The chef made a special lunch for everyone, and they turned it into a little goodbye party. They knew that the three girls and Mistress Snow would probably be gone for a week. They all would be looking forward to the celebration when they returned home because those were always the best parties.
The chef brought out the feast and let everyone know to help themselves. All the girls dug in except for Gina. She was still apprehensive about what was going on with Miss Kathy. Deep down there was something that was bothering her, and she was not sure just what it was. Katie noticed how concerned Gina was about Miss Kathy and she took her hand and gave it a light squeeze. Gina looked over at her and smiled as a thank you but the concerned look in her eyes stayed where it was.
Now it seemed weird to Gina that they had not helped to get the lunch ready because they had been packing. The packing had taken longer to do than Gina thought that it should but that was because they had to keep changing the outfits that they were taking because they wanted them all to match. As she looked at the food, she could see that the chef had gone all out this time. Gina was shocked that he did so much work for them, especially since he had just gone and made such an extravagant breakfast to help Miss Kathy.
She was going to Miss Kathy and Sarah and the others, but Gina knew that she was going to miss cooking with the chef and all the great food that they created as well. Gina knew it was not going to be like last time when they were traveling on the ship. Gina thought back to the ship and how they were allowed to teach the cook and she doubted that they were going to be allowed anywhere near the galley this time. The only thing that she was glad about was that it was only going to be a day or two traveling time so they would not get to board just sitting around.
Gina knew what ship Katie would be wanting to have pick them up. That was the Windstruct and that was because Gina knew that Katie would want to see Jake again. Gina thought that it was not likely that the Windstruct would be the ship that they would be using since it was a merchant's vessel and was usually filled with cargo, but they did have a couple of small rooms that they used for passengers at times.
Gina thought about the crew and how they had become like extended family. Gina smiled as she thought about Tug, and she had to admit that he had improved even though he had no sense of taste. That made her think of Will and how big and powerful he was, but he was so gentle and caring at the same time. Now Gina was hoping that it would be them that was going to be picking them up. She wanted to be able to sail with them at least one way. Since she knew that it was months between when they left and then eventually made it back.
Gina looked over at Katie and thought about Jake. He was kind of cute with long flowing golden hair, but he was not her type. She was not sure just what was her type, but she knew that he was not it. Besides Katie liked him and she would never do anything to hurt her like that.
Katie looked over at her and smiled trying to clear her mind of thoughts of the time that she spent in the small room hidden away with Jake. She wasn't able to keep from blushing, letting Gina know just what she had been thinking about.
Mia looked up at Katie and saw that she was blushing and wondered what it was all about. Then she remembered how Katie had explained what she was doing on the ship when Gina was swept overboard. She figured that it had to be something like that she was thinking about. Mia looked over at Gina and knew that she was right. After all, it was a big thing when it was your first time with a boy.
She wished that she had fond memories of things like that all she could remember was the pain of some huge smelly guy hurting her and hitting her as she cried until he knocked her out. She had awoken in more pain covered in her own blood and all kinds of nasty things locked in chains in a cell waiting for others to use her when they wanted. Mia winced as she thought back to those old days and was just so glad that Miss Kathy had saved her. She knew at that point that she would never be able to trust any male to treat her nicely and if they did, she would always just be waiting for them to hurt her when she wasn't expecting it.
Gina saw the look on Mia's face and gave her hand a squeeze, bringing her mind back to the present and that brought a smile back to her face. Gina knew that Mia needed her more than Katie because Katie was her friend and like a sister. They would be friends for life, but she could tell that in the time that Katie spent on the ship she had changed and grown. She was hoping that they would stay close, but she knew that it was a lot different with Mia. She was more dependent on her to be there for her, and Gina liked the feeling of being needed as well as wanted.
As Gina looked at the two of them it was easy to see that Mia really needed her and Katie didn't need her but they both loved her, which felt about the same. Not that she would ever leave either one of them. They would have to leave her for them to part. If it was her that was going to be going, she would have to be dragged away kicking and screaming the whole time.
