My Dear Captain

Chapter 6

The months after James' deployment were unbearably long. I thought of him all the time and began counting down the days until he returned to me. He wrote to me often and I always responded! I spent a fortune on mailing them but it was always worth it. In fact, we wrote to each other so often that it had nearly become a part of my daily routine!

I also began spending a lot of my free time with Lily and Albert! Sometimes Lily would join us at Albert's home, which was always a delight! Often, when I visited Albert and his family, I'd help his mother out with cleaning their home and preparing meals.

Lily and I had become very close as well! When I wasn't visiting Albert, I was visiting Lily and her family. Lily's mother and father were very unsure about our friendship at first, seeing as though she was from wealthy backgrounds and I was just a simple maid, but eventually grew to like me and even enjoyed hearing about James every so often! They made his absence go by quickly, and before I knew it, I just had 1 more month until he returned home!

"It's going to go by so fast!" Lily said as we had tea with Albert's family.
"It really will my dear!" Albert's mother, Rose, chimed in.

"I'm sure it will, but the count down is so agonizingly long!"

"Have you gotten a letter from him today?" Lily asked, giggling.

"No, not yet I'm afraid."

"That's odd," she said, "He hasn't written in a few days! Normally you get them nearly daily!"

"Yes," I agreed, "I must admit I am quite worried about him!"

"I'm sure he's fine," Rose said.

"Yes I hope so." My nerves had been on edge for a while. It wasn't like him to not write for so long. I had tried to write to him too, but all of my letters came back with 'return to sender' stamped on the front. Mistress Elizabeth had tried to ease my nerves by telling me that he was likely just very busy with his duties, and I tried to believe her but I couldn't. Something just felt off. I tried to brush off the feeling and focus on his return, but it was hard, so I decided that a visit with Albert and Lily would help me focus on something else, but of course I was wrong. Now they had brought it up and I had become an anxious mess again.

"(Y/n), are you alright?" Lily asked, and put the back of her hand to my forehead. I jumped, not expecting the movement since I was distracted at the moment.

"I-I'm sorry what? I was a bit lost in my thoughts," I said, looking at their concerned expressions with confusion.

"You look pale, my dear," Rose said, sitting down next to me.

"She feels a bit cold," Lily said.

"I feel fine don't worry!"

They looked at me with doubt and concern, and I insisted again that I felt fine. They didn't believe me but they dropped it after I decided to change the subject.

"So, Mrs. Naracott, are there any other chores you need my help with?"

"No my dear, everything has been running pretty smoothly lately!"

"That's good. What about your land lord?"

"Oh you know him," she said waving her hand dismissively, "still as pushy and testy as ever!"

"Well, if you ever need help with your rent, please don't hesitate to ask us for help!" I said. Lily nodded, her mouth full of tea.

"Oh no I couldn't!"

"Please Mrs. Naracott! We insist!"

Rose gave us a look of annoyed endearment and we knew we had won. A few minutes later, we heard hollering coming from outside! We ran out and saw Albert grinning from ear to ear with a book and a small envelope in his hand.

"It's from Captain Nicholls!" he cheered. I grinned and ran over to him, overwhelmed with relief now that he had sent something. It had been days since we had heard from him! Albert opened the book and we gasped. It was filled with brilliant drawings and sketches, most of them were of a beautiful horse!

"That's Joey! That's my horse!" Albert said enthusiastically. A seperate stack of papers began sliding out of the book and I caught them before they hit the ground. I lifted them up and looked at them closer, and my heart swelled! They were beautifully drawn pictures of me!

"Oh my goodness!" I said breathlessly. Lily look over my shoulder and squealed.

"Mrs. Naracott! Captain Nicholls has drawn pictures of (y/n)!"

"He what?"

Lily took the pictures and ran off to show Rose. Albert handed me the small envelope and said, "You should open this one!"

I smiled at him gratefully and gently took the letter. As soon as I touched the paper, however, I was filled with unexplainable dread. It looked an awful lot like the telegrams families received when a loved one died in the military. With shaking hands, I carefully opened the flap and slid the letter out, and fell to my knees after reading the first sentence.

Everything became distant and muffled, and I felt as if I were trapped in my own head! I heard someone call out my name, but I couldn't respond. I was too grief stricken to respond. This couldn't be happening! Albert knelt down next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder as he gently took the letter from my shaking hands.

"We are sorry to inform you that Captain James Nicholls has....died."