Beyond the Sunset (19 page)

‘We need to consider it carefully.’ Reece put his arm round his wife. ‘Surely we could get some of our money sent to us here? It’d be welcome, I must admit.’

Pandora scowled at them. ‘I don’t need any time at all to think. I can’t wait to leave Australia. Cassandra, surely you don’t intend to stay here now that we have some money?’

Reece’s voice was firm, the sort of tone others obeyed. ‘Leave us to make up our own minds, Pandora. Apart from anything else, your sister is in no state to go on a long sea voyage at the moment.’ His glance flicked briefly to his wife’s stomach.

Cassandra spoke more gently. ‘I know you’ve been unhappy here, Pandora love, but Reece and I love it. The sunshine in summer, the outdoor life. I don’t think I can bear to go back to a cooler climate – I always did hate ice and snow – and I definitely don’t want to work indoors again, even in my own shop.’

‘Nor do I,’ Reece said.

As he listened and watched, Zachary kept his thoughts to himself. It wasn’t for him to interfere. But he was on Pandora’s side, couldn’t imagine living anywhere except in England, and he absolutely loved working in the shop, finding the best goods for sale, making customers happy. Food was such an important part of people’s lives.

‘I’d go back to live in Perth if I hadn’t invested all my money here.’ Francis didn’t try to hide the bitterness he felt.

In answer to Zachary’s puzzled look, he added, ‘I was tricked into coming to the Swan River Colony by my cousin, who painted glowing pictures of the opportunities – and by the doctor, who said my health would be better in a warm climate.’

Zachary suddenly realised why his host’s cheeks were flushed, his eyes over bright: consumption. He’d seen it many times before. Poor man.

He gave them a few minutes but when no one spoke, he said, ‘You can’t delay making a decision for too long, I’m afraid. We have to get to Albany before the end of April or we’ll miss the mail ship. And it’s the 18th of April now. I’m told Albany is about three hundred miles south of Perth and—’

Reece’s deep, calm voice interrupted him and drew everyone’s attention instantly. ‘Well, we can’t decide or do anything until we’ve seen Maia and Xanthe.’ He looked at Zachary. ‘I’d suggest we visit them tomorrow. We can set off first thing in the morning to tell them the news. Is that all right with you, Mr Southerham?’

Francis shrugged.

Reece turned back to Zachary. ‘In the meantime, there’s room at our house for you, Mr Carr, as long as you don’t mind sleeping on the floor in the living room. And the other two could sleep in our stables with the horses. They’re mainly empty now, but they’re bigger than Mr Southerham’s and they’re waterproof. There’s plenty of clean straw.’ He looked up at the sky. ‘I reckon it’ll rain again later.’

‘We’ve enough meat for everyone’s evening meal,’ Francis offered. ‘I shot a kangaroo yesterday.’

Zachary thanked them for their offer of hospitality, but his eyes kept going back to Pandora, whose disappointment was obvious. She kept looking at her sister pleadingly and once asked her something in a low voice. He could see Cassandra’s lips form the words ‘Not now’.

The last thing he’d expected was to find that some of them didn’t want to return. What would Mr Featherworth say to that? Would he think Zachary hadn’t done his job properly?

Was he doing his job well? He still felt guilty about taking the time to rescue Leo.

‘I’ll do the cooking.’ Cassandra knew to her cost how impatient Livia was and how often she burnt the food. Pandora was much better at putting together a tasty meal, but tonight she looked so upset, it would be better not to rely on her. ‘And my sister will help me.’

‘Are you all right?’ Reece asked her as he went to build up the fire in the stove for her and get out the heavy, long-handled frying pan.

‘I’m fine.’ She smiled at him and for a moment it was as if there were only the two of them in the world.

‘I’ll fetch some meat.’

‘I’ll come with you.’ As they walked over to the pit that kept fresh food cool in the warmer weather, she said in a quiet voice, ‘I’m not sure I want to go back.’

‘We can go later if you change your mind. We have enough money left to pay our fares.’

‘I don’t think I shall change my mind. But whatever I decide, I know Pandora will go.’ She felt tears well in her eyes. ‘She’ll never be happy here. Oh, Reece, I can’t bear to think of me staying and her leaving. The two of us have never been parted in our whole lives before, and I was as much a mother to her as a sister.’

