Beyond the Sunset (17 page)

There was a knock on his back door shortly after he arrived home. He gestured to a chair. ‘Would you like a cup of tea and a scone as we talk?’

The other hesitated.

‘This is no time to be proud,’ Ralph said quietly.

‘Thank you.’

When they were seated, Ralph explained about the shop, the missing heirs and the temporary manager.

‘Never trust a Prebble,’ Marshall said at once. ‘If you lived on certain streets you’d find people afraid of all that family, and though Harry Prebble works in a respectable occupation, there are rumours about him, too.’

‘What sort of rumours?’

‘The maid who worked in the Blakes’ house before Dot was sacked for immorality, was expecting a child. She refused to say who the father was and drowned herself in the mill reservoir – only I happen to know the man who pulled her body out and he said it looked as if she’d been beaten. I saw her myself with Harry Prebble, not just once but several times. She never said his name, mind, so we can’t be sure. I was surprised when you put him in charge of the shop.’

‘There was no one else suitable. He seemed to have a clean slate there and I can’t deny that he knows his job. But just in case . . . We want to appoint someone to work in the shop and keep an eye on what Prebble’s doing. Would you be willing to do that?’

‘I’d jump at the chance.’ Marshall laughed. ‘I’ve enough friends to be sure
I
won’t end up in the reservoir. But I know nothing about shop work.’

‘You can learn.’

‘Won’t he guess I’m there to spy on him?’

‘Probably. But I’ll interview a few other men at the same time.’ Ralph hesitated again. ‘There’s the question of clothes. Do you have anything smarter than that?’

Marshall shook his head, embarrassment flooding his cheeks with colour. ‘We had to pawn my best things to feed the children. Even so, our youngest died. Too weak to fight an illness she was, the doctor said.’

Ralph patted his hand. He’d heard many stories like this one. ‘Then I’ll give you some money and you can get something suitable from the second-hand clothes dealer.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Very sure.’

And suddenly his childhood friend was weeping, strangled sobs that shook the man’s whole body.

Hard times indeed, Ralph thought as he patted Marshall’s shoulder, when a strong man like this was driven to near desperation.

The following morning, Zachary was back at Fred’s house by nine o’clock. He was relieved to see Leo looking a lot happier.

‘Your friend certainly likes his food,’ Fred said with a smile.

‘I was hungry,’ Leo said. ‘That bad man only gave me bread and water. Said I had to earn more.’

The other men exchanged disgusted glances.

‘Mean sod,’ Fred muttered.

Bert arrived a few minutes later and took Zachary to a small livery stables whose owner he knew. They paid for the hire of three riding horses and two pack horses. The owner said he trusted Bert to bring the animals back to Perth afterwards and the two men shook hands on it.

‘They’re not such good nags, but they’ll get us there,’ Bert said once they were back at Fred’s house. ‘My friend wouldn’t let his best horses go so far away, even with me to keep an eye on them.’

Zachary wasn’t as sure about the staying power of such sorry-looking animals but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

He arranged to send his trunk on the coastal steamer and went back to see Fred again.

It was wrong to spend the money Mr Featherworth had given him on rescuing Leo, he knew that but couldn’t help it. To treat a man as a slave just because he was slow-thinking, made his gorge rise, as did the needless cruelty. It wasn’t necessary anyway. If you were kind to Leo, he’d work his heart out for you. Look how he’d cared for the animals on the ship. ‘Can we be ready to leave first thing in the morning?’

‘It’s a Sunday.’

‘What does that matter? We need to get Leo out of town.’

‘All right. Better fetch your things from the hotel now. We’ll set off just before dawn. Don’t worry. I’ll see your trunk and bag safely on the coastal steamer for you on Monday.’ Bitterness rang in his voice. ‘I only steal when I’m hungry and you’re paying me enough to eat well for a few weeks. I won’t cheat you.’

A more unlikely guardian angel it’d be hard to find, Zachary thought as he strode back to the hotel for his things. The rain had stopped for the moment and the sky was looking brighter, but there was a moist chill to the air that had him shivering.

He still had to find the Blake sisters and get them to Albany in time to catch the mail ship – and this in a colony without railways. He didn’t want to wait until July for the next mail ship or the end of the year for a ship from Fremantle.

