Beyond the Sunset (24 page)

‘Since your sisters aren’t coming back to England, I’d wondered if you were going to sell the shop so that you can send their share of the money back here.’

‘They’re leaving it to me to decide what to do. If I think it’s worth keeping the shop and I enjoy running it, there are other things of my uncle’s we can sell, cottages like the one we lived in near the park. We were only in it for a week, but it was a lovely house. After our uncle died, our aunt forced us to go to Australia.’ She paused, then went on, thinking aloud, ‘You said there was money in the bank as well, so depending on how much there is, I can send them that. I’m not rushing into selling anything. A good business will keep you for life. Money can be frittered away or banks can fail.’

‘It seems strange hearing a woman talk about such things.’

‘Who do you think manages the housekeeping money in most families? Women, that’s who. Besides, Dad taught us to use our brains and I was always the best at ciphering. I can add up figures more quickly than most men.’

‘I believe you. You could do the accounts for the shop, perhaps.’

She lifted her chin. ‘I’ll do more than the accounts. If it’s my shop, I’ll serve customers too.’

He smiled. ‘I can see you’re going to turn everything upside down. And maybe that won’t hurt. Harry just goes on in the same old way. He never thinks of trying anything new, not even when customers are asking for it.’

‘What’s he like?’ There was enough light now for her to see Zachary’s face suddenly go tight.

‘He – er, works hard.’

‘But you don’t like him.’

He stared at her in dismay. ‘I never said that. It’d not be fair for me to comment on him.’

She didn’t press the point, but she couldn’t help wondering why he didn’t like Harry Prebble. There had been a Betty Prebble working at the mill, but on another floor and she’d not had much to do with her. A rather sulky woman, if she remembered correctly, but she did her work, which was what mattered.

She tried to remember this Harry from the few occasions she’d visited her uncle’s shop, but couldn’t remember anyone except Zachary and her uncle. In the hungry times, Zachary had once brought them round a sack of provisions, sent by their uncle, and she’d seen him occasionally in the street, though they’d not been acquainted. She always noticed taller men because at five foot ten inches, she towered over most men.

Well, she’d find out what Harry Prebble was like when she got to Outham. She wished her Dad could have lived long enough to benefit from their inheritance. She’d have bought him a whole boxful of books and paid for more Greek lessons, too. He’d had such a hunger for learning and so little opportunity to do it.

She blinked her eyes rapidly to drive away the tears that thinking of him brought to her eyes.

‘Are you all right?’ Zachary asked.

They were sitting so close together under the umbrella that when he turned his head, his breath was warm in her hair. ‘I was remembering my father.’

‘I think about mine sometimes. He died so young.’

She studied Zachary’s face. He had clear, steady eyes, a nose that was perhaps too long, but nice lips, well-defined. His chin had faint bristles on it today because there had been no chance of shaving this morning. It’d be rough to the touch, rough on your lips if you kissed him, as Bill’s chin had been sometimes. No, what was she thinking about! Kisses indeed!

But she did find Zachary attractive. She’d been so lost in the pain of parting from her sisters, she hadn’t really thought about how she would get on with him on such a long journey, but she always felt comfortable with him. All three of her sisters had said they liked and trusted him, too, as had Reece.

She peeped at Zachary again, caught him smiling at her and smiled back, then felt herself flushing as she wondered what he thought of her, if he felt attracted too – not to her pretty face, which brought annoying attention sometimes from young men, but to herself, the Pandora her family and friends knew.

She hoped he did find her attractive. The idea of it made her feel warm inside.

Cassandra went across to help the Southerhams later in the morning but Reece insisted she work only for half days now and because she did tire easily, she’d agreed.

‘What am I going to do?’ Livia asked towards the end of the morning, not speaking as a mistress to a maid today but as one woman to another. ‘I’ve little experience of housekeeping and Francis isn’t strong. Will you make me a list each day of what else needs doing and show me how to do it?’

‘Yes, of course. I’d suggest you make some changes in the way you live until you get a new maid, preferably two maids, because I shan’t be available after I’ve had the baby.’

‘What sort of changes?’

