A Maiden's Voyage

by Rosie Goodwin

  ‘It was no trouble at all,’ Alex assured him as Patsy reappeared with a tea tray. ‘Won’t you please stay for a cup of tea?’

  ‘Thank you but no. Now that I know Flora is here somewhere I must find her.’

  ‘When and if you do, please ask her to come and see me and let her know that she isn’t in any sort of trouble at all,’ Alex urged. ‘In fact, it will be my pleasure to pay her passage back to London if that’s what she wants.’ Her eyes strayed to the window and she looked concerned. ‘I do so hope you find her. It isn’t safe for a young girl to be out on the streets all alone. Good luck, Ben.’

  ‘Thank you.’ As Ben shook the proffered hand warmly he thought what a lovely, gentle lady she was. This was a right turn-up for the books and he was thrilled to learn that his sister hadn’t perished after all. Now there was yet one more reason to stay in New York; he had to find her. Even so, his elation was slightly marred by the fact that he hadn’t got a clue where to start looking. New York was a big city and he feared it might be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

  With his head in a whirl he made his way back to the little room he was renting in one of the backstreets that ran alongside the docks. At least work would be easy to come by here. There was always a need for men to load and unload the boats and when he wasn’t working he could search for Flora. Meanwhile he could only pray that she was safe.

  The next morning Jia Li appeared in the kitchen with reddened eyes but she found no sympathy from Colleen. She had made them all a pot of tea to share as she did each morning before they opened the café and now she asked, ‘Why ever did you send the poor laddie away wit’out tellin’ him the truth, girl? Sure, he must have t’ought you’d had your head turned by some other chap, so he must!’

  ‘I’m spoiled for any man now,’ Jia Li answered in a wobbly voice.

  ‘Why, I never heard such a lot of codswallop! What happened was none of your fault and Bai would have understood that if you’d only told him so. Now the poor lad must t’ink you don’t love him at all, so he must!’ Colleen said angrily.

  Seeing how upset Jai Li was becoming again, Flora glanced at Colleen imploringly. ‘Go gentle on her now. She only did what she thought was for the best.’

  ‘Gentle indeed! Why she needs her head examining to let a good man walk away from her like that!’ Colleen shook her head as she slammed three mugs onto the scrubbed table, but all the same she did shut up as they all took a seat, although the atmosphere was so thick, Flora was sure she could have cut it with a knife.

  They drank their tea in silence and as Jia Li began to prepare the pans for frying bacon and sausages, Colleen and Flora went into the café to open up. Within minutes of turning the sign on the door they were too busy to think of anything but serving the customers that flooded in. It was mid-morning by the time they had a lull and the sink was piled high with dirty pots and pans.

  ‘I shall be able to buy this place in no time if trade continues as it is,’ Flora told them optimistically that evening as they sat together eating their supper. The till had been ringing all day and now at last she was making a very healthy sum. They were opening an hour later each night now to cope with the factory women who called in to have their dishes filled on their way home from work, and it was proving to be very profitable indeed. Such a workload didn’t give any of them much time for a social life, although that suited Flora, who preferred to keep her mind distracted. ‘I reckon I ought to be thinking of applying for some more workers to relieve the pair of you,’ she suggested.

  ‘And why would you be t’inking o’ doing that?’ Colleen raised her eyebrow.

  ‘So that you and Jia Li could have a little more time to yourselves, of course.’

  ‘Huh! I’m quite happy with t’ings as they are, thank you very much,’ Colleen told her abruptly. ‘Though as Jia Li gets a bit bigger she might need to cut her hours down a little. Till then let’s just leave t’ings as they are, shall we?’

  When Jia Li nodded in agreement, Flora shrugged. If they were happy then so was she, or at least as happy as she could be. More and more, recently, her thoughts returned to home and her family, and Jamie, which was why she needed to be on the go all the time. While she was busy she didn’t have much time to think. It was only as she lay in bed each night before sleep claimed her that she cursed herself for a fool. When Constance had first suggested that she should go to New York with her, Flora had thought it was going to be some big, glamorous adventure but look how it had turned out. Still, she supposed she was lucky that she hadn’t perished with her young mistress and now she would just have to make the best of things, so whenever she got homesick or wondered what Jamie might be doing she found herself something to do.

