Homecoming Girls

by Val Wood

  Clara did so and noticed that Jewel was wearing a white cotton nightdress, buttoned up to the neck; not one she had seen before. Jewel’s gown and bonnet were laid neatly on a chair beside the bed.

  A pillow was brought and Jewel settled back against it. ‘Mrs Soong,’ she said to the older woman. ‘Thank you, thank you very much. You have been so kind.’

  Mrs Soong nodded as if she understood and then put her hand to her forehead and bent low, murmuring something they didn’t understand. The young woman who had spoken previously said hesitatingly, ‘My mother wishes to speak to you, but her English is not good. Please, you allow Pinyin to come inside?’

  Clara took off her shawl and wrapped it round Jewel’s shoulders. ‘You are quite respectable, Jewel,’ she murmured. ‘And these are exceptional circumstances. I think you should allow Pinyin to come in.’

  ‘Of course,’ Jewel said without hesitation. ‘I would like to thank Mrs Soong properly.’

  Pinyin was brought in and Mrs Soong spoke rapidly to him and then knelt on the floor, touching her forehead to the wooden boards several times. At a word from Pinyin she got up again and came to stand by Jewel’s bed.

  Pinyin cleared his throat. ‘Soong Daiyu wishes me to tell you that they found you injured in the street. You were brought here to her home so that no further harm should befall you.’

  ‘Please thank her for me, Pinyin,’ Jewel murmured. ‘I’m so grateful.’

  Pinyin nodded. ‘There is more,’ he said gravely. ‘Soong Daiyu is my sister.’ He waved his hand to indicate the young women. ‘These are my nieces, and Soong Chen, whom you saw earlier and who came to find me, is my nephew.’

  ‘Please thank them all,’ Clara said. ‘If we can do anything to repay their kindness—’

  Pinyin gave a slight bow. ‘That will not be necessary, Miss Clara.’ He took a breath. ‘There is more.’

  Jewel gazed at him with parted lips. She did not feel well. Her head ached and although she longed to leave, more than anything she wanted to lie down again and sleep.

  ‘What, Pinyin?’ Clara asked. ‘Is Miss Jewel not well enough to leave?’

  ‘My sister thinks one more day of rest and then she will be ready.’

  Soong Daiyu again spoke to Pinyin and he answered impatiently, then adding, ‘Yes. Yes. In a moment.’

  ‘Is there something wrong, Pinyin?’ Clara asked softly. ‘Something troubles you.’

  ‘Oh, no, Miss Clara,’ Pinyin gave her a rare smile. ‘Not at all. On the contrary. I am only thinking of the best way in which to impart the knowledge that I have.’

  ‘What knowledge?’Jewel asked, and looked at Soong Daiyu, who had come closer. ‘What is it?’

  ‘Only that this is a great time for rejoicing.’ He nodded his head gently as he spoke.

  ‘I don’t understand,’Jewel said faintly. ‘What is it you’re saying?’

  Soong Daiyu took Jewel’s hand in her own. ‘Little Gem,’ she said softly, and her English was quite clear. ‘Little Gem.’

  Jewel gazed with wide dark eyes at Pinyin. ‘What does she mean? Pinyin! What do you mean?’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  ‘I don’t understand,’Jewel repeated. ‘My name is Jewel. Who named me? My mother died when I was a baby.’

  ‘Yes,’ Pinyin agreed. ‘She did. There is a long story to tell. Will you permit for Lorenzo to come in, please?’

  Jewel glanced from one to another and wrapped Clara’s shawl tighter about her. ‘I’m not sure. Is it all right to do so, Clara?’

  ‘No, I think not,’ Clara answered steadily. ‘He is a friend, but of only a short acquaintance. It would not be seemly.’

  Pinyin bowed. ‘I understand. I ask only because Lorenzo is part of the story.’

  ‘Then we’ll tell him of it at some other time,’ Clara said firmly and wondered if she was being absurd, but better to be cautious, she thought, than regret it later. It was different for Pinyin because he was part of this family.

  ‘How do you fit into this story, Pinyin?’ she asked, encouraging him to begin.

  He sat cross-legged on the floor and Soong Daiyu sat on the edge of the bed like a small bird waiting to be fed.