‘Well, Mr Southerham doesn’t really need to change his shirts every afternoon. It makes such a lot of extra work, especially now that the rainy season has started. How are you to dry and iron them?’

‘I don’t know, but he won’t like that. He’s says it’s important to maintain proper standards.’

‘Then let him wash them.’

Livia chuckled.

Whose standards though? Cassandra wondered, but it wasn’t her place to comment. If Mr Southerham had really thought about what he was doing and wanted to continue living like gentry, he’d not have come to a place like this, where neither of them seemed able to cope. Livia had been a kind and capable lady back in Outham, helping the poor, teaching girls to sew, but here she was helpless in so many ways when it came to doing the work involved in running a home.

‘I’ll see what Francis says. We definitely have to make some changes if we’re to manage until we get another maid.’

And would they then go back to ‘maintaining standards’, Cassandra wondered. Would they go on pretending life here was like that in England?

Reece came across to them, nodding to Mrs Southerham then turning to his wife. ‘Time you were going home now, love. You’re looking tired.’

They walked back along the bush path together, because he wouldn’t let her go anywhere on her own now she was so big.

As the path widened a little, she took his arm, more for the pleasure of holding him close than because she needed help. ‘I wonder how Pandora is.’

‘She’ll be all right. Zachary will look after her. It’s you I’m worried about. You’re looking exhausted.’

‘I am feeling a bit tired,’ she admitted.

‘Maybe you should stop work completely.’

‘How can I? Those two can’t manage without my help.’

‘They’ll have to once the baby’s born. Will you be all right on your own this afternoon?’

‘I’m not on my own. I have Kevin with me. He’s good company.’

‘I’m glad he’s there. He likes having us around, too.’

After Reece had gone back, Kevin got her some food then insisted on her having a rest.

‘I’ll just lie down for half an hour. Oh dear, I feel so useless.’

‘It’s the Southerhams who’re useless, lass. And it’s not your job to look after their lives for them. Now, try to have a sleep.’

To her surprise she did manage to doze off, but she felt no better afterwards and it was an effort to get up and potter around. In the end she sat down to some sewing for the baby. There were still a lot of clothes needed for him. Somehow she was sure it’d be a him, she didn’t know why.

13

T
he second day of travel was miserable. They were soon soaked to the skin, in spite of the umbrella and sacks. Only Leo stayed cheerful, not seeming bothered by the rain, more concerned with how it was affecting the horses.

As the afternoon wore on, Bert started looking round for somewhere to stay. Just when it began to seem as if they’d have to camp again, he pointed to a track to one side. ‘That looks well used. I can’t see any buildings from here, but there may be a farm at the other end. It’ll be quicker if I ride along and find out before we turn off the road. Leo, lend me that nag of yours and come and hold the reins.’

It seemed a long time till he came back. Pandora couldn’t help shivering and in the end Zachary put one arm round her shoulders and held her close while she kept the umbrella over them.

‘Sorry.’

‘It’s not your fault, it’s mine. We should have stopped and found shelter earlier. But I’d rather get to Albany early and be sure of our passage.’

She managed a shaky laugh. ‘I’m beginning to think this Albany place doesn’t exist.’

There was the sound of horses’ hooves clopping wetly nearby and Bert reappeared. ‘There is a farm, but the house is tiny, so though we’re welcome there, we’ll have to sleep on the verandas. There isn’t even room in their barn. Still, the verandas are sheltered from the rain and that’ll be much better than camping in the open, eh? It’s nearly dark, so we’d be foolish to push on. The owners have offered to make us some damper for tomorrow and give us something to eat tonight. They’ve got plenty of eggs.’

‘How much will it cost?’ Zachary asked, wondering if everyone in the countryside overcharged for things.

‘They’re not asking for payment but you ought to give them a few shillings anyway.’ He looked severely at Zachary. ‘This isn’t England. I’ve told you before that most people are happy to give shelter and food to travellers. It’s just that this family hasn’t got much money, from the looks of the place.’

‘How kind of them!’ Pandora exclaimed. She couldn’t stop shivering. Had she ever been so cold before? Her outer clothes were sodden and heavy.