He pulled her close for a moment. ‘I know. There’s no solution which will please everyone.’

‘What do
you
want to do, Reece? Stop thinking about me and tell the truth.’

He answered without hesitation. ‘Stay here in Australia. There’s a good future for a man like me. I’d be working for other men if we went back, or indoors in a shop.’ He wrinkled his nose to show what he thought of that. ‘But if we could get some money from your inheritance, well, that’d make such a difference here. We could do so much with it, buy our own land or set up a business.’ He looked back towards the group at the table. ‘Now, we’d better get what we came for. They’re waiting for their meal.’

She watched him use the short ladder to climb down into the pit and fetch some of the meat stored in a box whose sides were covered in muslin and whose feet stood in tins of water to deter ants and other creeping insects.

Cassandra let Pandora answer Zachary’s questions about life here and got on with preparing the meal. Boiled potatoes, onions and kangaroo steaks fried in ham fat because kangaroo meat was very lean. Mr Southerham spoke slightingly of it and hankered for English beef, but she enjoyed the strong flavour and loved having fresh meat every day. She’d not eaten so well for years and surely that must be good for her baby.

After a while Zachary sat down again at the table and soon he and Pandora were chatting like old friends as she moved to and fro to fetch knives and forks, set a pile of plates ready and rinse out the tin mugs. Cassandra got on with the cooking and left them to it, surprised at how comfortable Pandora looked with Zachary. She hadn’t seen her sister look so animated for a long time.

This legacy would part them, Cassandra was quite sure of that. A lump came into her throat. Given the great distance between Australia and England, they might never see one another again. But her own marriage had started the process of emotional separation, and already she and her sister weren’t as close. She wished Pandora had someone to turn to, though, a husband as wonderfully reliable and kind as her own Reece.

What she didn’t know was whether the twins would want to go back or stay – and whether she would still want to stay here herself if all three of her sisters went back to England. But as Reece had said, she couldn’t travel anywhere till after she’d had the baby.

Life was like that. Just as you thought things were going well, something happened to change your plans,
will you, nill you
. Now where did those words come from? A Shakespeare play, she thought, but which one? She wished they’d been able to keep all their father’s books and bring them here. She was always grateful that he’d brought them up to love reading and that the free library in Outham had improved on their simple education. Once her inheritance came through, she’d be able to buy books, since there were no libraries near here to supply food for her mind. She smiled. It’d be wonderful not to have to watch every farthing.

As they ate, she listened to Pandora asking Zachary question after question about Outham and the shop, the depth of her sister’s longing for their old home showing all too plainly in her face and words. They’d known she was homesick but had felt she was getting over it. But even they hadn’t realised how badly she’d still been hurting.

Zachary responded patiently, letting his food go cold as he answered Pandora’s questions, smiling at her, gesticulating and drawing pictures in the air. From the look of him, he was quite taken by Pandora. In other circumstances, Cassandra would be happy about that. But now, he was an employee and her sister was part-owner of the shop where he worked. That made a big difference. Cassandra didn’t want anyone courting her sister for the money. Not that he looked the sort.

Her big consolation was that if her youngest sister did go back, she felt she could trust him to look after her on the journey, because there was a quiet strength to him and a kindness, too. Actions spoke for themselves. How many men would have bothered to rescue Leo? The poor fellow was sitting at the end of the table, smiling happily from that bruised face. It must have been a very bad beating.

She could see that Reece had taken to Zachary as well. She couldn’t bring herself to join in the conversation because the thought of losing Pandora made her want to weep. Her emotions were very near the surface these days. She was looking forward to having the baby, getting back to normal, being of more use to her husband. She wasn’t one to sit back and let others work for her.

Reece put his hand over hers once, as if sensing her pain, and when she turned to him, he raised the hand to his lips briefly. He didn’t offer her glib words of comfort, but the brief warmth of his mouth against her skin made her feel a little better.

She wouldn’t know where she stood until they found out what the twins wanted to do.

11

I
t rained during the night, but only lightly and by the following morning, the sky was clear and the sun shining. Reece woke their visitors at dawn and after a hasty breakfast of bread and jam they walked through the bush to the Southerhams’ farm to get the cart ready for the visit to Galway House. Kevin was lending them Delilah to draw it because she was a placid animal, suitable for an inexperienced driver like Reece.

