The Terrible Demise of Tortuga

Chapter twenty one.

Next week came quickly. Arianna, Emma, and Josephina worked on the dresses for the ball and patched up the boys tie suits and Emma’s hand healed to where she could hold things again. Finally the night of the ball came. Andrew was coming to pick Emma up. “I don’t get why the mayors are having a ball right after a funeral.” Jack said. “I don’t get why we have to where these suits if we aren’t even gonna be dancing.” Jay said. “Wait y’all aren’t dancing?” Emma asked them. “Nah, we aren’t. But we will be watching Josephina and Jaquin cause they aren’t dancing bc they are too young.” Jack said. “Oh.” Emma said. Just then the doorbell rang. Emma took a deep breath and reached for the doorknob.

Andrew was waiting outside the front door waiting for someone to open the door. He had come to pick up Emma. Just then the door opened and Emma stood in the doorway. Andrew’s breath caught in his throat, and he could barely breathe. Emma was wearing a long aquamarine colored dress, her dark red hair hung in a long braid down her back. Her lips shone with red lipstick. She smiled and her whole face lit up with happiness and her eyes glowed with excitement. Andrew cleared his throat so he could speak. “Are you ready to go?” He asked. “Yes.” Emma said. Andrew offered his arm and she surprisingly took it. They began to walk off but were interrupted by someone clearing their throat. They turned to see Aragorn. “Andrew……take care of my daughter.” Aragorn said. Andrew nodded. Aragorn watched as they walked off, talking to each other and laughing. He sighed. “You’ll always be…..my little girl.” He murmured under his breath. He headed back inside where the rest of his family waited. And then they set off for the ball.

Jack and Jay watched as people danced in the ball room. Music played loudly over the speakers. “Look at mom and dad.” Jay said. Jack looked away from Eric and Elizabeth who were dancing together (although neither of them were good at it) toward their parents. Arianna wore a green long dress. “look at dad. I bet dad would be a good sword fighter, he dances so well.” Jay observed in a low voice to Jack. “Yeah…look at Michael. He is MAD.” Jack said. Michael was glaring at Andrew from across the room. “Serves that creepazoid right.” Jay said. They both laughed.

After a while the mayors decided to end the party. They had had dinner there, which was very rich food. All the Petersons except Emma gathered outside the door of the mayors house where people where exiting. “Where’s Emma?” Jaquin asked. “She’s coming, but we need to go ahead and go. It’s about to storm.” Aragorn said. They walked home and sure enough as soon as they had gotten settled inside it began to storm. They gathered in the living room waiting for Emma and Andrew to come. Outside rain poured, thunder rumbled, and lightning flashed. Thirty minutes later the door opened and a laughing, and wet Emma and Andrew entered. They were soaking wet, despite Andrew’s umbrella. Emma’s hair was soaking wet and was no longer in a braid. “Sorry we were late. We got caught up in the crowd and then the storm.” Emma said. “Ugh! My hair is SO wet!”

“Well it’s so long, you might be able to squeeze the water out of it.” Andrew joked. Emma giggled, a unnatural sound because their older sister NEVER giggled EVER. “Well I gotta go, before it starts to downpour again.” Andrew told Emma. “Ok.” Emma said facing Andrew. “I’ll see you tomorrow at school right?” She asked. Andrew nodded and reached out as if he was about to caress her face but covered it up by tucking her hair behind her ear. “Bye.” He said then left quickly. The door closed behind him. Emma let out a laugh then sighed dreamily. She just stood there for a few minutes, watching Andrew from the window. “Uh Emma? Are you okay?” Jack asked. Emma turned around, her eyes aglow and she had a wide smile on her face. “Oh.” She said as if she had just realized they were there. She wiped the expression from her face. “Good night.” She said to her parents and siblings, then she trotted off down the hall. “What do you think about this Andrew that Emma is seeing?” Aragorn asked his wife once the other children had gone to bed. Arianna smiled. “Judging from the way Emma is acting, she reminds me of a girl I once knew who went practically love-sick from her “friend”. Arianna said. Aragorn smiled. “You know when we first met, I thought you despised me.” Arianna shook her head. “I may have at first but then once we were “friends” I couldn’t stand being without you.” She replied. Aragorn rose and kissed his wife tenderly on the lips. Then they headed to bed.

Next chapter is coming soon. Also I would like to thank Ben, who has been giving me tips and has been supporting me as I’ve been writing. Thank you Ben, I appreciate you a lot.

-SunnyFox57.