A Maiden's Voyage

by Rosie Goodwin

  Flora nodded. ‘That will be fine and take as long as you need to, don’t rush. Me and Colleen will manage.’

  When Hattie and the men finally departed, Colleen went up to sleep in her new bedroom for the first time while Flora slipped round to the café to make sure that everywhere was securely locked up. Jia Li and Bai were still snuggling on the sofa and chattering quietly to each other when she got back so after wishing them both goodnight she too retired to bed and fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. For the last few weeks she had barely had a second to herself. If she hadn’t been working in the café she had been working on the house but now, hopefully, things would slow down a little and she’d have a bit more time to herself.

  As planned, Hattie and Jia Li left after lunch the next day and set off for the shops. Once there Jia Li looked through bolts of material until she found just what she was looking for.

  ‘This perfect!’ She held the soft, sea-blue satin out for Hattie’s inspection and when she nodded, Jia Li sighed with pleasure as she stroked the silky folds.

  ‘So what sort o’ pattern were you thinkin’ of?’ Hattie enquired as they stood waiting while the material was carefully cut and wrapped.

  ‘Very plain.’

  Hattie sighed with disappointment but didn’t argue. It was Jia Li’s special day after all and not hers.

  ‘To my ankle, split in one side to knee, small mandarin collar and short sleeves.’

  ‘But you’ll freeze to death!’ Hattie objected, ever practical. Jia Li giggled, all her former sparkle restored. Admittedly she still had times when she thought of the poor, innocent baby who had come too soon, but having Bai back in her life had gone a long way to helping her recover from the ordeal. ‘I wear shawl,’ she said, and Hattie sighed as Jia Li paid the shop assistant for the material.

  Just two weeks before Christmas, Jia Li and Bai were married at a small ceremony in the register office. There were few guests, just Flora, Colleen, Hattie, Ernie, Jimmy and Sam but they all agreed that the bride looked radiant and the groom was so proud, he looked as if he might burst with happiness. The dress that Hattie had painstakingly stitched for Jia Li, working long into the night by the light of an oil lamp, was a triumph, despite Hattie’s former reservations. The simple shape moulded itself to Jia Li’s slim figure and with a white rose behind her ear that matched the tiny posy she carried, she looked simply stunning.

  When the short service was over they all stood outside on the steps and the small congregation showered the happy couple with rice and rose petals, then it was back to the café for the sumptuous feast that Flora had laid on for them. There was even a wedding cake that Colleen had iced and decorated with sugar flowers and the café rang with laughter. Even Colleen seemed to come out of the melancholy mood she had slipped into since her break-up with Will.

  ‘Eeh, isn’t she just the most beautiful bride you ever did see?’ she whispered dreamily to Flora as she sipped at some champagne that Flora had bought as a special treat.

  Ernie made a toast to the happy couple and wished them well for the future, which brought a tear to Jia Li’s eyes as she stared at her handsome new husband.

  Looking at her friend’s radiant face, Flora had to swallow down her tears as she pictured Jamie as he had looked on the day she had told him of her decision to go to New York with Connie. It all seemed so long ago now and so much had happened since then but she still only had to close her eyes and she could picture every inch of his face as if she had seen him only the day before. I’ve been such a fool, she silently chided herself, perhaps we could have been married by now too if I hadn’t been so foolish. Then she plastered a smile back on her face. Today was Jia Li’s special day and she was determined that nothing should spoil it.

  Over the last two weeks, since they had all moved into their new home next door, Bai had been busily buying bits and pieces of furniture for their rooms above the café, which he had carted there on a barrow each night after work, and tonight they would sleep up there as man and wife for the first time.

  ‘Wow! What a day,’ Ernie commented cheerily later in the afternoon when he and his friends spilled out into the yard to have a cigarette. Flora had gone to join them to get a breath of fresh air and she nodded.

  ‘It’s been lovely.’

  The young men glanced at each other then as if there was something they wanted to say and it was Ernie who finally broke the silence when he lowered his voice to tell her, ‘Hey, Flora, I thought you might like to know that Huan got his comeuppance in more than one way.’

