‘I shall have to send a message to Australia,’ the lawyer said. ‘Though how long it’ll take for a letter to get there, I don’t know, or even if it’ll arrive safely.’
The doctor shook his head. ‘Letters can go astray. I have a cousin in Australia who writes to me regularly, but once or twice his letters haven’t arrived. You’d better find someone who’s going there – a man would be best – and pay him to deliver the message to the Blake sisters in person. And you’ll need to find someone to run the shop in the meantime.’
The doctor went back to check on Mrs Blake, but she was still asleep. ‘I know a married couple who’ll come and look after her here until we can make the necessary arrangements. He’s very strong. And careful. I can promise you they won’t ill-treat her, however strangely she behaves. I’ll warn them that she can seem quite rational at times.’
Mr Featherworth pulled himself together. ‘It’ll take time, but it’ll all be sorted out eventually, I suppose.’ He suddenly became aware of the maid, standing by the door, wide-eyed. ‘You, girl. Make sure you don’t talk about this to anyone.’
‘No, sir. And – please sir, what about my job?’
‘You’ll be needed till we’ve got her safely locked away, then I’ll pay you any wages owing and you can leave.’
She began to cry. ‘I’ll need references, sir. I can’t get another job without them.’
‘Is this a time to fuss about that?’ She continued to cry noisily, so he said impatiently, ‘I’ll get my wife to write them for you. Now carry on with your normal work. The Vicar and I will stay with your mistress until the doctor sends help.’
‘Shall I bring you up some tea and biscuits, sir?’
‘Good idea.’
When she’d gone the Vicar sighed. ‘This is most unfortunate. If it had only happened a few days sooner, we could have got the Blake sisters back. But their ship has already sailed for the Antipodes.’ Then he frowned. ‘Well, three of them went on the ship. I fear the oldest sister must be dead. There has been no word about her.’
A dreadful thought came into his mind and he dismissed it hastily. Surely Mrs Blake could not have been behind her niece’s death as well?
Well, whether she had been or not, it was too late to do anything about it, and it was no use prosecuting a madwoman.
A
fter they’d finished cleaning out their quarters, something Matron insisted on them doing every morning, the single women went up the companionway, as they’d learned to call the steep wooden steps that led up to the deck. By that time, they were more than ready for a breath of fresh salty air. Some pushed to the front; others waited their turn patiently.
Even Maia was now well enough to enjoy the thought of a stroll and pulled a face when Matron asked the three of them to stay behind for a few moments.
‘I believe you have an older sister ...’ she began.
They looked at each other in surprise, then Pandora nodded.
‘You left her behind because she was married and—’
‘But—’ Xanthe began.
Pandora interrupted. ‘Let Matron finish telling us.’
‘Sadly, the very day after you left, your brother-in-law was killed in an accident. With the help of your Minister, Mr Rainey, your sister tried to join you on this ship as an emigrant, but there were no places left.’
Maia gasped. ‘Oh, no!’
‘Fortunately, Mrs Barrett’s maid had changed her mind at the last minute about coming to Australia with her, so that lady has kindly employed your sister instead and—’
‘You mean – Cassandra is on this ship,’ Xanthe exclaimed, unable to bear this slow telling a second longer.
‘Indeed she is.’ Matron gave them a look which was as close to a smile as she ever came. ‘If you’ll wait here, I’ll fetch her and you can have your reunion in private.’
Before she’d even left, Maia opened her mouth again and Pandora quickly put a hand across it, then put a finger to her lips and went to check that no one had lingered in any of the cabins.
They heard someone coming towards the companionway and then a woman’s skirts came into view, so they rushed to that end of the single women’s quarters. Weeping and laughing they flung themselves at Cassandra, hugging, kissing and hugging her again.
‘Let’s sit down and talk,’ she said at last, her arm still round Pandora’s waist.
When they were at the table, Xanthe asked in a low voice, ‘Why do they think you were married?’
