Where Seagulls Soar

by Janet Woods

  The pair grinned at each other and shooed them gently but firmly into the sitting room

  ‘You must forgive the twins,’ Joanna said laughingly. ‘They’re good girls who are trying hard to get used to their poverty and be useful. Now and again they become a little . . . imperious.’

  ‘They’re a spirited pair. It was kind of you to take them under your roof.’

  ‘Oh, I love them completely. They’re such good company for me.’ Her smile came and went uncertainly, and, flustered, she fiddled with her disarrayed hair, tucking a bit in here and there. It was a losing battle, for it freed from its style and fell gloriously about her. ‘I must look completely untidy.’

  Seth took a seat on the battered old settee and chuckled. ‘You look wonderfully rumpled, as if we’d made love all night and you’d just just woken from sleep.’

  She gave an involuntary and rather regretful sigh. Upstairs, Toby began to rattle the bars of his cot. The mouth Seth had just tasted rearranged into a trembling oval, making him want to kiss her all over again. ‘You’re being much too personal.’

  ‘And you’re trying too hard to be prim. It’s not as if I took advantage of something you didn’t encourage. You enjoyed the experience as much as I did, even though it was an attempt to distract me from my line of questioning. Admit it.’

  Amusement struggled with annoyance in her eyes. She made a small exasperated sound in her throat, then turned and scurried up the stairs.

  When she reached the top she turned, giving a soft, provocative laugh. ‘I’ll admit to no such thing.’

  Seth grinned. ‘Then I’ll have to be more convincing next time.

  Oliver had spent several weeks in London trying to get a berth on a ship.

  The spare key to Joanna and Alex’s former home in Southwark had always been kept behind a loose brick. It was still there. As the place was boarded up, at night he sneaked in after dark and slept there.

  The personal items had been removed, but some furniture was still in place and he found a mattress to sleep on. The house had become an empty, echoing, black cavern, for hardly a chink of light showed through the shutters, and he didn’t dare risk lighting a candle, because the place was patrolled by a night-watchman.

  Oliver and the river rats were the only inhabitants of the house. Over the next month his beard grew long and his clothes ragged. He began to beg on the streets for enough money to eat. Always slim, now he was gaunt – and he began to dislike himself.

  The ring Joanna had entrusted to him was tied around his neck on a piece of string, and it was that which kept him from giving up altogether.

  Use it if you have to, she’d told him.

  So far he’d avoided doing so. But returning to his hiding place one night he discovered that the remaining furniture had been removed, the doors and window frames were missing and some of the floorboards had been prised up. Any attachment to its former owners now seemed to be gone. Durrington was probably demolishing the place to make room for warehouses.

  The only course Oliver could now think of to take was his last resort. Ask for charity from the lawyer, James Stark. He spent his last night at the house, cold and draughty now, curled in a corner. Dawn brought a foot thudding against his thigh, as a rough voice yelled, ‘Get out of here and don’t come back, else you’ll be charged with trespass.’

  Oliver stumbled away, heading towards the city.

  James Stark’s clerk didn’t recognize him. ‘What business would someone like you have with Mr Stark?’

  ‘It’s me, Mr Potter. Oliver Morcant.’

  ‘Good gracious, so it is!’ Potter slid his glasses to the end of his nose and peered doubtfully through them at him. ‘My, you do look down on your luck, Captain Morcant. We thought you’d gone to America. I’ll ask Mr Stark if he can see you. He’s a very busy man, you know.’

  But James wasn’t too busy to see him. After shaking hands he ordered some coffee and muffins, and watched as Oliver wolfed them down.

  ‘It’s obvious you’re in trouble. Christ, Oliver, why the devil didn’t you contact me sooner?’

  Oliver spread his hands. ‘Looking like this? I’ve been trying to find work for months. I’ve been too ashamed even to go and see my sisters. They could be dead, for all I know.’

  ‘They’re not. Joanna Morcant wrote to me. She said they’re well. The girls are working as private tutors, giving piano lessons and such. They’re still living with Joanna and I understand they get on very well with each other. They’re worried about you, though, and asked me to make enquiries about your whereabouts.’

