Nida - The late morning breeze bullied its way around the harbor. Boats large and small steadied themselves after its passing. Stella busied herself serving breaded savory cakes to a line of hungry dock workers. The young woman was taller than most boys her age. Her honey golden hair hung in curls around her face. Boys had followed her with their eyes since she was old enough to work at her father’s food cart. A steady flow of traffic down Waterfront Boulevard meant that Stella would have a hard time convincing her father to let her knock off early. He was busy procuring produce from nearby merchants, but was within earshot if he was needed.
Longshoremen were her best customers, and right now the enemy of her freedom. Today would be especially busy as the few ships that had unburdened their cargo had already been loaded and set sail for distant shores. The idle workers were keen to put a little something in their bellies before looking for mischief elsewhere in town.
“I’ll take two of your tarts.” Said a youthful looking man at the front of the line.
“Gottfried, don’t make me tell your mother you are being impertinent.” Stella was accustomed to the flirtation of boys and men. In fact she reveled in it. Though she had little formal education, she managed to navigate the perils of the mercantile trade and the lusty advances of suitors with the aplomb of a seasoned courtesan. She handed the man a savory pastry in exchange for a few copper. She flashed him a practiced smile and turned to greet her next customer.
“That young man from the Fanton’s is meeting me for lunch today.” Stella looked up to see Nida standing at the front of the line. Nida had been her nemesis for many years. Not for any longstanding feud or offense, merely because she was another pretty girl about her own age. The two of them spent many years in this way before maturity took hold and they found they had more cause to be friends than enemies.
“You already told me Nida, I think I might need to worry about your intentions?” Stella propped her fists on her hips mocking her mother’s pose when her father came home late from the taverns.
“I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that I managed to find my way home last Saturday. I can’t say the same is true for you.”
“Quiet!” Stellea hissed. “I told my father I spent the night at your place.”
“And that is why I am calling in the favor now, before you forget.” Nida bowed her head slightly and flashed her friend a crooked smile.
“Father!” Stella belted out across the seaside lane. “I’m going with Nida, I’ll be back before the afternoon rush.” Stella didn’t wait for a response from her father and left a line of hungry patrons to wonder as to how long they might wait for something to eat.
The two young women crossed the broad boulevard to an equally busy side street. Old stone and wood buildings three and four stories tall leaned over the street allowing only a sliver of light to reach the cobbled lane. Hawthorn Street was as good as the heart of Widdowborn, a street Stella and Nida loved well. Many of the best shops and finest craftsman called it home. It was not a posh haven like the markets across town. Many of the peddlers and entertainers were adept cutpurses and pickpockets. For an alert local these were safe waters, easily navigable.
A handful of grave looking men pushed through the crowded streets intent on reaching the boulevard. Passers by regarded the men with irritation and steered clear of the bunch. The two young maids walked gingerly in their direction. The carless pack of men yielded right-of-way to the women before proffering a Good morning Miss, or a Lovely day greeting.
Nida was accustomed to the treatment on account of her father’s position. Her life had not always been this comfortable, but the darkness of her past had nearly been assuaged by her current status as the Mayor’s daughter.
“He’ll be here soon. I want you to keep an eye out from across the street. I’ll get a table outside so we are in clear view.” Nida rattled off her instructions placing a hand on her fiend’s arm to be sure she was paying attention.
“What am I supposed to do if this rendezvous turns out to be a bad idea?” Stella scrunched her brow in the manner of a pouting child as she huffed out the words.
“Look.” Nida said sternly. “You’re here so I can tell my father I didn’t meet with a boy alone.”
“Why would my word mean a thing to yer Da’?” Stella allowed her gutter speak to edge into her words. A leftover slight from their old rivalry.
“Look I’m nervous enough, just don’t run off and get lost or anything.” Nida turned her head down Hawthorn Street. She had been so focussed on her preparations she hadn’t noticed the commotion down the street. Bells and warning cries were sounding from all over the district.
“Is that smoke coming from the dyers mill?” Stella intoned.
“Ya, might be bad.”
A horse drawn wagon barreled around the corner and charged down Hawthorn Street. The two women scattered along with a number of other onlookers. The women took shelter under the covered porch of the confectionary. Sweet chocolates scented the air.
“We can get a better look if we cut through the sweet shop and into the alley.” Nida’s expression suggested resolve and Stella new better than to question her friend.
The store keep waved to the two girls as they used his store as a pass-through. The shadowed alley behind the store was lined with empty wooden crates stacked as tall as a man. They soon rounded the corner of the back street as the fire brigade pulled to a stop in front of the mill. Lines of people were already in place handing buckets of water from nearby rain barrels up the line and into the structure. Smoke curled out from under the eaves and pressed up against the glass on the upper floors. At that moment a window flew open above the door and a man jumped out from the second floor window onto the crowd below.
“Is that, no it couldn’t be.” Nida stopped in her tracks and watched.
“It looks like they may have it under control.” Stella said unaware that Nida was no longer in motion.
“No, that man that jumped out of the window. I think that’s who I am meeting for lunch?” Nida’s mouth closed slowly after speaking.
A number of people in the crowded street were pointing toward a breezeway separating the lower floors of the large building. The man who had just dropped from the window bounded to his feet and ran in that direction. He wasn’t alone in pursuing whoever or whatever preceded them.
“I think his friends are with him?” Nida could now see that a large effort had gone in to suppressing the fire. Her would-be acquaintance was somehow, incredibly, involved in saving the burning building.
“Is that your boyfriend?” Stella’s cadenced words were distant and lacking in confidence.
“Yes.” Nida replied. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
“I think he is going to be late for your date.” Stella said matter-of-factly.
“I can’t see him anymore.” Nida said standing on her tippy-toes to see over the crowd. “Lets get back to our positions, I can’t wait to hear what his excuse for being late might be.”
“Fine.” Stella said. “But you owe me a treat.”
“Here are a few coins, buy yourself something and stay close by.”