Cassandra’s joy vanished abruptly and she bowed her head. ‘After those men captured me, they ... used me as they would a street woman ... on
her
orders.’ Tears rolled down her cheeks, but she daren’t allow herself to sob, as she ached to do, because someone might hear her.
There was dead silence, then Pandora put her arm round her sister’s shoulders. ‘I hope she rots in hell. Oh, Cassandra, was it – very bad?’
She could only nod. It was a few moments before she asked, ‘How did she force you to leave?’
‘She showed us your hair and told us she wouldn’t set you free until we’d left England. Did she change her mind? How were you able to join us?’
‘I escaped. I went to the Raineys and they helped me get to the ship in time.’
Maia still looked puzzled. ‘But that doesn’t explain why you’re pretending you were married.’
Cassandra saw Pandora and Xanthe roll their eyes at their sister’s naiveté. She had to force the words out. ‘Because there may be ... results of those days. I may be – expecting a child.’ She couldn’t stop more tears rolling down her cheeks and shame sat leaden in her belly, though she couldn’t have prevented what happened.
‘When shall we know?’ Pandora asked gently.
She’d said ‘we’ not ‘you’, Cassandra thought wonderingly. Then she truly knew she was back with her family again, not struggling alone in a hostile world. It seemed as if the weight on her shoulders shifted slightly and grew a little lighter. ‘We’ll find out quite soon. I should be starting my monthly any day now or ... not.’
They sat in silence, but Pandora kept hold of her hand and Cassandra clung to it, feeling she could cope with anything if only she wasn’t alone. ‘I’d better tell you about my imaginary husband. We named him John Lawson and said he was killed in an accident, a runaway horse and cart. We may as well make him a drayman.’
‘Why didn’t you come to see us before now? We’ve been under way for days.’
‘I only got passage on the ship because Mrs Barrett needed a maid. Her husband insisted I pretend to be their former maid Hilda until after the ship had got well away from England, so that there would be no possibility of me being sent back. Mrs Barrett is pleasant enough but she never lifts a finger to help herself. And then with the rough weather, they were both ill, so I had to look after them. He wanted me to keep pretending I was Hilda. But I refused.’
‘That was cruel. He must have known you wanted to see us.’
‘He doesn’t think about me, just how well his wife is served. Neither of them has even asked whether my quarters are comfortable or how I’m feeling, though they think I’ve recently been widowed.’ She sighed. ‘So only you three and the Raineys know what really happened to me.’
‘And I suppose those involved know too,’ Xanthe said. ‘If I ever meet our aunt again ...’
‘That’s not likely.’
‘If you are – you know, expecting a child, we’ll look after you,’ Pandora added.
‘I pray I’m not.’ She couldn’t hold back a shudder.
They heard footsteps on the companionway and one of the younger girls came down, stopping near the bottom to call, ‘Matron says you’re to come up and get some fresh air now.’ She went back up on deck without waiting for an answer.
‘We’d better do it,’ Xanthe said. ‘Matron’s word is law down here. On this ship, she, the doctor and the Captain are like a trio of those Greek gods Dad loved so much.’
They went up and gradually edged into a place by the rail, staring out across the sunlit water.
‘To think we’d never seen the sea before,’ Xanthe said. ‘Isn’t it beautiful? We were always promising ourselves to go on an excursion to Blackpool, but we never did.’
‘We spent too much time with our heads in books,’ Cassandra said grimly. ‘And Father was so generous to those in need, we never had much money to spare. I’ll never make that mistake. I’ll always make sure I have some money saved from now on.’
They couldn’t speak too frankly because the decks were crowded, single women and families in one area, single men in another, with Matron sitting between the two groups. This didn’t stop the younger men looking, and as usual, they kept staring at Pandora, who always seemed unaware of her startling good looks.
But with her new-found knowledge of what men really wanted, how little some men respected women, Cassandra wondered if she would ever be able to trust a man again, even Reece. She banished that thought, angry at herself. Hadn’t she promised herself not to dwell on things that couldn’t be changed? She wouldn’t let
that woman
ruin the rest of her life.
