VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, [4] ]


[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 06:39:39 07/28/03 Mon
Author: Wanda
Author Host/IP: 216.51.254.249
Subject: Second Generation - Part #13

PART #13
Bow went to the police department, and told them Boudreau had thought his attacker might be an older man. They seemed somewhat surprised by the statement, for it didn’t fit their profile of some addict needing money for booze or drugs. After Bow left the station, he returned to the ship yards. Horace had told him he would help out in Boudreau’s absence. It was obvious that Horace loved everything at the ship yards. He was fascinated by the ships being built, and the men working on the ships getting them ready to go to sea. Bow knew there wasn’t the same love for the work and the sea with Boudreau as there was with Horace. He always did his work well, but Bow could see the drive and sparkle was not there. He had tried to talk to Boudreau about it, but Boudreau didn’t seem to want to discuss the matter. Bow thought, “Boudreau is a man, and he will find his own way.”

Bow thought about Horace, and remembered when Catherine was carrying him. She had said, “Bow, if this baby is a boy, I want to name him after my father.” Bow said, “Catherine, because I love you, I will go along with this name, but it certainly is not a name that a southern gentleman would select.” He smiled as he remembered her expression, “Bow, darling, remember you are married to an English lady. The name is highly respected in England.”

So the baby was born, and named Horace Bowregard La Faye. Catherine said she thought it would be wise to select Bowregard as the second name or people in the Lake Charles area would think something was wrong with them in selecting such a name as Horace.

Without a doubt Boudreau was much like his mother. He thought like she thought, and he was a good solid man. It concerned Bow that he tended to want to be in the company of rich and beautiful women. But, Bow hoped he had the good sense to also want a good woman. Perhaps he saw something in Lucia Deverall that Bow hadn’t seen. He knew he had to give him a chance to prove himself.

Bow and Catherine had been blessed with good children. He thought Katerina had to be about the prettiest girl in the Lake Charles area. He, too, hoped that she and Jean Baptiste did make it as a couple. He loved how Catherine was always trying to make matches for their children. He teased her about it, but he knew she just wanted them to be happy. Her intentions were certainly good.

He supposed Catherine would already be shopping around for a potential mate for Juliana. She was young yet, but he knew Catherine was always on the look out for someone who would make a good husband or wife for her children.

Bow looked out the window of his office, and saw Horace coming to work. He was waving at the captain of one of the ships close by. All the men at the ship yards liked Horace. Of course they teased him about his name, but Horace took it with a good sense of humor. He would fire right back at them and say, “I was named after my grandfather and my dad, and they don’t come much better than that. Much of what Horace knew about his grandfather had come from Catherine who had loved her father very much.

Once she had moved to America, she didn’t get to see her parents but a few times more. She had traveled back to England two different times, and her parents visited Lake Charles once before their health reached the point they were unable to travel anymore. Both Catherine’s parents had been dead for quite a number of years, but she had kept their memories alive in the hearts of her children. Each child had grown up with a healthy respect for Catherine’s parents.

Bow was happy that Catherine had shared memories of her parents with the children, for Bow did not feel comfortable sharing his past and the past of his father, the notorious pirate Jean La Fitte, with his children. He told Catherine he wanted his children to be adults before they heard about his side of the family, for he did not want that life glorified in the eyes of his children.
When the children were grown adults and had found their own way, then he would tell them some of the stories of Jean La Fitte.

Horace came through the door with a big smile on his face; and said, “Captain Buchong told me to ask you about a man called Jean La Fitte.” Bow answered, “Oh he did, well I will tell you about Jean La Fitte someday when I have more time. I’ve been waiting for you to get here so we can take a walk down to dry dock where they are working on one of the new steam powered ships. I thought you might enjoy seeing one of the new ships that will soon be going out to sea.”

Of course Horace was ready to forget everything, including Jean La Fitte, to get to go look at one of the new steam powered ships. As they walked along, Bow told him about the first steam powered ship he had purchased shortly after he and Catherine were married. “Did you put out to sea, Dad?” asked Horace. “I surely did, Son, I took her to Europe where I picked up spices, and fancy material for the ladies here in America. I brought back silver pieces from your mother’s family, the Sheffields. So many things I hauled back from Europe. I hauled famous pieces of art, and marble for the Church here in Lake Charles. You name it Son, I hauled it.”

Horace asked, “How many years did you put out to sea Dad?” “Long enough, Son, long enough,” said Bow. “It got to be more difficult to leave your mother and you children behind. When I left all of you would cry, and I carried that picture in my mind all the way to Europe and back. I’d have dreams at night of my children and wife crying, and wanting me at home with them. I came home from one trip, and I told your mother that was the last trip out for me.”

Horace said, “I just bet Mama cried when you told her that.” “Bow laughed, You got that right Son; she sat down, and cried like a baby. I teased her about crying, and she said, ‘Bow, don’t you know women cry when they are happy?”

To be continued...

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]



Replies:





[ Contact Forum Admin ]



Forum timezone: GMT+1
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.