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Spinning Yarns: The Tale of Tori Law
Chapter Two - Down By the Wharves
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Tori dragged herself out of bed the next morning at dawn, intending to take a walk down to the wharves. She'd been spending a lot of time there lately, listening in on the stories of various sailors, and searching for adventure. Being a single teen in Jamaica was not a very exciting life, and she had to get some excitement somewhere.
She dressed warmly, for it was raining rather heavily outside, and made for her bedroom window. She was on the first floor, after all, and it would not do if Nana found out she was going to talk to the miscreant sailors she was so pitted against.
When she had one leg out the window, there was a soft knocking on her door. Tori hurriedly pulled herself back in and slammed the window shut. A maid, Maria was her name, came in with a small sealed note on a gold tray. Maria curtsied; Tori took the note and dismissed her. She opened the note and read it to herself, impatient to get down to the wharves. It read:
Tori, Please meet me in my room as soon as possible. Come in through the window because my family has not wakened yet. I have an interesting piece of news to tell you. Yours Truly, Jacquelyn
Tori quickly shoved the note in her pocket and made for the window once again. She climbed out and mistakenly sunk her foot into about three inches of mud.
"Ugh, my new shoes!" she groaned, and continued her trek to Jacquelyn's house. It was a long walk, for Jacquelyn lived way on the other side of Ocho Rios. When she finally got there, she pulled herself through the third first floor window, which she knew was Jacquelyn's room. She found her friend sitting at a small wooden desk, neatly scrawling a letter. She looked up when Tori came in and smiled. She continued to write as she said,
"Tori, I wasn't expecting you here so soon. I sent a note early because I figured you would be going down to the docks again." Tori gaped, her friend knew her all too well. "I wanted to catch you before you left," she continued, still writing with a long, thin feather pen. "I was down at the wharves late last night. My parents were absolutely livid when I came home around midnight, but I was listening to stories down at the Black Sparrow Pub and just lost track of all time." Tori nodded, and when Jacquelyn opened her mouth to keep talking, she interrupted her.
"What on earth are you writing, girl?" and made a move to read over Jacquelyn's shoulder. "Another one of your stories?"
"Um, yes, that's it," Jacquelyn stuttered, "Just another of my stories, is all." But when Tori came around to read it, Jacquelyn quickly flipped over the paper, nearly spilling the inkwell in the process. Tori then knew that it was something else; Jacquelyn would never prevent her from reading her stories.
"Anyway," Jacquelyn said, flustered, "What I heard down at the Black Sparrow was-"
"No, no, no," Tori said, "Don't try to get off the subject. You can tell me your news in good time. Now what is it that you're hiding from me?" She demanded with finality.
"It's just, it's nothing!" Jacquelyn stated, mopping up small blots of ink on the desk. Tori, realizing that she wasn't going to get anything out of this girl for the time being, retreated to the other side of the room. Jacquelyn flipped over the paper once again and continued writing. From what Tori could make out from ten feet away, it looked like some sort of letter. Jacquelyn finished, and looked over the paper, obviously happy with her work. She smiled almost wanly and got that starry-starry- moonshine look in her eyes. 'Is it something about a man?' Tori mused silently.
Jacquelyn quickly folded the paper and slipped it into an envelope, sealing it. She put it on the desktop as she hurriedly pulled a deep purple dress over her head.
"Would you mind?" She asked Tori, and Tori began to attack the long row of buttons that closed up the back of Jacquelyn's frock. As she did that, Jacquelyn quickly brushed the knots from her bone-straight brown hair. Tori reached out her arms to do the last of the buttons, for Jacquelyn was a few good inches taller than her.
"Anyway, I have to be off soon, so I'll be brief in my story. I heard from Captain Raoul," Jacquelyn said, mentioning a familiar captain along the wharves of Ocho Rios, "That a band of pirates has been spotted off the coast!" Tori gasped, daintily covering her mouth with a gloved hand. "I know!" Jacquelyn squealed, "Isn't it so exciting?"
Jacquelyn was lacing up her boots now, and Tori watched as her fingers nimbly tied and knotted the strings. She pulled a heavy gray coat over her shoulders, and shoved the letter in her pocket.
"Why don't you just send a servant with it?" Tori said inquisitively.
"I think I'll just deliver it on my own," Jacquelyn insisted. This struck Tori as odd, but she said nothing. She slipped out the window and hid behind a tree as Jacquelyn climbed out after her. Tori stayed hidden as her friend looked around to make sure no one was around, and walked east. Also the way to the wharves.
'Hmmmm,' Tori thought, 'if she was just down at the wharves yesterday, why is she so eager to return?' She decided to do some snooping. She felt bad about spying on Jacquelyn, but for some reason she felt like she had to know.
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Just as Tori had suspected, Jacquelyn had been on her way to the wharves. She walked down the long rows of proud, tall ships with billowing white sails and enormous wooden hulls. She wove her way through the crowd, walking deeper and deeper into the less-esteemed area of the wharves. They were getting into some pretty shady territory. She was obviously looking for a certain ship. She stopped abruptly next to a giant ship called the Honoria, and smiled. Tori struggled to keep from gasping aloud. That was a PIRATE SHIP! That was the ship that belonged to the one and only Jonah Whitelaw! Tori had listened to his tales for hours on end! At one time she had fancied him, for he was extremely good looking and suave. He was 20 years old, and had already navigated the Bight of Benin and sailed with the corsairs in the Mediterranean. Was the dread pirate nicknamed "The Wild White" Jacquelyn's secret beau? How romantic!
Tori shook her head sharply and looked back at the scene that was unfolding. Jacquelyn caught a young boy by the arm as he ran past, and knelt down in front of him, talking softly. Tori could not understand the words that they were speaking, but the boy's face lit up when Jacquelyn pressed a silver piece into his hand. She handed him the letter, he tipped his hat, and ran onto the Honoria. Tori froze as Jacquelyn's chocolate brown eyes searched the wharves. Had she felt someone following her? Tori wanted so badly to run up to Jacquelyn and bombard her with millions of questions. So she did.
"Jacquelyn!" she called, waving her arms frantically, "Whatever are you doing in these parts of the oceanfront?" Tori asked, the picture of innocence.
Jacquelyn looked Tori over, surveying her, and said, "I could say the same to you."
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