A Maiden's Voyage

by Rosie Goodwin

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  By the beginning of June the place had been totally transformed and was almost ready to be opened. Colleen had spent a whole day scraping the grease from the range and black-leading it while Flora tackled whitewashing the walls in the café. Every single window in the place gleamed, allowing the light to stream in and although they hadn’t been able to afford to replace the rather tatty tables and chairs, even they had been given a new lease of life. Jia Li had painted the chairs white and stitched some pretty red-and-white gingham fabric, which Flora had bought at the market for a snip, into tablecloths that gave the room a cosy feel. Flora and Colleen were pleased to see her up and about again doing what she could to help, but it was clear that she had lost some of her sparkle and they could only hope that it would return in time. She was quiet and lethargic but then they supposed they should have expected that after the ordeal Huan had put her through.

  ‘I swear I’d put a knife t’rough him without giving it a second thought, so I would!’ Colleen stated angrily one day as her fiery Irish temper came to the fore.

  ‘And then you’d wind up in prison,’ Flora pointed out. ‘Far better to let nature take its course. My ma was a great believer that what goes around comes around. He’ll get his comeuppance one of these days.’

  They had worked tirelessly to get the place ready for opening and had even had a new sign painted above the door which stated it was now ‘The Little Tea Shop’ in red letters to match the décor inside. Both Colleen and Jia Li had wanted it to be called ‘Flora’s Tea Shop’, after all, as they’d pointed out, it was almost all of her money that had gone into it, but Flora wouldn’t hear of it, insisting that this was a joint venture.

  Now they were so close to being ready, the girls sat discussing when exactly the best day to open would be.

  ‘How about we aim for next Monday as the opening day?’ Flora suggested. ‘That would give us time to do all the odd jobs that are left to do and buy the food in.’

  ‘I reckon we could manage that,’ Colleen agreed, wiping a stray red curl from her forehead, while Jia Li simply nodded. She didn’t show much interest in anything anymore.

  ‘Excellent, then we’ll need to make a list of what food we need to buy in and we can start preparing some things on Sunday, like the curry for instance. It will keep overnight in the larder on the cold slab and then on Monday, if anyone wants it we can just warm it up. We need to talk about menus too and then it will be just trial and error until we can get an idea of what sells the best. The good thing is that anything that doesn’t sell we can eat ourselves so it won’t go to waste.’

  ‘Well, I could do a batch of muffins and another of scones, they usually go down well, and of course we’ll need to supply bacon and sausage sandwiches and such. I’ve an inkling that’s the sort of grub the sailors’ll be after. An’ perhaps you could do a big pan of your delicious stew an’ dumplings. I’m t’inking it’ll be best not to do too much till we know what the demand is.’

  ‘I suppose you’re right,’ Flora agreed, suddenly nervous. ‘That’s if we have any customers!’

  ‘Goodness me will you just listen to her!’ Colleen said with a shake of her head. ‘Sure, this place will be a little gold mine by the time we’ve finished, but I was t’inking perhaps we ought to do something to encourage people in on the first day.’

  ‘Such as what?’

  ‘Hmm.’ Colleen stared thoughtfully up at the freshly painted ceiling for a moment before suggesting, ‘How about we offer a free cup of tea or coffee with every meal that’s bought? People like to t’ink they’re getting somet’ing for not’ing, but if they like us they’ll come back and hopefully tell their friends about us, wit’ a bit o’ luck!’

  ‘That’s a really good idea.’ Flora clapped her hands and smiled as she surveyed their little empire just as a tap came on the door. It was Dora Casey and Flora hurried over to let the woman in. Once inside she stood there as if she could hardly believe her eyes before declaring, ‘Why, if I hadn’t seen it meself I’d never have believed it. You’ve done wonders with the place, girls, fair credit to you all.’

  ‘Come and see the upstairs rooms,’ Flora invited and Dora was only too happy to oblige.

  As she moved towards the stairs, Dora noted the shining range in the kitchen, the freshly mopped floors and sparkling windows. Even the large oak table in the centre of the room had been scrubbed until it was almost white. The best of the pans they had salvaged had been scoured until they shone and now hung gleaming above the range, and on the shelves was displayed a range of cheap but cheerful mugs, plates and dishes for the customers use. The yard outside had also undergone a transformation and was as neat and clean as a new pin.