What he was going to do with Leo when he left, he didn’t know, only that he couldn’t leave him in Perth to be ill-treated, just could not. He’d have to pay back what he’d spent on Leo, however long it took him, even if it meant continuing to work at the shop under Harry Prebble.

Sometimes doing what was right wasn’t the most comfortable thing.

They set off at first light, with Leo dressed in a motley collection of garments. There were the three mounts and two packhorses carrying their possessions, plus food for them and the horses.

‘These poor animals are old and tired,’ Leo said disapprovingly. ‘Aren’t there any better ones?’

‘Only these,’ Bert said.

‘We’ll have to be kind to the poor things.’

Bert rolled his eyes and shook his head slightly as if praying for patience.

‘Will we be able to buy more food on the way?’ Zachary asked.

‘Yeah.’

Getting information from their guide was like chiselling words out of stone, Zachary decided after a while and stopped trying to chat.

Bert had given Leo the ugliest of the horses to ride, an animal which had bared its teeth at Zachary when he approached it. It had let Leo handle it happily enough, though, nudging him for further attention.

‘You’re right,’ Bert admitted after a while. ‘He does know horses.’

The animal Zachary was riding refused to do anything but amble along.

After an hour they stopped to let him get down and stretch his legs. His thighs in particular were already aching from the unaccustomed exercise.

‘We’ll take it easy today,’ Bert said. ‘Y’ve not been on a horse much, have you?’

‘No, not much and not for months.’

‘Shows. But y’ve not got a bad seat for a beginner.’

By mid-afternoon, Zachary was in great pain, wondering how to manage for much longer.

Bert reined his animal in and the others followed suit. ‘I reckon we’d better stop for the night. You’ve had enough, Zachary.’

‘Is there an inn near here?’

Bert laughed. ‘No. We’ll see if we can find a farm to sell us feed for the horses and let us sleep in a barn.’

‘Are they likely to do that?’

‘Don’t know what it’s like in England, but people don’t turn away travellers here, even if they’ve not got a bed to offer them.’

With that Zachary had to be content. He prayed they’d find somewhere soon. He couldn’t face getting on that horse again.

And tomorrow, Bert said, they’d be close to where the Southerhams now lived, might even find the farm.

10

Z
achary woke in the dim light of early dawn on Monday morning, feeling painfully stiff from riding. A night sleeping on a prickly, rustling pile of hay hadn’t helped much, either. He stood up, stifling a groan, trying not to wake the others.

But when he looked round, they were both gone and their blankets too. He listened, heard a voice and followed the sound to where Bert and Leo were tending the horses. Bert was whistling softly and Leo was talking to the horse he’d been riding the day before.

‘There you are,’ Bert said. ‘I was just coming to wake you.’ He grinned. ‘Stiff?’

Zachary nodded.

‘It’ll wear off.’

They ate a hasty breakfast, provided by their hostess and paid for with more of Mr Featherworth’s money, then set off again.

Zachary sighed as he forced himself to mount the horse and subject his aching body to more jolting around.

He hoped they’d find this Westview Farm quite soon.

Ralph summoned Prebble to see him. ‘Mr Featherworth and I have decided that the vacant position at the shop would be better filled by an older man who’s out of work than some youngster. Why you had to dismiss that other man, I can’t think.’

‘A mill worker! We need someone who’s good at arithmetic and can write a legible hand.’ Harry tried not to scowl. He’d dismissed the temporary shopman appointed soon after Zachary left so that his cousin could come and work there. He definitely didn’t want someone chosen by Mr Dawson spying on him.

‘I’m aware of that. We’re not thinking about the operatives, though many of them can read and write as well as you or I.’ He ignored the younger man’s scornful expression. ‘We’re thinking of men who’ve been in positions of authority in the mills, overlookers or charge hands. I’ve found four who will be coming here for an interview tomorrow.’

He let the silence drag on for a while, seeing the outrage on Prebble’s face, before adding casually, ‘I thought you might like to join me in questioning them.’

‘I can’t recommend someone unsuitable.’

‘You don’t know that until you’ve met them. One might be just what we need.’

‘How did you find them?’

