by Evie Grace
‘It would take far too long, my love,’ Pa said gently. ‘As soon as we reached Whitstable, it would be time to turn round and walk back.’
Rose tried to brush the black smuts from her dress.
‘Don’t do that,’ Ma scolded. ‘You’ll make it ten times worse. Oh, Oliver, why did you bring us on this trip?’
Rose gazed out of the window as they travelled on through South Street where the leafy hop bines were climbing the chestnut poles in the hop gardens, and the apples and pears were ripening on the trees in the orchards.
‘When are we going to get there?’ Minnie asked.
‘Very soon,’ Pa said. ‘It takes but twenty minutes from Canterbury to Whitstable. Arthur, you have got the tickets in your pocket?’
‘Yes, Pa.’ Arthur had wanted to spend the day with his sweetheart, but she was otherwise engaged with last-minute preparations for the wedding. Her ma was already wielding power over her future son-in-law, deciding that it wasn’t appropriate for him to be present at discussions about the contents of Tabby’s bottom drawer.
They reached Whitstable and disembarked. As they walked past the engine with its boiler gleaming and breathing steam, Rose was reminded of a picture of a dragon she had once seen in a book. The colourful advertisements for bathing machines and refreshments, and the sharp salt scent of the sea added to her sense that she had stepped into a fairy tale.
Ma put up her parasol and had Rose retie the ribbons on her bonnet before they left the station to walk along the hilltop lawns of Tankerton Slopes. Pa pointed out The Street, a strip of shingle on a clay bank which ran out to sea at right angles to the coast; Tankerton Tower, a castle with a bell tower and lodge; and the windmill on Borstal Hill. Rose turned back to the horizon where the sky met the water. The tide was low and there was a vast expanse of beach at her feet. The sun glinted off the water and glistened off the sand, and a flock of seagulls flew in low above their heads.
‘Oliver, are you unwell?’ Ma said suddenly.
Rose turned to look at her father and frowned as she noticed a bead of sweat dropping from the end of his nose.
‘I have a touch of the ague, that’s all,’ he said with a shiver. ‘I took some tincture of willow bark for it before breakfast this morning. Don’t worry – the sea air is making me feel better already.’
‘We should have stayed at home,’ Ma said.
‘How could I be so selfish when I knew how much you were all looking forward to our day out? Really, Agnes, a trip to the seaside is just what the doctor would have ordered.’
‘Please may we paddle in the sea?’ Minnie asked.
‘We can hire a bathing machine so Ma can swim,’ Pa said, making a joke as if to prove he was perfectly well.
‘Oh no, Oliver,’ Ma said. ‘I couldn’t possibly. You know I have a fear of drowning. And it isn’t seemly to be seen without one’s clothes in public.’
‘You wouldn’t be in your birthday suit,’ Pa went on.
‘Let’s hurry,’ Rose said, embarrassed at hearing her father talk of nakedness. She couldn’t wait to get away and explore the beach.
They crossed the road and joined the other families and couples who were already on the shingle and sand with their chairs and blankets. Ma took some time to choose a spot she was happy with.
‘We mustn’t risk being left at the mercy of the tide when it turns,’ she kept saying.
‘We will be perfectly safe here,’ Arthur reassured her. ‘We will have plenty of warning.’
‘Ma, I’m peckish,’ Donald said, unfolding the deck-chairs.
‘We will eat later,’ Ma replied as Pa sat down.
‘Can’t we have a little something now? We’ve brought enough food for an army,’ Donald asked as Rose and Minnie took off their shoes and stockings. They always had the best shoes in Canterbury, according to Pa who polished them every Sunday and left them in a row inside the front door ready for the rest of the week.
‘You heard what your ma said,’ Pa said sharply.
It was unusual for him, Rose thought. She wondered if the sea air was actually disagreeing with him instead of having the desired effect.
‘Come on, Minnie.’ She picked up her parasol, opened it and danced across the beach, twirling it above her head with the twins laughing as they ran alongside her. They left three rows of footprints behind them, among the curly worm casts, cockles and razor shells scattered across the flat sand.