  By mid-August the heat was almost unbearable. Outside the tar on the roads began to melt and Flora had to leave the café door open otherwise the place was too hot to work in. Jia Li was finding it particularly uncomfortable as she was finding these early months of pregnancy exhausting and she was still being sick, but she battled on bravely despite the fact that Flora and Colleen repeatedly asked her to take a rest. Most days, by the time they turned the sign on the door to ‘Closed’, she was dead on her feet, but she never complained. However, the girls did insist that she keep her doctor’s appointments to ensure that all was well, although as yet she hadn’t bought a single thing in readiness for when the baby came. She just wanted to get the birth over with and she hadn’t allowed herself to think beyond that.

  Dora Casey still called in to see them when she collected the rent and was shocked at how well the place was doing, and it was during one of these visits that she informed Flora, ‘The place next door is up for rent. Did you know? It’d make a fine extension to this place if you could afford to take it on.’

  Flora’s ears pricked up. She was still saving every penny she could but perhaps it would be worth investing in the property next door if she could afford the rent on it. For a start, it would give them all more living space, which would be very welcome, especially after the baby had been born.

  ‘Do you know who owns it?’ she asked.

  Dora nodded as she lifted the glass of home-made lemonade and took a sip. ‘It’s Barker and Dodds Lettin’ Agency in Manhattan.’ She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and adjusted the little hat that sat at a coquettish angle on her hair. ‘I ain’t got a clue what rent they’ll be askin’ but don’t let ’em take advantage of you if you decide to go ahead. The place is even worse than this one was when you took it on so theys should just be grateful to get anything for it.’

  Flora nodded thoughtfully as she glanced around the crowded little café. ‘I might just pay them a visit and make a few enquiries,’ she said musingly but then another customer approached the counter and she was busy serving again.

  ‘So, what do you think of the idea?’ she asked Colleen and Jia Li that evening as they sat out in the back yard. They’d taken to eating their supper out there as it was far too clammy to sit in the kitchen.

  ‘Hmm.’ Colleen pursed her lips. ‘I dare say it’s worth a visit to the agents but goodness knows what state it’ll be in if the outside is anything to go by. All the windows are boarded up so you can’t even glimpse inside it an’ the paint’s all but peeled away from the door.’

  Even so they all agreed it might be worth looking into so for the first time in months, the following day during a lull in customers, Flora set off for Manhattan. It felt strange to be out in the busy streets again and she kept glancing nervously about. The last thing she needed was to bump into Alex or Margaret, or worse still, Toby. She often wondered how he had reacted when she ran away without paying him the money he had demanded and dreaded ever having to see him again.

  At last she found the building she was looking for and stood for a moment studying the properties they had for rent in their window. This street was a far cry from the one they lived in with smart shops and well-dressed women bustling up and down the busy pavements and Flora suddenly felt
very dowdy. The properties in the window were all far beyond what she could afford and there was no sign of the one she had come to enquire about. But then she supposed that now she was here she had nothing to lose, so after taking a deep breath and smoothing down the smart skirt she had borrowed from Colleen she entered the shop, setting the little bell above the door tinkling merrily.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  ‘So how did you get on?’ Colleen asked eagerly the second Flora set foot through the door.

  The café was already beginning to fill with the lunchtime customers so Flora flashed a smile and hissed, ‘I’ll tell you later,’ and with that Colleen had to be content.

  It was mid-afternoon before the girls got a breather again and as Jia Li poured them all a cold drink and they took a well-earned ten-minute break, Flora told them, ‘The letting agent has trusted me with a key so that we can go around there and have a look inside this evening when we close. I’ve promised to get it back to him first thing in the morning. But I’ll tell you now, I got the distinct impression that the property had been on his books for some time and I have a feeling that the owner just wants shot of it, which is good news for us.’

