A few months later...
"How long more till we reach Salem?" one of the ladies whined as the ship swayed back and forth. No one blamed her as they have been on the ship for months.
After sailing away on the boat to a nearby port they found a merchant ship that was heading to Salem and paid the captain passage for all of them
"According to the captain we should be there by this evening" Sara said looking at the open water. "That's a relief" a lady said as she was sitting on a barrel bored out of her mind.
"We need to come up with a plan once we land" Sara said rolling up the map. "Which would be?" Isabelle asked as she watched some of the sailors doing something.
"Well first we need somewhere to stay, I don't the town would offer land to newcomers" Sara said turning around. The other ladies agreed with her "We would also need food" one of them said and Sara nodded her head.
The first mate of the ship approach the ladies and spoke "The captain just wanted to let you ladies know that we are arriving at our destination" Sara thanked the man for the update, they all went to gather their things and waited to depart from the ship.
Once the ship was docked they all left and the captain wished them luck, as they walked into town they were amazed by what they saw. There was a bustling market where all kinds of fresh produce, trinkets, jewellery, pots, and other stuff being sold. Also they did not expect the town to be a small settlement either.
"Look they have a fabric shop!" one of the ladies squealed in excitement. "Calm down Emily" Sara said as they walked through the town, as they passed by people began to stare at them. "Why are they staring at us?" one of them asked.
"I have no clue it's like they haven't seen other people before" Isabelle said as she shrugged her shoulders. Sara wanting to move things along decided to ask someone for information, she walked up to one of the stalls and the owner welcomed her with a smile.
"Good day to you miss, how can I help you?" the stall owner said and Sara smiled back. "Hello I am new here and I was wondering where can I go and get some lodging for the time being?" she asked the owner and he smiled again.
"There is a tavern not far from here that has beds for you to spend the night" the man said and Sara thanked him. Sara also noticed the items that the man was selling, "Anything that caught your eye?" he asked. Sara eyed a broach that was on the table infront of her, "This broach?" Sara said and the man picked it up.
"This is one of my most recent items that came in" the man "it was said that it belong to an heiress from another land" Sara had a sad smile on her face. It confirmed what she had thought, it was once hers. "But for you miss 15 gold coins" the owner said and Sara was hesitant.
"I don't know" Sara said and the owner held the broach against her shoulder "Usually i would sell this for 50 or more gold coins as it is valuable but for some reason I see that it suits you and let's be honest I don't think that would sell anytime soon" the owner joked which made both of them laugh.
"Alright you convinced me" Sara said taking out her pouch and gave the man the money, he placed the broach in a velvet pouch and handed it to Sara. Isabelle saw Sara return from the stall and asked what took so long.
"There is a tavern near here that we can spend the night" Sara said and they walked in the direction that the stall owner told Sara and saw it in the distance. "It's a little small isn't it" a lady said scrunching her nose in disgust.
"Now Mary we shouldn't judge before going inside" Isabelle said swatting her arm, they went inside and it was bigger on the inside. Emily went right up to the bar and asked about the beds that were available. Sara paid the person and then led the ladies up the stairs and showed where they would be staying.
"You are all lucky that we are not in the busy season for visitors" the person said "Visitors?" Emily questioned which made the person nod their head.
"It's when lot's of trade ships come to our port to either sell or buy in our town which also brings lot's of weary travellers to our tavern" the person said and stopped infront of two doors.
"These will be your rooms for the night and if you are hungry I can have the cooks prepare something" the person said before leaving. Isabelle shouted a thank you to the man as he went back downstairs.
They opened the doors and there were 2 beds in each room "Looks like one of us will be on the floor" Mary said as she claimed one of the beds. "I'll sleep on the floor" Sara said rolling her eyes and placed her stuff on the ground.
"Isabelle and Elizabeth you guys can take the other and Emily can stay with us" Sara said and Emily placed her stuff on the bed in the room while the rest went to the other room.
Everyone soon fell asleep except for Sara who just stared at the ceiling, she pulled out the broach that she got and held it in her hands. She could hear a child's voice in her head "Mother!" the voice kept calling out.
Sara felt a tear slide down and wiped it away with her finger, she put the broach away and got up from the floor. Sara left the room and walked downstairs, she found a place to sit at one of the tables and just sat there. In her head she kept thinking about the fire before they left the house, how the duke was standing there. The duke might soon learn that she survived and would come for her again.
Sara dismissed those thoughts as she did not want to think about that possibility for now. Now it was time to look to the future and she hoped that Salem was the right choice for everyone.