Journey to Harcourt Harbor

“Next!”

Jemma shuffled to the next available space in line, clutching her passport and luggage tightly. The port was filled with people arranging their belongings and managing small children as they boarded their ships.

She adjusted her head to see the podium a few feet away from her. Two people were ahead of her in line, giving her some time to think about what she was going to say to the port security officer. The officer had a sour look on her face, angrily stamping passports and waving customers away in a hurry.

Thump!

The officer’s stamp hit the customer’s passport, and he bowed his head in gratitude. “Dock four. Next!” she shouted, her raspy voice echoing off the walls. The other patrons in the port didn’t seem to mind, going about their days and continuing their conversations.

Jemma took the time to look at the port around her. Enormous glass windows let in the sunlight as it emerged on the horizon, allowing her to see the array of pinks, oranges, and yellows the dawn brought. Daybreak would soon begin, and the morning patrol would start their shifts. Jemma needed this woman to hurry up. If she didn’t, the authorities would surely be able to find her.

She looked down at her work papers. The form stated that she would take up work as an apprentice, training under a master seamstress in Harcourt. She would need to take the ferry that goes to Harcourt Harbor, about a three-day trip, if the wind were in their favor. The board listing all the departure times showed it would leave from Dock 6.

“Next!” The security officer’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. The woman in front of Jemma had her passport stamped. She moved out of the way to make room for Jemma in front of the podium. Jemma nervously stepped forward. “Passport?” The officer asked.

Handing her the small booklet, Jemma tried to calm her shaking hands. The officer didn’t seem to notice, grabbing the passport from her hand. The older woman took a look at it, staring for what Jemma believed was an absurdly long time; her picture was recent, and it’s not like she was wearing a disguise.

“What is your purpose for traveling?” The officer picked up a pen and a piece of paper.

“Work, ma’am,” Jemma said in her politest voice. “I am to begin training as an apprentice in Harcourt.”

The officer wrote something down on the piece of paper. Without looking up, she said, “Do you have any proof of employment?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Jemma offered the slip to the officer, who took it aggressively from her hand. She scanned the paper, then wrote something down again.

Jemma’s heart was beating loudly in her chest. She couldn’t see what the officer was filling out, nor could she tell if the woman believed her documentation was real. She worried that, despite all of her hard work to escape, she would be caught doing something wrong that she wasn’t even aware of.

I knew I shouldn’t have trusted Rolf, she thought to herself. That pig. If he gets me into trouble, I’ll kill him!

The security officer picked up her stamp and slammed it onto Jemma’s passport, then onto her working papers. The ink was bright red. A drawing of a ship and the date appeared on the pages where the woman had stamped it. Before letting her go, the officer pointed to the black line on the bottom of her working papers.

“Show this to the port authority at Harcourt Harbor,” she said. “They will arrange for a trolley to get you to the seamstress.”

Jemma felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She took the papers back and nodded. “Thank you.”

The woman waved her away. “Dock six. Next!”

In a hurry, Jemma grabbed her luggage and pulled it away from the line behind her. She placed her working papers and passport in her coat pocket, then set off for Dock 6. According to the departure chart, she had another hour before her ship left.

There must have been thousands of people in the port. Some were wearing extravagant clothes made of silk, gossamer, and tulle. Women wore glistening jewelry and elaborate accessories made of leather. The men wore hats and headscarves that added a few inches to their height. Children slept soundly in expensive carriers. The adults held their heads up high as they walked, dragging their heavy, expensive luggage behind them.

Others in the port wore clothes made of burlap that had been haphazardly sewn together. Those men and women traveled in packs, wandering the port without shoes or any valuable items. The mothers had babies tied to their backs, and the ones with multiple infants tied the additional ones to the front. She couldn’t tell who was coming into the country, and who was dying to get out.

Jemma wondered why each of the people in the port was traveling. Were they all on the run, too? Were they moving? Were they going on vacation? She had heard about the fancy vacations the families in the inner ring took. They would go to tropical islands or snowy mountains and play for weeks at a time.