  Relief filled him. ‘I must let them know I’m safe. I need a favour, James.’

  ‘Of course. How much do you need?’

  ‘It’s employment I need. I’ve tried every shipping line in London and nobody will employ me.’

  ‘You’re blacklisted, my friend. That’s why.’

  Oliver’s midriff tightened. ‘For what reason?’

  ‘Who can fathom Durrington’s mind. He has many friends and a long reach. The Morcant family are finished in this city. You might have to try the other ports.’ He leaned forward, taking a longer look at him. ‘By God, Oliver. You do look hard done by. Come, I’ll take you home. We’ll clean you up and trim those whiskers on the way so you feel more human. And I’ll buy you a ticket to Portland, so you can visit your sisters.’

  ‘Why should you do that?’

  ‘Because Tobias Darsham is my friend and he’d expect me to.’

  ‘You make it sound as if Tobias is still alive.’

  James shrugged and dug the blade of a paper knife into his blotter. ‘Do I? I was thinking of him earlier, that could account for it. Alex helped me identify Tobias, you know.’

  Oliver gave a faintly ironic smile, for the family fortunes had plummeted swiftly after Tobias had died, making him recall, with a stab of guilt, that his own gullibility had played a major part in the demise of the company. He’d realized how particularly inept he was at business that day. ‘Alex told me he lost his dinner at the sight of the corpse.’

  ‘Yes, he did, but the state it was in was enough to make anyone sick. Alex always had a weak stomach, as you know. It killed the poor sod in the end, and Durrington couldn’t wait to pick up the scraps from Barnard Charsford.’

  ‘I thought Durrington had bought the company from the bank.’

  ‘From the banker. A private deal. Charsford is the brother of the Earl of Alsonbury, and a friend of Durrington’s. There’s a half-brother, too. Goes by the name of Seth Adams.’

  They fell silent for a few minutes, then James stood up. ‘Come on, Oliver, let’s make you presentable before I send you back to your sisters. Will you stay the night?’

  ‘No, but I’ll accept a loan and you can take this as collateral. Joanna offered it to me to use in an emergency, and I know you won’t sell it on before I can redeem it.’ He jerked the string from his neck and held out the gold ring she’d given him.

  James smiled, turning it over in his fingers before handing it back. ‘Alex gave this to Joanna. It represents her marriage to him, and, although it wasn’t a legal one in the strictest sense of the word, it’s all she has left of Alex except for Toby. Take it back to her. Its return will push you up in her estimation.’

  ‘You like her, don’t you?’

  ‘I do. She’s a rare creature who can adapt to her situation, and is loyal to those who she loves and trusts.’

  Remembering the night he’d spent with his brother at the theatre, Oliver said, ‘Did Alex really love Joanna, or did he marry her for the company, as Tobias requested?’

  James shrugged. ‘I guess we’ll never know that now.’

  9

  The Joanna Rose had cleared her cargo and Edward Staines had reported to the offices of the Durrington Line to complete the necessary paperwork.

  There, he was shocked to discover that the company would dispense with his services after the next voyage, since the clippers were to be auctioned off.

/>   ‘I’m so sorry, Captain,’ the company manager, Henry Wetherall, told him, looking extremely unhappy about the situation he found himself in. Henry had worked for the company since it had first become the Darsham and Morcant Shipping Company, and he knew all the officers well. ‘Lord Durrington has purchased the Green Star Steamship Company, and the clippers are to be auctioned off in the new year, after your return from the next run.’

  ‘And what about my severance pay, as per contract, which still has a year to run.’

  Henry hummed dubiously in his throat. ‘That I’m unable to answer, since your contract was with the former owners of the company and the present owner has his lawyer examining the contracts. I’ll make enquiries on your behalf.’ He gazed nervously around him and lowered his voice. ‘My own position is in doubt too, Captain Staines. The company is financially overextended, and the new owner doesn’t know the shipping business. If any one of the clippers doesn’t make it back to port with a full cargo, God forbid, then Durrington will be plunged into debt . . . and he still has progress payments to make on the new steamer.’

  Swallowing the bad news, Edward strode through the streets to the office of James Stark, before the lawyer finished work for the day.