Rose hesitated when she reached the water, letting the almost imperceptible waves lap at her toes before hitching up her skirts and wading in up to her ankles and then her calves. She watched a young woman emerge from a bathing machine into the sea a little further out, her body covered by a shapeless gown. She wished she could swim and splash about in the waves, but she knew that Ma would never allow it.
Minnie soon tired of paddling, and turned her attention to building a sandcastle with a moat with her bare hands and a piece of driftwood. Rose joined her to decorate it with shells and pebbles. As they sat back on their heels to admire their handiwork, Donald placed a dead starfish on the top.
Minnie screamed.
‘Hush,’ Rose said. ‘You are drawing attention to us. Donald, what did you do that for? I think you have deliberately set out to upset your sisters.’ But all he did was laugh. ‘Sometimes I despair of you,’ she went on, but Minnie’s face was such a picture that Rose burst out laughing too, and eventually Minnie joined in.
Something caught Rose’s eye further up the beach. Arthur was waving at them. She waved back. He began to holler, but she couldn’t hear what he was saying.
‘We should go and see if everything is all right,’ she said. ‘Come on, Minnie. And you, Donald.’
They walked back across the sand to find Arthur offering Pa a drink of lemonade.
‘Our father isn’t well,’ he said, looking up as Pa refused it with a shake of his head before he pressed a handkerchief to his mouth and coughed.
‘Is that blood?’ Ma’s eyes were wide with alarm at the sight of the drops of scarlet soaking into the white cloth. ‘It is, isn’t it? You’ve burst a blood vessel.’
Pa couldn’t deny it.
‘It’s only a small one,’ he muttered.
‘You are unwell. You must see a physician,’ Ma said.
‘I don’t think so, not for a scratchy throat and a touch of the ague. I’m not saying that all medical men are quacks, but—’
‘Promise me for my peace of mind that you will call Doctor Norris,’ Ma interrupted.
‘Oh, you are such a nag,’ he said lightly, but his words disappeared into another wracking cough. ‘This will pass, but I promise if I’m still bad in the morning, I’ll send for him. It will pain me to do so, though, considering his charges.’
‘You mustn’t think about the bill – you can’t put a price on your health. Oliver, we should go straight home.’
‘Oh Ma, do we have to?’ Minnie whined.
‘It seems a shame to hurry back when we’ve only just got here,’ Donald added.
‘We should go back if that is Pa’s wish,’ Rose said.
‘I don’t want to spoil our day,’ Pa decided. ‘We will make the most of our tickets. Ma and I will retire to the tearoom – I’ll feel better when I’m out of the sun. Meet us there at four o’clock.’
‘Are you sure?’ Ma said, helping Donald pack their belongings and fold the chairs.
‘Absolutely.’ As Pa stood up, he seemed to lose his balance and totter into Arthur, who grabbed him by the arm and steadied him. ‘Thank you, son.’
‘What about the picnic?’ Donald asked.
‘You take the basket,’ Ma said. ‘Your father seems to have lost his appetite, and to be honest, so have I.’
Rose, Arthur and the twins ate their food on the beach, then walked along the seafront where they bought a pot of winkles from one of the stalls.
‘Oh, I don’t like the look of those,’ Minnie exclaimed, when Donald offered her the contents of a shell on the end of a
pin.
‘I’m not sure either,’ Rose said.
‘I dare you,’ Donald challenged her. ‘Cowardy-custard,’ he went on when she refused.
‘Don’t call me that,’ she cried, a little hurt. She wasn’t a coward. ‘I’ll have it.’ She took the winkle and ate it, pleasantly surprised by its salty flavour, although not so keen on its texture.
‘Another one?’ Donald asked.
She declined.
‘I’ll ’ave them then.’ Arthur snatched the pot from Donald’s grasp and whisked it out of his reach. They laughed and scuffled until they reached a crowd of people standing on the pavement with their backs to them.
‘What’s going on?’ Minnie asked, and Donald bundled his way through, taking Rose and Minnie with him.
‘It’s Punch and Judy,’ Arthur said from behind them. Rose noticed him searching in his pocket for coins to pay the bottler who was collecting the money from the audience in payment for watching the performance, before she turned her attention to the brightly coloured booth which stood in front of them.
