Flowers And Fire

Chapter 1

London, November 1892

Elaine rubbed the ring necklace laced around her throat as she looked out upon the large, expansive ocean she was in the middle of. The boat was lulling back and forth so much that just an hour ago, she thought she would be sick but now the waves had died down more and the grey clouds above her began to accumulate  and chuck her long sandy hair over her shoulders. The journey to England from the States had not been an easy one, but her head was filled with thoughts of her brother and father. She missed them so much

She could even remember just over a year ago now about how she lost her brother. 'Gone like the sun in the sky', her Pa had told her. Elaine remembered the rubble that the fire had caused to her home in a tiny farm of Florida, how she searched her house in the smoke and flames calling for her older brother in the heat and sweat, how her father had very single man in the small town look for him in the remains of brick and charcoal. No body had ever been found, which only made Elaine determined to find him. Her intention was to bring him home but...

"Docks to London, people!" The few crew members aboard the grand high-ship called out to the many men and women onboard, they hauled thick ropes and launched them over the side, Elaine hastily knotted her hair and fetched her only suitcase of a small leather filled with clothes and what not. The boat smacked hard into the dock ports, almost making her fall over all together. After tipping and swaying slightly, the boat halted and the gangplank was lowered onto the docks of London.

Honestly, Elaine was feeling a little disappointed as she looked around at the grey, compact little buildings and grimy streets with people busying themselves and marketplaces selling all kinds of goods. The air was thick with smell of dirt and machinery, much different to the plethora of trees and sap filled scent in Florida that Elaine missed so dearly. In a sea of people, men in their top hats and women in colourful petticoat dresses that put Elaine's own scratchy, dull long dress to shame. It was the only decent dress she owned and it certainly didn't keep her warm from the iced English winds despite her hugging a shawl around her shoulders. Elaine's brown eyes surveyed the docks as she weaved her way through the busy crowds. Smoke billowed out of huge spiralling chimneys and into the grey clouded sky. Children in ragged, fingerless gloves and thin brown jackets ran back and forth with soft balls and sticks of chalk that they an along the street cobbles.

Elaine gripped her suitcase strap tight and remembered why she came to England in the first place, running her finger along the ring threaded through a necklace, her brother's necklace and her brother's ring. Back in Florida, they never really had any nice things like jewellery so when Ralph found that muddy ring in the forests one day, he took it back home where father polished it until it was like a mirror, Ralph wore it like a badge of honour and never took it off. Elaine was determined to find him again. Elaine had suspected he'd gone to England because of how much he expressed about wanting to go there and see all the beautiful sights they had there. He desperately wanted to see Big Ben and the London bridge, he'd draw pictures of it in the grass and sand and dream about seeing one day. Of course, they weren't rich enough to travel but Elaine knew, if Ralph ever wanted to go anywhere, it was England.

The sandy haired woman pushed herself through the bustling streets and around the tight lanes until she came to the main road. It was by far the busiest of them all. Horse-drawn carriages and small car buggies ran along it with man, women and children walking around shops, groceries and flat buildings, Elaine wondered how anyone found anything in this sort of mess, well it was the British, so she didn't expect too much. Many dogs circled the street, looking for their next meal. Elaine pondered that she'd never much liked dogs. Ever since childhood, dogs had always been somewhat aggressive to her, many snarled and snapped at her and many just ignored her or ran away from her. Not that she minded anyway.