  ‘I met your mother Tsui when she was straight off the ship from Hong Kong,’ he said to Jewel. ‘I was working on the docks as a coolie and saw her trying to come down the gang board. She had stowed away and was edging through the passengers. One of the seamen saw her and shouted for her to stop but she fled off the ship on to the dock side. I called to her; she ran towards me and I took her and hid her. There were many young girls in those days who came without a ticket. They didn’t know how dangerous it was to be on their own. Sometimes it was worse for them here than in China.’

  Jewel put her fingers to her mouth and nibbled on them. Mrs Soong, almost automatically, took hold of them and clasped Jewel’s hands with her own.

  ‘I kept her hidden until I had finished my shift and then brought her to my sister’s house. I knew she would keep her safe.’

  Keepsafe. Keepsafe. Those were the words Mrs Soong had used, Jewel remembered.

  Mrs Soong spoke to Pinyin, who nodded. ‘My sister says to tell you that Tsui was like one of her own daughters. She – Tsui – told me of her life before coming to America. She was from a poor family living in the village of Shenzhen in Guangdong province, where they worked in the paddy fields and barely earned a living. It was very hard for them and so her father could perhaps be forgiven for what he planned to do.’

  ‘Which was?’ Clara breathed.

  ‘This is how Tsui told it to me,’ he explained. ‘Her father was always involved in politics. He thought that it was the only way to rise above poverty. He obtained work in the capital of Guangzhou, where he met a gang master who was involved in rebellion against the West. The Taiping rebellion took place in Guangdong province,’ he added. ‘This man promised Tsui’s father heaven and earth and, especially riches; the price to be paid was for him to give him his daughter, Tsui, in marriage. She was fourteen. The man was fifty.’

  Jewel drew in a breath and licked her lips. ‘And what happened?’

  ‘When her father came back to his village to tell her to prepare herself for marriage, she ran away. The first time she was caught and beaten. The second time she was brought back, he threatened that if she didn’t marry this man he would sell her to the highest bidder and she would not have the privilege of marriage. The third time she ran away she dressed in her brother’s clothes and headed north towards Hong Kong.’

  Pinyin became pensive. ‘It must have been very difficult for her,’ he murmured. ‘It is a very long way.’ He sighed. ‘But she couldn’t stay in Guangdong as her father would have had people looking for her. She spent a year and a half travelling, working for her food, and eventually reached Hong Kong. She had heard as she travelled of the many men who had headed for California to work in the gold fields and on the railroads, and although she couldn’t do that kind of work she thought that perhaps there would be something she could do if only she could reach America.’

  Jewel felt as if she couldn’t breathe. How brave Tsui had been! She couldn’t think of her yet as her mother, for she had been so young, not much more than a child.

  ‘She was such a little thing,’ Pinyin said softly. ‘I recall the first time I saw her, I thought she was only a child. She was so frail; she had had so little to eat. And yet she was strong in spirit. And so—’ He lifted his head and looked at them. It was as if he had been away on a journey and had just returned. ‘She asked at Hong Kong about the ships and heard of one sailing to San Francisco; she managed to smuggle herself on board.’ He shrugged. ‘The rest you know.’

  ‘No,’ Jewel said. ‘I don’t know. What happened after you found her and brought her to Soong Daiyu?’

  ‘She got work,’ he said. ‘Mainly in hotels and bars. As a cleaner,’ he added. ‘Never behind the counter. She always wanted to be – unobtrusive. I think she was afraid of being found out and shipp
ed home again.’

  Jewel shook her head. How sad. She looked up at Pinyin and thought that although he seemed impassive, there was a yearning on his face.

  ‘And then,’ he said softly, ‘and then she met the Englishman.’

  Soong Daiyu broke in and Pinyin apologized. ‘Excuse me. Soong Daiyu says that I tire you. I must finish the tale another day.’

  ‘Oh, but—’ Jewel began, and then realized that they were right. She was very tired. It was enough for one day. ‘Will you stay, Clara, or will you go back to the hotel?’

  Clara looked round the small room. ‘I think if you don’t mind, Jewel, I will ask Lorenzo to take me back to the hotel. I feel quite exhausted. It has been such a long day. You’ll be all right, won’t you?’

  ‘Yes.’Jewel smiled. ‘Mrs Soong has been so kind that I think I should stay. I don’t want to rush away and hurt her feelings; and I feel there is much more to be told.’

