Five Sisters

by Leen Elle

  By far though, the most wonderful thing of all was that Sara no longer needed to hide her love for Charlie. When she thought of him, she no longer felt tears welling in her eyes or anger arising in her heart. Sometimes when she was stirring soup in the kitchen or reading in his office, he'd creep up behind, wrap his arms around her, and give her a fountain of kisses. The sailors loved to tease poor Charlie about it, but in truth they were all very happy for their beloved captain. Not one could doubt that he and Sara were truly meant to be together.

  The only struggle for Sara aboard the ship was that she was separated from her sisters. They were, besides Charlie, her best friends and it was difficult to finally be separated from them after so many years together. But she wrote them often. Long, detailed, novel-like letters that she stuffed into envelopes and sent at every port they entered. And Charlie made sure that Violet traveled back to Brighton during the holidays and whenever else he could manage.

  After two long years of engagement, Charlie and Sara were married in a small ceremony aboard the ship in the port of Brighton. Sara wore a very simple, yellow gown and Charlie put on his best trousers, shirt, and tie. The guests were few, including only Sara's family, the Lindseys, Nathaniel, and Charlie's sailors. They said their vows and the sailors shouted hurrah and everyone traveled down to the city in a long procession, entering a pretty, little restaurant not far from the docks. Toasts were said, stomachs filled, and then they all headed back up to the ship so that Jess and Billy could play a tune while everyone else joined in a merry, lively dance. Stars slowly began to fill the sky and the moon came out of its shadow as the festivities continued. It was far into the night before the party finally came to an end.

  Only two weeks after their honeymoon, Charlie and Sara set out on Violet once more. They traveled up and down the coast, never too terribly far from Brighton for Sara's sake, and continued on as they had before with little changed except that Sara's name had become Mrs. Sara Wilkie. But as the weeks continued, another change become apparent as well as it was found that Sara was with child.

  Despite the fact that she was on a rocky ship in the huge ocean, Sara's pregnancy was uncommonly comfortable. She had no morning sickness, no seasickness, and little to complain of. With fifteen sailors and her husband to help out, she rarely had to struggle with any household chores and as soon as the final weeks began, Charlie took her back to Brighton so she could be with her sisters and near the hospital.

  The baby came right on time, on the morning of the first day of October. He was beautiful and healthy with ten tiny fingers, ten tiny toes, and a fuzz of dark hair.

  "What shall we call him?" Sara asked, rocking him to sleep in her arms that evening.

  "Royston," Charlie replied, softly but surely. It seemed he'd had the name planned for months, the namesake being more than obvious.

  Sara smiled, "Royston Wilkie."

  Royston soon grew to be a curious young toddler. His hair was just as dark as his mother's and his eyes were as green as his father's and, like Charlie, he adored the sea. Aboard Violet, he was allowed to roam wherever he might wish to, for there was always someone around to keep an eye on him. With flushed cheeks, a sweater knitted by his Aunt Mary, and windswept hair, he'd run across the decks as quickly as his stubby legs would allow him. The sailors adored little Royston, and he them, but he couldn't help but wish for a little brother or sister to play with.

  Sara fulfilled his wishes nearly three years after his birth when she became pregnant once more. Although the early pregnancy was just as comfortable as her first, as the months continued she became rather ill and was forced to spend her days in a lonesome bed downstairs. Charlie visited her often and Royston loved to climb up onto her lap and let her tell him a story, but she was miserable despite them. And although Charlie steered the ship as quickly as he could towards Brighton, the baby arrived two weeks before they'd expected.

  Violet Wilkie was born aboard her namesake that August.

  She was a wrinkled, red, wailing thing that Royston couldn't help but be disappointed with. For the first few weeks he despised Violet, hating her ugly little face, her constant crying, and what she'd done to his momma, who was now bedridden, tired, and weak.

  But although she hadn't a big brother to love her, nor a mother to care for her, Violet wasn't without family. Charlie took over all the normally motherly duties, changing her diaper, giving her soft baths, waking in the night to rock her back to sleep, and the sailors were always willing to help. And Sara was soon well again so everything was able to return to custom.