Mistress Snow said, "You three need to hurry and eat so that we can make it to the dock in time to reach the ship it's not like they will wait for us."
Gina knew that was a lie with the amount of money that she was spending on the passage for them all and the fact that she was so important that they would not want to disappoint her. But she was not about to say anything to disagree with her.
They all dug in and enjoyed the lunch. Gina could tell how hard the chef worked on everything that looked, smelled, and tasted so wonderful and he did it all without any help. It was easy to see why he was a world-class chef. It just made Gina wonder why he was there and cooking for Miss Kathy instead of some fancy restaurant. She was really glad that he was there so she could learn from him. But she knew that it had to be something about Miss Kathy since he could have been making a lot more money working in other places.
Gina looked around the table at everyone's smiling faces and she knew that she was as happy here as she had been at home if not more. A twinge of guilt set in. She knew that it was not wrong to be happy. Her parents would have wanted her to be happy, and to move on. But there was still a big part of her that was missing them, and she could see deep down in Katie that she was feeling the same way that Gina was feeling.
Gina found that no matter how happy she was in the back of her mind the sadness was there waiting for her. But at least as she looked at the people gathered there, she could tell that they were all there for her and would do anything that they could to help her and Katie.
Gina knew that she would be missing her new family, but she thought that maybe it was going to be good if they were not around for a few days. Maybe the word of them not being there would spread and so the ones who were looking for them would stop looking. Gina thought at least that she could hope that it would happen that way.
Katie noticed Gina was not really eating and said, "You better hurry up and eat. You know that we will not be getting this good of food once we leave."
Gina knew that Katie was just too right about that, so she dug in and enjoyed every bite.
Sarah got all depressed as lunch was finishing. She knew since most of the girls were going to be gone, she wasn't going to have any of them around to torture and embarrass. She knew while they were gone that she would still have a few around but it was not going to be the same and she would have to come up with something special to embarrass them with when they returned. With the thought of torturing them upon their return, it made her smile just like every other time.
Both Miss Kathy and Mistress Snow knew just what that look on Sarah's face meant. It was the same look that she gets every time she is either torturing one of the girls or planning on it. All they can do is just smile knowing that the worst that would happen to the girls was they were going to be embarrassed for a while. But everyone watching got to have fun leaving only her target blushing on the sidelines until they would get used to it. then taking away her fun and she would just start on the next one.
They finished lunch and said their goodbyes knowing that it was no big deal. The most that they should be away for was a week, so everyone was treating this as simple as if they were little more than going to the store.
Gina was the first one in line to make sure that they all got a hug and kiss goodbye to everyone staying. The others followed but Katie was a little reluctant to do the same, but seeing all the others do it she felt that it was kind of expected of her to join in.
Mistress Snow clipped the leashes on the girl's collars. She did not think that anyone would try and grab them near the mansion but as they got closer to town, she didn't want to take any chances. Mistress Snow knew that once they were safely onboard the ship, she would be able to take the leashes off and give them some freedom until they landed. Keeping them safe was her biggest priority. She had heard that the missing posters had been removed but since the reward was so high, she was sure that there were still a lot of hunters that were still looking to capture them. Because even though everyone there knew that the men offering the reward were in prison that didn't mean that everyone everywhere knew it.
Katie was mortified as Mistress Snow clipped a leash to her collar even though she knew that it was the purpose of her having the collar on. To her surprise, when she saw Gina had a leash attached to her collar she smiled, and she could tell that it was something special to her she liked it a lot more than she ever thought that she would. Katie thought that she was not going to complain about any of this, but she knew that she would never enjoy this like Gina and Mia seemed to.
As Gina stepped out the door, she let out a little scream and pointed at the woods. That drew everyone's attention to where she was pointing. Mistress Snow pulled them all close instinctively making sure that they were all safe. She shaded her eyes as she looked out into the distance.