The Fall of Charlotte Richards
A Devils Paw Story
© 2013 Mr. David R. Dorrycott
Chapter Two
Their trip down from Washington was somewhat a shaky one, being as the tracks were more than once snow covered thus requiring the men to step out, take shovels and clear the track. Martha Morton enjoyed watching the men work, their muscles rippling under their shirts as they cleared snow. She was a connoisseur of male flesh, furred and unfurred and made her partner choices mainly by the muscles she observed. Had her niece not been with her Miss. Morton would never have spent a night alone on her trip. That though would change, about the time when they arrived in Saint George’s Island, the turn around point of their Long Cruise.
At one stop her niece asked again the same question. “Tell me Aunt Morton, again please” the chilled mink begged, “Of the warm places that we will be visiting.”
Realizing that her observation of the men was over until she quieted her niece Martha withdrew her itinerary from its case. “You could read it yourself of course” she reminded Charlotte, “It would be faster.”
“Yes Aunt Morton, I understand” the collie-mink agreed. “But this way I may dream of the warmth while your voice will sooth my nerves, I am so very excited.”
“Very well, we will depart Atlanta on the thirtieth of December, celebrating the New Year upon arrival at Cedar Bay. There we will board the Devils Paw, arriving in Habana Cuba a day later. We will spend two days enjoying the city, after which we will sail along the North coast to visit Nuevitas for one day. After that we travel to San Juan in Porta Rico, St. Croix, Basseterre, Plymouth, Basse-Terre, Roseau, Fort-de-France, Castries, Kings Town and finally Saint. George’s. At that point we will be but a hundred kilometers from South America herself.”
She opened the itinerary to refresh her memory. “A day or two at each harbor, overnighting then leaving in the morning. This is about twelve hundred miles of sail and as the Devils Paw makes fifteen knots it says here that the trip will require thirty days round trip, with us returning the Cedar Key on the thirty-first. I have though changed out itinerary somewhat, with a planned three or four week stay in Habana on the return. We will of course return upon another ship unless the Devils Paw happens to be in port when we wish to depart.”
“It sounds so lovely, and the places so exotic” Charlotte admitted, “And we return the Southern Route?”
“Quite correct my dear, we will remain at Saint George’s for two full days, then weather permitting return on the islands opposite sides. Thus we will be seeing landscapes that we did not on the way down, turning the Western point of Cuba to return to Habana for a day then to Cedar Key. Depending upon how the schedule is we may have more days in certain places, but you and I will disembark in Habana for a months stay before returning home, there is much culture and history to see there.” She carefully folded up the itinerary, returning it to its place as Charlotte sighed romantically.
“Perhaps I will find a husband upon this trip” she mused. “No matter, it must be a trip to remember the rest of my life.”
‘Oh it will be a trip you will remember’ her Aunt thought as she turned her attention back to the burley men finishing their work out in the cold, oh how she would love to warm up one of them, or two, perhaps even three. She had never been with three, now that would be an interesting experience while she still had the looks and energy to manage it. ‘If you live through it dear sweet Charlotte.’
Even with the weather delay the two arrived in Atlanta a day early, both spending their time sight-seeing while unaware that their tickets for the Long Cruise were the only thing that kept them from being mugged or worse. Criminals in Atlanta had discovered that crossing the W&A was suicide, one would vanish, then return with the police to calmly point out each and every one of his or her comrades, detailing in exquisite precision every crime each had committed. By the time four gangs had found themselves at life at hard labor the rest decided that there were easier fish to fry. Thus the two obviously rich and unattached women visited the sights without even a pocket picked.