  As his baby sister grew a head of light, soft brown hair, her eyes turned to a dark brown, and the redness of her skin faded away, Royston soon found that she wasn't quite so bad as he'd originally thought. Although she couldn't really play with him yet, he tried to teach her everything he'd learned about sailing and introduced her to everyone on board. And as the years went by, they soon became an inseparable pair.

  Violet was an undeniable tomboy, with a passion for the sea that matched her brother's and a strong interest in the unspeakable world of pirates. She grew up strong and willful, one of the best fisherman on the ship, and refused to allow anyone to think of her as a silly little girl. She fought each day that her mother dressed her in stockings and dresses, arguing that she ought to be allowed trousers like her brother, and ordered that everyone refer to her as Vi, which she found far less weak and feminine than Violet. And when she played pirates with the sailors, she was always known as Vile Vi.

  Her hair was always a mess of tangles, she hated anything with frills, and she found nothing more appealing than a life at sea. With her parents and her family and her fifteen "uncles," she couldn't ask for more.

  Thus, when she and Royston found out that their mother was going to have another baby, neither was very excited about the prospect. They didn't see the need for another brother or sister.

  Little Thomas Wilkie came last, and rightfully so.

  He was unlike either of his elder siblings for from the very start, he was a quiet child. As a baby, he scarcely cried. He went to sleep without difficulty, smiled at the drop of a hat, and only whimpered if he was hungry.

  As he grew older, his similarities in appearance to Charlie became startlingly apparent. Like his father, he had floppy, light brown hair; a thin frame; green, sleepy eyes; and a nearly identical nose. No one could mistake their being father and son.

  Thomas was soft-hearted and sweet, never speaking nor thinking an ill thought of anyone. When Violet screamed and kicked at Sara and refused to put on her stockings, Thomas knew that his sister never meant to hurt their mother but that she was only very strong-willed. When the sailors drank whiskey at night and cursed and said God's name in vain, Thomas knew they were only doing what they'd grown accustomed too and that they never truly wished to speak badly of our lord. When Royston refused his father's suggestions to read the work of Charles Dickens, Thomas knew his brother was simply acting on the urge to go against one's parent. He forgave all faults and believed that everyone, even the worst of sinners, bore kind hearts.

  While Royston grew into a strong-bodied, temperamental sailor and Violet refused to part from her tomboyish ways, Thomas continued to be docile and sweet. No one could dislike him. It was impossible. He always listened to his father and seemed to enjoy his schoolwork, cared immensely for his mother and tried his best to help her with housework whenever possible, fished with the sailors and acted like a pirate with Violet, and normally could be found playing quietly with his toys so as not to cause any disturbance. Thomas loved everyone, regardless of their past mistakes and current flaws, and everyone loved him, for a more wonderful boy could not be found.

  Meanwhile, Royston had become a teenager. He was sixteen years old, taller than his father, and stronger than any other man aboard the ship. But although he cared very much for his parents, he rarely showed it. During his school lessons with Charlie he showed no effort and despite Sara's pleas he never read any of her belove
d books. Because he never saw himself leaving the ship, he found bookwork all rather boring and useless. A sailor needs his muscles and his will, he believed, not useless information about geometry and history and arithmetic.

  But Violet's opinions had changed greatly over the years. She was now a young lady, with beautiful brown eyes and a changed heart. All at once, on one devastatingly surprising morning, she decided she no longer would protest her femininity. She didn't want to be called Vi and she suddenly found that the sailors were smelly and coarse and not at all appealing. When they stopped in town she wanted to buy every frilly hat and every silky ribbon she saw. And when they visited her Uncle Ethan and Aunt Mary in Brighton, Violet desired to have lovely gowns and bouncy curls like her cousin Amelia. She was as girly as any woman you'll ever meet, a surprise no one could be more shocked at than Sara.

  And Thomas, as he too grew older, stayed as angelic as ever. He could never change. He hadn't the heart for it. He would always be gentle and patient and selfless.

