The Swinging Woman:

On summer nights when the condition is right, the neighbors of Orange Drive claim to see a young dark-haired woman standing in a wooden swing under the big willow tree. She’s bathed in the full moon light. However, when a person got a closer look at this woman, she was really hanging from a noose in the same tree.

In the 1800’s, her name was Camilla. She lived as a nineteen-year-old heiress from France. Camilla came from a well-respected family. Her father worked in the spice trade and her mother came from England. She even had a younger sister named Bonnie. She and Camila were taught to play piano and paint. So many men adored the older sister. Her father, Jean, set her up to be married off to a fine man. However, his precious jewel was bored with the direction that her life was headed. True that she didn’t have to worry about if she would eat or sleeping out on the street, but Camilla found her parents rather smothering. Her mother, Annabelle, pretty much tried to baby her daughters and keep up appearances. Bonnie obsessed over her looks. Jean only saw his daughters as a way to build his wealth. In truth, Camilla just wanted to be alone. She had solace in her family’s plantation. Among the fields, she could lose herself in her head for hours on in.

“I don’t understand why you like those dirty old fields so much,” Bonnie told her sister one hot day in July. Camilla stopped dancing around in the breezes blowing around them.

“Pardon?” she asked.

“What’s so great about these dirty old fields anyway?” her sister asked. Camilla looked up at the bright blue sky overhead.

“I’m waiting for my prince to come and take me away,” she said. Bonnie all but laughed at such a notion.

“You still believe in those fairy tales?” she asked.

“Why not?” her older sister asked. “It’s better than this life that we have.” Her sister never understood how she thought.

“You are weird,” Bonnie said. Camilla only let herself get lost within her little world. She would soon get her wish.

In late July three days after her nineteenth birthday, she met her so-called prince. His name was Christian Roberts. Not much was known about him then and there still isn’t much known about him now. Rumors followed him around about how he was bad news. Higher class of society avoided Christian when they saw him coming. He took advantage of their fears and used it to his advantage. As a result, the young man got what he wanted. Town to town, he left it in shambles. This trip would be no different.

Camilla spotted a dirty-looking young man wandering through the dry grass. Usually, a proper lady would turn around and run when she saw Christian coming her way. Not Camilla, however. In fact, she found herself rather intrigued by him.

“Excuse me!” she called as she walked closer through the grass. “Are you lost or something?” The young man paused and looked up at her. Camilla tilted her head, thinking that he couldn’t understand her.

“Excuse me?” she asked again. “Are you alright?” Christian got a good look at her she walked over to him with her skirt hiked up. He had seen many beautiful girls in his short life, but Camilla topped the list so far. Her fluffy white dress brought out the color in her dark brown hair and sapphire blue eyes. She reached out to put her hand on his forehead.

“Are you alright?” she asked again. Christian pushed her hand away.

“What is this place?” he asked. Camilla’s smile could drown out the sun.

“My family’s plantation,” she replied.

“Your family’s plantation?” he asked.

“That’s right,” she said back. Her French accent slightly annoyed him when she spoke, but he pushed that thought aside when he saw her lovely face. His stomach growled loud enough to break the peace around him.

“I suppose you’re hungry too?” Camilla asked. “I can take you to my house for food. Follow me.” Christian just followed behind without question. Naturally, her parents and Bonnie weren’t too comfortable with having this dirty-looking young man eating dinner at their dining table with them.

“Why is he here with us?” Annabelle whispered to her husband. Camilla narrowed her eyes at her parents the whole time. As she watched the expressions on their faces, an idea formed in her head. This boy might be the prince I was looking for, she thought over her soup. The heiress prepared for her father to reject Christian. When that time would come, she would run away with him in the night. She would have to move fast or loose this chance forever.

“Stay the night with us,” she offered aloud. Her family and Christian all stared at her. The heiress gave everyone an innocent look.

“What?” she asked. Her father threw down his fork.

“Absolutely not!” Jean snapped.

“But why not?” Camilla asked.

“He is so beneath you!” her father barked with a red face. “I will not have criminal sleeping under my roof!” His daughter pretended to look offended as Christian glared at him. Camilla grabbed onto the future pirate’s arm.

“I will not having you talking like that to our guest!” she shouted. Her father threw his wine glass to the floor.

“You will not talk back to me!” he shouted. Annabelle reached for her daughter.

“Sweet Pea, you cannot mean that,” she said.

“I do, mother,” Camilla admitted. Even Bonnie looked at her in shock.

“Sister?” she asked. Jean couldn’t take hearing anymore of this.

“Get out!” he shouted. “Both of you! No daughter of mine is going to disrespect me under my roof!” Camilla gave him a rather proud smile. She left with Christian in the night.

The escape that Camilla had hoped for didn’t exactly turn out as she planned. She ended up as his common-law wife all the way in New Orleans. As soon as they moved into China House, things became undo really quickly. The newlyweds argued day and night. He took up drinking and gambling away what little money that they had.

“You need to get a decent job!” Camilla shouted at him every morning. It wasn’t clear why she stayed with this future pirate. Maybe she thought that she could change him. Maybe she hoped that things would work out if she stayed with him. Either way, she wouldn’t see neither wish in six months’ time. Christian hanged his wife and left town in late December. Camilla’s body wasn’t discovered until just before sunrise.