(no subject)
Annie John
Chapter Nine
The Journey to England
The Jetty was not at all what I had pictured it to be. The deck was spotless, just as my mother kept our house. And the passengers were headed all over the world. A woman that much reminded me of Gwen, had told me that she was to stay in China for some time, in order to teach the children Christianity. My story seemed much less daring than most that I heard aboard the Jetty.
The journey to Barbados was mostly uneventful, but occasionally someone would become seasick, and that would be the talk of the passengers. I liked to stay in my cabin, where I could read, and not have to talk to anyone. I spent most of the journey reading, for the people aboard did not interest me. When I got on the jetty to England, I realized that I was truly on my own, for the next captain did not seem to care at all about me. He simply said to mind my own business and the trip would be fine.
I don’t like to travel by sea anymore and really never did. The trip to England made sure of that, for every passenger seemed ruder as time went by. First only the children of Madam Fromp, as she liked to be called, were difficult. Always throwing paper or some other object at me when I walked by. I, in turn, scolded them each time, which made them seem to enjoy the process all the more. But as time went by, passengers began to become very agitated, and anything could upset them. By the time we reached England, I was more than happy to leave them behind.
As I stepped off the jetty into England soil for the first time, I felt a great feeling of accomplishment. I had made it this far, and there was no going back now. The next few days went by so quickly that I hardly remember them, except to say that I met Lady Elizabeth, who I was to study under. She was a very orderly lady, who didn’t accept any fuss from anyone. There were three other girls studying with me; Casiphia, the most beautiful woman I had ever seen; Jahzeel, a farmer’s daughter, who resembled Gweneth very much; and Joanna, the person I would grow to despise more than my mother. She fought harder than I knew possible to gain Lady Elizabeth’s approval at the cost of Jahzeel, Casiphia, and I. As each day went by, I found it harder and harder to work for Lady Elizabeth. She not only expected perfection, but that we would wait on her day and night. Each day I longed to return home even more. Each day I realized that life with my mother and father was the best gift I had ever been given.
Three months after arriving in England, I ran out of Lady Elizabeth’s care, and headed for whatever England had to offer. I didn’t know where I was to go, but I knew that anything was better than being in the house with those three girls. For 3 miserable days I searched and searched with no luck in finding anything. I longed to return home, where I knew that I would have a bed waiting for me, with two loving parents to support me. Here, I was utterly defenseless, with nowhere to go. On the third day, I decided that it was time to leave Cardiff and head for Bath. I took my three shillings, all the money I had left, along with the few possessions I had with me, and began the journey to Bath. It took me four days in the back of a farmer’s wagon, to reach bath. I must say, if I thought the three days of sleeping in the street was bad, this was much worse. The ride was bumpy, and incredibly smelly, I sharing with the pigs. By the time I did reach Bath, I knew that England was not the right place for me to be. If this was how the rest of the world ran, I didn’t ever want to enter it. I realized that my life had been incredibly sheltered, my mother protecting me from everything that could hurt me. Why I wanted to leave, I couldn’t figure out. Nothing could have been bad enough for me to go without food and shelter in order to be away from my mother and father. However, as much as I longed to go home, I knew that my mother would never let me return because I had left Lady Elizabeth, and I hadn’t any money for the ride home. I didn’t know what I was to do, but I knew that it had to be fast or I wouldn’t be eating.
When two days passed without any luck in finding a position of work, I returned to my ways of stealing. It felt much different to be stealing food in England, than at home. Perhaps because at home I was doing it in spite of my mother and here my mother was not. In any case, I felt much guiltier stealing the food, even though I needed it to survive. But, just my luck in the horrid country, I was caught taking a loaf of bread. Apparently, England police are not very understanding, and I was sent to jail for a week. I didn’t know what to do, I had never been to jail, or known anyone who had been jailed. My mother was informed, and immediately sent money for me to return. I still had to spend the week in jail, though.
I cannot begin to describe what went on behind the bars, except to say that I wish to never return. I wished to never again know anyone who had been jailed, for those were the most repulsive people I had ever met. I had to share a room with a woman who killed her three children and husband because they made too much noise at night. I, in turn, was very careful to not make a sound whenever I was anywhere near her, in hopes that I wouldn’t succumb to the same dreadful fate.
When I arrived home, it wasn’t completely as I expected, although my parents were furious that I had run away from my nurse training. My mother said that she "just didn’t know what she was going to do with me," and I could feel the black thing between us growing. My father seemed relieved to have me home safe, but he would never say that. He knew that he had to agree with my mother.
All in all, the trip to England taught me to appreciate what I have, and not wish it to go away. I ended up a teacher of history, something that I love to this day, and which excites me every morning. I wake up to a family, which I love, and students whom I admire. The black thing between my mother and I disappeared the day I gave birth to my child, Catherine. I now understand what she went through trying to raise me, and I look forward to getting her help in raising my daughter through her teenage years.