Eternal Melody (2 page)

Alone with her thoughts, she pondered how
her grandmother would react when she opened the epistle.  Would she
immediately tell Gregory?  W
ould she feel
that her only granddaughter had betrayed her
?  Rebecca
hoped
her grandmother would understand and be happy that she was chasing after a
lifelong
dream.
Grandmother
Gloria had
always
nourished Rebecca’s passion for music
in between ob
ligatory lessons in sewing and cooking
. 
But would that encouragement extend to this daring trip to Vienna, or would Gloria think her gr
anddaughter reckless
?

Rebecca shook her head, realizing her fears were the result of mental poisoning by Gregory and Ethel.  It was fears such as those that the married couple would have used to keep Rebecca under their thumb in Michigan.  Selfishly, they did not care if she aged into a spinster, as they
used
her services---free of charge---to care for their
infant
.  Ethel had given birth to A
nnabelle
last year.  Since then, Rebecca had been largely responsible for coddling the babe while Gregory and Ethel squandered their money on the town. 
Poor A
nnabelle,
Rebecca thought, feeling her heart expand as she remembered the infant.

A
crimson
sun was peeping over the horizon as the train inched closer to its terminus.  Rebecca was still thinking of what she had left behind as
plush
clouds materialized in the azure sky.  Daringly, she reached into her satchel for a jar of rouge and applied a bit to her cheeks.  After the sleepless night in transit, Rebecca wanted to look fresh when they arrived in New York City. 
There was nothing she could do to conceal that
pesky
smattering of freckles around her nose, but her cheekbones could certainly be livened with the bright pink paste. 
Just as Rebecca was about to rub the rouge onto her lips, Ryan calle
d to her from his sleeping cart.  She hastily
put the cosmetics back in the satchel.

“Come in, Ryan.” She permit
ted as he stumbled into her car
.

Catching his balance, the gangly Ryan excused, “The train is unsteady and threw me off.”

“Don’t worry, Ryan.  I’m not some
girl
you’re trying to impress.  I’m just your sister, and I’ve always known how endearingly clumsy you are.” Rebecca grinned at him.

“Thank you for the compliment, dear sister.” Ryan smiled wryly.  “
I came over to see if you’re ready for our arrival
in New York
.  We should be there very shortly.”

“Yes, I know.” Rebecca replied with an excited shiver, looking out the window as industrial buildings whizzed by to replace the former bucolic scenery.

“I’ll collect my things
and meet you by the exit.” Ryan said as he turned to go back to his sleeping ca
r
.

Rebecca sighed, grateful that her brother had not noticed the splash of artificial color on her face.  Leave it to a man not to notice a change in a woman’s appearance.  Since Gregory had married, Rebecca had observed how little attention he lavished on his bride.  Granted, Ethel was an exceedingly
unpleasant
woman
, but he
could
at least attempt to make his wife feel attractive, Rebecca thought.  With only vague memories of her parents’ marriage, Rebecca’s portrait of love was a limited one and she did not imagine she would ever marry.

When the century had turned and her twenty
second
year
crept up
along with it, Rebecca knew that her family had all but given up on marrying her off. 
Certainly, she had received suitors, but
she didn’t feel a spark with any of them
.  If they weren’t
downright
unscrupulous, they were simply dull with no interest whatsoever in the arts.  For
a woman
like Rebecca with such a zealous sensibility for music, she couldn’t offer her heart to a man who was indifferent towards art.  Rebecca sometimes wondered if she were too tempestuous to be tamed.  She shrugged, adjusting her blazing tresses more tightly in their pins. 
Once she was in Vienna with a glamorous career as an opera singer, she would be too preoccupied to entertain the thought of marriage.

*****

Rebe
cca and Ryan stood on the dock
waiting in a long queue to board the ship.  Most of th
e people in line were Europeans
.  Rebecca listened for the sounds of an American voice and overheard a conversation between
two lovers
.

“After we arrive in England, my love, I promise to give you the grand tour of the entire continent.” The
bearded
man spoke gallantly while gazing passionately into his lady’s eyes.

The sweet-faced blond wore a kerchief around her head and stray wisps of hair blew in the midday gale.  “Will we even go to Italy?” She asked, matching his loving gaze.

“Italy will only be the beginning.  We will travel to the most exotic places your heart can imagine. 
Visualize
the Canary Islands, Sardinia, and Istanbul. 
Envisage
the Coliseum, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and
the Parthenon. 
T
here are no boundaries for us.
Together we will
experience all this world has to offer
.”

Rebecca gagged
as the man continued to rhapsodize
. 
It was not that she was sour on love, but this
courtly
display bordered on absurd.

Ryan overheard the lovers and jabbed his sister playfully in the arm.  “
That
guy
is very clever.  Just telling her what she wants to hear.
”

Rebecca smirked
knowingly
.
“Perhaps they’re actors employed by the ship to entertain passengers while we wait in line!  It certainly is tedious just standing here.”

She huffed out an impatient breath, desperate to head out to sea and begin the voyage to Vienna.  Not until they were on British soil would Rebecca believe that this was actually happening.  For the present, she felt as though someone ought to pinch her before she woke up in her bed at home in Grand Rapids.  Plus, she could not shake the compulsion to look behind her and ascertain that Gregory and Ethel were not there, waving scolding fingers at her as though she were a little girl.