  ‘Hmm, well we’ll see when we get inside, shall we?’ Colleen said cautiously. From what she could see of the state of the outside she dreaded to think what it might be like inside. Still, she supposed they had nothing to lose by taking a look and they all could think of little else as they worked for the rest of the day.

  ‘Right, that’s it.’ Colleen rubbed her hands together and sighed with relief as she turned the sign on the door to closed that evening. They were all wet through with sweat and there was nothing Colleen would have liked more than to take a nice cool bath but curiosity was getting the better of her. They hastily did the dishes and wiped the tables between them then Flora fetched the key and they trailed out to stand outside the property next door as Flora struggled to get the key into the lock and turn it.

  ‘The lock is rusty,’ she told them. ‘It needs a bit of oil in it.’

  ‘A new door more like,’ Colleen scoffed, but at last it was open and they all moved forward and peered cautiously into the gloomy interior.

  ‘Phew, what a smell!’ Colleen wafted her hand up and down past her nose. ‘It smells as if something has died in here!’

  Flora giggled. ‘Oh, stop moaning. Where’s your spirit of adventure? Come on, I’m going in whether you are or not.’ And with that she stepped inside, followed closely by a reluctant Jia Li and an even more reluctant Colleen, who was pinching the end of her nose shut. They found themselves in a decent-sized room that seemed to be crammed with rubbish and as they set off across the bare floorboards a rat the size of a small cat disappeared into an empty cardboard box.

  ‘Ugh! Did you see the size of that t’ing!’ Colleen looked horrified as she peered around cautiously. ‘I bet the place is runnin’ wit’ the t’ings.’

  Flora giggled again. ‘Scaredy cat, come on, let’s see where this door leads.’ She tugged at another door on the far side of the room and after some pulling managed to get it open. It led into a room with a small kitchen leading off it in one corner and another open door through which they could see a staircase. Flora was off like a shot, stepping across the rubbish fearlessly but Colleen and Jia Li were a little more cautious as they slowly followed her. Every step they took sent a whirl of dust flying into the air and Colleen began to cough and grumble.

  ‘Sure, you take your life in your hands venturin’ into this place, so you do,’ she muttered irritably as she batted a hanging cobweb out of the way. ‘Just be careful on them stairs now. They may be rotten,’ she warned but by then Flora was already at the top of them and peering into three good-sized bedrooms.

  ‘Why, this is a house,’ she declared with some surprise as Jia Li struggled up the narrow staircase to join her. ‘I’m not sure that it would be suitable for extending the café but it would be a great place to live right next door. Just look at all the space we’d have.’

  ‘Mmm, I suppose you’re right,’ Colleen admitted as she screwed her nose up at the state of the place. ‘But to be sure it would take some putting to rights!’

  Flora nodded in agreement. ‘It would but it wouldn’t have to be done all at once, would it?’ she answered. ‘I could always come round here on Sundays and start to clear it.’

  ‘You could not!’ Colleen was indignant. ‘Not on your own at least. I could help you and I’ve no doubt Jia Li will too when the baby’s arrived.’

  But on this Flora was firm and she shook her head. ‘You two do too much as it is. If I take it on then I’ll get it ready to live in,’ she insisted.

  Colleen grinned at her. ‘We’ll see,’ she said, tongue in cheek, and they all trooped back downstairs. Through the small kitchen they entered a little back yard with a rickety fence dividing it from the café next door.

  ‘That could come down for a start off and double the outside space,’ Colleen pointed out practically. She was getting a little more enthusiastic now. ‘And we could turn the outside toilet in the yard of the café into one for the customers use. There’s another one here, look, that we could use, though it smells rank, so it does! I shan’t be volunteerin’ to clean that, that’s for sure.’

  They turned to Jia Li, who had said little up to then, to ask her opinion and she shrugged. She never got animated about anything anymore and sometimes both Flora and Colleen found it hard to remember how happy she had once been. Bai had never returned to the café since the day she had told him about the baby and they both knew that she still pined for him, although she steadfastly maintained that she had done the right thing in not telling him the truth about the baby’s conception.