‘That’s the way to do it!’ Mr Punch, a hunchback with a hooked nose, threatened to hurt puppet Judy with a stick. The crowd booed him as he received his comeuppance.
‘I don’t like it, Rose.’ Minnie slipped her hand through her sister’s and Rose gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze.
‘Don’t worry. Nobody is that mean in real life,’ she whispered, but she couldn’t help thinking of Baxter’s pa. There were people like Mr Punch out there – she could only hope that their dear, innocent Minnie never came across one of them.
When the show was over, Arthur checked the pocket watch that Ma and Pa had given him on his twenty-first birthday and pronounced that it was time to meet their parents. They headed over to the tearoom, and Rose was pleased to find that Pa seemed no worse. The family wended their way along Squeeze Gut Alley before reaching the station.
‘My feet are killing me,’ Ma said, pausing to catch her breath before they got back on the train. ‘I can’t wait to be home.’
‘I feel the same,’ Pa said quietly. ‘It’s been a monsterful day, but I am worn out.’
Rose began to look forward to going to school the next morning and counting down the days until Arthur and Tabby’s nuptials. The sun was still shining when they arrived home and it seemed that their family had been favoured above all others, on a pinnacle of happiness.
Chapter Four
The Power of Love
Rose walked up the path to Willow Place with her family, the taste of salt on her lips and the smell of soot in her nostrils. Donald broke away and started running towards the ducklings and their mother who were waddling across the lawn.
Ma called him back. ‘You leave God’s creatures alone! What are you thinking?’
‘I’m sorry, Ma,’ Donald said, hanging his head. ‘I won’t do it again.’
‘I’ll fetch them some bread,’ Rose said.
‘Don’t you go wasting good food on ducks when they can fend for themselves,’ Arthur said.
‘I’ll use the stale crusts.’
‘Oh no, Mrs Dunn will want them for a bread pudding,’ Ma said. ‘Waste not, want not.’
Pa went on ahead to open the front door. As Rose and the others stepped inside, Jane came rushing through from the parlour, seeming flustered.
‘Mr Cheevers, a stranger has called. Although I felt uneasy, he expressed a firm insistence that he was closely acquainted with you and Arthur, so I’ve taken the liberty of allowing him to wait indoors for you.’ She paused for breath. ‘I hope I did right.’
‘Oh, look what happens when the cat’s away. It could be any old beggar or vagabond walking in off the street,’ Ma scolded as Arthur brushed past her and disappeared into the parlour. ‘Jane, I’m sorry for sounding harsh – I’m a little flustered.’
‘I used my initiative. I would have asked, but you were out when he turned up.’
‘Oh, Bert,’ Rose heard Arthur’s voice. ‘Is it really you? After all these years? What … Pinch me so I can believe it. Ouch. Not that hard.’
‘Bert? Not Bert Fortune? He came!’ Ma exclaimed. ‘Oh, my dears! Jane, lay another place at the table for dinner tonight.’
‘It is only cold meats and potatoes as you requested,’ Jane said.
‘It doesn’t matter. We will open a bottle of wine to celebrate.’
Rose followed Ma and the rest of the family into the parlour where Arthur was embracing another man of very similar appearance to him – apart from being heavier around the jowls, and having a large paunch beneath his colourful silk waistcoat.
‘Meet Bert, my brother,’ Arthur said, grinning.
‘It is wonderful to see you again,’ Pa said, taking a seat.
‘Mrs Cheevers found me. I don’t know how she did it,’ Bert smiled. ‘She is quite the sleuth.’
Arthur turned to Ma.
‘Your aunt and I put our heads together and put an advertisement in the newspapers in the places we thought Bert might be. We knew he’d gone into bricklaying so we made an educated guess.’
‘My wife saw the notice. She said, Bert, there’s someone looking for you. At first, I worried that it was something to do with the reason I left Can’erbury, but she read it out to me in full and I knew then it was to do with you, Mrs Cheevers.’
‘Why didn’t you write to me before?’ Arthur asked. ‘Why haven’t you kept in touch?’
‘You know why.’ Bert looked somewhat embarrassed. ‘I never l’arned to do no more than make my mark.’
‘You could have sent word somehow.’ Arthur paused and cleared his throat. ‘You know that our dear mother, Mrs Fortune …’ He glanced towards Ma as if to check how she felt about him talking of their dead mother.