‘Mr Featherworth asked some of the mill owners and they recommended men who had been overlookers before these troubles came upon us.’ This wasn’t quite true because it was Marshall Worth who had suggested the names. The other three men would be paid to irritate Harry at the interviews and Marshall had vouched for their ability to keep the true situation to themselves. Like him, they’d jumped at a chance to earn a little extra money.

‘When are they coming?’

‘Tomorrow morning. I saw no reason to wait once I had the names. I know you’re short-handed again.’

Still suspicious, Prebble agreed to join him the following day.

As had been planned the men acted in a surly uncooperative manner when speaking to Prebble.

‘You need to do mental arithmetic,’ he said in a condescending tone. ‘See if you can do these sums in your heads?’

Two of the men made such big errors that Ralph looked warningly at them but Prebble didn’t seem to realise that they were leading him on.

The other one tossed back an answer and turned to Ralph. ‘Do I need to answer this snirpy little chap? He’s treating me like a child. I could do sums like that when I were seven year old.’

‘Just do what he asks you.’

The man proceeded to toss answers back immediately each question had been asked, and each time he was correct.

Prebble breathed deeply and asked some more difficult questions.

Marshall spoke more calmly, but he too answered even the hardest ones instantly.

It was clear that such skill did not please their young interviewer.

When they’d finished and the men were waiting outside, Ralph looked questioningly at his fellow interviewer. ‘Well? What do you think?’

‘None of them are suitable. They won’t know how to treat the sort of people
we
serve.’

‘Mr Featherworth is determined one of these men shall have the job.’

Prebble sighed. ‘Then we’ll have to give one a try. But I must reserve the right to dismiss the man if he’s not suitable.’

‘That right belongs to Mr Featherworth, I’m afraid.’

‘But I’m the manager.’

‘Temporary manager. And if you upset Mr Featherworth in his act of philanthropy, he won’t look favourably on you gaining the job permanently, believe me.’

Prebble gave him a dirty look that said he suspected a spy was being planted.

‘So which one shall we choose?’ This was a gamble but Ralph hoped it would pay off.

‘Worth is the least unsuitable.’

‘Not Freeman?’

Prebble shuddered. ‘Definitely not.’

‘I had thought Freeman the most intelligent.’

‘I cannot agree. And he was downright impertinent to me.’

Ralph had enjoyed that and had had great trouble in keeping his face straight. ‘Well . . . you have to work with him so I shall let you have your way in this and appoint Worth. But we’ll review the matter after a week or so because I’m not at all sure about him. I still incline to Freeman. Let’s bring Worth in and tell him, then you can take him back to the shop with you.’

‘Now?’

‘Why not? He’ll be eager to start work straight away because he needs the money. And of course, you’ll provide him with a dinner as you do the other workers.’

Prebble threw his hands up. ‘On your head be it. If he upsets the customers . . .’

‘I doubt any of those men would ever put a job at risk,’ Ralph said quietly. ‘You know what it’s like for them. Have you no compassion?’

‘My job is to manage the emporium and make money for the owners, not run a charity.’

Ralph got up to ask Marshall to come in, thinking that he disliked Prebble more each time he had to deal with him.

As the two men walked briskly back to the shop, Prebble said curtly, ‘You’re only on trial, Worth. See that you work hard.’

‘Oh, I’ll do that, sir, never fear.’ Marshall disliked all Prebbles on principle and hated calling this runt ‘sir’ but was determined to keep this job, the first he’d had in over a year, not to mention helping out his friend Ralph Dawson.

Marshall’s wife had wept for joy when he told her in strictest confidence what was happening. His children would eat much better from now on, because you got food more cheaply when you worked in a grocery store, Mr Dawson had explained. And if there was anything suspicious going on at the emporium, Marshall would find out. He’d not let Ralph down.

At the shop Prebble found him a long apron and gave him the lowliest job there was, weighing out sugar and tea. Marshall finished the task as quickly and carefully as he could.

The shop lad gaped as he passed. ‘You’ve not finished already?’

‘Yes. What do I do next?’

‘Better ask Mr Prebble.’

Prebble too seemed surprised that he’d finished so quickly, but offered no praise. Indeed, he seemed angry when he weighed a couple of the packets and found them accurately measured.