Katherine took no time that day to spin daydreams of the far-off places from which the boxes had been sent, as she usually did. She unpacked each box quickly, marking its contents on the inventory sheet attached to the clipboard. When she was finished, she walked back into the captain’s office, hanging the clipboard up by the door as always. She was about to go back down for a box so she could empty its contents into jars when the captain stopped her.
“Come take a break for a bit, Katherine. We’ve an hour yet till we open, and I want to tell you about this tea so you can talk it up with the customers.” There was a twinkle in his eye which told Katherine that this was only part of his reason. He led the way over to a narrow curtained doorway between two bookshelves which Katherine had never noticed before. He twitched back the heavy green curtain and led the way into a small sliver of a room with a sink and a cooktop.
“I never knew this was here.” Katherine said, wondering how the curtained doorway could have escaped her notice for so long. The captain gave a grunt.
“There’s a lot you don’t know about the old girl” he said, laying a hand reverently on the wall, as he might have done to an old ship. “She’s got her share of secrets, for sure.”
He filled a brass kettle and set it on the stove, then pulled a teapot and two sturdy white teacups down from a shelf. He went out into the office and returned, holding the black box. Katherine watched as the captain untied the heavy satin ribbon and handed it to her. Then the lid, which had been fitted with some sort of gasket to keep the air out, was ceremoniously lifted.
A fragrance filled the air. Katherine recognized it as an aroma of tea, but it was fresher and more delicate than the varieties she was used to. She edged closer to the captain to get a better view of the contents of the box.
“It smells like tea, but these leaves look so different from the leaves in the jars.”
Katherine had learned to recognize the different teas the Harborside carried by sight, but she had never seen anything quite like these leaves. They were a silvery grey and fuzzy, and, if it weren’t for their fragrance, she might have thought they were some strange variety of pine needle.
“It’s called silver needle white tea, and it’s the rarest tea you’ll ever set your eyes upon. It’s the first flush, you see.” The captain took the singing kettle off the burner and put some of the hot water into the pot.
Katherine watched him, looking puzzled. “I heard you and a customer discussing first flush teas the other day, but I don’t know what the term means.”
“You don’t?” The captain was surprised. “The first flush is the first harvest of the season, and with most any type of tea, the first is considered the very best. With white tea it’s even more special, you see, because it’s picked so early in the season. It’s just the buds of the leaves, picked while they’re young and tender. That’s what gives them such a different color and texture.
“This tea grows high in the mountains in the Fujian Province, and is picked very early in the spring, just before dawn. It’s important, you see, that the dew still be on the buds when they’re picked. They’re rolled, but only gently, you see, and dried in the sun. It’s all done by hand, and they’re very careful which buds they use—only the best are chosen. They also won’t harvest if it’s raining.”
“And all that really makes a difference?” Katherine sounded a bit skeptical. The captain smiled as he poured the water out of the teapot and reached for the box of tea.
“You’re about to find out for yourself, there, Missy.” Katherine’s eyes grew wide.
“Really? You mean we get to try it?” she asked excitedly.
“Of course.” He replied with a chuckle, picking up the kettle and saying, “Now, here’s the trick to this tea. It’s gotta be brewed just right, or it will ruin the flavor.”
Katherine nodded solemnly, taking mental notes.
“First, you saw me warm the pot. That will make sure the water doesn’t cool too much when it’s poured in. Then, the water has to be the right temperature. Did you notice I’ve let the kettle set a bit after it whistled? Well, the water should be ready just about now.”
As Captain Braddock slowly poured the water over the leaves, the fragrance filled the small kitchen, now stronger and with a hint of floral sweetness. Katherine took a deep breath.
“It certainly smells like it should be rare and precious!” she exclaimed. The captain, nodding, set the lid on the pot and continued.
“Now, it’s important not to leave the leaves to steep too long. Otherwise it will be bitter and the flavor will be lost. He took out a pocket watch and steadily gazed at its face. A minute and a half… yes, I think that will do.”
He cautiously poured a little into a cup. “Yes, it’s ready now. See that pale color? If it were any darker, it would be over-brewed.” He poured out the rest into the two cups and handed one to Katherine. “Let’s go have a seat, and I’ll tell you a story.”
The two walked into the office, and the captain pulled a folding chair from behind a tall bookcase and set it near his desk for Katherine. Settling into his chair, he began.
“This tea was picked just two weeks ago. It was dried, rolled and shipped express to the Harborside. This is the freshest tea you could get, without going there yourself. My sister used to say—” Just then the big old clock in the corner chimed eight o'clock, interrupting the captain’s reverie.
“Oh, it’s opening time. I suppose I’d better get that door opened.” He rose abruptly and walked into the shop.
Katherine, astonished and disappointed, was more curious than ever. Captain Braddock so rarely mentioned Serena, and now, just when he had been about to say something about her, he stopped mid-sentence and walked away. It was almost too much. Katherine sipped the last of her tea thoughtfully, trying to piece together a connection between this valuable tea, the long-lost sister, and the forbidden room at the top of the staircase.
31 Advertising
Once Captain Braddock had unlocked the front door and flipped the old pasteboard sign to “Open,” he wandered back into the office, resumed his seat, and picked up his cup of tea. To Katherine’s delight and surprise, he revived their previous conversation with a bright, “Now, then, where was I?”
Katherine, not thinking it prudent to begin with the half-finished sentence about his sister, replied, “You were telling me about the tea being so fresh.”
The Captain leaned forward in his chair. “Ah, and so I was. You see, I always get the first flush white tea from this particular plantation, because… well…” he fumbled for a moment, then charged ahead with a hurried, “never you mind about that. The fact is, it’s the best of the best. Not only is it the finest cup of tea I have from one spring to the next, it’ll make the Harborside three times the profit of any other tea. We just have to wait for the right customer to discover it.”
The two silently sipped their tea for a moment before Katherine asked thoughtfully, “Captain Braddock, if the tea is so valuable, why don’t you advertise it? I’m sure Mr. James would be glad to help you put something in the Gazette about it.”
The old man’s brows knit together in a heavy frown and drew himself up tall and straight in his chair to declare solemnly, “The Harborside never advertises. Never! If we do our jobs right, our customers come back, and tell their friends, too. Word of mouth, they call it. That’s how we’ve operated for over a hundred years, and it’s never failed us yet.”
The captain sat back in his chair and continued to sip his tea. After a moment, a smile slowly spread over the captain’s face. “Mind you,” he began with a chuckle, “there was a time, generations ago, when a Braddock uncle placed an ad in the paper. It put the whole Braddock clan in uproar, and he was nearly disowned on account of it.”
Katherine leaned forward, eyes sparkling and face alight with anticipation of a story.
The captain recognized her look and chuckled again as he continued, “You see, it wasn’t as if he had just advertised in the Harborhaven newspaper. No indeed! He had advertised in the paper of a town further up along the coastline, and that was really what threw them all out of sorts. They said, it was bad enough that he’d even done such a vulgar thing as advertise, but to degrade the Harborside in the eyes of strangers was just too much.” He paused and took another sip of tea before continuing.
Katherine sat, wide-eyed, enthralled by the story, imagining the ire of the offended Braddock elders.
“Yes, the reigning Braddocks of that generation were furious, and wouldn’t be appealed to. He was sent off to sea, so he was. And the Harborside, which he had been meant to inherit, was given to my great-grandfather instead.”
“And the Harborside Braddocks never advertised again?” asked Katherine.
“Nope. It’s one of our cardinal rules here.”