  Flora frowned as she wrapped her arms about herself. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Well, after we gave him a bit of a lesson our sources’ – he tapped his nose – ‘tell us that he’s off to China as soon as he gets married. Seems his mom thinks he’ll be safer over there. So it’s a great outcome, wouldn’t you say? Jia Li will never have to worry about bumping into him again, although word is he ain’t very happy about it.’ He chuckled as he dropped his cigarette butt and ground it out with the heel of his shoe. ‘He won’t be able to get up to his tricks over there with his in-laws breathing down his neck, will he? All the bad things he’s done to Jia Li and other innocent girls have come back to bite him on the ass. And about time.’

  Flora’s face creased into a smile. It was good news indeed. Now Jia Li wouldn’t have to be afraid every time she stepped out of the door.

  ‘I’ll tell her, but not today,’ she told the men. ‘Today is one that she’ll hopefully remember for the rest of her life and I don’t want Huan’s name tainting it. But thank you all again for looking out for her, and for me and Colleen.’

  The men brushed aside her thanks with cheery grins and then went back inside to continue with the celebrations. Flora stayed outside a moment longer. Mention of Huan had for some reason brought back thoughts of Toby. The date of his wedding in January had been announced in the newspaper the week before, so it seemed within a matter of weeks, he and Margaret would be married. She smiled to herself. It was fairly safe to think that he was about to get his just deserts too. As was Margaret.

  It was quite late by the time Hattie and the men left, and once the door had shut behind them, Colleen turned to Jia Li and Bai and said, ‘You two lovebirds get yourself away to your rooms. Sure, me an’ Flora can clear up down here.’

  Jia Li looked uncertain. There were plates and glasses everywhere but neither Flora nor Colleen would hear of her helping them.

  ‘Go on now, get off with the pair of you.’ Flora shooed them towards the staircase. ‘You can both have a nice lie-in tomorrow with it being Sunday. I know I certainly will. In fact, I think I might get myself round home now. This lot will wait till morning. Come on, Colleen.’ She gave Colleen a sly wink and they quickly headed for the door.

  ‘You’re quite right, the dirty pots can wait,’ she said chirpily. ‘Night both!’

  At the door she and Flora glanced back to see Bai sweep his new bride into his arms as if she weighed no more than a feather and disappear up the stairs with her. They had eyes for no one but each other and Colleen and Flora smiled wistfully at each other.

  ‘I don’t think we’ll have to worry about her anymore,’ Flora remarked as she unlocked the door to their new home. With an envious sigh, Colleen agreed. At least one of them had ended up with the man she loved!

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Just before Christmas it was decided that Hattie and Ernie would join the girls for Christmas dinner at the café. It would be easier for them all to eat in there because of the seating and soon Colleen was busily baking mince pies. She also had a Christmas pudding soaking in brandy and was determined to do them all a traditional Christmas dinner.

  ‘I’ve ordered us a nice fat goose from t’e butchers,’ she told them the day before Christmas Eve. ‘And I’ve to pick it up tomorrow. But I’ll not be volunteering to pluck it though, ugh!’

  Hattie frowned. ‘But what can I bring? I don’t want to leave everything to yo
u girls.’

  ‘Just bring yourselves,’ Flora told her with a warm smile. ‘We don’t know what we would have done without you and Ernie these last months. Giving you Christmas dinner is the least we can do.’

  But Hattie wasn’t happy. ‘In that case if you don’t want me to cook anything I’ll bring us a couple of nice bottles of wine.’

  Later that evening as Flora cleaned the café, she couldn’t help but feel sad. This would be the first Christmas she had ever spent away from her family and her thoughts flew back to Christmas Eve the year before when Jamie had presented her with a little silver locket before leaving London on Christmas Eve to spend Christmas Day with his family back in Nuneaton. Sadly, it had been lost when the Titanic went down and now she bitterly regretted that she hadn’t worn it all the time. She pictured her little brother Timmy, creeping downstairs in the early hours of the morning to peep beneath the tree and into the stocking his mother would have hung on the mantelshelf to see what Santa had left for him and her eyes welled with tears. She wondered who would find the shiny silver sixpence her mother always hid in the Christmas pudding. Her hands became still as she leaned on the table she had been wiping and let her thoughts drift further back to Christmases gone by.

