Chapter 23: Back on Deck

Once they rejoined the other couple, Candy and Maggie made eye contact. Without saying a word, Candy asked what happened, and Maggie's silent response was, "I’ll tell you later."

The five resumed their stroll in silence, until just before the entrance to the dormitory. The two pairs stopped for a final look at the ocean and each other. Biddie maintained her distance, but kept an ever watchful eye.

Maggie looked up at the handsome face who was smiling lovingly at her. Her heart was filled with feelings she’d never felt before in any reality. She wanted to tell him, but there were no words she could find. Unfortunately, Kate chose the most inopportune time to speak for her.

"I don’t suppose you know who Starsky and Hutch are?"

Joshua gave her a puzzled look, and stumbled to find an answer. "Ummm.. Starky and who? I ... I’ve never heard of them. They sound like a New Bedford law firm, Why would you ask?"

Maggie's cheeks flushed crimson as she silenced her alter ego. "Oh ... there’s no reason. Just forget I even asked."

Joshua shook his head and laughed softly. "Okay my lady of mystery, your secrets are safe with me ... and so are you."

His blue eyes were proof positive that every word he said was true. Just as she was about to do a "Maggie-Melt"into his arms, Biddie once again extinguished the flames.

"C’mon ladies, it's about that time. We should really be getting in. We need our beauty sleep ... well ... at least I do."

"Oh Biddie!" Candy and Maggie sang in unison as they hugged her, and then said a reluctant goodbye as they watched the two men disappear into the night. Maggie was tempted to quip the old line about how, "I hate to see you leave but I love to watch you walk away," but she restrained herself, and wondered if the risque comment came from Kate or Maggie.

Once inside the dorm, they were besieged by 97 inquiring minds, who wanted the dish in every detail. Of course, Maggie and Joshua’s food run was of most interest. Maggie assured everyone that she was still a marriageable young woman and that the only thing that touched each other's lips was cheese and crackers, but the blush on her cheeks and sparkle in her eyes allowed the girls to read between the lines and know that much more transpired between them.

Candy shared her experiences on deck, but was not as forthcoming as to what transpired between her and Jeremy when Biddie left them to search for her two lost lambs. Sparkle and blush said more than words were exchanged on the deck above.

Finally, it was time to slip into a gown and cap, and prepare for bed. Tomorrow would be the culmination of a six month journey to Seattle, and the beginning of a new life. Every bride was as excited as she was scared, and most struggled to find sleep.

Biddie finally said aloud what everybody else was thinking. "I can't sleep."

""Wish we had some hot cocoa," Peggy sighed dreamily as the motion was seconded by all in attendance.

"Well ..." Biddie drawled with a smile as she looked at Maggie. "Maybe ... someone could put us to sleep with a bedtime story ... like the ending to "Look Out Seattle?"

The dorm room was alive with shouts and pleas. "C’mon Maggie pleeeeeease. You’ve been giving us bits and pieces for weeks now. You can't leave it unfinished on our last night."

"Ladies! ... Ladies!" Candy quieted the crowd. "Maggie's been sick for two weeks, and she needs her rest more than any of us."

Maggie smiled and waved off Candy's bailout. "It’s okay, I can finish the story, but .. I don’t have the ending written down, so I'm not sure how to begin. Maybe if you ask me some questions, I can give you some answers."

Becky shouted, "Did the evil king capture Kate, or did she find a way to escape?"

Maggie closed her eyes, and asked for help from both women she was. The answer came easier than she thought. "She wasn’t captured. She didn’t run. She stood and fought, but she didn’t fight alone. The good people of the kingdom rallied around her. They wouldn’t stand for social injustice any longer. They stormed the castle and kicked the king out. He was jailed for his many crimes, and spent the rest of his life in the dungeon "

"What’s social injustice?" Peggy, as well as most of the women, gave her a puzzled look.

Kate, realizing she’d open a door about a hundred years too soon, struggled to find a way out. Thankfully, Anne provided it. "So did they get a new king or ... did they make Kate queen?"

A few cheers went up for Kate's ascension to the throne, but she quickly doused their hopes, as she informed them she wasn't running for office. "No ... there was no new king or a new queen. The people were finished with royalty. They came together, men and women, and voted for a president."

"What was his name?" Victoria shouted, hanging on every word.

"I bet it was Joshua," Alice playfully teased her as the others quickly joined in.

Maggie raised her hand and feigned insult as the girls finally quieted. "Actually ... if you really want to know ... the president was a woman and her name was ... was ..."

The girls started pleading for her to finish the sentence. She felt like a child dangling a piece of yarn just outside a kitten's reach. Truth be told though, she didn’t have a name. She was trapped in a literary corner. Fortunately, Kate saved her at the last second.

"Her name was Antonia Gianelli. She was young, and beautiful, and kind, and wise beyond her years. The world became a Camelot, and she was a young Lady Guinevere, without a King Arthur or Sir Lancelot. There was no more hate or discrimination or war. Everyone was equal and ... and ..." searching for an all inclusive ending, Kate plagiarized the Fifth Dimension, "and peace guided the planets and love ruled the stars."

