplished. Her plan was to blend into a large family boarding the ship, and it had worked. With her head down as she shuffled on board, she did not notice that no one was checking tickets.
Trembling, Sydney stood on the clean swept deck with about 100 other British citizens bound for the American colonies. To the east over the dirty city, the sun threatened to spill over the horizon.
Sydney looked out over the blue gray water and tried to relax. She was on her way to find her brother who had sailed to America two years before. He had written three times telling of the beauty, freedom, and wealth of the new country. He was free. Sydney longed to escape the rigid life of a British….
Interrupting her thoughts, Sydney noticed a sailor walking slowly among the travelers checking their papers. “I didn’t make it,” she thought, “in ten minutes, I will be back on the dock.” She thought she might stop breathing. Her plan to join a family hadn’t worked! Suddenly all the other wild plans about how to successfully steal aboard the Crista Montiga surged through her mind. Hiding in food barrels, forging a ticket, offering to work for passage. Crazy, wild, desparate plans that had kept her awake night after night. None of them would work now. She knew it.
The sailor approached her and without looking at her said, “Papers please.”
Sydney didn’t reply.
“Papers please, miss,” the sailor repeated.
Suddenly Sydney felt frantic. If she could talk this sailor into letting her stay, she would be free. If he refused, she had failed. Still, she did not speak.
A man moved close to her, close enough to break the barrier of proper distance. Sydney looked up into his eyes with panic and fear still clear on her face. His gaze was steady and his eyes full of warmth.
“Ella,” he said, addressing Sydney, “there you are.” And to the sailor, “This is my wife, haven’t I already shown you my papers?”
The sailor glanced from one to the other with a look of surprise on his face.
With a tone of complete ease and confidence, the man said, “Ella, did you remember to pack the binoculars?”
Amazingly, Sydney found her voice. She said simply, “Yes, dear.”
The sailor moved on.
[Note: The rest of the chapter is mostly in outline form…but read on if you must…]
He had purchased a ticket one year earlier…fully expecting to bring a wife with him.
Samuel William Wellington was born into a successful family of merchants who loved God more than money. But they had a lot of money. He was strong, successful, and thoughtful. The Wellington’s were also shunned by society because they came from a family of merchants…. [Edit this part: Sam longed for open spaces and relaxed society. Wanted to make a difference in the world. England was too crowded. Too rigid. He started thinking about America when he read the tales in the Brownsville Gazette. He didn’t believe all that he read, of course, but he was thoroughly intrigued. One thing he did believe, was that there were few women in America. He was a man who needed a woman. He watched his father love and care for his mother and knew he could not live without this sacred bond.]
How could he fulfill the two strongest desires of his heart. A woman. And the new world? His only solution was to marry in England before he set sail. He added to his prayers every night for God to bring him a wife.
[Edit: He courted several of his childhood friends. Once they heard his plan of moving away from their beloved homeland—they laughed him to scorn.]
He was terribly disappointed. Why couldn’t these girls see the potential? He set a goal of marrying a good, honest, hard-working girl and purchased two tickets.
Then he met Mary. Mary had all the qualities he desired. When he talked about the new world, she listened patiently. Would she go with him? He planned his proposal and was prepared to visit her father, when he had such a strong feeling of dread. He postponed his plan and continued to court Mary. It slowly dawned on him that the piece that was missing was love. He admired Mary. He valued her good qualities. He felt no burning love for her. When his father came home from the market, he sought out his wife, talked to her, told her all his troubles, listened to her opinions, laughed heartily at her tales of the children’s pranks, and looked into her eyes with a warmth and love that was as strong and abiding as the towering cliffs of …
(Scene when they bed for the night. Edit)
The passengers in the small hold arranged together that the women would have 20 minutes to accomplish their toilet and then the men would be allowed in the room. There are 4 other couples, one older man, and two teenage boys.
Sydney and Sam are assigned a double bunk. Sam saw the fear in Sydney’s eyes return, but he lacked the privacy to tell her that she would be okay. He will be the complete gentleman. He looked at her with a slow, steady gaze…pleading with his eyes for her to relax.
Sydney sensed that Sam understood her fear. How can this man be so able to understand my feelings? It amazed her, but she trusted him.
Seven men re-enter the small sleeping hold as Sydney looked to Sam’s face for the same reassurance. Sam did not meet her eyes. The other men strip down to their long-johns. Sam hopped in the bunk fully clothed and quickly lied down with his back facing Sydney. Sydney felt offended but then realizes that Sam is embarrassed or maybe regretting that he rescued her.
She lies awake for hours thinking about what kind of man he must be. He carefully keeps his body tight, not allowing any part of him to touch her. After his breathing becomes soft and steady, his arm rests against her back. Warm, and comforting. Sam wakes up twice, pulls his body tight again away from her and softly grunts. Like a grunt of apology.
The voyage begins and Sam becomes deathly ill. Sydney nurses him for 4 weeks. She tirelessly sponges his body, cleans his clothes and the bedclothes, listens to remedies from other passengers and tries them, and searches for food. She feels nothing but gratitude for this man who saved her from the life she knew. She doesn’t want him to die. But realizes that he may.
Sydney was born into an aristocratic family. Old money. High society. She has 4 older sisters and one older brother. All much older than her. She realized early that she doesn’t fit in her family. She longs to make a difference in life. She hates the endless fashion, piano forte lessons, stichery, useless pursuits, waste of time. She admires nurses, teachers, etc. Women who can help others. She dreads the life laid out for her. Endless parties, society, and then stuck in a marriage where she will be expected to raise her children like this. That’s the part she cannot reconcile. How can she trap her own children into this prison of society. She hasn’t “come out” yet, so she’s safe for now. In fact, her health is not that great, so her coming out is delayed. She begs her father to not make her “come out” at all. Her mother passed away when she was born. She was a late baby. Father doesn’t understand her. All her other sisters thrived in society. Sydney is so much like her brother. He was a disappointment. Left for the colonies. Sydney is pampered, spoiled, but ignored.
On the ship, she realizes that she can save Samuel’s life. Her alone. She can make a difference in someone’s life. She is amazed that she is so healthy and strong amidst the illness around her, but she thrives on being needed.
Back to Personal