‘How do you pass the time?’ she asked. ‘Mrs Barrett is so fussy, she keeps me quite busy. I’m always having to fetch her something or mend things she’s torn, or read to her. She’s like a spoiled child, kind if she gets what she wants from her husband, but irritable towards me if he crosses her. But though I’ve got work to do for her, there are still hours to fill.’
Xanthe grimaced. ‘It’s been very boring until now. Because of the bad weather they’re only just starting to organise group activities. But we can read already, so why should we join a reading class?’
‘I heard there was going to be a singing group,’ Pandora said. ‘You three would enjoy that, I’m sure. Would your mistress let you join it as well, Cassandra?’
‘I don’t know. She’s in a delicate condition and is friendly one minute, then snaps at me the next. I can ask her, though.’ She looked up and saw her mistress staring in her direction from the area set aside for cabin passengers. Mrs Barrett beckoned and Cassandra sighed. ‘I’ll have to go back to her now.’
‘She didn’t let us spend much time together, did she?’ Xanthe grumbled.
‘Never mind. Once we reach Australia, we’ll stay together.’
‘Not if they send us to different places,’ Pandora said. ‘I overheard Matron talking to the doctor last night, telling him about the last group she brought out here, how some maids were sent to country homesteads a long way from Perth. And there are no railways in Western Australia – can you imagine that? – so travel isn’t easy. From the way she talks, it sounds like the Dark Ages there. I wish we hadn’t come.’
They looked at one another in dismay.
‘Surely they wouldn’t separate us?’ Maia said.
Xanthe moved closer to her twin. ‘They might try. Will we even have a choice of what jobs we take?’
‘Of course we will,’ Pandora said. ‘We don’t have to accept a job if we don’t want it. We’re not
slaves
.’
‘But there are four of us. No one will be looking for four maids. And how will we live if we’ve no work?’ Xanthe asked. ‘We’ve only a few coins between us.’
‘I’ve got some money,’ Cassandra said. ‘Mrs Southerham gave it to me. And she’ll be in Western Australia. Surely she’ll be able to help us?’
‘Reece is there, too,’ Pandora said slyly. ‘I doubt you’ll have to find a job at all once he knows you’re there.’
Cassandra flushed. That was her dream, but she couldn’t marry him without telling him what had happened to her. It wouldn’t be fair. And anyway, she still had nightmares, so she wouldn’t be able to hide it.
Mrs Barrett beckoned again, so she gave each of her sisters a hug, then hurried across to her mistress, who didn’t really need her but was bored and wanted fussing over.
Mr Rainey was shown into the Vicar’s study. After exchanging greetings, he came straight to the point. ‘I’ve been hearing rumours about Mrs Blake.’
‘Ah. Yes.’
‘Is it true she’s gone mad?’
‘I’m afraid so.’
‘What about the shop? There’s also a rumour that it wasn’t left to her.’
Mr Saunders stiffened. ‘How did that news get out?’
‘So it is true!’
‘I really can’t discuss the poor lady’s affairs.’
‘I’m not interested in her. It’s her four nieces who are my concern. They were my parishioners, after all.’
‘We fear the oldest one has been killed.’
‘No. She escaped from her captors and came to us. But we felt it better for her to get away from her aunt, so we hid her.’ He hesitated, then decided it was time for the truth to be told. ‘It was Mrs Blake who arranged for her to be kidnapped, you see.’
The Vicar goggled at him, opening and shutting his mouth, and it was a few moments before he could string a few words together. ‘You’re sure Cassandra Blake is alive?’
‘Didn’t I just say so?’
‘What a relief! That’ll solve the problem of what to do with the shop.’
‘Not quite.’
‘What do you mean? Surely she can come and take charge of it on behalf of her sisters till they return from Australia?’
‘She’s on her way there with them.’
Silence, then the Vicar stood up. ‘We’d better go and tell the lawyer about this. Featherworth is the one who’ll have to send word to Australia. I just pray we’ll find all four young women safe and sound. You never know what’ll happen on such a long and perilous journey.’