Hymn To My Soul

~ CHAPTER 1 ~

    The car sputtered to a stop as a White Star Line member dressed in a fine uniform directed the traffic to a stop just in front of the First-Class ramp. When the passenger car door was opened by the driver, the loud cheering and yelling of the crowd pierced and violated Lydia's ears as she took his hand and stepped out into the sun of the late morning. With her back straight, she stood with an umbrella in hand dressed in a frivolous blue dress lined with intricate black lace designs. Her waist was tied thin with a black and white striped belt, and her tied-up hair was covered with a large expensive hat decorated with frills and feathers. She lifted her eyes and beheld the magnificence of the iron ship painted with black, white, and red colors. The smoke stacks already pumping smoke; the flags waved in the sea breeze. Lydia breathed in the fresh air with a sigh, only to be interrupted by her fiancé's rough hand grabbing her arm.

    "Come now, darling. The men are grabbing the luggage and your mother wants to say goodbye to you." He said gruffly, tugging her a little too harshly around the car and through the stampede of men that walked toward the second and Third-Class ramps. She watched them as she was practically dragged along, noticing their luggage was only mere suitcases or sacks thrown over their backs. She wondered how free they were to have control over their own belongings and have that extreme excitement that had disappeared from her. She didn't feel free in the painful grasp of her fiancé. She felt chained. Horns blew and cars squealed as more pulled in and unloaded more high-class characters.

    When they rounded the corner, Lydia was met face to face with her mother as her father pecked her gently on the cheek before turning away to sort out their loading affairs. Her eyes met with her mother's green hues as she approached her with a handkerchief to her nose. She seemed to be sneezing and softly crying simultaneously.

    "Oh, darling!" She cried, almost a bit too dramatic. "I wish I could go with you, but as you know I am too sick to travel across the sea." Lydia was darlingly tempted to roll her eyes, but she kept her posture stiff and controlled for her mother's act. "Please do send me photographs and postcards of the wedding and your honeymoon. I can't wait to see all of them." She smiled, a knowing look pervaded under her glassy eyes.

    "We will, Mrs. Claire. Be rest assured." The man that Lydia hated most smiled behind her, grasping tightly to her shoulders as he massaged them roughly. Lydia winced from his thumbs digging into her shoulder blades but covered the pain with a painted smile.

    "Oh, wonderful. And dear, do be on your best behavior while you are away from me. I know you can tend to be reckless when we are apart." Her mother stabbed at her with a poignant tone under her voice.

    "I will, Mother," Lydia stated dully.

    "I will keep her in check if anything were to happen, Ma'am." Her fiancé, Silas Hayes, spoke grinning deftly. Lydia nodded lightly, before jumping at the horn of the steamer. "Well, it seems it's time for us to go. Get well, Mrs Claire." Silas forced a farewell and kissed her on the cheek before turning to find Lydia's father.

    Before Lydia was able to turn away, her mother grabbed her wrist and glared daggers into her. "I mean it, Lydia. Be good to him. Remember, you're engaged to him."

    "Not by my own decision." Lydia shot back with a burning anger rising in her stomach.

    Her mother became taunt as she dug her nails into her skin making her wince. "It wasn't your decision to make. Your father needed an associate for the company and he was willing to be that and give money if he would marry you." Lydia became furious, appalled by her family's actions and the way they carried them out as if it wasn't an act of slavery. She twisted her arm in her mother's grip and took a step away from her.