  And Mrs Soong told her of things which she couldn’t understand. She gave her a cup of fragrant tea and held her hand and murmured in her sing-song voice while she smoothed her hair and cheek until finally Jewel drifted off to sleep, a dreamless sleep, deep and satisfying, unlike any sleep she had had before, in which she felt at ease and sheltered as if she were a child again.

  Lorenzo was sitting on the doorstep waiting for them and jumped to his feet when Pinyin opened the door.

  Clara told him that Jewel would be staying the night with Mrs Soong, and some of what they had gleaned. ‘There is much more to know,’ she said. ‘Not everything has been told to us. Lorenzo, would you be kind enough to escort me back to the hotel?’

  ‘You must come back with me to the restaurant,’ he said. ‘We have plenty of room and my mother would be upset if you didn’t. And you must be hungry. When did you last eat?’

  ‘I can’t remember,’ she said. ‘But I can’t stay. I have no clothes with me.’

  ‘Tch, as my mother would say.’ He smiled. ‘Besides, I am desperate to know what was said behind closed doors that I wasn’t privy to.’

  ‘If you’re sure your mother won’t mind.’ Although Clara was tired, she was quite glad to be going back to some friendly company rather than an empty hotel room.

  ‘She won’t mind,’ he promised. ‘And then tomorrow we can come back and fetch Jewel back home.’

  Clara agreed. ‘Pinyin has disappeared,’ she said as they walked back down the main street of Chinatown. ‘And so, it seems, has Federico.’

  ‘Yes,’ Lorenzo said shortly. ‘Pinyin has gone back to the restaurant.’

  ‘And Federico?’

  ‘Who knows?’ Lorenzo shrugged. ‘Who cares? It doesn’t matter, we can get a cab.’

  As they sat in the cab taking them back up the hill to the Gallis’ restaurant, Clara felt the rustle of paper inside her skirt pocket. In the flurry and disorder of the evening she had forgotten her mother’s letter. She clutched it with her fingers but decided she would read it later.

  Maria Galli received her exuberantly, yet anxiously. ‘Avanti. Avanti!’ To Lorenzo she let forth a stream of voluble Italian that Clara couldn’t understand; Lorenzo replied as they were hurried in and Clara heard Soong Daiyu’s name mentioned several times, to which Maria exclaimed, ‘Grazie a Dio. Molti grazie.’ Turning to Clara, she clapped her hands together and said, ‘Mrs Soong, she is good woman.’

  Clara nodded and sank down into the nearest chair. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I believe that she is.’

  A glass of red wine was brought to her and she sipped slowly, being unused to alcohol, but she felt the warmth of it trickling down her throat and slowly relaxing her.

  ‘Where’s Pinyin?’ she asked Lorenzo when he came to sit beside her, bringing with him a plate of titbits for her to eat.

  ‘Back in the kitchen.’ He grinned. ‘There are very many dishes to wash.’ He heaved a great sigh. ‘I just can’t tell you, Clara, how very relieved I am to know that Jewel is safe. Pinyin is such a good fellow. I knew he wouldn’t let us down.’

  ‘Yes,’ Clara said thoughtfully. ‘It was incredible that he should find her so quickly.’

  ‘It was Soong Chen who found her,’ Lorenzo reminded her. ‘I know him slightly. He comes here sometimes to speak to Pinyin, but I didn’t realize they were family.’

  ‘And how odd that they recognized Jewel’s name,’ Clara said.

  Pinyin seemed to appear out of nowhere, but suddenly he was there in front of them bearing a large bowl of soup. He placed the bowl on the table and bowed low to Clara.

  ‘Tomorrow,’ he said, ‘Miss Jewel will hear the full story, but we have always known her English name, Miss Clara, and she gave it to Soong Chen when he asked her, so that he could trace her friends.’

  ‘Of course,’ she said faintly, but that seemed too simple; how, she wondered? How had they known Jewel’s English name?

  She ate the soup and fresh bread and shortly afterwards asked if she might go to bed; a room had been hastily prepared for her by Maria and she was aching to lie down and rest. Her head was buzzing with the day’s events and also she wanted to read her mother’s letter and learn the news of home.

  She undressed and put on the voluminous nightgown that Maria had put out for her; a soft white towel, warm clean water in a jug and a basin stood on an old-fashioned washstand.

  She climbed into the bed with a deep sigh. Propping a pillow behind her, she began to read the letter.