Everyone cheered at the ending, and Kate didn’t feel too bad for her cheating, as Marilyn McCoo wouldn’t need those lyrics for another hundred years.

To Maggie’s listeners, Antonia Gianelli was just a character in a story, but Kate knew she was so much more. With her heart and wisdom, she was the perfect plug and play option for the story, and would make a great president in any reality.

"But what about Kate’s deep dark secret?" Biddie couldn’t leave the tale just yet

Maggie thought to herself, "I got this one."

*As for this deep ... dark ... horrible secret that Kate feared would destroy her world, and make everyone turn away from her should it be revealed ... it turned out to be nothing more than a tempest in a tea pot. Once she shared it with those who truly knew and loved her, she found out it didn’t change a thing. See ... she was always Kate, and always would be, and nothing could change that."

Finally Kate's story had an ending. One she could live with, one Maggie could live with, and one 99 applauding brides definitely approved of.

Maggie, totally spent and satisfied with the conclusion, gathered up Muffin and eased into her bed.

"Wait Maggie," Candy had one last question that normally Biddie would’ve asked. "So ... what happened to Fitzwilliam Darcy? Did she find her true love?"

Maggie sighed dreamily, "Oh she found her true love, but it was not the elusive and aloof Mr Darcy she had always worshipped from afar. It turned out that her soulmate, her one true love, had been waiting in Seattle for her all this time. He was tall and handsome and they lived happily ever after. The end."

Maggie quickly pulled the covers over her head as a barrage of pillows descended upon her.

"Alright ... alright!" Candy shouted. "The story is over. Everyone get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow."

Maggie peeked out from her foxhole to see every girl in bed, and every candle out, save for her own and the one belonging to Candy, her next door neighbor.

The young woman was lost deep in thought. The smile in her eyes and on her lips left little doubt who or what was on her mind?

“Jeremy?” Maggie invaded her dream world.

Candy blushed and giggled. “That obvious huh?”

Maggie leaned closer. “Only when you're around him or talking about him or thinking about him…which is all the time ... .so yeah it's pretty obvious.”

Candy laughed, “As if you're any better when it comes to Joshua and I still think there was more that went on tonight in the galley than a late night snack.”

It was Maggie's turn to blush. “Honestly, I swear, the only thing that touched my lips was cheese and crackers, but .. if Biddie hadn’t come in when she did… “

Maggie’s voice trailed off as she relived the moment that almost was and the feelings that definitely were.

“Candy, when did you know?…I mean really know that you were in love with Jeremy?”

“Well…”, Candy thought for a moment. “It was a week after we’d set sail and I was on deck hanging the laundry and he came up to talk to me. He was so nervous and shy and self conscious about his stuttering, but then the ship rolled and when I fell he caught me and our eyes met. He held me for only a moment but our eyes were still locked. I could feel it in my heart and I knew he did too,

Maggie fell back into her pillow, “That is so… romantic. I’m really happy for you both.”

Candy grabbed Maggie's hands and pulled her back up. “And I’m really happy for you and Joshua.”

“Well…we do love our Bolt brothers.” Maggie giggled.

Suddenly Candy’’s eyes went wide, “Hey I just thought of something. If I marry Jeremy and you marry Joshua… then…”

Maggie’s eyes flashed as she saw where Candy was going and hurried to meet her there as they squealed in unison, “We would be SISTERS!”

Suddenly a pillow flew over their heads. “Hey…quiet down. I’m trying to sleep, protested some of the sleeping beauties.

Maggie and Candy giggled like a pair of school girls and eased back into their beds.

Candy picked up her candle and then turned to Maggie. “Good night. Sweet dreams… sis.”

“Sweet dreams…sis”. Maggie watched her friend and potential sister-in-law blow out the candle and snuggle down in her quilt.

She sat in silence for a moment, watching the flickering frame and sifting through the emotions her conversation with Candy had raised.

She thought about the love triangle that surrounded Joshua. In one corner, there was Kate who had crushed on all three Bolt brothers as characters from one of her favorite television shows. In another corner, there was Maggie BKA (Before Kate Arrived), who had fallen for him the day their eyes met at the town hall in New Bedford and whose love for him had grown with each moonlit stroll they’d taken over the last six months. Finally, in the third corner was this Maggie who was a combination of the first two and had awoken in this world less than 24 hours ago, having no idea where she truly was and yet from that moment in the galley when he held her in his arms and their eyes locked, she knew, just as Candy had known, she loved him.

As a yawn snuck up on her, there was something else she knew. She needed to get some sleep to face whatever, wherever, and whoever tomorrow held, but there was too much on her mind to give in just yet.

Originally, she had planned to go through Maggie's journals to know more about the girl she had become, but it was no longer necessary. All she had to do was relax, let Maggie be Maggie, and the memories, along with the emotions, came easily.