  The sky overhead was a dismal grey. A light drizzle began to fall, turning the streets into a sticky stew of unsavoury origin.

  Potter lifted his head from his ledger, snapped it shut and sighed. His large, beaky nose pointed directly at Edward and a frown puckered his eyebrows, so they resembled a pair of dark wings outstretched over the bridge. ‘I thought I’d locked the street door.’

  ‘It was unlatched. I have an urgent matter to discuss with Mr Stark.’

  ‘You’re lucky to find him in the office at this time.’ Potter consulted his watch and made a tut-tutting sound as he straightened up on long, thin legs. ‘I’ll announce you.’

  Edward was a sturdy, sensible man of middle years, whose looks could be described as pleasant but unremarkable. Tucking his hat under his arm in a no-nonsense manner he followed the man in without waiting to be invited.

  James rose to his feet, a hand extended in welcome. ‘Captain Staines, to what do I owe this pleasure,’ and he nodded to Potter. ‘You can go if you wish. I’ll lock up.’

  Pouring them a brandy apiece James handed one to Edward as he indicated the client chair. ‘I take it you’re aware that I don’t handle the legal affairs of the company now Durrington has taken it over. I hear he’s selling the clippers. A mistake to put all his eggs in one basket, to my mind.’

  ‘I was informed I’d no longer be needed after the next return run to Australia. Durrington’s going into steam kettles with Green Star.’ This last snippet being said with all the scorn a true sailing man could muster.

  ‘And you’re wondering about your contract, perhaps?’

  Edward took a measured sip of the brandy, gazing appreciatively into his glass. ‘No. It’s nothing to do with my contract, since I learned how to make some money on the side under the tutelage of Thaddeus Scott, and have put a bit by for a rainy day. Besides, once she has cargo Joanna Rose won’t move from her berth under my command until I say so. And that’s when my officers are guaranteed payment.’

  ‘You’re every bit as feisty as Thaddeus Scott.’ James grinned. ‘A pity Oliver isn’t. He’s in dire straights at the moment.’

  ‘Oliver can hold his own, he just goes about things differently. The man hasn’t got a mean bone in his body. He was always generous and I’m sorry he’s down on his luck. I’d trust myself to his seamanship any time.’ Edward lifted his gaze to look the lawyer straight in the eye. ‘I must warn you, James, I have the greatest respect for my former shipmates, as friends and employers.’

  ‘No criticism was implied.’

  ‘Good, because there’s something you need to know.’ Edward drew in a deep breath. ‘I saw Tobias Darsham in Melbourne.’

  Interesting how the lawyer’s hand jerked, but he recovered quickly and said with studied calm, ‘You’re mistaken, Captain. Tobias Darsham has been dead for the past three years. I identified his body myself. So did Alex.’

  Edward smiled slightly. ‘Do you expect me to swallow such bilge? You know as well as I do that the body would have decomposed beyond recognition after all that time, despite the coldness of the water. There’s nothing wrong with my eyesight, James, and neither am I a fool. I know it was Tobias I saw.’

  Giving a chuckle, James said, ‘This is a rather a preposterous tale you bring me. Nobody would believe such a thing.’

  If James thought the captain would be pushed off course, he was mistaken. Edward knew exactly who he’d seen. Tobias had taken off so quickly when he knew he’d been recognized, he’d dispelled any doubts Edward might have harboured. He’d puzzled over the problem on the homeward voyage, wondering why his former employer would want to fake his own death. He’d been unable to reach a credible answer. Now he gave James a level stare, intending to have an answer, even if he had to force the lawyer to part with it. ‘You won’t mind if I tell others of my suspicions, then.’

  James tried to stare him down. ‘To what end? Do you want to break his mother’s heart?’

  ‘You know I don’t. If Tobias chose to disappear it would have been for a perfectly good reason, something beyond his control for him to sacrifice all he held dear. Somebody would have had to conspire with him to bring it about. As his closest friend I’d guess that someone would be you, James, or Thaddeus or Oliver. All three, perhaps?’

  James shrugged.

