Hub:Imitheos/Stories/Mr.Hales

This story details the life and travels of Emmanuel Hales, an interesting character to say the least.
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==Prologue==
At the moment of someone's death they say you have a flashback of your life. Apparently it's an instinct that helps you remember everything in case it's useful, but it's usually too overwhelming to give any useful thought to you. I thought it was a just a load of bull. If any useful thought could come to me now I would be very happy indeed. Well, it looks like I'm going to be reviewing my life in these short and sweet few seconds as my final gasp escapes me. Dear Lucy, forgive me for my sins which have caused this as I now see them again. Forgive me.
==Chapter One==
1661, England
"Mr.Hales, sir!" shouted a boy, running in the streets with houses that seemed to loom over everyone, creaking slightly in the light wind. "Mr.Hales, sir!" he shouted again in his high voice as he nearly ran into a couple dressed very formally in big dresses and frocks. "Mr.Hales, sir!" the little boy clad in a brown flat-cap and scarf, with little black shoes covering his feet and a small yellow waistcoat and dulled-yellow jacket over his torso, which just below of were his matching shorts and high white socks. "Mr.Hales!" he shouted a fourth time and finally the man he had been following turned around to him.
"What is it dear boy?" replied the man dressed in a blue coat and red waistcoat with a white shirt underneath. He also wore long blue trousers and pointed shoes which were shined in tough contrast to the dirt and brick path he walked on. "What is it?" he asked again, waiting for the out-of-breath boy to answer as he bent down to his level, steadying himself on his cane.
"Father ... Father wants to ... to see you, sir." he muttered between heavy breaths. "About the business of the ship, he said, sir." The boy said as he neatly put his waistcoat back in place.
"Excellent!" exclaimed Mr.Hales, whose cane lifted him back and started swinging in his hand as he went walking quickly back along the street where the boy had came from. "Come along, boy!"
The boy followed suit and went hurrying after the man who people stared at in the streets for being so colourful.
"Where is your father?" Mr.Hales queried as he kept his pace.
"Back at the inn, sir. He said he'd finished his thoughts on the matter between you, him and the ship, sir." replied the boy. "I don't know anything else, sir, he just told me to come and get you. Sir."
Mr.Hales kept going and as he turned the corner he could see the place he was looking for: The dock. A bustling fish market which had much filth and the smell of fish ripe in the air.
"Over there, sir." the boy said as his arm pointed out to the inn which had it's name hanging outside of the door: "The Traveler's Inn".
"Thank you, dear boy." said Mr.Hales as he went in leaving the boy outside and over to a hefty gentleman dressed in very formal wear, similar to the first man except with a colour change to green over purple and a frill over his chest. The man was sitting on a stool that was bending ever-so-slightly under his weight but his formal-wear remained un-stretched and comfortable.
"Come Emmanuel, sit, sit." the hefty gentleman said to Emmanuel. "Welcome Mr.Hales, I have thought over our arrangement."
Emmanuel sat down after pulling a stool up and continued the conversation with "Ah, have you accepted my funding?"
The gentleman looked at him with his fat stern face and replied "Only on one condition. I will give you my ship and accept the funding as long as you do one thing for me: take my daughter to East Asia." Emmanuel's face looked up in surprise.
"Why would you want me to do that?" he said with a quick tongue and ever so slightly flailed hands.
"It's not so much my want as for hers. She wants to see the world and I want her to be happy." his voice quietened "This place is, if you've noticed, quite dull." Even with his quietened voice a few shots and stares were given by others at the inn. "My daughter is sick of this dreary place and wants to see the world, I figure if you can take her with you all the way to even East Asia she will see most of it on the way, and it will be in the hands of a man I can trust enough to spend large sums of money on me afterall!" he finished with a hearty laugh.
After leaving the gentleman to laugh and stroking his small beard Emmanuel started talking again. "I suppose that's quite alright as long as we have the supplies. Although she will have to get used to the sea, and of course there is no going back."
"There is no problem with going back at all my friend, she has dreamed of this since a child at the cartographers." said the gentleman.
"Alright then, with the funding under way I think we'll be able to set off within the week. I'll send for her when we're ready to go."
"Grand!" said the gentleman as he tipped his glass towards the first man and then the first man tipped back with his own and they laughed away drinking it down.
==Chapter Two==
Five days later...
Emmanuel walked down the street carrying only his cane and a piece of paper. Whistling as he went along and drawing the eyes of a few who were just waking up in the morning sun. He wasn't whistling anything in particular, but it seemed to catch the attention of another who quickly scribbled some notes onto a piece of paper with a smile on his face. Coming to one house in particular one his way he walked up to the door and rapped on it five times with his fist.