  As he became an old man, Charlie realized he could no longer live on the ship anymore. Besides the fact that he was growing bored of it and that he wished his children wouldn't be forced to always live on the sea and never experience another life, he knew that Sara desired it as well. She would never say it, for fear she should hurt him, but she missed her sisters desperately and was tired of the ocean.

  They moved to the city, to Brighton, only several miles from Mary's countryside home. Charlie found a job as a professor at Brighton University, a position he enjoyed and cherished more and more each day, and Sara worked as a librarian at the school's gigantic library.

  Royston fought against his father's orders, much to Sara's dismay, and refused to go to school and become more educated as he ought to. He worked at the docks until he was eighteen, when he became a sailor as he knew he was meant to do. But he always came home whenever he could. Although he hated his parent's ideas for his future, he still loved them both.

  Violet, who had become so suddenly ladylike that she despised her father's old ship, was unspeakably thankful for the move. She soon met a number of new girlfriends in town, a novel concept to a girl whose only ever female acquaintances had been her aunts, cousins, and mother. And the most wonderful aspect of it all was that, because Charlie was a literature professor and Sara the librarian, Violet found herself amongst many handsome and charming young students at the university. She adored it, needless to say.

  And Thomas, too, was very happy in Brighton, although he could have made himself content anywhere in the world. He yearned for the day he could enter the college himself, though he wasn't quite sure what he would do when his schooling was through. Like the little saint he was, he wanted most of all to help others, not himself, and considered teaching, like his father, charity work, or priesthood. But unlike his sister, he did not find himself quite so adept to communicating with members of the opposite sex. Females were like an unknown species to him, being amongst sailors all his life, and he could barely speak when around girls. Although they flocked to him, attracted to his sweet demeanor and kindness, Thomas could never make out the words to speak to one.

  And so Charlie and Sara lived a pleasant life. Royston, Violet, and Thomas were as different as could be, but all three were equally loved and although Charlie had to sell his ship, he maintained his fondness for the sea by living so near to it. And Brighton University's library soon became the most perfect place in the world, in Sara Wilkie's humble opinion. Although it took long enough to secure Charlie's heart, Sara never once could doubt his love for her.

  Seymour & Nora Sawyer

  After their reunion the day after Christmas, Sawyer realized he couldn't return to Violet.

  Instead, he said goodbye to the sailors and moved into his own little apartment in Brighton despite his young age. Although he'd never had a large amount of schooled learning, he was exceptionally smart. So with a job at the local pub, a loan from the Lindseys, which he intended to fully pay back with interest, and his remarkable brain, Sawyer managed to get into Brighton University. The administrators were wary, considering that he was only sixteen, but once he took their entrance exam and emerged with top scores they couldn't deny him.

  While beginning his studies, of which he intended to focus on the political sciences, Sawyer began to formally court Nora. He called on her at the Lindseys house whenever he had the chance, taking her on walks around the hills or bringing her into town for one of the dances at the old warehouse. He went about it as bashfully and awkwardly as ever, but Nora was beyond charmed with him by this point. She'd become infatuated. And because she knew how hard it was for him to manage school, work, and their courtship, she often tried to make things easier for him. Instead of making him hire a hack, spending some of his preciously spare money and time, to come and see her way out in the countryside, she'd come down to the pub to see him while he was working. And if he ever seemed too tired, she'd always act as though she were feeling ill so that he wouldn't feel guilty about going home to rest before his classes.

  By the time he'd graduated, it was plainly clear to all that Sawyer and Nora were in love.

  And one morning, just before dawn, Sawyer headed out to the Lindseys wearing his best suit with a modest ring in the pocket of his trousers.

  Nora couldn't have been more surprised when she awoke, her eyes still half shut and in the middle of a yawn, to find Sawyer at the bottom of the stairs blushing. He made her breakfast, which didn't come out quite as well as he'd planned, for the bacon was burnt and the eggs were mushy, but Nora was far too enamored to notice such details. He then took her out for a walk, noticing bashfully that John, Betsy, Emy, Gail, and Nathaniel were gathered at the windows. Once they were a good distance away, the only sounds being the lovely tunes of songbirds and the soft hum of the wind, he got down on one knee and asked for her hand in marriage. Needless to say, Nora said yes.