  ‘Could be it’s none of my business, but I don’t like mysteries. When I observe what’s happened to the company I worked for, and learn of the downfall of the men I admired, I need to know the reason behind it. It’s no good approaching Thaddeus, who’s as close lipped as an oyster. But if you won’t tell me, perhaps Oliver will. I’d be obliged if you’d furnish me with his address, and be warned, James, if you don’t tell me I’ll shake the information out of you.’

  James sighed. ‘Oliver isn’t in London, and he doesn’t know anything.’

  Edward now felt he was getting somewhere. ‘But you do?’

  Reluctantly, James nodded. ‘Since you’re forcing me to break a confidence and a bond of trust, I need to consult with others over this. Have you the time to accompany me to Poole?’

  ‘Aye, I reckon I do. Durrington has cut down on the lay days, but I understand he’s finding cargo hard to come by. As my skills are to be dispensed with, the provisioning of the ship can wait, since he can’t dismiss me twice.’

  ‘After the weekend, then. We’ll take the train and I’ll tell you the whole story on the way down.’

  Satisfied, Edward nodded. He could hold on to his curiosity for a few days longer.

  ‘We’re going to open an academy for young ladies,’ Irene announced towards the end of September. ‘On Saturday mornings we shall show the girls deportment, how to conduct themselves and embroidery. In the afternoon we will teach them how to dance, and provide them with drawing and painting lessons.’

  Joanna stared at the twins, trying not to laugh. ‘You’re the most enterprising pair I’ve ever set eyes on. But where are you to conduct this academy? There isn’t room in the cottage.’

  ‘Reverend Lind has allowed us the use of the church hall for a small fee. And Mrs Lind has offered to help with the art classes. We shall teach Grace to play the piano in return.’

  ‘But what about your other pupils?’

  ‘We can manage the private piano students during the week. We’ll charge by the lesson at the academy.’ Lydia smiled broadly. ‘It will be such fun, and we’ll still be able to help with the work about the house, and look after Toby while you scrub and polish for Mrs Abernathy. Mrs Lind has promised to design some display posters for us to put in shop windows as an advertisement. What do you think?’

  ‘I’m proud of you. I wish your brother was here to see this.’

  ‘Oh, Oliver seems to have abandoned us.’

  I
t was sad that this pair could embrace such a concept so easily, but their bravado hid a deep-seated hurt at the way their mother had treated them, she thought. ‘I’m sure he hasn’t. Perhaps he’s taken up employment and is presently at sea.’

  ‘He could have written to us before he left.’ The pair gazed wryly at her and Irene said, ‘Poor Joanna, having us foisted on to you. Mother always told us we were useless creatures, so I’m sure we must be the most awful nuisances.’

  ‘Stop it,’ she said fiercely. ‘You’re not useless and I love you being here. I know it’s been hard for you to adapt. I admire your spirit. I love you as if you were my sisters, and I don’t know what I would have done without your company and help. So shut up and give me a hug before I clout you.’

  When the pair of them hugged her tight, Joanna choked back a sob, for these lovely girls badly needed to feel wanted. ‘Oliver will come one day, I promise.’

  And just as if wishing had made it happen, he did, the very next day. The three women were enjoying the golden evening as they worked together in the garden for an hour before dinner. But despite the lingering sunshine there was a definite nip in the air. Joanna knew it wouldn’t be long before a fire was needed in the grate and the wind roared around the chimney.

  Since she’d heard no more from Lord Durrington, Joanna had reached the conclusion that he’d thought better of the idea of bringing up Toby as his own. Having relaxed her guard a little, when the gate squeaked noisily on its hinges, her mouth suddenly dried. Her gaze flew to Toby, standing between her and the gate.

  Her heart leaped in fear just as Lydia suddenly shouted out, ‘Oliver! It’s Oliver!’

  The pair dropped their tools and went running across the garden at full tilt to fall upon their brother and hug him tightly as they scolded, ‘We thought you’d abandoned us, too. Lordy, look how thin you’ve become, Ollie. Like a bean pole. We shall have to feed you up.’

  Toby had gone running after them, laughing because he’d sensed the excitement of the moment and wanted to be part of it. He fell flat on his face as he tripped over his feet. He’d just scrambled upright again and taken a step when he tripped over the next tussock.