She considered the two women that she’d become. Save for a y chromosome and 160 years, they were the same woman. They both had loving parents. They both wanted to write, and they both came to Seattle to start a new life.

Then came the questions, still unanswered, and possibly could remain that way. Where was she really at, and was she really here? Did she die that night, and is this heaven? Had she gone mad, and was currently sitting in a cell, wearing a snuggie and being fed tapioca pudding?

Was she really in the world of her favorite television show, and did she have a two year life expectancy, lasting until ABC cancelled her? Or ... somehow, in some incredible, crazy, impossible way, all of this was real. It was 1866 and she was going to start a new life in Seattle.

The last possibility intrigued her most. What if all of this was real, and this timeline mirrored Kate's. Heavens to the space time continuum Marty, she could change the future with her knowledge! She had stayed awake long enough in American History to remember important dates. It was too late to save Lincoln, or stop the Civil War, but maybe she could save a few presidents. She might also ruin Leonardo DiCaprio’s career by warning the Titanic, assuming she lived that long and of course there was Seattle to think of. She knew many of the major events that were to come. She could get in on the ground level of some and prevent others, but could she or should she?

She sighed sadly as her time train came to a screeching halt. As Kate, she’d seen too many Twilight Zone’s, and read too many time travel books, to ignore the lesson they all preached. You might be able to change a few things, but for the most part, you couldn't change history. All you could do was become part of it.

She looked around the room at her sleeping women who were friends in every way that mattered. They were real, not scripted characters on a show. Each one had a story, and most had shared theirs on the long voyage.

To them, the Civil War wasn’’t a couple of chapters in a history book. It was a horrific event that cost many of them fathers, brothers and boyfriends. Anne, the transplanted Southern Belle of a wealthy shipping merchant, lost everything she couldn't pack in a wagon, when her father decided to support the Union and flee to Massachusetts.

These were real girls and real stories of the real world ... or at least as real as Maggie would ever know. She might not ever determine how she got here, or who brought her, but in her heart she knew her journey came with a one way ticket. For better or for worse, for life without the internet, and with the high probability of succumbing to small pox, typhus, cholera or even childbirth, this was her life for the rest of her life, so welcome to it.

Maggie blew out the last candle, and cuddled with Muffin, until sleep claimed her. Tomorrow was a new beginning for every woman there, maybe none more so than Maggie.

Chapter 24: Land Ho!

The next morning, Maggie awoke to a flurry of activity, as every woman was packing and primping for today's arrival. Like the rest of her sisters, she lent a hand or a foot to assist the others, and pushed and shoved for space in front of the mirror.

Sometime after noon the call came. "Land ho ... Land ho!" A hundred women scurried on deck to find a good spot to see their new home. Maggie had Muffin in her arms, and was flanked by Candy and Biddie. Doctor Mike stood a short distance away next to Anne and Becky. She was every bit as anxious to see her prospective patients as the girls were to see if the men were as "tall and strong as a Douglas Fir" as had Jason promised.
Maggie had to admit, her 26 inch digital television, never did 1860s Seattle justice. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

As the ship drew within a few hundred feet of shore, Jason addressed the crowd of hopefuls. "Ladies ... ladies!" he said to quiet them. "For six months you've endured the ocean, stormy weather, and less than palatable food. But ... you've done it with strength, with determination, with courage, and with the sole purpose to build a new life. Well ladies. look around. Tell me now ... have you ever seen hills this greenest green, skies this bluest blue, and can you smell it? There’s a scent of pine trees everywhere ... and tell me now, have you ever seen a day so fair?""

Biddie whispered in Maggie’s ear. "Weren’t you singing that song?"

Maggie giggled as Candy hushed her.

As the ship pulled into port, Jason tried to finish his pitch. " Now brides, prepare yourself, because look out ... here comes--"

"No Jason, you got that wrong!" Maggie shouted, stopping him in mid sentence. "It’s not look out brides, here comes Seattle. Oh no ... it’s look out Seattle, here comes the brides!"

Jason laughed and accepted the correction as the women cheered. One by one, they stepped onto the muddy streets of Seattle to choose their partners

As Maggie watched her ship sisters literally embracing their future, she looked back at the ship, and said a final goodbye to the life she’d left behind, but not to the woman she'd been. Kate was part of who she was, and would always be with her.

Spying a small stone on the deck, she chucked it high into air toward the harbor. As she watched it fly away, she sent all her questions , concerns and fears with it. It wasn't that overnight she'd found all the answers. It was that she realized the questions didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was that she was here and alive with a future. She was surrounded by people who loved and accepted her. Did a girl really need anything else?

As she watched the rock hit the water and extend it's ripples outward, she wondered if anything she would do in this life might somehow one day touch Kate's life 160 years in the future.

Seeing Candy and Biddie waiting for her, she turned and headed down the gang plank. One of the sailors took out his concertina and played a spritely tune. Maggie cuddled Muffin in her arms and announced, "Well girls ... look out Seattle, here we come!"