  She started when a voice suddenly asked, ‘Why you so sad, Flora?’

  ‘Oh! … Jia Li, I didn’t see you there.’ Flora smiled apologetically. ‘I was just thinking about my family. I’ve never been away from them at Christmas before and I suppose I’m feeling a little homesick.’

  Jia Li frowned as she sat down and stared at her friend thoughtfully.

  ‘Perhaps it time you go to see them?’ she suggested but Flora shook her head. Despite what her mother had told her in her letter she was still afraid of what repercussions she might face for impersonating Connie.

  ‘No.’ Her voice was weighed with sadness. ‘I have to make my life here now.’

  ‘And if that what you decide it will be good life,’ Jia Li pointed out as she spread her hands to encompass the thriving little business that Flora had created. Only that week Flora had put a large amount of money away towards buying the café … and yet she found no joy in her achievement. Her biggest concern had been that once the bad weather set in her customers might dwindle but it had been quite the opposite.

  It seemed that the inclement weather made people more determined than ever to come in for a warm drink and every night now it was all they could all do to keep up with the demands for Hattie’s delicious chicken casseroles and stews and Jia Li’s mouthwatering curries. Women from the surrounding factories and warehouses poured in each evening with dishes big enough to feed their families, to the point that Flora was seriously considering taking on yet another member of staff to help them keep up with demand.

  Flora looked over at Jia Li. Her friend’s eyes were sparkling and it pushed the gloomy thoughts from her mind. It was good to see her looking so content and she had a feeling that things would go well for her now, she certainly deserved them to. She just wished she could say the same for Colleen who was clearly still smarting over her break with her boyfriend. She put a brave face on things, but Flora had come upon her softly crying the other day and she wished she could take her pain away. But only time would do that and for now, they had Christmas to look forward to and she was determined that she would make the best of it.

  The following day was Christmas Eve and Flora had decided that the café would not open again until the day after Boxing Day. Colleen went out to collect the goose and she also brought home a Christmas tree that Bai planted in a sturdy bucket of earth for them. It was given pride of place in the corner of the café and when they weren’t preparing the Christmas dinner Colleen and Jia Li spent every spare minute cutting out colourful crepe paper so they could adorn it with little streamers. In the meantime, Bai plucked the fat goose while Hattie set to making her secret stuffing recipe and Colleen cooked yet another batch of mince pies and prepared the vegetables.

  They had all bought each other small gifts and before they went to bed on Christmas Eve they placed them beneath the tree ready for opening on Christmas morning. It had started to snow heavily during the afternoon and that evening as Flora peeped out of the window she was shocked to see how deep it already was. Everywhere looked sparkling clean as if some great unseen hand had painted the world white. The dusty, dirty streets were transformed but despite how pretty it looked Flora just hoped that Hattie and Ernie would be able to get there the next day.

  She woke up the next morning to an eerie grey light and crossing to the window she drew aside the curtains to find the inside of the window frosted over with a lacy pattern. Breathing on a small corner of the glass she rubbed at it with the sleeve of her nightgown until a small part of it had melted, then she peered through it to the street below. The snow was still falling with no sign of stopping and lay crisp and deep on the strangely quiet streets. Usually the sounds that echoed from the docks and the tramp of people’s feet as they made their way to work woke her each morning but today she could have been the only person left on the earth.

  A little bubble of excitement began to grow in her stomach as she dragged her dressing gown on and went to bang on Colleen’s bedroom door.

  ‘Come on, sleepyhead. It’s Christmas Day and if you don’t get up now you won’t have time for a cup of tea before you have to go to church.’