  ‘It make very nice home when work done to it,’ she told them quietly and they glanced at each other, wondering just what it would take to make Jia Li show any feelings whatsoever. They locked the property up and went back to the café discussing what would need to be done should Flora decide to take the place.

  The next morning Flora made her way back to the letting agent and Colleen waited impatiently for her return.

  ‘Well?’ she asked when Flora entered the café again. She had been busily wiping down tables but she stopped with the cloth in mid-air as she stared at Flora questioningly.

  ‘So …’ Flora smiled slyly. ‘As I told you yesterday I got the impression that they just wanted shot of the place which put me in rather a good bargaining position.’

  Colleen grinned. ‘To be sure, I doubt anyone else would be daft enough to take the place on,’ she commented. ‘The whole place needs gutting and redoing before it’s fit to live in.’

  ‘Quite, which is why I told them I wouldn’t be prepared to rent it,’ Flora told her. ‘Instead … I’ve bought it!’

  ‘You’ve done what!’ Colleen’s eyes almost popped out of her head.

  ‘I’ve bought it,’ Flora repeated with a grin. ‘Or I should say I’ve part bought it. They’re letting it go for a ridiculously low price so I’ve agreed to pay what I have up front and get the rest to them in three months’ time. I should be able to manage it with what we’re making in the café now.’

  ‘But what if you can’t?’ Colleen queried worriedly.

  Flora shrugged. ‘Then I’ll have lost all my savings. Obviously, it won’t be properly mine and signed over to me till I’ve paid for it in full but I’m confident I can do it.’

  Colleen looked concerned. ‘But I thought you wanted to buy the café off Dora first?’

  ‘I did and I still do,’ Flora agreed. ‘But I’d be a fool to let next door go. Once I’ve paid for that I shall start to save to buy this place next.’

  Colleen shook her head. ‘I dare say it’s your decision but I do hope you’re not making a grave mistake,’ she said worriedly.

  ‘I’m not, I’m sure of it,’ Flora told her confidently.

  ‘But next door needs a lot of money spending on it before it’ll be fit to live in,’ Colleen pointed out. />
  ‘I know, but there’s no one saying it all has to be done at once, is there?’ Flora smiled at her reassuringly. ‘I shan’t do anything to it apart from give it a good clear out till it’s properly mine. I won’t be able to afford to do too much, if truth be told. I’ll just take it one step at a time.’

  ‘Hmm, well I dare say you know what you’re doing,’ Colleen answered, although her voice was still heavy with doubt. She went back to wiping the tables while Flora went through to the kitchen to check on Jia Li. Walking into the kitchen was like walking into an oven, despite the back door being wide open, and she wondered how Jia Li could bear it. The girl had tied her lovely long, black hair into a ponytail and her sleeves were rolled up as far as they would go. Flora told her what she had just told Colleen.

  ‘You make it into good home,’ Jia Li said simply. She had every faith in Flora and blessed the day she had met her. Goodness knew what might have happened to her if she hadn’t. Today she was once more wet through with sweat but as always, she didn’t grumble as she prepared the meals for lunchtime. ‘I shall help you,’ she told her but Flora shook her head.

  ‘No, you won’t. I appreciate the offer but you’re already doing too much as it is. I think you should start to have a rest in the afternoons now. I don’t like the way your ankles are swelling. You should be keeping off your feet a bit more now.’

  Jia Li shook her head. ‘Swollen ankles is usual when having baby,’ she said quietly.

  ‘Speaking of which … shouldn’t we be starting to get the things ready for when the baby arrives?’ Flora suggested tentatively. She and Colleen were almost afraid to mention the baby for fear of having their heads snapped off.

  ‘There still be plenty of time for that,’ the girl replied with a frown. She tried not to even think about it but her stomach had started to get bigger and it was getting harder to ignore. Seeing that she had said all that was to be said on the matter for now, Flora changed the subject and soon the lunchtime customers began to arrive and they were rushed off their feet as usual.