"Hello? This is Emmanuel Hales, for a-" he managed to say before the door opened to reveal a woman in a deep blue dress. She had a light frame with her head held high. On her pale face were a few freckles. A small nose poked out between two blue eyes which themselves lay under light eyebrows. She had smooth shoulders showing from the top of her dress and pink-tinted lips which matched her ear-rings which dangled as pink crystals off of a little golden and silver chain of interlocking rings. Her hair was placed in back behind her ears but fell down behind them in two straight streaks that came out of the main bun of hair on her head.
"I'm here" she said with a huff as she carried a case with her thin arms. "Ready!" she said.
"I'll take it you are the Lucy Tilghman, then?" Emmanuel presumed as he leaned over to take her case.
"I am. Thank you." she replied and turned around to her father who hugged her and said his goodbyes. The little boy that Emmanuel had seen from a few days ago was also there, hugging his father's left leg.
"I'll write to you, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to send it." she told them as she ruffled the little boys hair.
She turned around again and put her hands together as she walked away from the closing door. Emmanuel picked up the case properly and walked with her towards the dock.
"I hope you know what you're getting yourself in for." said Emmanuel to Lucy as they walked down the street.
"I do know, that is the reason I am going." she replied "If you thought that any woman like myself would stay here when there is another option you've got something wrong in your mind."
Emmanuel stayed in silence for a few seconds before coming back to the conversation. "Yes, I suppose this place can get a little drab if you've lived here your whole life."
"So you haven't lived here since birth?" she asked him.
"No, I move around a lot." Emmanuel replied, trying to keep the case up as it was slipping from his grip while he was also holding his cane, which admittedly he might just throw in the docks after he stepped onto the ship. More hassle than it's worth. "I don't know where I want to settle down at, but some place where they speak true English would be good. Translators cost a lot of money."
"Then it's too bad for you that you're coming with me to East Asia." Lucy replied with a little smile.
Emmanuel's expression was one of temporary confusion, scrunching up his face then relieving it. "So your father told you the plans to go to East Asia?"
"Told me?" she said with a high-pitched end. "I was the one who told him. He may be the man of the house but he does also want me out of the house as much as I want to be."
Emmanuel's face was once again awash with confusion. She saw his face and then hesitated to speak. "Well, he does want my happiness, as much as a father can love a daughter, but he also doesn't want to go through with giving away all of his money on the dowry for a marriage, especially in such hard times as these."
"I suppose that makes sense." replied Emmanuel as he turned the slow cobbled corner on the street. As he came around the corner he caught sight of the ship, now his, which would be sailed across the Atlantic and to Brazil where he had hoped to start a trading company. Although now his first ship had cost him a favour, one that would see him around the world alongside the previous owner's daughter. He guessed he could set up the company and leave a trustworthy crew member in charge.
The ship itself was considered a masterpiece to some. The type of ship was a Brig. Two masts, square rigged and weighing a good near-300 tons. These types of ships were usually used for warfare and carried a lot of artillery but this particular ship was being converted into a trading vessel. Mr.Tilghman had found himself with a fair bit of money after a relative had died and managed to buy a cheap Brig from a man who couldn't take care of it anymore. Unfortunately this ship had cost more to repair than it gave back to use and he to sold it, to Mr.Hales who, looking at the ship, thought that Mr.Tilghman had definitely came off worse in the deal to give the ship to him.
"Come on then, surely you've seen it enough that you can get on-board with steady legs." said Lucy, making Emmanuel snap back into reality as he realised he was starting to drop her case. He went along the dock with the fresh smell of gutted fish and murky water and then walked along the pier towards the ship, that after several re-namings had finally been called "The Ambroíse" which was found odd in naming conventions but at the time it was the only thing that seemed suitable.
As the plank was lowered to the pier by the crewmen a few odd looks were cast upon Lucy who simply turned her cheek to them. Emmanuel could already get a sense of the sexism that would be ripe. Already in his mind the thoughts of them saying "This ship's no place for a woman!" or "She shouldn't have stepped off of dry land!" was strong in his head. He thought about them saying these things a bit too much and nearly stepped off of the plank and into the dock as he was carrying the case.
"Watch you footing, sir." One of the crew members said with a laughing hint in his voice who was keeping the plank steady. He was a young man with a clean shaven face that seemed to bear no marks of adventure or weathering.
"You better watch your mouth boy; as the owner of this ship I could kick you off and dock your pay." Emmanuel said in quick retort to the young man who looked down at his feet and replied with a whimpered voice a quick apology.
Lucy quickly found her way around the ship to the surprise of the crew who didn't realise she has already been around the ship for a few months.
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