  She puffed her way up the stairs, which were now cobweb-free and scrubbed clean, to the rooms above. ‘Why, you’ve done wonders, girl,’ she said in amazement as they entered what was now the sitting room. The old chairs, which Flora had painstakingly recovered, stood at either side of the fireplace and now that the chimney had been swept there was a cheery fire in the grate. The old table boasted a pretty chenille-fringed tablecloth and Jai Li had painted the wooden chairs so that they looked almost brand new. In fact, every piece of the old furniture they had found up there had either been painted or polished to a high shine.

  ‘Actually, I was thinking you look rather dapper yourself,’ Flora told Dora and the woman blushed prettily as she self-consciously patted her new mauve hat which sported a rather fine peacock feather that wafted about with every turn of her head. She was wearing a fitted mauve jacket to match and beneath it a deep-purple day dress which flattered her ample figure. Flora had never seen her look so nice.

  ‘Well, the thing is I’ve got a bit o’ time to make the best of meself now, ain’t I?’ Dora giggled like a schoolgirl. ‘I’m on me way into the city to treat meself to a few more new togs. Me an me old man are off on holiday for a month then. It’ll be the first we’ve had for over ten years so I’m feeling like all me birthdays an’ Christmases have come at once. I feel like I’ve been given a new lease o’ life but while I was passing I thought I’d just pop in and see how you were getting on.’

  ‘We’re hoping to be ready for opening on Monday,’ Flora confided. ‘But while you’re here, Dora, I wonder if I could pick your brain? It’s about pricing, actually. You see, I’ve no idea what I should be charging for what.’

  ‘Why, bless your soul, that’s easily fixed. Give me a pad an’ pen an’ I’ll jot some prices down for you. Now what are you thinking of serving?’

  Flora quickly told her and Dora nodded her approval. ‘Right,’ she said, licking the end of the pencil. ‘You need to charge just enough to encourage the customers in but still make a profit. You can always raise the prices a bit when business starts to pick up and you’ve got a regular clientele.’ She quickly wrote down some suggested prices and handed them to Flora and sighed as she glanced around again and admitted, ‘I feel ashamed when I see what you’ve done to the place but to be honest I’d just lost heart in it and let it go. Meself too, if it comes to that, but I intend to change that now and make the most of what’s left of me life.’

  Flora smiled her approval and hurried away to fetch her purse. ‘If you’re going to be away for a bit, will you be needing the next rent payment before you go?’

  ‘You ain’t even earned anything yet so let’s wait till I get back off me holidays and you can settle up then, eh?’

  ‘Thank you.’ Flora was touched at the woman’s kindness and offered her a cup of tea but Dora was keen to be off to start her shopping spree. Flora followed her back downstairs and once she was gone she showed Jia Li and Colleen the prices Dora had suggested they should charge.

  ‘Sounds good to me,’ Colleen said approvingly and Jia Li nodded. ‘So tonight I’ll put a sign in the window saying we’re opening on Monday and then we can set to and write the menus up, eh?’ And so it was agreed.

  All three girls were up at the crack of dawn the
following Monday morning even though they hadn’t gone to bed until late the night before as they were cooking and preparing everything.

  ‘Now, are you sure everywhere looks all right?’ Flora asked nervously for at least the tenth time in as many minutes. It was almost seven o’clock in the morning.

  ‘Quite sure!’ Colleen gave her a nervous grin then stood back to let Flora unlock the door and turn the sign hanging on it to ‘Open’. Then all they could do was stand about and wait for their first customer and pray that the café would do well.

  By eight o’clock not a single person had entered and Flora began to panic. What if we’ve done all this hard work for nothing? she asked herself but suddenly the bell above the door tinkled and a sailor stepped inside sniffing at the air appreciatively.

  ‘Mmm, is that bacon I can smell?’ he asked and Flora grinned. He was clearly English.

  ‘It certainly is and I can do you eggs to go with it, if you’d like some?’

