Chapter 16
The trip did not start out well at all. I had paid for a single berth. When I got aboard the ship, I found myself in a double cabin, with another bachelor. I complained to my steward. I waited over an hour, and nothing happened. I decided to take matters into my own hands.
I left my cabin where I had been waiting for resolution of this problem, and made my way to the pursers office. He was not in. I asked how long we were to remain at the dock, and was told the ship would depart on time in two more hours. I thanked the gentleman for his kindness, and made my way to the deck with the gangplank.
As I was getting ready to leave, I was asked if I were a passenger. I replied that I was indeed a passenger. I was told it was not a good idea to leave the ship so close to departure time. I told the man I had to contact my attorney in order to sue this shipping line, and I would not be held prisoner.
I was asked what the problem was, and I explained that I had spent 115 dollars for a single first class berth. I said I was told I was going to be in a double, after I got on the ship. I said that I had complained to my steward, that nothing had happened, and it had been well over an hour.
He asked if I would allow him to look into the matter, that it should only take a few minutes. I said certainly, as I was not going to be robbed by anyone, for any reason. I was asked to show my ticket. I showed him what I had bought. He tried to take it from me, but I refused to let it go.
"Look, you can see it says right here, single first class berth. Is this line in a habit of selling first class births to people, then putting them in second class accommodations?" I asked in an aggravated tone of voice.
"I understand, Sir. Let me check with the purser. I am sure we can straighten this out," the man at the boarding gate told me.
Within a very short time, I was escorted to the purser and explaining myself once again. I presented my ticket to him, explained I was in a double accommodation, that I had complained to the steward well over an hour ago, and no action had resulted from my complaint.
He apologized and said that the first class berths had been over-booked, and that the double was the best he could do. I told him that my attorney would give me satisfaction if the line didn't. I would appreciate the single berth I had paid for, now, not whenever he got around to it.
He asked me to wait one moment. He picked up a ships phone and spoke very rapidly to someone in German (Well, it was a German ship, after all. Wilhelm The Great, was the ship I had booked passage on, and it was 1895).
I waited. After a couple of minutes, he turned his attention back to me.
"I am sorry, but there are no first class berths free. You will have to go with the one you are now assigned, or you can depart the ship," he said, not sounding sorry at all.
"I see. Well, in that case, let me tell you what I am going to do. I am going to the New York Times, and buying a full page advertisement in their paper. In it, I will outline the outrageous way you have treated me.
"I also stand to loose a lot of money, since you're telling me to depart your ship, which I will do. I will be going directly to my attorney's offices, to file fraud charges against your shipping line. I am going to sue your line for at least one hundred thousand dollars, to recover the losses I will incur for not completing my trip, and not being able to conduct my business. Of course, I will also sue for the one hundred and fifteen dollars you fraudulently took from me, when you sold me a berth you advertised as a single first class berth," I finished grimly.
I turned on my heel, and with only a couple missteps, made it back to the cabin where I had left my trunk. It was gone, and a new steward was waiting for me.
"Herr Wilshire? I am your new steward. I am here to bring you to your new cabin. If you will follow me? The captain sends his compliments and regrets, for any inconvenience that you may have suffered. We are putting you into a private suite to make amends, if that is acceptable," he said, with only a slight accent.
We walked down several narrows halls, and over to an elevator. We entered it, and rode it one deck up. This was definitely a 'better neighborhood', already! The hall or gangways were wider, and the doors larger, and everything here was more ornate!
"Surely this is not a luxury suite?" I asked.
"No, Sir. Those are located elsewhere. This is a section of private suites for the more affluent passengers, but not for luxury passengers. The captain made it quite clear to us that you were to be treated as such. No extra charges will be incurred for this move," the steward replied.
I was surprised that the captain had gotten involved. I wondered if it was really someone a bit higher up the food chain than the purser, but lower than the captain. We arrived at my cabin, and entered the room. I had a receiving, or sitting room, which had my trunk sitting in the middle of it. Off to the left was a bedroom with a full sized bed, dresser, mirror, your basic full bedroom, really. A bathroom was connected to that. With a full bath, no less!
"Again, our apologies for any inconveniences. We hope your trip is an enjoyable one. Please note the seating chart for your meal, and your table assignment. They are located on your bedroom desk. To operate the phone, simply pick it up, and an operator will answer and connect you to whomever you wish to speak to," he said as he started to leave.
I told him wait, dug out a silver dollar, and tipped him with thanks. He bowed even deeper to me. After he was gone, I wondered if I had over tipped him.
The voyage, while interesting, was boring to me. There was no television, no movies to watch, not even radio to listen to. I will give this to the shipping company, though. They made sure you had as much to do as you could possibly fit into a day. There were games to play, lessons in dance (which I took), and shops of all sorts and types. There was even a library. All in all, they had myriad ways of parting you from the money in your pocket. They even had gambling, if you were into that sort of thing.
Meals were an interesting affair. I was seated at a table that sat six. The dining room was huge! Waiters seemed to be almost as thick as the passengers. While it seemed as if there was one waiter per table, I didn't think that was possible.
Meals were excellent. I was sort of adopted by an elderly lady and her family. She was taking her son, daughter in law, and grandchild to see their relatives in England. Considering how much this trip must be costing her, she must be very well off indeed. I made all the appropriate comments. When asked; I said I was going to England, to do a bit of business, but mostly was just traveling.
The other man seated with us was a small nervous man who contributed hardly anything to the conversation and usually ate as quickly as possible and would disappear as soon as he was done.
