Farewell to Lancashire (21 page)

Pandora again forced herself to say, ‘Yes, sir.’

‘I gather you can all read?’

This time Maia had to pinch Pandora because the scornful way he had said this, as if he expected them not to be able to, made her so angry she didn’t dare speak for a moment or two.

‘Yes, sir. We can all read.’

He thrust the newspaper at her with another scornful look. ‘Read this, then. Show me how well you can read.’

She picked it up and began at the top of the page, reading easily, long words or not. Then she passed it to her sisters, who continued to read the piece just as easily.

‘Enough, enough.’ He made a note. ‘You will have to undergo a medical examination before you go on board the ship. I trust none of you is diseased.’

What had their aunt been saying about them? ‘
No
... sir.’

‘I hope you’re telling me the truth, because if you
are
diseased, you’ll not be allowed on the ship and you’ll be thrown out on the streets. You’re not to come back here, whatever happens. If you even try, I shall have you committed to the Reformatory for immoral behaviour.’

He stood up. ‘Very well. I shall send someone to escort you to the railway station on Monday in time to meet the train that stops here at twelve minutes past ten in the morning. The lady supervising the trip to London will be on board with some of her other charges and she will look after you from then onwards. This is a list of what you should take with you. If you don’t have it, your aunt has said she’ll supply you with what’s needed. She is a very Christian, generous woman. Make sure you thank her for her help.’

None of them could force out words of acquiescence to that.

After they left the Vicarage, they didn’t stop to talk, just walked home in grim silence. Only when they were indoors did they spend a few minutes letting their emotions out, furious at the injustice of what was happening to them.

‘This is doing us no good,’ Pandora said in the end. ‘Let’s plan what to do.’

‘I’m not applying to
her
for help,’ Xanthe said.

‘I am. I want to make her pay as much as I can, so even if we already have what’s needed, we’ll ask her to buy it for us, then sell our other things. We have enough friends to help us do that. We don’t want to arrive in Australia penniless, do we?’

‘I never thought of it that way,’ Xanthe said admiringly.

‘Cassandra would have.’

That silenced them again. Maia wiped away a tear and the others stared down at the floor.

After they’d sorted through their clothing and other possessions, they went to leave a note at the Vicar’s house asking their aunt for what they needed for the journey and giving a list, as well as asking for trunks to put it in.

‘She’ll be more likely to provide it if he knows about it,’ Xanthe said.

‘She won’t care. She’ll do anything to get rid of us.’ Pandora realised she’d screwed her hands into fists and unballed them. She mustn’t let her anger rule her. Or her pain at the thought of saying farewell to Lancashire and all she knew.

‘Do you think it’s true what I heard when I nipped out to the baker’s for a loaf?’

‘What, that she’s not going to bury her husband until we’ve left town?’

‘Yes.’

Xanthe sniffed back a tear. ‘She wants to prevent us from attending it. She’s even denying us a proper farewell to our uncle. I didn’t know him for long, but I really liked him.’

‘It’s no use dwelling on that. Come on, we must let Mrs Rainey know we’re leaving.’

The Minister’s wife looked at the sisters in horror. ‘You can’t mean it?’

‘We do.’

‘But – what if your sister comes back? What will Cassandra think if you’re not here? No, no. I can’t allow this. Your aunt is wrong to urge you to go.’

Pandora swallowed hard, couldn’t dredge up a lie and pleaded desperately, ‘Please. We have no choice.’

Mrs Rainey stared at them. ‘What do you mean by that?’

‘We can’t tell you anything else.’

‘Is that woman
forcing
you to go?’

‘We’re going,’ Pandora said quietly. ‘That’s all we can tell you. We gave our word not to say why. We wanted to ask you if you’d keep Cassandra’s clothing and sell our furniture and other household possessions, then keep the money for her. We’ve not got time to do that ourselves.’ She hesitated and allowed herself to say, ‘We’ve been assured she’s alive. If she comes to you ... you’ll tell her where we are, why we had to go?’

Mrs Rainey looked at her sharply. ‘Of course I’ll do that. And we have some clothes donated by the more affluent members of our congregation. Probably some of those will fit you. You’ll need to take a few extra things, apart from what’s on that list. And you’ll need trunks.’

‘Our aunt is providing those.’ Pandora’s voice broke and she dashed away a tear with the back of her hand. Mrs Rainey’s sympathy was nearly her undoing.

Her sisters moved closer, put their arms round her. She didn’t know what she’d have done without them. How would Cassandra feel about them leaving her on her own? It broke Pandora’s heart every time she thought of that.

‘Let me fetch my husband and you can tell him what you’ve told me.’

So they repeated to the Minister what they’d already said.

Mr Rainey tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair. ‘You’re quite sure you can tell me no more? I wouldn’t betray a confidence, you know.’

They shook their heads.

He sighed. ‘I won’t press you. I’ve been told about this scheme and if I didn’t believe this to be a good opportunity for you and the other young women who’re going, I’d not give in so easily. I promise you faithfully that my wife and I will look after your sister. Write to us once you arrive and we’ll write back.’

‘It’s all happening too quickly,’ Xanthe said as they walked home. ‘How can we go so far away without being certain that Cassandra’s all right?’

‘We have no choice,’ her twin replied.

‘I never wished anyone ill before, but I wish something terrible would happen to
her
.’

‘It won’t. Look what she’s done so far, and no one suspects a thing.’

‘We’re not sure she had our uncle killed.’

‘I am,’ Pandora said with such quiet certainty their steps faltered for a moment or two, then they started walking again in silence.