  My dearest Clara, it began. So much appears to be happening both here and where you are. My news is that Uncle Wilhelm has left for America. He was very concerned about the fire in Yeller and to know that you were both safe.

  Clara turned over the envelope to look at the date on which it was sent, but it was obscured. She continued reading.

  On hearing from him that you and Jewel had left to continue your journey to California, Aunt Gianna decided that she too would travel to Dreumel’s Creek to be with him. Her escort on the journey was Dan Hanson.

  Clara gasped. How cross Jewel would be!

  However, I think it’s not all to do with Jewel, but that he and his father had quarrelled and Dan decided to strike out for himself and asked Gianna if he could travel with her. Aunt Ruby, of course, is very anxious about him.

  She went on about other happenings in the town and ended by saying that she was expecting a visit from Elizabeth that afternoon and so would write again soon.

  ‘Mama may consider that Dan’s journey is not all to do with Jewel,’ Clara murmured to herself. ‘But I would say that it is.’

  She heaved a sigh and slid down beneath the sheets. Jewel will not want Dan here, especially not now when she is on the verge of finding out more about her background. But, most especially, not now that she and Lorenzo have rediscovered each other. Dan is the last person on earth that Jewel will want here.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Hull

  The day after posting the letter to Clara, Grace put on her bonnet and took a warm shawl from the cupboard. The days were getting colder, autumn leaves were falling fast and there was a tang in the wind as it blew in from the estuary, a sharpness which gave a tingle to the nostrils, a reminder of the saltiness of the sea from whence it came. Winter will soon be upon us and the year will be gone, Grace thought. A slight smile played around her mouth. And what will the New Year bring?

  Something good. Ever optimistic, Grace felt a fluttering of excitement. An excitement which had begun the day before with the news that Elizabeth had brought with her. And Clara will surely be home by then, she thought. She will be able to share in the joy.

  She walked across town to visit Ruby, for she had to tell someone and Elizabeth had said that she might, knowing that her mother would want to confide in her oldest and dearest friend.

  But Ruby wasn’t in. The house and shop were shut. A notice on the shop door said that it would be open at two o’clock.

  So where is she, Grace wondered? Shopping? Or at the workshop helping with the orders and the packing as
she sometimes did? She turned away from the corner of the Land of Green Ginger, retraced her steps and headed for Trinity House Lane and the warehouse close by Holy Trinity Church where Daniel and his sons built their toys and nursery chairs and tables and anything else that small children required.

  She pushed open the door and went inside. Grace had been a regular visitor since the very early days when Daniel had first set up in business, so there was no need to knock or make an appointment. She was a welcome caller at any time.

  At first no one seemed to be about, but then she heard someone whistling. ‘Hello,’ she called. ‘Is anyone there? Daniel! Thomas!’

  Ahead of her was an office partition, built of plywood but with large windows so that anyone within could see out into the warehouse space. A head popped up. Thomas. She smiled. He must have been sitting down and not seen or heard the door open.

  ‘Thomas. Hello. I didn’t mean to disturb you. I’m looking for your mother. She’s not at home.’

  He came to the office door to greet her. ‘No, she’s not. She’s gone to Beverley with Da. I said she should let him go alone, let his misery keep him company. But you know Ma.’ Thomas grinned as he spoke. ‘He’ll have to come out of his strop sooner or later. Will you come in and sit down for a bit?’

  She smiled and agreed. Thomas was nearly always cheerful. If he had any worries he kept them to himself.

  ‘Is he still cross about Dan going away?’

  ‘I think he’s angrier with himself,’ Thomas said thoughtfully. ‘Reading between ’lines, I reckon he wishes he’d been more understanding.’ He pulled a chair away from a drawing table and invited her to sit down. On the table was a sheet of paper with drawings on it.

  ‘I’ve disturbed you,’ she said. ‘You’re busy.’

  ‘No. No, it’s fairly quiet at ’minute. Apprentice is out at ’back making up some boxes for ’next delivery and I’m just thinking of what we might do for Christmas. We need to have something a bit different so I’m just doodling – well, trying to boost trade if I’m honest. Da seems to have tekken a back seat since Dan left.’ He grinned again. ‘Lost ’will to live if you ask me. No, I’m joking,’ he said, seeing her frown. ‘But he doesn’t seem to have his heart in ’business any more.’