The house was even smaller than the Southerhams’. As the couple had five children, there was certainly no way anyone else could sleep inside the one room. Fortunately, the place was much more soundly built than Westview, with a small veranda on either side, each of which had an end panel to protect it from the prevailing westerly winds and weather.

‘We sleep out here ourselves in summer and we always put travellers here in winter,’ the woman said cheerfully. ‘Hardly get any rain blowing into those verandas because of the way my man built the house.’

Pandora looked at the place where she was supposed to sleep, because the men had said they’d cram into the other veranda. She didn’t like the idea of sleeping at this side on her own, not at all.

‘I’ll get your bed roll, missy,’ Bert said.

When he’d gone to the cart, she clutched Zachary’s arm. ‘Could you – sleep on my veranda, do you think?’

‘It wouldn’t be right.’

‘Would it be right for me to be afraid all night long?’

He looked at her solemnly. ‘No, that wouldn’t be good. Are you sure?’

‘Of course I am. Oh, Zachary, it’s all so strange here.’ She clutched his big warm hand. ‘Please don’t leave me alone in the darkness.’

He clasped her hand in both his. ‘Of course I won’t. Goodness, you’re frozen.’ He raised her hand to his lips and blew on it to warm it. ‘You go inside for that cup of tea you were promised. I’ll tell Bert and Leo I’m sleeping this side.’

When it came time to go to bed, Pandora put down the little girl who had clambered on her knee in the overcrowded room, stepped carefully round a toddler sleeping on a straw mattress with an older child on the floor near her feet, and let her hostess light her to the latrine.

‘Zachary told me you two are going to be wed,’ the woman said. ‘You’ve a fine young man there. When’s the happy day?’

She hoped she’d hidden her surprise at this announcement. ‘Um – when we get back to England.’

Her hostess chuckled. ‘I’d not leave it that long, if I were you, or other women will be after a fine young fellow like him. Not to mention the chance of consequences from you being together. I only have to cuddle my man to fall for another baby. It’s lovely to see how your fellow looks at you, though. Don’t look so upset. I’m only teasing about other women. It’s clear how much he loves you.’

Pandora swallowed hard. Did Zachary really look at her fondly? How could that be possible? It had taken her months to fall in love with Bill. She hadn’t done so until she got to know him well and realised what a nice man he was. But she’d come to like Zachary much more quickly, couldn’t deny that.

She’d been telling herself all day that this was just because she’d left her sisters and felt so alone. But she couldn’t convince herself, because the attraction seemed all too real. She found herself turning to him, enjoying their chats, feeling safe against the warmth of his tall body. Zachary made her feel small and cherished, a delightful sensation.

‘Don’t forget to shake out your shoes for spiders before you put them on in the morning,’ was her hostess’s parting shot.

Pandora found Zachary was waiting for her on the veranda, with a battered candle lantern hanging on a nail in the sheltered corner, its flame flickering wildly. She was glad the light was too dim for him to see the furious blush that heated her cheeks at the sight of him. He’d spread out her bed roll, but his was still fastened up on the floor beside it.

‘I’ll just nip round the back for a minute or two,’ he said. ‘Now that you can see how little space there is, maybe you’ll feel differently about me joining you here. I can always sleep with the other men if you’ve changed your mind. We’re within earshot, you know. You’ll be quite safe.’

She thought better of him for giving her a chance to change her mind but she still wanted him nearby, so she unfastened his bed roll and spread it out before she got into her own. It was perfectly respectable to lie like this, each sleeping in a separate nest of blankets. Why, they weren’t even touching one another.

Other people might not see it as respectable, though, she admitted as she snuggled down, shivering, but
she
knew it was perfectly innocent, which was what mattered most.

She didn’t try to get undressed, relieved that her clothes had more or less dried while they were eating their meal in the farmhouse, but she did take off her boots. Why did you always feel the cold more when it was damp? Shivering, she pulled the blankets up round her neck, trying to ignore the lack of a pillow and the hard planks beneath her.

Zachary came back, stared at his unrolled blankets then nodded, as if accepting her decision. He took off his boots, blew out the candle and slid into his blankets. ‘Good night.’