  ‘I certainly would and a nice cup o’ tea would go down a treat as well,’ he told her.

  ‘Well, there’s free tea with every meal served today as an opening offer.’

  Jia Li had already disappeared into the kitchen. After what had happened with Huan she was still nervous around men and had stated that she preferred to stay out of sight doing the cooking. Colleen had joined her to make another batch of muffins for the afternoon trade and it was agreed that Flora would man the counter and wait on tables when the meals came through.

  Minutes later the sailor, a friendly enough sort who introduced himself as Dan, was tucking into a hearty breakfast and when he was done he patted his stomach appreciatively. ‘By, that certainly filled me up nicely, love.’ He grinned as he placed his money on the counter. ‘It needs somewhere nice and clean like this round here. Most of the places you go in ain’t fit to take a dog in so I’ll be tellin’ me shipmates about you, you can be sure. Our ship, the Celeste, docks here often so you’ll be seein’ me an’ some o’ me mates again. Would I be right in thinkin’ you’re English?’

  When Flora nodded he smiled. ‘Thought so. I’m from Worcestershire but you’re a Londoner from your accent, if I ain’t very much mistaken?’

  Flora nodded enthusiastically. It was lovely to speak to someone who came from the same country as herself.

  ‘Thought as much.’ He doffed his cap again, giving her another friendly smile. ‘But I’d best be off. The ship will be loaded by now an’ I don’t want ’em sailin’ without me. Bye and thank you very much.’

  Flora beamed as she opened the old brass till that Dora had kindly left for them and dropped the money in. She had just served their very first customer and he had gone away happy, she couldn’t have asked for more. For a moment she wished Jamie could see her and wondered if he would be proud of her, she hoped he would. But then she quickly pushed thoughts of him from her mind. She had to stop thinking about him. He might have been proud of her once, but if he ever found out what she’d done, she doubted he’d even want to talk to her.

  The next hour was quiet again and Flora began to panic a little as she stood watching the door, praying for someone to walk in.

  ‘Eeh, will you relax now,’ Colleen scolded. ‘You’re making me nervous, so you are.’ And then at last the customers began to drift in in dribs and drabs. Most of them were American women who were out shopping and wanted nothing more than a slice of buttery toast and a free cup of tea, but as Colleen pointed out, it was a start, and she added, ‘If they enjoyed what they had they’ll come again.’

  Lunchtime saw the arrival of yet more sailors of many nationalities who happily tried Jia Li’s excellent curry and Flora’s delicious stew and dumplings. Then mid-afternoon, yet more women shoppers arrived to sample Colleen’s cakes and scones.

  From five o’clock onwards they found that they were serving meals to people on their way home from work who didn’t want to cook, and finally, at seven o’clock they turned the sign on the door to ‘Closed’ and Flora counted the money in the till.

  ‘I reckon we’ve just about broken even after we’ve taken out the cost of the food we’ve cooked and all the free drinks we’ve given away.’ She sighed but Colleen wasn’t disheartened at all.

  ‘You know the old saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”,’ she said wisely. ‘And those who have been in all seemed to enjoy what they had so no doubt they’ll be back along with others as word spreads.’

  Flora nodded, ‘I hope you’re right,’ she said doubtfully, as they went back into the kitchen to have their own meals from what was left over and prepare fresh for the customers for the next day.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The same pattern continued for the first few days, with people drifting in and out but Flora was forced to admit that they weren’t what could be termed busy. And then one evening a woman who worked in one of the packing factories on the docks called in and asked, ‘How much would you charge if I were to bring me own dish in to be filled with either stew or curry? It would save me no end o’ time if I didn’t have to cook for the old man and the kids when I got in from work.’

  ‘It would all depend how big the dish was,’ Flora answered, reluctant to turn trade away.

  ‘Well, enough for four.’

  Flora gave the woman a price, adding, ‘And we’re going to start doing meat and potato pies and cottage pies as well next week.’

  ‘Sounds good to me.’ The woman smiled. ‘I’ll drop the dish into you on the way to work in the morning and then you can have it ready for me to pick up about this time tomorrow.’