Bert nodded. Rose wasn’t sure about him. He was older than Arthur and dressed in clothes that were more about looks than quality. He had an ostentatious gold chain dangling from his pocket, his hair was gleaming, and the ends of his moustache were neatly curled. He was like a man who had suddenly acquired money and didn’t know what to do with it.
‘I called on Mrs Hamilton – she told me of Ma’s passing. How you found her dead in her bed and Mr Cheevers paid for her funeral, then took you in.’ He paused to clear his throat. ‘I’m very sorry for running away, Arthur. I wish … oh, what’s the use of wishing? You can’t turn the clock back.’
‘She worked herself into an early grave. She dragged that laundry up and down them stairs, and put it through the mangle outside in rain, ice and snow. And her heart broke with worry for you.’ Arthur’s voice softened. ‘I don’t blame you, though, Bert. She wouldn’t have wanted us to be at each other’s throats. She always thought fondly of you, even after you left.’
‘I didn’t deserve it.’ Bert’s voice cracked. ‘I was a ruffian and ne’er-do-well.’
‘She would have been proud to see her sons now,’ Ma said gently. ‘Who would have thought it, two trimmin’s boys who have grown into such fine young gentlemen?’ She turned to her daughters. ‘Go and get changed. Quickly.’
The family and their guest reconvened around the dining-room table a short while later.
‘It isn’t every day that an old friend turns up at Willow Place,’ Pa said as Arthur poured wine and Jane served lemonade. ‘Bert, tell us how long you are intending to remain in Canterbury?’
‘Until the day after Arthur’s wedding. That’s why I’m here. I have a room at the Rose, the hotel opposite the Corn Exchange.’
‘Oh, but you must stay with us,’ Pa said.
‘Thank you, but I have already made arrangements.’
‘So you have made your fortune if you can afford to stay there?’ Arthur asked.
‘Not a fortune exactly, but a comfortable living, better than anything I could have dreamed of. When I left here – under a cloud, I admit – I had a bit of luck. I talked my way into an apprenticeship as a bricklayer, went up through the ranks and now I’m foreman for a building company.’
&
nbsp; ‘You said you were married.’ Arthur sipped at his wine.
‘Oh yes, I have a loving wife and four children, two boys and two girls.’
‘You will have to bring them to see us,’ Ma said. ‘We would love to meet them.’
‘And one day you will. Perhaps you might honour us with a visit sometime. We have plenty of room for guests.’ Bert continued solemnly, ‘I never thought that I’d live in a house with four bedrooms. Can you believe that, Arthur? We have four rooms for sleeping in!’
‘Do help yourselves to food.’ Pa gestured towards the platter of cold beef and ham, and the bowl of steaming hot potatoes. ‘Oh dear, I’m forgetting my manners. Who will say grace? I am not up to it. I haven’t the strength.’ His voice wavered, and for the first time Rose was touched by a sense of dread. Pa wasn’t right at all.
‘I’m dying to meet this young lady of yours,’ Bert said, addressing Arthur.
‘She is just like any young lady,’ Donald sighed. ‘They are all the same, only interested in dresses and such.’ He stared at Rose and Minnie. ‘Ouch,’ he exclaimed when Rose kicked him under the table.
‘Decorum, Rose,’ Pa said. ‘And Donald, you must refrain from expressing these ridiculous and unfounded opinions. You know how it upsets your ma and sisters.’
Rose regretted being caught in the act, but as far as she was concerned, Donald had deserved it.
Pa drank a whole glass of lemonade then mopped his brow with a napkin.
‘I think you should be in bed, Oliver,’ Ma said. ‘You look completely done in.’
‘You’ll be able to spend more time with Bert tomorrow,’ Arthur said.
‘You’re right. If you don’t mind, I shall retire early. The sun was too hot for me today, and the soots have got into my lungs.’
Ma reached across the table and touched her husband’s forehead with the back of her hand just like Rose remembered her doing to Minnie whenever she’d been unwell. She wondered if they had been looking in the wrong direction, worrying about her sister, not Pa.
‘You have a fever. We’ll send for the doctor first thing in the morning, if you’re no better.’