Bert and Leo were to stay behind with the horses today, giving the elderly animals a good rest.

‘This is the first time I’ve been in charge of a cart on my own,’ Reece commented as he drove away from the farm.

‘You know more about it than I do, that’s for sure,’ Zachary said. He was beside him on the driving bench, asking about the birds and plants he didn’t recognise.

The two sisters sat together in the rear of the vehicle. Neither said much.

Once Pandora faltered, ‘I can’t bear to think of leaving you.’

‘You’ve been very unhappy here, love. I do understand. You’ll never settle.’

A sob was the only answer she received.

A few minutes later Cassandra said, ‘I shall miss you dreadfully, though,’ as if accepting a fait accompli.

The two men exchanged glances, but didn’t comment.

When they drew up outside Galway House, the twins rushed out to find out what had brought them to visit so unexpectedly. Normally the four sisters only met at the monthly church service held in the barn of the one shop in the district.

‘Is something wrong?’ Xanthe let Reece help Cassandra down from the cart then gave her sister a hug.

‘No. But we have some exciting news for you.’

Conn Largan came to the front door to welcome them and invite them inside. Although he was the twins’ employer and a gentleman born, he was also an emancipist, and never stood on his dignity, insisting on being called by his first name and eating meals with his servants.

They went to join Conn’s invalid mother in the big kitchen that served also as a living room for the whole household. The Southerhams would never allow this familiarity, Cassandra thought with amusement.

After introductions, Reece waved one hand at Zachary. ‘I think you’d better explain.’

So he went through it all again, pausing from time to time to answer their excited questions.

In the end, Maia said in tones of enormous relief. ‘We’re free, then. Safe. She can’t hurt us any more.’

‘And we’re rich,’ Xanthe said in an awed voice.

Zachary shook his head. ‘No, not rich. The lawyer told me to say “comfortably off”. Between you, you own the shop and a few cottages, and there’s some money in the bank, but it has to be split four ways.’

‘That sounds rich to me.’ She laughed. ‘And to think I’ve been wondering if I could afford the material for a new winter dress now that the weather is getting cooler.’

It was Conn who brought them to the crucial decision. ‘Will you all be going back to England now?’

There was silence, then Cassandra took a deep breath and said it. ‘I don’t want to. I like living here and so does Reece. But if there’s some money that could be sent, it’d help us set up our farm. Reece is thinking of making cheese as a sideline. There’s a shortage of it in the colony and we could dig a cellar into the hillside to store it for ripening.’

Zachary saw a tear roll down Pandora’s face and his heart went out to her.

‘I’m going back,’ she said in a voice thickened by emotion. ‘I can never be happy here. I’ve tried and tried, but it’s no use.’ She made a pleading gesture to the twins. ‘I’m hoping you two can help me persuade Cassandra to change her mind.’

Everyone looked at them.

Maia bent her head, then cast a quick glance at her mistress.

‘You must do what’s best for yourself, child,’ Mrs Largan said gently.

‘I don’t know what’s best. I like living in Australia. And – you need me.’

‘We can find someone else to help me.’ Mrs Largan patted her with one twisted, arthritic hand.

‘You’ve been better since I came here.’ Maia gave her a tearful smile and clutched that hand tightly. ‘And . . . I don’t want to leave Galway House, either. I like living here.’

‘My dear girl, my days are numbered and your life is just beginning. You mustn’t give up your life for me.’

Zachary watched emotions warring in Maia’s gentle face, saw her shake her head as if in bafflement, and wondered whether he was the only one to notice the way Conn was staring at her. It was a very revealing look, but within seconds Conn’s face took on a shuttered look again. If Zachary hadn’t been watching at just the right time, he’d not have seen how the other man felt.

The poor fellow must have learned to assume that blank facial expression as a convict, because it gave nothing away. They’d told Zachary that Conn had been a political prisoner, one given his ticket of leave on arrival because he’d brought money with him. Nonetheless the imprisonment until then must have been very hard for an educated gentleman to bear. Zachary could remember the convicts on board his ship, how hopeless some of them had looked.