Right on time, two weeks later, Nakoma found herself at the harbor, knapsack strapped to her shoulders, glancing from the ticket in her hand to the ships docked along the boardwalk. Some of them contained noisy crewmembers unloading or taking on their cargo, while others welcomed aristocrats and wealthy nobles aboard.
"The Sunset..." she muttered, squinting in the afternoon sun reflecting off the waters of the harbor.
"Miss Nakoma!" a male voice cried from the end of the boardwalk. Nakoma stretched up on her toes, shielding her eyes with her hands, and saw a broad-shouldered man waving at her. She hurried off in his direction, apologizing to people she bumped into.
"Miss Nakoma, so good to meet you. I'm Captain Lewis." Nakoma shook hands with a stout young man with dirt colored curls and fresh green eyes. "I was afraid I might have to leave without you."
Nakoma's eyes widened a bit, and the man chuckled. "Just kidding!" he said with a broad chuckle. He clapped a hand on her shoulder and swept her aboard the ship. "I wouldn't leave a paying customer behind, no, sir!"
Nakoma suddenly remembered Mrs. Jenkins' heartfelt sacrifice and had to tell herself not to cry.
"Well, this here's the Sunset. She's not very big, and she's a tad leaky at times, but I wouldn't trade her for nothing!" Captain Lewis had just finished giving Nakoma a thorough tour of the little ship, and was now walking with her along the deck. "You there!" he called out to a nearby deckhand. The lad scrambled to his feet and stood at attention; his soapy hands and dirty knees revealed his lowly position as the deck-scrubber. "Tell the others it's time to shove off! We've got to get this young lady to Paris in time for the Festival!"
Nakoma looked a bit puzzled.
"But I'm going to see the-"
"The cathedral, yes, I know. Mrs. Jenkins told me all about it." Captain Lewis grinned at her, a mischievous light dancing in his young green eyes. "But once you see the Festival, you'll forget all about that dusty old building. Believe me, it's the experience of a lifetime."
The deck was suddenly alive with activity as the young deck-scrubber called out the captain's orders to the rest of the crew. Everywhere ragged looking young men tied down the sails and boxes of cargo, or pulled up the heavy metal anchors on either side of the ship, or swung from the ropes doing absolutely nothing useful. Nakoma gazed around the deck in wonder, ears full of their call and responses: "Hoist the anchors!" "Rig up the sails!" "Get those crates tied down!" and "What's for supper, Cap?"
Captain Lewis glanced up at a gangly, bearded deckhand dangling from a rope and scowled.
"Nothing, if you don't get down here and stop fooling around!" he barked. The deckhand swung down grudgingly from the mast, grumbling as he landed rather ungracefully on the deck below.
"This is amazing." Nakoma said, still caught up in the fervor and excitement of the preparations.
Captain Lewis turned to her, his mouth turned up in a gleeful grin.
"You think this is exciting? Wait til we cast off!"
As if on cue, the deckhands finished their preparations, and the sails billowed to life as a strong wind filled the cloth. The ship lurched forward against the waves; Nakoma ran to the railing, savoring the feeling of the salty wind on her face. Though she'd been on a ship before, traveling with Pocahontas from Virginia to England, it had been nothing like this. She'd been following Pocahontas, trailing along after her friend as she embarked on her latest adventure.
But this was her journey and her story, and the revelation filled her stomach with little dancing butterflies.
Paris, here I come! She called silently across the sea.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Decided to post a couple extra chapters this week just to start off right haha. If you're enjoying it, please add it to your reading list, vote, and leave feedback. :)