Finally, the crew examined their passports and admitted them entrance to the ship.  As Rebecca ascended the steps, she took a great breath of the briny sea air, savoring the feel of the ocean breeze washing over her face.  The dark blue waves were rolling vigorously to shore, as Rebecca shut her eyes in an effort to encapsulate this moment in her mind for life.  This was the first time she had ever seen the ocean, and it was a sight more majestic than she ever could have fathomed.

“The wind is bracing, and I love it.” Ryan commented, looking up at the pristine summer sky, such a refreshing shade of blue that even the most skilled watercolor painter could never replicate it.

“I love everything.” Rebecca said dreamily as they walked on to locate their cabins.  Ryan looked at his ticket and noted the number.  “It look
s like this is my cabin.  Yours
must be the one directly adjacent.
”

“Yes, I believe you’re correct.  I’d like to put my luggage inside and then perhaps we could go up on deck as the ship leaves the dock.”

“Absolutely.  I wouldn’t miss the sight!” Ryan turned to enter his cabin as Rebecca followed suit.

She opened the door and ducked under to avoid
a painful collision with
the low ceilings.  With a giggle, she wondered how much trouble Ryan was going to have with his tremendous height.  The décor in the cabin was very plain, with a roll-away bed in the center of the room and a
porcelain
bathtub off to the side.  There was a small round window at the far corner of the cabin.  Rebecca scurried over and pulled it open, delightfully shocked by the powerful gust of salty wind that rushed into the cabin. 
Without that window, Rebecca would have felt completely claustrophobic.  Already, the urge to explore the rest of the ship compelled her.  Tossing her bags onto the floor, she lifted her skirts and ran out of the cabin to knock on Ryan’s door.

“Open
the door at once
!  It’s the Navy Police!” She deepened her voice to an alto, aware that she still sounded too feminine to fool anyone.

From years of training with her grandmother, Rebecca’s voice was a flexible one with wide range, but she was not such a vocal chameleon as to
be capable of deceiving
anyone
into believing she was a man
.

The cabin door swung open and Ryan looked at her in mock horror.  “I’ve just boarded this ship, Officer.  What could I possibly have done?  I swear I’m not a pirate!”

The siblings laughed
heartily
, feeling like children again as they often did when engaging in such antics. 
Gregory had never understood them and refer
red to their sense of humor as ‘
ludicrous horseplay that belon
ged in a barnyard.’

“Come on, Ryan.  Let’s go up on deck.”
She urged, already heading in that direction.

“I’m right behind you, Becky.” The narrow corridors of the ship were peopled with hundreds of traveler
s as eager as they were
to witness the historic moment of the ship abandoning the dock for the fathomless expanse of sea. 
They reached the deck and hung over the side of the ship while the wind howled wildly. 
Foamy waves crashed over the side of the ship, slapping Rebecca in the face and wetting her hair.

“Are the waters supposed to be this treacherous?” She asked, tasting
grainy
salt
on her tongue.

“I’ve read that the Pacific is much more placid than the Atlantic, but I must say that these waves are a force to be reckoned with.” He answered thoughtfully, then looked down at his sister with a raised eyebrow.  “You’re not frightened, are you?”

“Of course not!” She scoffed.  “This is the most beautiful view I’ve ever seen.” Suddenly, an image of the urban sprawl of Grand Rapids came into her mind.  “The Great Lakes don’t seem very great at all compared to the ocean!”

Ryan could not suppress a laugh at his sister’s doe-eyed innocence.  Though he had not done much traveling himself, he was a realistic sort of fellow and did not view the world through the same magical looking glass that Rebecca did.  “I’m glad you’re not afraid of the water.  But you should be sure to acquaint yourself with the life preserver in your cabin just in case.”

“Why would I need a life preserver?  This ship isn’t going to sink.” Rebecca stopped herself from uttering an
other word, as the memory of their
parents’ drowning accident
dawned on her.

The young married couple had been sailing upstream in a small rowboat when a thunderstorm had struck unexpectedl
y.  The boat had overturned and
their mother, unable to swim, quickly sank into the murky water.  Their father dove in after her but hit his head on a jagged rock and consequently drowned as well.  Haunted by the story she had only heard a few times from their grandmother, Rebecca looked with trepidation at the angry waves.  Why weren’t girls taught to swim?  Suddenly, Rebecca had another goal to add to her list, right after succeeding as an opera singer.  She would learn to swim.

Seasickness assaulted Rebecca during the next week on the ship, and she was primarily confined to her cabin with dry heaves.  Ryan, on the other hand, was having a grand time at s
ea
.  Rebecca
felt
envious of her brother
’s iron stomach
and
was
desperate for the cruise to conclude.  With every tip and sway of the vessel, Rebecca
clung to the hope
that they were edging ever closer to Europe and the realization of her most earnest desires.

Chapter Two

A broiling
summer
sun rose over the misty shoreline as
crew members
anchored the ship to the
bustling
British
dock.  Moments later, Rebecca breathed a sigh of utter delight as she set her fee
t onto solid earth.  S
he wished that she could remove her
cumbersome
shoes and sink her toes into the cool
velvety
grass of a pasture.  But she
proceeded
with decorum alongside Ryan as they made their way to the smaller vessel that would bring them into the heart of Eu
rope and at last to the Austro-Hungarian
border.