Jemma knew of several families whose houses would stay empty the entire time they were away, without a single servant keeping watch. That was exactly what could get her in trouble, and why she had to leave as quickly as she could. A week prior, Jemma heard through the grapevine—that being the other servants in the house she worked in—that the neighbors down the street would be away for an entire month, and that they left early in the morning.

Later that day, after her afternoon work was complete, she went to check it out for herself.

The other girls were right. When Jemma peeked inside the windows, there was not a security measure in sight. The servants, whom she normally saw at the marketplace or at the river basin washing the family’s laundry, were sent home for the time they would be away. She knew many of them found other homes to work in for the time, leaving the stately manor completely unguarded.

That night, Jemma devised a plan. She knew the family consisted of avid jewelry collectors; the mistress of the house was never seen without a precious stone on her person. While no one was home, she’d sneak into the house, grab the first gem she could find, and sell it once she was in Harcourt. It would undoubtedly give her enough to secure room and board, in case the master seamstress refused to do so.

After midnight, Jemma left the servant’s quarters of her master’s house. She dressed in loose black clothing to avoid being spotted. Without making a sound, she moved behind the thick trees along the path. A soft light emitting from a lantern lit up the stone street, causing her to duck behind a shrub. She waited as a taxi drove past slowly. When the car was gone, she resumed her journey.

Once she reached the house, she felt as if her heart would burst inside her chest. She tried to keep a clear head, but nervous sweat started to form on her forehead and back.

It’s okay, she thought to herself. The quicker you do this, the quicker you can get out of here.

Taking a deep breath, she suppressed her feelings and climbed up a wooden trellis on the side of the house. It led to a balcony facing the walls of the inner ring. When she reached the top, she stepped onto the balcony and looked for an entrance to the house.

Jemma found a sliding door and smiled. She took off her shoes, careful not to track any mud into the house, and tried to pull the door open. It barely moved. Planting her feet on the ground, she pulled with all her might, opening the door just enough to allow herself in.

Once inside, she was met by a long hallway covered in dark oak paneling. Ornate picture frames of the family were proudly displayed in a cabinet protected by glass doors. Artwork and trinkets lined the walls. She could get lost admiring the beauty and extravagance of the place.

Focus. She brought herself back to reality and quietly maneuvered down the hall. She searched each room for valuables; the nursery had nothing special, the study had a few rare gemstones tucked safely into drawers, and the master bedroom had jewelry of all kinds.

If she took too much, the owners would know right away that they were robbed. The police would help them, and with her luck, they would pay for the best detective in the country to look for her. And he would definitely find her.

Jemma stared at the jewels in awe. Diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and opals were attached to gold and silver chains, or embedded in extravagant earrings. She took two chains, one pair of earrings, and a gold ring with a square-shaped ruby. She kept them secure in the pockets of her robes and trousers.

Now, those jewels were sewn into the lining of Jemma’s pants. The family were to return in three weeks. They would look and find their jewels missing, and contact the authorities, but Jemma would not be home. She made sure she covered her tracks. She cleaned any dirt that she had tracked into the house and made sure she wasn’t seen. The authorities would search the city, but find nothing, not even the jewels. She would find a seedy pawn shop in Harcourt and sell them there, making sure news of the sale doesn’t reach home.

“Dock Six is now boarding!” A voice called out over the loudspeaker. “I repeat, dock six is now boarding.”

Jemma gathered her belongings and joined the crowd of people at the dock. Once she was on the boat, she tapped the waistband of her pants, felt the outline of the jewels and breathed a sigh of relief.

The crew pulled the ramp up onto the ship. Others rang a bell, signaling that the ship was beginning to board. Jemma noticed a few guests on the boat waving to family members and friends who were standing on the dock, waving back to them. She had nobody to wave to, so she stuck her hands in her pockets and watched the city get smaller and smaller as the boat pulled away from the dock.