When they’d gone, Mr Rainey looked at his wife. ‘What hold has that woman got over them? And why is the Vicar helping her to send those poor girls away? For a man of God he is singularly unsympathetic towards our poorer brethren.’

‘There’s nothing we can do about it. The whole arrangement looks like a good deed. People will praise Isabel Blake for helping her nieces. We’re the only ones who know she’s doing it to separate them from Cassandra. Heaven knows why.’

‘I can’t begin to guess. I never did understand why she hated them so.’

She hesitated, then said, ‘I don’t like to speak ill of others, but I’m beginning to think Mrs Blake is – well, deranged.’

‘I too, though as we have no proof, we’d better not say that to anyone else. What do you suppose has happened to Cassandra?’

She looked at him with tears in her eyes, ‘I’m afraid to think about that. She’s either dead or ...’ She didn’t dare finish that sentence, but they both knew what happened to some women who were abducted. She let him put his arms round her, then joined him in a heartfelt prayer for Cassandra’s safety.

The following week Francis wanted to go into Perth again and this time he allowed Reece to come with him to the Land Office and listen to the discussion about which blocks of land were available for buying or renting. They were given the locations of three which sounded suitable.

‘We’ll ride out to see them,’ Francis decided.

‘I’ve not ridden before,’ Reece said mildly. ‘Though I’d like to learn.’

‘I’ll be happy to teach you. You’ll be a bit sore at first, but it’ll be worth it. The roads are so bad here and there are no railways, so it’s the best way to get around quickly. Besides, you’ll be looking after the horses when we find our own land.’

‘You’ll have to show me how to do that, as well. But I’m usually a quick learner and I got on well with the animals on my cousins’ farm.’

When they’d finished at the Land Office, they went to buy some horses, leading them back to the livery stable Paul used and arranging to have them cared for there when they were not in use.

‘Reece and I will go and inspect the blocks of land tomorrow,’ Francis told his wife and cousins as they sat drinking cups of tea on the veranda.

‘You’ll tire yourself out, doing so much,’ Paul said.

‘I think I’ll come with you,’ Livia said.

The men looked at her in surprise and Charlotte in horror.

‘I don’t think that would be suitable, my dear,’ Francis said. ‘We’ll be camping out.’

‘Suitable or not, I’m coming. I want to help choose where we live and I want to see more of Australia. So you’d better arrange to hire a horse for me. And I’ll need one of those – what did Reece say they were called? – swags.’

‘It may be raining,’ Paul protested. ‘You’ll get wet.’

‘I shan’t melt.’

She eyed them so challengingly Francis let out a crack of laughter. ‘Very well.’

The thing he liked best about the Southerhams, Reece thought, was how much they loved one another.

He hoped one day he and Cassandra would be as happy together as they were.

T
he Vicar himself came to escort the three sisters to the railway station two days after their interview with him, walking along beside them with a grim expression. He’d sent a cart for their trunks.

People they passed in the street called out to wish them well. Some tried to stop them to shake their hands, exchange a few final words, but he hurried them on, calling ‘Stand back, if you please!’

When they got to the station, they saw their aunt standing just outside the entrance. She made no attempt to speak to them but followed them far enough inside to watch them leave. She had a smug smile on her face.

The Vicar stayed with them till the train arrived, not speaking, then handed them over to an older woman who got off the train to collect them.

‘These are Susan, May and Dora Blake,’ he said.

‘Those are
not
our Christian names,’ Pandora said at once.

The woman looked from them to the Vicar in puzzlement.

His face went red and he glared at them. ‘Their father called them by highly unsuitable names. It was thought better to change them. Don’t pander to them, it gives them ideas above their station.’

When they got into the compartment with her, they found four other young women sitting there. They smiled wearily at the newcomers, looking thin and tired, as if it was a long time since they’d eaten a decent meal.

Maia burst into tears as the train pulled out of the station.

‘Sit upright. Don’t give her the satisfaction!’ Pandora snapped. But her eyes were brimming with unshed tears as she stared stony-faced at the last sight of their aunt, standing beside the Vicar now, still smiling.

‘What are your real names?’ the lady asked once they were out of the station and rattling through the countryside.

When they told her, she smiled. ‘I think they’re very pretty names. I’ll make sure the other ones are corrected on the ship’s manifest.’

At any other time the sisters would have been excited at the long railway journey into parts of England they’d never seen before, not to mention visiting the capital city. Today they watched tiredly, did as they were told and said little.

Pandora changed seats to watch the moors disappear into the distance, to be replaced by towns and softer countryside.

‘I hope Cassandra is all right,’ Maia said once in a low voice.

Xanthe reached out for her hand. ‘She will be. She must be. Once our aunt hears that we’ve left England, she’ll let our sister go. She promised.’

‘Who are you talking about?’ the lady asked.

‘Our sister. She wasn’t able to come with us. She wanted to, but our aunt wouldn’t let her.’

‘You’ll be able to write to her.’

Maia burst into tears again.

Cassandra sat staring listlessly at the fire burning low in the grate of the room where they kept her now. There was always a woman with her, but none of them would speak to her, though one or two looked at her in a pitying way. She felt soul-sick, and hadn’t been able to sleep properly at night, suffering nightmares that woke her whimpering and struggling against the brutal men who peopled those nightmares.

How many days had she been here? She couldn’t work that out, couldn’t think clearly about anything. And she shivered every time
that man
came into the room to check that she was still there, which he did several times a day.

The door opened and Jane nodded dismissal to the one now sitting with her. ‘You’re leaving in the morning.’

‘Where am I going? What are they going to do to me next?’