  ‘Why didn’t we t’ink of that!’ Colleen said when the woman had gone. ‘Just t’ink how many women work in the factories, if word gets out that we can have a meal ready for them to take home at the end of the day we could sell no end.’

  Flora nodded in agreement but then a clatter came from the kitchen and they both rushed to see what it was only to find Jia Li lying flat out on the kitchen floor.

  ‘Oh, sweet Jesus,’ Colleen whimpered as she dropped to her knees beside her friend. ‘The poor lass is as white as a sheet, so she is, and I heard her being terrible sick in the closet outside again this morning.’

  Her eyes popped then and as she glanced at Flora they exchanged a meaningful look as an idea occurred to them both. They had both come from large families so were no strangers to pregnancy and its symptoms.

  ‘Y-you don’t t’ink she might be having a baby, do you?’ Colleen croaked fearfully.

  ‘I have a terrible feeling she could be.’ Flora wiped her hand around her face. Jia Li had not been herself since the rape some weeks before and if what they both feared was true she dreaded to think how the poor girl would feel about it.

  ‘Fetch me some water,’ Flora ordered as she lifted Jia Li’s head and cradled her in her arms. ‘We’d best bring her round and have a talk to her. One thing’s for certain, she’ll have to see a doctor now, whether she likes it or not. In fact, I’ll drag her there myself, kicking and screaming, if I have to.’

  When Colleen handed her a glass of cold water, Flora tenderly held it to Jia Li’s lips and as it trickled between her teeth the girl began to cough and blinked her eyes open.

  ‘Wh-what happen to me?’

  ‘You fainted,’ Flora said as her friend struggled into a sitting position.

  ‘I perhaps not eating enough,’ Jia Li whispered. ‘But I feel so sick and ill all the time.’

  ‘Yes and Colleen and me think we might know why,’ Flora told her gently.

  Jia Li stared at her blankly, she clearly had no idea whatsoever what her friend was inferring so Flora asked her gently, ‘Does anything feel different? Your breasts for example.’

  ‘Oh yes,’ the girl replied with no hesitation. ‘They are sore and tender. Do you think I might have some bad disease?’ she asked fearfully.

  ‘No, I don’t think you’re ill at all,’ Flora whispered. ‘But … well, I think you might be with child.’

  Jia Li’s eyes o
pened even wider and the look of horror on her face almost broke Flora’s heart.

  ‘But … I … I can’t be,’ Jia Li gabbled, clearly in a panic. ‘It is big sin in my culture to have baby unless you are married. I be outcast from my own kind forever!’

  ‘If you are,’ Flora said, hoping to calm her. ‘And I say if because we could be wrong, you have to remember that this wasn’t your fault. Huan forced himself on you so who could blame you?’

  But Jia Li was inconsolable. The fact that Huan’s baby could be growing inside her filled her with horror and she shuddered at the thought of it.

  ‘Look, first thing tomorrow we’ll go to a doctor and find out one way or another,’ Colleen soothed as she reached out to comfort her but Jia Li slapped her hands away, her beautiful dark eyes flashing fire.

  ‘No … no doctor. I not go!’

  Flora and Colleen could see that the girl was far too shocked and upset to think rationally at the moment so Flora told her gently, ‘All right then. We won’t go for now. It will give you a little time to get used to the idea.’

  ‘I never get used to it,’ Jia Li spat. ‘If baby is here then it means I am no better than the women who walk by shop at night selling their bodies to sailors!’ The women she was referring to appeared as if by magic out in the street as soon as it got dark every evening, approaching any man that passed them. Jia Li pulled herself to her feet and before the girls could say another word she fled up the stairs, sobbing uncontrollably.

  Colleen chewed on her lip, feeling her friend’s pain as she watched her go, but Flora was more matter-of-fact.

  ‘She’ll have to come to terms with it if she is pregnant.’

  ‘But what will happen to her?’ Colleen asked fearfully.

  ‘She’ll stay here with us, of course, and we’ll do all we can to support her through it. What’s happened to her is awful but she’ll survive and it won’t be so bad having a baby here. We’ll manage between us.’

  ‘But what if Jia Li doesn’t take to the poor little soul?’ Colleen said worriedly and Flora smiled.