  They married very quickly, with little preparation and a very short period of betrothal. Nora wore her best dress, a beautiful violet silk with lace collar, and Sawyer put on a simple black suit and they headed over to St. Luke's Church over on Main Street as soon as Violet appeared at the docks.

  Much like Sara's wedding, the guests were few and included only family members and the sailors. There were no bridesmaids or groomsmen, but little Royston, who was still very young at this point, walked down the aisle before Nora to spread wildflowers along the path of the bride. The vows and the ceremony were short and sweet; Nora found that she could care less about the frivolities and minor details of her wedding. Her only concern was that once the day was through she be able to say her name was Nora Sawyer.

  Following their wedding, it was required almost immediately that they move to St. Francis County, for Sawyer's new government job. Although she too, like Sara, found it difficult to be separated from her sisters, Nora went without complaint. And then, in another year, she found herself moving again, this time to Wickensville. And then to Norrance.

  Throughout the years, Sawyer's occupation moved them to numerous cities. At first the locations were very exotic, including Thailand, Singapore, Brazil, and Argentina, then they traveled all over Europe, Paris, Dublin, Prague, Venice, Amsterdam, Oslo, London.

  Sawyer loved his new job, one of which Nora knew little about except that it was a governmental position and that he dealt with foreign affairs. Without difficulty, his life changed from ships and sails and fish to business suits, important documents, and speaking with ambassadors and presidents and czars. And Nora fell into the roll of a diplomat's wife with ease.

  They feasted on exotic foods, traveled through the jungles, aided those in need, and learned bits and pieces of hundreds of languages.

  And throughout all this, between their journeys, Nora had two young children.

  Josephine Sawyer was born in a tiny mud hut, with a fretful midwife speaking Nubian, in the depths of the Sudanese desert. Nora was drenched in sweat, her gown nearly soaked through, and Sawyer tr
ied frantically to calm her with a large, dry palm fan whilst attempting to communicate with the midwife. Nevertheless, at the end of the day, once the burning sun had fallen beneath the horizon, Sawyer held a beautiful baby girl in his arms.

  And Raymond was born just a year later, on a chilly winter's day, in a white-brick building, in the center of St. Petersburg. Luckily, this time Sawyer was able to speak Russian, the language of the midwife, so things went a bit more smoothly in that concern. But there was still the unspeakable cold, Nora was shivering like crazy and white as the snow outside their window, as well as Josephine, who was crying hysterically. But Raymond came through in the end, a healthy baby boy with ten fingers and ten toes.

  Although most mothers find it difficult to travel with children, Nora took hers all over the globe. She refused to give in to the pleas of Mary, who said she and Sawyer ought to settle down in Brighton, but instead continued to bring the children with her to Iceland and Australia and everywhere in between.

  Josephine and Raymond were born travelers and because they hadn't anyone else to turn to, they soon became the best of friends. Some even mistook them for twins, for their personalities and appearances were so similar. Both had shaggy, blond, curly hair; sparkling gray eyes; an enormity of freckles scattered across their noses and shoulders; and a love for the world.

  Their only difference was that Raymond, like his father, wore a pair of thick-rimmed, tortoiseshell glasses.

  As they traveled around the world, often revisiting different locations, Josephine and Raymond made new friends wherever they went. There was Rasmus, a kind young man from Zambia who taught them archery, and Lucy, an elderly woman living on a sheep farming ranch in Australia. There was Elian, a Cuban teenager living in the jungles of Argentina with his grandfather, and Olivier, a beaming young father in France who led them around Marseille with his five children in tow. They received letters from all over the world and saved them in a giant photo album to admire their postmarks and reminisce about past memories whenever they missed Rasmus or Lucy or Elian or Olivier or the many others.