06-01-2020, 01:28 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-19-2022, 07:27 PM by Alice Appleton.)
[CW: child marriage]
It had only been a week since her wedding, but Alice was back in Whitby. She had been homesick all week, and though it made more sense to sell produce in Castleton or Goathland, Tobias had decided they'd go to Whitby to keep Alice from wailing, so that Alice could see her family. They had left very early that morning and had passed through the moors mostly in the dark, save for a small lantern suspended from the cart. It had been unpleasant for Alice, who was torn between dreading the terrible darkness and wondering why it hadn't just killed her when it could. But once they had arrived in Whitby, with the pleasant street lighting illuminating familiar streets, she had felt joyful - a painful joy, but joy.
They had spent an hour with the family, before everyone had to get to work. Tobias had driven her and Anne over to St. Anne's Staith, close to the bridge, where farmer's wives tended to sell their goods straight off their carts. Alice had been given the task to sell last year's wheat, and fresh eggs, milk, and cheese, while Tobias had gone off handling business at the bank and buying several things - or to entertain himself, for all Alice knew and cared.
Anne had kept her company for a while, and Alice had felt better than she had all week. But when her sister had to go home to prepare the laundry for Monday, Alice felt her spirit drop and the terrible sense of loneliness and not being up to the task that life had assigned to her crept in again. She wore a fine, long, blue skirt, a white shirt with frills, and blue bodice, as well as a simple yet elegant hat. Her clothes, her hair tied up at the back of her head, as well as the rounding of her tummy - accentuated by the waisted garments - indicated that she was truly a woman now. But Alice felt more like a girl than she had in years.
She picked up her old woolen shawl from the back of the cart and wrapped it around body, as if to hide herself and become a Whitby fishing girl again. Then she sat still, daydreamed, and waited for customers.
It had only been a week since her wedding, but Alice was back in Whitby. She had been homesick all week, and though it made more sense to sell produce in Castleton or Goathland, Tobias had decided they'd go to Whitby to keep Alice from wailing, so that Alice could see her family. They had left very early that morning and had passed through the moors mostly in the dark, save for a small lantern suspended from the cart. It had been unpleasant for Alice, who was torn between dreading the terrible darkness and wondering why it hadn't just killed her when it could. But once they had arrived in Whitby, with the pleasant street lighting illuminating familiar streets, she had felt joyful - a painful joy, but joy.
They had spent an hour with the family, before everyone had to get to work. Tobias had driven her and Anne over to St. Anne's Staith, close to the bridge, where farmer's wives tended to sell their goods straight off their carts. Alice had been given the task to sell last year's wheat, and fresh eggs, milk, and cheese, while Tobias had gone off handling business at the bank and buying several things - or to entertain himself, for all Alice knew and cared.
Anne had kept her company for a while, and Alice had felt better than she had all week. But when her sister had to go home to prepare the laundry for Monday, Alice felt her spirit drop and the terrible sense of loneliness and not being up to the task that life had assigned to her crept in again. She wore a fine, long, blue skirt, a white shirt with frills, and blue bodice, as well as a simple yet elegant hat. Her clothes, her hair tied up at the back of her head, as well as the rounding of her tummy - accentuated by the waisted garments - indicated that she was truly a woman now. But Alice felt more like a girl than she had in years.
She picked up her old woolen shawl from the back of the cart and wrapped it around body, as if to hide herself and become a Whitby fishing girl again. Then she sat still, daydreamed, and waited for customers.