I enjoyed walking the deck and taking in the air. Ocean air has a different smell than air on land. I got involved in a couple poker games during the trip, but did not gamble heavily. There was posted, a daily 'run record'. It kept you up to date on the ship's position, and how fast it was traveling.
It was a rather uneventful run across the Atlantic, with only two days of rough seas. It was a very uncomfortable two days, though, in which I got almost no sleep. I got seasick halfway through the first day of rough weather, and stayed that way until the seas smoothed out.
After I cleared what was considered 'customs' at Southampton, I took a train to London. I found a good boarding house, and paid for a month in advance. I then went to a bank and opened an account, where I deposited two thousand pounds.
I then returned back to my boarding house, went to my room and opened my trunk. I got out the period clothing from two time periods, and bundled them up. I closed and locked my trunk, hiding the key for it in the room.
I had a specific destination in mind, but it would require moving to that location. I did not feel like traveling as slowly as 1890's transportation was able to provide, so I found a place to change, and returned to my own time.
I quickly made my way to a shop, and bought a backpack. I put my old style clothing in it. I then caught a train to just short of my destination. A couple hours later I was standing behind a very old church, feeling the power emanate from it. Yes, a perfect place to launch myself as deeply into the past as I wished. This would be my deepest trip into the past, to date!
Let me tell you, while it might seem romantic or depicted as such in the movies, England in 1687 was not what I expected it too be! I was dressed in the correct period clothing, but did not blend as well as I thought. I was better dressed than most of those around me, and my accent bothered everyone I spoke to. I was dressed as 'a man of means' would be dressed, and most around me in this village were not of means. Most were dressed in rough homespun.
While I had this destination in mind, I had not really thought out exactly what I would be doing, except traveling and getting to know the area. I was alone in this time, and without arms. A gentleman of this period went armed.
While I had researched this period, I had no firm plan other than seeing specific sites now that I was here. I wandered the streets, nodding to people and soon saw a sign that I recognized! It depicted three golden balls. It was a pawn shop!
I went into the dim interior, and saw that I could probably get everything I needed to complete my costume, here. The proprietor was in and I made him a very happy man indeed. I got everything I needed in one stop!
I now had a sturdy 'backpack', of the time. My good period clothing was in it, as well as my more modern backpack. I was wearing clothing more suited to my surroundings, and I now had a sword as well. I had also bought a walking staff. I felt well armed, indeed.
Let me tell you another thing about this time period. The people stank! Personal hygiene was not a top priority with these people. While they might look clean, they absolutely reeked when you got close to them! Some looked like they had not cleaned what they were wearing in weeks! Others were wearing clean clothing, but had not cleaned themselves!
I sat in a local inn, and listened to the talk that was going on. Most of it dealt with the local lords, taxes, and local things of interest. Occasionally I would catch snippets of something interesting, but then lost it in the noise of the crowd. It was frustrating, all in all.
After spending an uncomfortable night on the floor of the room I had rented (forsaking the bed as a bad idea), I left and started walking towards the local lord's manor. He did not live in a castle, such as you always see in the movies.
I am not sure what prompted me to do this, but I chose as my first deep past trip, the location of Lord Avery-Smythe's manor. I was trying to decide if I was fixated on this family.
'Well, they are the only people I knew from a couple of time lines, ' I thought, grinning to myself.
I had been walking the road for a little over an hour when I started hearing something. I paused, and then it came to me. Steel on steel! There was a sword fight going on ahead of me.
I settled my backpack, and gripped my staff firmly in my right hand, as I started jogging in the direction I heard the sound coming from. I came to a bend in the road. I saw horses. Men were on the ground, fighting. More men on horseback were fighting. Overall, it was a huge mass of confusion.
What I did recognize, was the family crest on the breast of a young man fighting for his life on the ground. Well, once more into the breech, I thought. I dodged my way to the guy wearing the crest, and distracted the guy he was fighting with the butt of my staff to the head. That was enough to throw off the attacking fellows fight, leaving the crest bearing Avery-Smythe to run his sword through the man.
"Need a hand?" I asked politely.
He stared at me for a moment then grinned. "My thanks. I could definitely use more foot. Glad to have you," he said as I moved to his side.
I grinned and asked him, "So which are our people?"
"There are only three of my men left standing," he said a bit breathlessly, "One is on that horse there," he pointed, and I saw immediately the color scheme that was going on, "The other two are moving around trying to get into position," he finished and blocked as an attack was launched on him.
I waded into the fray, having identified all the enemy. I whirled, blocked, thrust, smashed and made myself useful. Shortly the fight was over. I grounded my staff, and looked around.
Young Avery-Smythe and his three remaining companions were all staring at me. The rest of the fighters were either fleeing, or were on the ground.
I looked at Avery-Smythe, or the man wearing that crest anyway, and asked, "What's wrong? Why are you staring at me?"
"I have never seen anyone fight as you did! It was simply amazing!" he exclaimed and the others standing by him nodded, or agreed vocally.
"Surely you have seen staff fighting before?" I asked him.
"While it is true I have witnessed quarter-staff fighting in the past, none have ever wielded one with the skill and deadliness that you have displayed! Well done, Sir!" he exclaimed to me as one of his men went to collect horses. Another was collecting the dropped and discarded weapons. Yet another man was checking on the motionless men.
The wounded were treated as well as possible, under the circumstances, and all were treated equally. This was my introduction to the current heir to the Avery-Smythe title. His name was Robert John Avery-Smythe the second.
Edited by TeNderLoin