  Colleen had told her the evening before that she wanted to attend mass the following morning but she was concerned about leaving everyone else to cook the Christmas dinner.

  ‘Don’t be silly,’ Flora had told her with a broad grin. ‘Everything’s prepared so we’ve only got to pop it into the oven. You go, we’ll be fine.’

  Colleen and Flora made their way downstairs and Flora put the kettle on the hob.

  ‘Do you think you’ll be able to get to church through this lot?’ Flora asked dubiously as she peered through the window.

  Colleen laughed. ‘Sure I will.’ The kettle began to sing on the hob then and she hurried over to warm the stout brown earthenware teapot before she made the tea. Soon after, all done up in her Sunday best, Colleen set off, leaving Flora to get ready at her leisure.

  By the time Hattie and Ernie arrived and Colleen had returned from church, Jai Li and Flora had the meal cooking and the café was filled with the delicious smell of roasting goose, so they all sat down to open their gifts. Outside the snow continued to fall but inside all was warm and cosy and the room was filled with laughter. And if Colleen and Flora were thinking of their families far away they hid it well. Christmas dinner was a jovial affair, and when they’d all eaten as much as they could, they sat back, happy and replete.

  ‘Oh, I think I not eat again for a hundred years,’ Bai groaned as he clutched his full stomach.

  Jia Li giggled as she stared at her husband adoringly. ‘It serve you right, you eat too much,’ she teased and Bai couldn’t argue with that, but it had been so tasty that he’d had second helpings of almost everything.

  At that point, Ernie brought out his mouth organ and played Christmas carols while they all sang along.

  ‘I’d like to raish a toast,’ Hattie slurred some time later. She’d had rather too many glasses of wine and was feeling quite merry. ‘To the newlywedsh! May this be the firsht of many happy Chrishmashes they spend together.’

  Everyone raised their glasses and as Flora looked around at their smiling faces she thought how lucky she was that fate had brought them all together. Part of her was still far away with those she loved in England but the people gathered in this room had come to mean a great deal to her too.

  ‘What shall we do for the New Year?’ Colleen asked the next day. She and Flora were curled up at either end of their sofa in front of a roaring fire. Outside the snow was still falling but they felt safe and warm. ‘I thought we might go to see a show or something?’

  Flora instantly felt nervous. She still never liked to venture far for fear of bumping into Alex or Toby.

&nbs
p; ‘Oh, I shall be quite happy to just spend it quietly here, but you could go out,’ she answered.

  ‘But that wouldn’t be much fun on me own, now, would it? You know what they say, Flora, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!’ But then seeing the nervous look on her face, she said quickly, ‘But I dare say there are t’ings we could do here. We could have a game o’ cards, if you like. I promised to teach you how to play patience, did I not?’

  ‘You did,’ Flora agreed.

  And so, once the last of the customers had left the café on New Year’s Eve, Flora and Colleen stayed safely within their own four walls to see the New Year in, each hoping that it would be a good one for all of them.

  As the clock chimed midnight, Flora closed her eyes tight and wished that sometime soon she might be reunited with Jamie and her family, although she feared deep down that there was very little chance of the wish ever coming true. But still, it didn’t hurt to dream!

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  The bad weather continued into January but both Colleen and Flora received letters from home which cheered them considerably.

  The first to arrive was one from Flora’s mother and when she recognised the handwriting she tore the envelope open eagerly and read it immediately.

  My dear Flora,

  How can I even begin to tell you how much we all missed you at Christmas? We set your place at the table as if that would somehow make you magically appear but of course it didn’t. Even so I hope it was a happy time for you. The weather here is appalling, I dare say it is the same where you are? We have had thick snow and everyone is feeling the cold. Timmy’s school has been closed for the time being because they can’t get it warm and he is miserable not being able to see his friends but then I suppose I shouldn’t complain, there are always those so much worse off than us.

  When are you coming home, sweetheart? We all miss you so much! Not a day goes by when we don’t think of you so please give it some serious thought. I would like to wish you a Happy New Year and tell you that my dearest wish is to see you back home again.