Tides of Passion

Chapter 2

Chapter Two - London, England 1801

​"Oh, Father, this is marvelous! Thank you so much!" Dianna called to Walter over the loud music and conversations. It was the day after Dianna's birthday and Walter had brought her to the traveling fair she'd wanted to go to. They had celebrated her actual birthday the last night with Tobias, his wife Jane and their son Arnold. At dinner, Walter and Tobias reminded Dianna and Arnold that they were coming of age, and it was time they went through with the marriage betrothal that had been placed upon them since birth. Shy Arnold had put his head down and blushed and Dianna had seemed unhappy.

Walter had been unwilling to take her at first, because he knew the fair was run by gypsies. Gypsies were low class thieves who entertained you one day and took off with all your money the next day. They were dirty, lying scum, but Dianna had really wanted to see the fair.

"Please! I've never been to a fair before! And it's my birthday!" Walter had finally agreed after all her pleading, and she so rarely begged for anything, and he knew she wanted to experience this new, fun thing before she had to marry Arnold. So now they were at the fair.

There were tents set up around the lot where it was located. The tents sold a variety of things from jewelry, clothes, and fortune-telling to exotic foods and drinks. There was also boat rides in the river next to the lot, dance shows, and even a small petting zoo. And there were women dressed in beaded dresses with sashes tied around their waists, bangles clanking up and down their arms, and large golden hoops pierced into their ears. These girls walked around giving out free samples of the foods and giving recommendations and directions to the different areas of the fair when they were asked. Walter had stopped one of these girls to ask her recommendation about which food tent they should try. She was a pretty thing, with dark hair, skin and eyes, and a curvy body evident under her beaded dress.

"Excuse, miss, I was just wondering," Walter began when she came over, "which food tent do you think would be most delightful to my daughter and I?" She had blinked her big eyes that had been trained on Dianna since the moment she walked over. Dianna did not notice, as she was looking around, excited, at the many sights to see. The woman had still kept her eyes on Dianna as she answered his question.

"It depends on what you're looking for. Do you want a full meal or a snack? Are you looking for a cheap bargain or-"

"No, money is no issue." Walter had said. Her dark eyes flicked to him for one moment, then looked back at Dianna.

"I see," she said slowly.

"Maybe somewhere with some healthy options? My daughter is trying to keep me conscious of my health," Walter smiled, but the girl still wasn't looking at him.

"Then you should try Ali's tent. He doesn't like to use too much salt on his foods, they're probably the healthiest things we have." Walter chuckled at what he thought was a joke, but she only had eyes for Dianna. Walter felt uncomfortable all of a sudden.

"Well, thank you." He grabbed Dianna's arm and steered her toward the food tents. He looked back over his shoulder to see the girl race up to a tall, dark man, with a distinct scar on his chin, in the shadows. She began whispering frantically at him and nodded her head towards the direction Dianna and Walter had walked.

For the rest of the day at the fair, Walter felt uneasy and only Dianna enjoyed the exotic, new flavors and games and shows. When it was getting dark, Dianna wanted to go into the big tent that held the dance show. She pulled Walter in with her, and they stood in the crowded tent and watched as the show began.

It was dark in the tent; the only lights were near the stage so that you could see the dancers. They filed out in a line, then separated and started doing their own moves. They were all scantily dressed women who shook their hips and swayed to a roaring drum beat. There was smoke in the tent from cigars men were smoking and it smelled heavily of different kinds of women's perfumes in the small, cramped space. Walter's eyes watered from all the strong scents and dim lighting. He rubbed his eyes, and then turned to tell Dianna he wanted to leave. But she wasn't next to him. He turned round and round, searching for her, and walked all around the tent, pushing and shoving people out of his way, but to no avail. Dianna was gone.

When the show ended, he stayed in the tent to see if he'd be able to find her if it was less crowded, but then everyone but Walter was left, and he had not seen Dianna. He went out into the dark, chilly night and searched the whole fair, but he could not find her.

He looked at the food tents, thinking she may have gotten hungry, but she wasn't there. She had liked petting the animals in the zoo earlier, so he checked there, but the small zoo was already closed. And she had wanted to get her fortune told earlier, but the old fortune teller said she had not seen Dianna. Walter walked around the fair more than four times, but he never found Dianna.

Walter was the only one left in the fair when the tents were all closing down and packing up. He was raving and going mad, asking all the fair workers if they'd seen her, but the answer was always no.

When Walter felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned expecting to see Dianna, but instead it was the man who had been in the shadows earlier. The one who had talked to the woman who had suggested they eat at Ali's tent. The woman who kept looking at Dianna.

"Where's my daughter?" He yelled. "Where is she?"

"Sir, I can assure you I don't know what you're talking about," the man said in an undetectable accent. "I own the fair, and my employees are complaining about a disturbance. Sir, you are that disturbance."

"I don't give a damn about your employees! Where is my daughter?" Walter shouted, surely close to going hysterical.

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do! That girl that works here! I talked to her and she kept looking at Dianna! Then she came to you! Don't lie to me! Where is she?" Walter was past hysterical now and his anger had reached an alarming level.

"You think I have your daughter because my employee was staring at her? Maybe she was just a nice-looking dish," the man said with a smug grin.

"Why you-!" Walter tried to jump and strangle the man, but two buff men, who were probably guards for the fair, took him by the arms and escorted him out of the lot while Walter had been shouting that he'd be back.

The next day, Walter had come to the lot with a full entourage of policemen, but the fair had already packed up and moved.

***

Walter jerked back to the breakfast scene with Tobias a year after the kidnapping. He had the recurring dream of the fair event every night since the kidnapping, and now that Tobias said he had found someone who could find his daughter, it was haunting him during the day, too. He shook himself back into reality and turned to Tobias.

"You say you found the gypsies?" Walter asked his voice cold and business-like.

"Possibly. There is a gathering of gypsies where they hold all their fairs into one big event. It's in France."

"So why can't we go get Dianna?"

"Because," Tobias sighed, "the bloody gypsies are guarding the event as if they were guarding the crown jewels. And you know the gypsies that took Dianna will be watching for you."

Walter nodded, knowing Tobias was right. The man who owned the fair Dianna was kidnapped from knew Walter would still be looking for her. He nodded again and turned to Tobias.

"You know someone who can go in and get her?" he asked.

"Yes. He's a pirate, not much better than a gypsy, but that's good because he'll fit in and not cause too much attention to himself."

"Who is he?"

"Only the roughest, toughest, trickiest pirate captain out there," Tobias smiled big. "The name is Captain Josey Thatcher."

~